Look up · dinosaur 883 of 1,425
armored dinosaur
Nipponopelta
Say it like this: “NIP-on-o-PEL-tuh”
Nipponopelta yezoensis
Nipponopelta ate plants and walked on four legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in Japan.
- When
- Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) · roughly 100.5 to 93.9 million years ago
- Named in
- 2026 · Oyabu, S.; Kobayashi, Y.; Zelenitsky, D. K.; Fiorillo, A. R.; Kano, M.
- Hip height
- Not established
- Length
- Not established
- Weight
- Not established
- Found in
- Japan · Hikagenosawa
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Four legs
- Kind
- armored dinosaur · Ankylosaur
- Family branch
- Nodosauridae
The story in short
The genus Nipponopelta dates to 2026, the year S. Oyabu and colleagues described it. The name means “japanese shield.”
It lived in the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian), roughly 100.5 to 93.9 million years ago. Finds come from Japan, including the Hikagenosawa Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on four legs.
The fossils of Nipponopelta are too incomplete for a responsible length, hip height, or weight, so those fields are left blank on purpose.
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