Acantholipan

Say it like this: “ah-can-tho-lee-pan”

Acantholipan gonzalezi

Acantholipan ate plants and walked on four legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in Mexico.

Quiz me on Acantholipan

When: Late Cretaceous (Santonian) · roughly 85.7 to 83.6 million years ago
Named in: 2018 · Rivera-Sylva, H. E.; Frey, E.; Stinnesbeck, W.; Carbot-Chanona, G.; Sánchez-Uribe, I. E.; Guzmán-Gutiérrez, J. R.
Hip height: 1.2 m · 4 ft
Length: 5.7 m · 19 ft
Weight: Not established
Found in: Mexico · Pen
Food and walking: Herbivore · Four legs
Kind: armored dinosaur · Ankylosaur
Family branch: Nodosauridae

The story in short

In 2018, H. E. Rivera-Sylva and colleagues published the name Acantholipan.

Fossils referred to Acantholipan date to the Late Cretaceous (Santonian), roughly 85.7 to 83.6 million years ago. Finds come from Mexico, including the Pen Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on four legs.

Published estimates put Acantholipan at a length near 5.7 m and hips about 1.2 m high.

On the family tree it sits in Nodosauridae, among the armored dinosaurs.

Close relatives

Animantarx

Animantarx ramaljonesi

Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) · roughly 100.5 to 93.9 million years ago

Anoplosaurus

Anoplosaurus curtonotus

Early Cretaceous (Albian) · roughly 113.2 to 100.5 million years ago

Borealopelta

Borealopelta markmitchelli

Early Cretaceous (Albian) · roughly 113.2 to 100.5 million years ago