It was a medium-sized nodosaurid, measuring about 5.2–6 metres (17.1–19.7 ft) long. Sauropelta had a distinctively long tail which made up about half of its body length. Although its body was smaller than a modern black rhinoceros, Sauropelta was about the same mass, weighing in at about 1.5–2 metric tons (1.7–2.2 short tons). The extra weight was largely due to its extensive covering of bony armor, including the characteristically large spines projecting from its neck.
Description
Sauropelta was a heavily built quadrupedalherbivore with a body length of approximately 5.2–6 metres (17.1–19.7 ft) and a body mass of 1.5–2 t (1.7–2.2 short tons).[1][2] The skull was triangular when viewed from above, with the rear end wider than the tapering snout. One skull measured 35 centimeters (13.75 in) in width at its widest point, behind the eyes.[3] Unlike some other nodosaurids, the roof of the skull was characteristically flat, not domed. The roof of the skull was very thick and covered in flat, bony plates that are so tightly fused that there appear to be no sutures (boundaries) like the ones seen in Panoplosaurus, Pawpawsaurus, Silvisaurus, and many other ankylosaurs. This could also be an artifact of preservation or preparation. As in other ankylosaurs, thick triangular scutes projected from the postorbital bone, above and behind the eyes, as well as the jugal bone, below and behind the eyes.[3] More typically for nodosaurids, leaf-shaped teeth lined both upper and lower jaws, used for cutting plant material. The front end of the skull is unknown, but there would have been a sharp bony ridge (tomium) at the end of both upper and lower jaws, as seen in other ankylosaurs. This ridge probably would have supported a keratinousbeak.[4]
The tail of Sauropelta was characteristically long and made up nearly half of the body length. One skeleton preserved forty caudal (tail) vertebrae, although some were missing, suggesting that the true number of caudal vertebrae may have exceeded fifty. Ossifiedtendons stiffened the tail along its length. Like other ankylosaurs, Sauropelta had a wide body, with a very broad pelvis and ribcage. The forelimbs were shorter than the hindlimbs, which resulted in an arched back, with the highest point over the hips. Its feet, limbs, shoulders, and pelvis were all very stoutly constructed and reinforced to support a great deal of weight.[1]
Like other nodosaurids, Sauropelta was covered in armor formed from bony masses embedded in the skin (osteoderms). The discovery of a skeleton with the body armor preserved in situ allowed Carpenter and other scientists to accurately describe this protection. Two parallel rows of domed scutes ran down the top of the neck, along the anteroposterior axis (front to back). On the upper surface of the back and tail, the skin was covered in small, bony nodules (ossicles), which separated larger conical scutes arranged in parallel rows along the mediolateral axis (side to side). Over the hips, the ossicles and larger domed plates were interlocked very tightly to form a structure called a sacral shield.[1] This shield is also found in ankylosaurs like Polacanthus and Antarctopelta.[4][5] Large, pointed spines lined the sides of the neck, increasing in size towards the shoulders, and then decreasing in size again along the side of the body until they stopped just before the hips. Behind the hips, flat triangular plates lined the tail on both sides, pointing laterally (outwards) and decreasing in size towards the end of the tail. Carpenter originally described the cervical (neck) spines and caudal plates as belonging to a single row on each side, although more recently he and Jim Kirkland reconstructed them in two parallel rows on each side, one above the other. The upper row of cervical spines pointed backwards and upwards (posterodorsally), while the lower row pointed backwards and outwards (posterolaterally). The bases of each pair of cervical spines and each pair of caudal plates were fused together, greatly restricting mobility in both the neck and upper tail.[3]
Classification and systematics
Since John Ostrom first described Sauropelta in 1970, it has been recognized as a member of the familyNodosauridae.[6] The nodosaurids, along with the family Ankylosauridae, belong within the infraorderAnkylosauria. Nodosaurids are characterized by certain features of the skull, including the mandible (lower jaw), which curves downwards at the end. Overall, nodosaurids had narrower snouts than the ankylosaurids, and also lacked the heavy ankylosaurid tail clubs.[7] Nodosaurids, like ankylosaurids, are found in North America, Asia, and Europe.
While the systematics (evolutionary relationships) of nodosaurids have not been firmly established, the genera Sauropelta, Silvisaurus and Pawpawsaurus are sometimes considered to be basal to geologically younger nodosaurids like Panoplosaurus, Edmontonia, and Animantarx.[4][8] In a 2001 analysis, Carpenter included the former three genera in a sister clade to a group containing the latter three, although he found that Panoplosaurus could belong to either clade, depending which taxa and characters were chosen.[9] The phylogenetic results of Rivera-Sylva and colleagues in 2018 are below, showing the relationships of Sauropelta to other nodosaurids.[10]
In the early 1930s, famed dinosaur hunter and paleontologist Barnum Brown collected the holotype specimen of Sauropelta (AMNH 3032, a partial skeleton) from the Cloverly Formation in Big Horn County, Montana. The locality is inside the Crow Indian Reservation. Brown also discovered two other specimens (AMNH 3035 and 3036). The latter is one of the best-preserved nodosaurid skeletons known to science, includes a large amount of in situ armor, and is on display in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. AMNH 3035 preserves the cervical armor and most of a skull, missing only the end of the snout. Expeditions in the 1960s led by the equally renowned John Ostrom of Yale University's Peabody Museum of Natural History recovered additional incomplete specimens from the Cloverly. In 1970, Ostrom coined the genus Sauropelta to include remains discovered by both expeditions. Derived from the Greekσαυρος (sauros) ('lizard') and πελτε (pelte) ('shield'), this name is a reference to its bony armor.[6] Although Ostrom originally named the species S. edwardsi, nomenclaturist George Olshevsky corrected the spelling to S. edwardsorum in 1991 to conform to Latingrammar rules.[11]
Despite the naming of Sauropelta two years earlier, confusion arose in 1972 when the name "Peltosaurus" was inadvertently published as the caption of a photograph of AMNH 3036.[12] Although Brown never published a name or description for the remains which are now known as Sauropelta edwardsorum, "Peltosaurus" was the name he informally used in lectures and museum exhibits. However, the name Peltosaurus was preoccupied by a genus of North American lizard from an extinct branch of the modern family Anguidae (the alligator lizards and the legless glass lizards) and is no longer used to refer to the dinosaur.[13]
In 1999, Carpenter and colleagues described material of a large nodosaurid from Utah, discovered in a member of the Cedar Mountain Formation called the Poison Strip Sandstone, which is contemporaneous with the Cloverly Formation. He originally referred it to Sauropelta as a possible new species, but it was never named.[14] In more recent publications, Carpenter no longer refers the Poison Strip animal to Sauropelta, only to the family Nodosauridae.[15]
Other recent, but undescribed, discoveries include a complete skull from the Cloverly of Montana[16] and a huge fragmentary skeleton from the Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah.[17] These discoveries have been published only as abstracts for the annual Society of Vertebrate Paleontologyconference, and may or may not prove to belong to S. edwardsorum or even Sauropelta when formally published.
Footprint discoveries
In 1932, Charles Mortram Sternberg reported the presence of the footprints of a large, four-footed dinosaur from Lower Cretaceous rocks in British Columbia, Canada. He described a new ichnogenus and species for these tracks, Tetrapodosaurus borealis, and attributed them to ceratopsians. However, in 1984 paleontologist Kenneth Carpenter re-examined the British Columbian Tetrapodosaurus prints and argued that they were made by ankylosaurs rather than ceratopsians. Specifically, Carpenter concluded that these were probably the footprints of Sauropelta. Five years later, large numbers of Tetrapodosaurus tracks were discovered at the Smoky River Coal Mine near Grande Cache, Alberta. This site is considered the most important ankylosaur track site in the world.[18]
Paleoecology
Sauropelta was one of the earliest known nodosaurids. All specimens of S. edwardsorum were recovered from the Little Sheep Mudstone section of the Cloverly Formation in Wyoming and Montana, which has been dated to 108.5 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous.[19][20]Sauropelta lived in wide floodplains around rivers that drained into the shallow inland sea to the north and east, carrying sediment eroded from the low mountains to the west. Periodic flooding of these rivers covered the surrounding plains with new muddy sediments, creating the Cloverly Formation and burying the remains of many animals, some of which would be fossilized. At the end of Cloverly times, the shallow sea would expand to cover the entire region and would eventually split North America completely in half, forming the Western Interior Seaway.[21] Abundant fossil remains of coniferoustrees suggest that these plains were covered in forests.[6]Grasses would not evolve until later in the Cretaceous, so Sauropelta and other Early Cretaceous dinosaurian herbivores browsed from a variety of conifers and cycads.[22] Nodosaurids like Sauropelta had narrow snouts, an adaptation seen today in animals that are selective browsers as opposed to the wide muzzles of grazers.[7]
^ abcCarpenter, Kenneth. (1984). "Skeletal reconstruction and life restoration of Sauropelta (Ankylosauria: Nodosauridae) from the Cretaceous of North America". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 21 (12): 1491–1498. Bibcode:1984CaJES..21.1491C. doi:10.1139/e84-154.
^ abcdCarpenter, Kenneth; Kirkland, James I. (1998). "Review of Lower and Middle Cretaceous Ankylosaurs from North America". In Lucas, Spencer G.; Kirkland, James I; Estep, J.W. (eds.). Lower and Middle Cretaceous Ecosystems. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin14. pp. 249–270.
^Salgado, Leonardo; Gasparini, Zulma. (2006). "Reappraisal of an ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of James Ross Island (Antarctica)". Geodiversitas. 28 (1): 119–135.
^ abcdefOstrom, John H. (1970). "Stratigraphy and paleontology of the Cloverly Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of the Bighorn Basin area, Wyoming and Montana". Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History. 35: 1–234.
^ abCarpenter, Kenneth. (1997). "Ankylosauria". In Currie, Philip J.; Padian, Kevin (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 16–17.
^Carpenter, Kenneth. (2001). "Phylogenetic analysis of the Ankylosauria". In Carpenter, Kenneth (ed.). The Armored Dinosaurs. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 455–483.
^Olshevsky, George. (1991). A Revision of the Parainfraclass Archosauria Cope, 1869, Excluding the Advanced Crocodylia. Mesozoic Meanderings No. 2. San Diego: Publications Requiring Research. p. 196pp.
^Chure, Daniel J.; McIntosh, John S. (1989). A Bibliography of the Dinosauria (Exclusive of the Aves), 1677-1986. Paleontology Series1. Grand Junction: Museum of Western Colorado. p. 226pp.
^Carpenter, Kenneth; Kirkland, James I.; Burge, Donald; Bird, John (1999). "Ankylosaurs (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) of the Cedar Mountain Formation, Utah, and their stratigraphic distribution". In Gillette, David (ed.). Vertebrate Paleontology of Utah. Utah Geological Survey Miscellaneous Publication99-1. pp. 244–251.
^Carpenter, Kenneth. (2006). "Assessing dinosaur faunal turnover in the Cedar Mountain Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Eastern Utah, USA". In Barrett, Paul M.; Evans, S.E (eds.). Ninth International Symposium on Mesozoic Terrestrial Ecosystems and Biota. London: Natural History Museum. pp. 21–25.
^Parsons, William L.; Parsons, Kristen M. (2001). "Description of a new skull of Sauropelta cf. S. edwardsi Ostrom, 1970 (Ornithischia: Ankylosauria)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 21 (Supplement to 3 - Abstracts of Papers, 61st Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology): 87A. doi:10.1080/02724634.2001.10010852. S2CID220414868.
^Warren, David; Carpenter, Kenneth. (2004). "A large nodosaurid ankylosaur from the Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 24 (Supplement to 3 - Abstracts of Papers, 64th Annual Meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology): 126A. doi:10.1080/02724634.2004.10010643. S2CID220415208.
^Kirkland, James I.; Britt, Brooks; Burge, Donald L.; Carpenter, Kenneth; Cifelli, Richard; DeCourten, Frank; Eaton, Jeffrey; Hasiotis, Steven; Lawton, Timothy (1997). "Lower to Middle Cretaceous Dinosaur faunas of the central Colorado Plateau: a key to understanding 35 million years of tectonics, sedimentology, evolution, and biogeography". Brigham Young University Geology Studies. 42 (II): 69–103.
^D'Emic, Michael D.; Melstrom, Keegan M.; Eddy, Drew R. (2012). "Paleobiology and geographic range of the large-bodied Cretaceous theropod dinosaur Acrocanthosaurus atokensis". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 333–334: 13–23. Bibcode:2012PPP...333...13D. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2012.03.003.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sauropelta.
Quận Trường Ninh 长宁区Diện mạo quận Trường NinhTổng quanQuốc gia Trung QuốcQuản lý hành chínhThượng Hải, Trung QuốcPhân loại hành chínhQuận nội thànhThời gian thành lập1947- Số trấn1- Số nhai đạo9Địa lýTổng diện tích37.19 km2Dân số và kinh tếTổng dân số (2010)623,041 người đăng ký hộ khẩu690,571 người thường trúKhácMã bưu chính200050Mã vùng điện thoại21Trang web:www.changning.sh…
1960 aviation accident 1960 Rio de Janeiro mid-air collisionAccidentDateFebruary 25, 1960SummaryMid-air collisionSiteGuanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilTotal fatalities61Total survivors3First aircraft A U.S. Navy Douglas R6D-1 similar to the accident aircraftTypeDouglas R6D-1 (DC-6A)OperatorUnited States NavyRegistration131582Flight originBuenos Aires-EzeizaDestinationGaleão Air Force BaseOccupants38Passengers31Crew7Fatalities35Survivors3Second aircraft A Douglas DC-3 similar to the accident …
Philippine television program One Western VisayasTitle card since 2022GenreNews broadcastingDirected byDiosdado TanPresented by Gerthrode Charlotte Tan Adrian Prietos Narrated by Rudje Mar Sucaldito Thessalona Ordales Al Torres Country of originPhilippinesOriginal languageHiligaynonProductionExecutive producers Joecel Huesca Rudje Mar Sucaldito Julius Belaca-Ol Production locations GMA Bacolod Studios, Bacolod City GMA Iloilo Compound, Jaro, Iloilo City Camera setupMultiple-camera setupRunning t…
Special tax appellate collegial court in the Philippines Court of Tax AppealsHukuman ng Apelasyon sa BuwisHukuman ng Pag-aapela sa BuwisFacade of the Court of Tax AppealsSeal of the Court of Tax AppealsEstablishedJune 16, 1954LocationSenator Miriam P. Defensor-Santiago Avenue, Diliman, Quezon CityComposition methodPresidential appointment from the short-list submitted by the Judicial and Bar CouncilAuthorized byRepublic Act No. 1125 and Republic Act No. 9282Appeals toSupreme Court of the Philipp…
Pour l’article homonyme, voir Vaporetto. Vaporetto de Lyon Le vaporetto de Lyon. Situation Saône Type Navette fluviale Entrée en service 4 avril 2012 Lignes 1 Stations 4 Fréquentation 175 000[1] Propriétaire Unibail Rodamco Exploitant Les Yachts de Lyon modifier Le Vaporetto de Lyon est un bateau-bus destiné à la desserte du Centre commercial de Confluence à Lyon. Son exploitation a débuté le 4 avril 2012. Présentation Quai Arloing Quai de Bondy Quai des Célestins Quai Antoine…
الحزب الوطني المتحد (بالسنهالية: එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය)(بالتاميلية: ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி) البلد سريلانكا تاريخ التأسيس 6 سبتمبر 1946 المقر الرئيسي سري جاياواردنابورا كوتي الأيديولوجيا محافظة ليبرالية، وسياسة محافظة، وليبرالية اقتصادية&…
القناص قائمة حلقات القناص (2011) قائمة حلقات القناص (2011)غلاف أول دي في دي للموسم في اليابان.ハンター×ハンター(HUNTER×HUNTER)صنفأكشن، مغامرة، فنتازيا تلفاز مخرج هيروشي كوجينا كاتب يوشيهيرو توغاشي ملحن يوشيهيسا هيرانو إستديو مادهاوس بث نيبون تلفزيون العرض الأصلي 2 أكتوبر 2011 – 23 سبتمب…
Soccer clubCabofrienseFull nameAssociação Desportiva CabofrienseNickname(s)TricolorFoundedNovember 15, 1955; 68 years ago (1955-11-15) (as A.A. Cabofriense)January 1, 1997; 27 years ago (1997-01-01) (as A.D. Cabofriense)GroundCorreãoCapacity4,200ChairmanValdemir da Silva MendesHead coachLuciano QuadrosLeagueCampeonato Carioca Série A22023 [pt]Carioca Série A2, 6th of 12 Home colors Away colors Associação Desportiva Cabofriense, commonly kno…
A U.S. National Agricultural Statistics Service statistician explains response rate data at a 2017 briefing to clarify the context of crop production data. In survey research, response rate, also known as completion rate or return rate, is the number of people who answered the survey divided by the number of people in the sample. It is usually expressed in the form of a percentage. The term is also used in direct marketing to refer to the number of people who responded to an offer. The general c…
Species of butterfly Green-banded swallowtail redirects here. For the other butterfly with this common name, see Papilio phorcas. Green-banded swallowtail both P. n. lyaeusSemliki Wildlife Reserve' Uganda Scientific classification Domain: Eukaryota Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Lepidoptera Family: Papilionidae Genus: Papilio Species: P. nireus Binomial name Papilio nireusLinnaeus, 1758 [1] Synonyms Papilio erinus Gray, [1853] Papilio nireus f. nora …
Moon of Neptune PsamatheDiscovery images of Psamathe by the Subaru Telescope in 2003Discovery[1][2]Discovered byScott S. SheppardDavid C. JewittJ. KleynaDiscovery date19 August 2003DesignationsDesignationNeptune XPronunciation/ˈsæməθiː/Named afterΨαμάθη PsamathēAlternative namesS/2003 N 1AdjectivesPsamathean /sæməˈθiːən/Orbital characteristicsEpoch 1 January 2000 (Proper orbital element)Observation arc20.97 yr (7,660 days)[3]Mean anomaly183.3°…
Takeo TakagiLaksamana Takeo TakagiLahir(1892-01-25)25 Januari 1892 [1]Iwaki, Fukushima, JepangMeninggal8 Juli 1944(1944-07-08) (umur 52)Saipan, Kepulauan Mariana UtaraPengabdianKekaisaran JepangDinas/cabang Angkatan Laut Kekaisaran JepangLama dinas1911-1944PangkatLaksamana (anumerta)KomandanNagara, Takao, MutsuDistrik Garda Mako, Distrik Garda Takao, Armada VIPerang/pertempuranPerang Dunia II Pertempuran Filipina (1941-1942) Pertempuran Laut Jawa Pertempuran Laut Karang Pertemp…
RewantaDewa Pemburu BerkudaArca Rewanta, abad ke-7.AfiliasiGuhyakaKediamanHimalayaSenjataPedangWahanaKudaInformasi pribadiOrang tuaSurya (bapak)Saranya (ibu)SaudaraAswin, Yama, Yami, Sani, Tapati and Waiwaswata Manu Rewanta atau Raiwata (Dewanagari: रेवन्त; ,IAST: Revanta, रेवन्त) adalah salah satu dewa dalam agama Hindu. Menurut kitab Regweda, Rewanta adalah putra bungsu Surya (dewa matahari) dan Saranya. Rewanta merupakan pemimpin para Guhyaka, sebangsa makhl…
The EGTRRA Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001Long titleAn act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to section 104 of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2002.Acronyms (colloquial)EGTRRAEnacted bythe 107th United States CongressCitationsPublic lawPublic Law 107-16Legislative historyIntroduced in the House as H.R. 1836 by Bill Thomas (R–CA) on May 15, 2001Committee consideration by House Committee on Ways and MeansPassed the House on May 16,…
Questa voce sull'argomento calciatori messicani è solo un abbozzo. Contribuisci a migliorarla secondo le convenzioni di Wikipedia. Segui i suggerimenti del progetto di riferimento. Manuel Martínez IñiguezNazionalità Messico Altezza168 cm Peso68 kg Calcio RuoloCentrocampista Termine carriera2003 CarrieraSquadre di club1 1991-1999 Guadalajara146 (6)1999-2000 León15 (5)2000-2001 Toluca32 (6)2001 Atlas14 (0)2001-2002 La Piedad29 (1)2002-2003 Querétaro6 (…
Ski company This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages) The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guidelines for companies and organizations. Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention. If notability cannot be shown, t…
1982 remix album by Soft CellNon Stop Ecstatic DancingRemix album by Soft CellReleasedJune 1982Recorded1982Genre Synth-pop dance[1] Length27:53LabelSome BizzareProducerMike ThorneSoft Cell chronology Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret(1981) Non Stop Ecstatic Dancing(1982) The Art of Falling Apart(1983) Singles from Non-Stop Ecstatic Dancing WhatReleased: August 1982 Non Stop Ecstatic Dancing is a 'mini' or 'remix' album by English synth-pop duo Soft Cell, released in the United Kingdom in J…