| Stegopelta | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Pelvic armor | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | †Ornithischia |
| Clade: | †Thyreophora |
| Clade: | †Ankylosauria |
| Family: | †Nodosauridae |
| Subfamily: | †Nodosaurinae |
| Clade: | †Struthiosaurini |
| Genus: | †Stegopelta Williston,1905 |
| Species: | †S. landerensis |
| Binomial name | |
| †Stegopelta landerensis Williston, 1905 | |
Stegopelta (meaning "roofed shield") is agenus ofstruthiosaurinnodosauriddinosaur based on a partial skeleton from theCretaceous (latestAlbian-earliestCenomanian) Belle Fourche Member of theFrontier Formation ofFremont County,Wyoming, USA.
In 1905,Samuel Wendell Williston described FMNH UR88, a partialarmored dinosaurskeleton consisting of amaxilla fragment, seven cervical and two dorsalvertebrae, part of asacrum and bothilia, caudal vertebrae, parts of thescapulae, bothhumeral heads, portions of anulna and bothradii, ametacarpal, partialtibia,metatarsal, andarmor including ashoulder spine and neck ring.[1][2] The specimen was in poor condition, as it had eroded from a slope and been walked on bycattle.[3]Ankylosaurians being very poorly known, Williston compared his new genus toStegosaurus, and the armor to that ofGlyptodon.[1] Like thatmammal,Stegopelta had a fused section of armor (in its case over thepelvis).Roy Lee Moodie redescribed it in 1910, and considered it to be close to, if not the same as,Ankylosaurus.[3]
The genus fell into obscurity.Walter Coombs synonymized it with the more famous but equally poorly knownNodosaurus in his 1978 redescription of the Ankylosauria.[4] It was reinstated as a valid genus byKen Carpenter andJames Kirkland (1998), who recognized it as having distinct vertebral and armor characteristics.[2]Tracy Ford took this further in 2000, assigning it to a newsubfamily inAnkylosauridae based on armor characteristics, which he called Stegopeltinae. Also included wasGlyptodontopelta.[5] This has not been generally accepted, but most recent reviews have acceptedStegopelta as a distinct genus with uncertain affinities.[6][7]
Since it is extremely unknown, at this point all there is to be said about the habits and life ofStegopelta is that it was a slowquadrupedalherbivore which fed low to the ground and relied on its armor for defense.[7]
Its armor included a fused region over the sacrum, and shoulder spines that may have been split, as seen inEdmontonia.[2]
