Animantarx

living fortress

• animans · Latin · living
• arx · Latin · fortress, citadel

The name combines the Latin "animans" (living) with "arx" (fortress or citadel), so it means "living fortress". It refers to the animal's heavily armoured body, typical of ankylosaurs. The skeleton was found with the help of a radiation detector, because the bones contain uranium. The species name, ramaljonesi, honours Ramal Jones, who found the specimen.

Named by

Carpenter, Kirkland, Burge and Bird

Year named

1999

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stage

Cenomanian

Found in

Mussentuchit Member, Cedar Mountain Formation, Utah, USA

An armoured ankylosaurian dinosaur (nodosaurid). The type species is Animantarx ramaljonesi. The exact age of the Mussentuchit Member is near the Albian–Cenomanian boundary, and the age given here is the commonly cited one.