Dongyangopelta

Say it like this: “dohng-YAHNG-oh-PEL-tuh”

Dongyangopelta yangyanensis

Dongyangopelta ate plants and walked on four legs. It lived in the Early Cretaceous · Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in China.

Quiz me on Dongyangopelta

When: Early Cretaceous · Late Cretaceous (Albian · Cenomanian) · roughly 113.2 to 93.9 million years ago
Named in: 2013 · Chen, R.; Zheng, W.; Azuma, Y.; Shibata, M.; Lou, T.; Jin, Q.; Jin, X.
Hip height: 1.1 m · 4 ft
Length: 4.7 m · 15 ft
Weight: 900 kg · 1,984 lb
Found in: China · Chaochuan
Food and walking: Herbivore · Four legs
Kind: armored dinosaur · Ankylosaur
Family branch: Nodosauridae

The story in short

In 2013, R. Chen and colleagues published the name Dongyangopelta.

Fossils referred to Dongyangopelta date to the Early Cretaceous · Late Cretaceous (Albian · Cenomanian), roughly 113.2 to 93.9 million years ago. Finds come from China, including the Chaochuan Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on four legs.

Published estimates put Dongyangopelta at a length near 4.7 m, hips about 1.1 m high, and a body mass around 900 kg.

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

Close relatives

Acantholipan

Acantholipan gonzalezi

Late Cretaceous (Santonian) · roughly 85.7 to 83.6 million years ago

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