Aletopelta

wandering shield

• aletes · Greek · wanderer, vagabond
• pelte · Greek · shield

Aletopelta combines the Greek words for "wanderer" and "shield". The "shield" refers to the armour that covered this armoured dinosaur. The "wanderer" refers to the fact that the fossil was found on a part of the Pacific plate that has been carried north by plate tectonics from where the animal lived. The species name, coombsi, honours the paleontologist Walter Coombs.

Named by

Ford and Kirkland

Year named

2001

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stage

Campanian

Found in

Point Loma Formation, Carlsbad, San Diego County, California, USA

An armoured dinosaur (ankylosaur). The type species is Aletopelta coombsi. It is the most complete dinosaur found in California. Its exact position within Ankylosauria has been debated.