Sauropelta

lizard shield

• sauros · Greek · lizard
• pelte · Greek · shield

Sauropelta combines the Greek words for "lizard" and "shield". It refers to the heavy armour of bony plates (osteoderms) and spikes covering the animal's neck, back and tail. The name was given by John Ostrom in 1970 to this armoured nodosaurid dinosaur.

Named by

Ostrom

Year named

1970

Period

Early Cretaceous

Stages

Aptian – Albian

Found in

Cloverly Formation, Montana and Wyoming, USA

A nodosaurid ankylosaur. The type species is Sauropelta edwardsorum. It is often found with the predator Deinonychus.