Look up · dinosaur 1098 of 1,425
armored dinosaur
Sauropelta
Say it like this: “SOR-oh-PEL-tuh”
Sauropelta edwardsorum
Sauropelta ate plants and walked on four legs. It lived in the Early Cretaceous · Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in the United States.
- When
- Early Cretaceous · Late Cretaceous (Aptian · Albian · Cenomanian) · roughly 121.4 to 93.9 million years ago
- Named in
- 1970 · Ostrom, J. H.
- Hip height
- 1.4 m · 5 ft
- Length
- 5.2–6 m · 17–20 ft
- Weight
- 1.5–2 tonnes
- Found in
- the United States · Cloverly
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Four legs
- Kind
- armored dinosaur · Ankylosaur
- Family branch
- Nodosauridae
The story in short
Sauropelta was formally named in 1970 by J. H. Ostrom. The name means “lizard shield.”
Fossils referred to Sauropelta date to the Early Cretaceous · Late Cretaceous (Aptian · Albian · Cenomanian), roughly 121.4 to 93.9 million years ago. Finds come from the United States, including the Cloverly Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on four legs.
Published estimates put Sauropelta at a length near 5.2–6 m, hips about 1.4 m high, and a body mass around 1.5–2 tonnes.
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