Zaraapelta

Say it like this: “zah-rah-PEL-tuh”

Zaraapelta nomadis

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

Quiz me on Zaraapelta

When: Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago
Named in: 2014 · Arbour, V. M.; Currie, P. J.; Badamgarav, D.
Hip height: 1.5 m · 5 ft
Length: 6.3 m · 21 ft
Weight: 2.3 tonnes
Found in: Mongolia · Baruungoyot
Food and walking: Herbivore · Four legs
Kind: armored dinosaur · Ankylosaur
Family branch: Ankylosaurinae

The story in short

The genus Zaraapelta dates to 2014, the year V. M. Arbour and colleagues described it. The name means “small shield.”

It lived in the Late Cretaceous (Campanian), roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago. Finds come from Mongolia, including the Baruungoyot Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on four legs.

Published estimates put Zaraapelta at a length near 6.3 m, hips about 1.5 m high, and a body mass around 2.3 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