Sauropelta Edwardsorum

Fairly actively today, here we go.

Sauropelta Edwardsorum

Sauropelta is a genus of Nodosaurid Ankylosaur from the mid Cretacous period. It is the earliest known genus of the nodosaurs, and one of the best known  in the field of Paleontology. So why is it featured here? Most people have never heard of it. They are much more familiar with its relative, Ankylosaurus. This being said, Sauropelta is still an impressive animal.

At around 5 meters long and 1.5 tons, it's quite large. It's name, meaning 'lizard shield' is quite obvious. Sauropelta sports  large spikes near its neck, and - smaller yet just as lethal lookin - spikes down its entire body. Unlike Ankylosaurus, Sauropelta doesn't have the impressive bony club on the end of its tail. Instead, it would have swung its tail in defense much like a stegosaur. If that was to fail for some reason, it would squat low to the ground to protect its underbelly.

Sauropelta lived on the lush floodplains of Cretaceous Montana and Wyoming. It would have feasted on the lush low hanging trees and bushes, sharing the abundant vegatation with the Ornithopods Tenontosaurus and Zephyrosaurus. For the most part it had little to fear. The giant Carcharodontosaur Acrocanthosaurus most likely would have left it alone, just on appearances. This cannot be said for the Dromaeosaur Deinonychus, however. These raptors would probably use overwhelming numbers and intelligience to subdue the nodosaur. For the most part, Sauropelta probably lived a troublesome life, living in excess of fifty years.