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armored dinosaur
Gastonia
Say it like this: “gas-TOH-nee-a”
Gastonia burgei
Gastonia ate plants and walked on four legs. It lived in the Early Cretaceous. Bones have been found in the United States.
- When
- Early Cretaceous (Valanginian · Aptian) · roughly 137.1 to 113.2 million years ago
- Named in
- 1998 · Kirkland, J. I.
- Hip height
- 0.9 m · 3 ft
- Length
- 5 m · 16 ft
- Weight
- 2.2 tonnes
- Found in
- the United States · Cedar Mountain
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Four legs
- Kind
- armored dinosaur · Ankylosaur
- Family branch
- Nodosauridae
The story in short
The genus Gastonia dates to 1998, the year J. I. Kirkland described it. The name honors a person tied to the fossil or its study.
Fossils referred to Gastonia date to the Early Cretaceous (Valanginian · Aptian), roughly 137.1 to 113.2 million years ago. Finds come from the United States, including the Cedar Mountain Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on four legs.
Published estimates put Gastonia at a length near 5 m, hips about 0.9 m high, and a body mass around 2.2 tonnes.
On the family tree it sits in Nodosauridae, among the armored dinosaurs.
This entry is the whole genus. The type species is Gastonia burgei. Other named species include Gastonia lorriemcwhinneyae.
Other species with this name
- Gastonia burgei
- Gastonia lorriemcwhinneyae
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