Platypelta

Say it like this: “PLAT-ee-PEL-tuh”

Platypelta coombsi

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

Quiz me on Platypelta

When: Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago
Named in: 2018 · Penkalski, P.
Hip height: 1.5 m · 5 ft
Length: 6.1 m · 20 ft
Weight: 2.6 tonnes
Found in: Canada · Dinosaur Park
Food and walking: Herbivore · Four legs
Kind: armored dinosaur · Ankylosaur
Family branch: Ankylosaurinae

The story in short

The genus Platypelta dates to 2018, the year P. Penkalski described it. The name means “flat shield.”

Fossils referred to Platypelta date to the Late Cretaceous (Campanian), roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago. Finds come from Canada, including the Dinosaur Park Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on four legs.

Published estimates put Platypelta at a length near 6.1 m, hips about 1.5 m high, and a body mass around 2.6 tonnes.

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

Close relatives

Akainacephalus

Akainacephalus johnsoni

Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago

Ankylosaurus

Ankylosaurus magniventris

Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago

Anodontosaurus

Anodontosaurus lambei

Late Cretaceous (Campanian · Maastrichtian) · roughly 83.6 to 66 million years ago