Antarctopelta

Antarctic shield

• Antarcto- · Greek · Antarctic (from antarktikos, 'opposite the north')
• pelta · Greek · small shield

The name combines the Greek word for "Antarctic" with "pelta", the Greek word for a small light shield. It means "Antarctic shield". It refers to the continent where the fossils were found and to the armoured body of this ankylosaur. The only species, A. oliveroi, honours geologist Eduardo Olivero.

Named by

Salgado and Gasparini

Year named

2006

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stage

Campanian

Found in

Santa Marta Formation, James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica

An armoured ankylosaurian dinosaur, and one of the first dinosaurs described from Antarctica. It is usually considered a nodosaurid, but its exact placement within Ankylosauria is debated.