Genus
Valid Extinct

Patagopelta

Riguetti et al. 2022

Patagopelta is an extinct genus of ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Allen Formation of Argentina. The genus contains a single species, P. cristata, known from several partial skeletons, isolated bones, and osteoderms. While originally described as a member of the family Nodosauridae, later discoveries provided support for parankylosaurian affinities. Patagopelta is a small armored dinosaur, comparable in size to the 'dwarf' nodosaurid Struthiosaurus, at about 2 m (6.6 ft) long. It is larger, more robust, and more heavily armored than other paranklyosaurs such as Stegouros.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
1
Group
Dinosaures
Herbivore Ground dwelling, gregarious Terrestrial
Patagopelta
click to enlarge
Skeletal diagrams of Patagopelta cristata as a parankylosaur, showing known osteoderms (top) and appendicular/axial skeleton (bottom). Osteoderms are placed in approximate life position as proposed by Riguetti et al. 2022. Scale bar=50 cm. Illustrated osteoderms include the holotype specimen, MPCA-SM-78 (a cervical half-ring element), paratype specimens—710 (a right quadratojugal boss; mirrored), 700b (an osteoderm associated with the vertebra 700a), 711 and 712 (cervical half-ring osteoderms), 41a, 41b, 42a (mirrored), 715, 720, and 721 (postcervical osteoderms)—and referred material, MACN-PV-RN 1149 (five osteoderms). Illustrated non-osteoderm bones include MPCA-SM-700a (partial cervical neural arch), 68, 69, and 70 (dorsal vertebrae), 703 (synsacral compound elements), 71, 72, 73, and 708 (caudal vertebrae), 1 (complete right femur), and 709 (distal ~1/3 of left femur). Several bones were not illustrated as they have not been scientifically figured or would decrease diagram readability. These include MPCA-SM-713 and 714 (cervical half-ring osteoderms) 42b, 43, 74, 75, 76, 716, 717, 718, 719, 722, 723, 724, and 725 (postcervical osteoderms), 77 (a tooth), 701 and 702 (dorsal vertebrae), 704 (a synsacral compound element belonging to a smaller individual), and 705, 706, and 707 (caudal vertebrae). Key  =Known fossil material  =Unknown References "A new small-bodied ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of North Patagonia (Río Negro Province, Argentina)" "New ankylosaur (Thyreophora, ornithischia) remains from the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia" "South American ankylosaurs" in "The Armored Dinosaurs" "Bizarre tail weaponry in a transitional ankylosaur from subantarctic Chile" Kunbarrasaurus skeletal diagram by Ashley Patch "Cranial osteology of the ankylosaurian dinosaur formerly known as Minmi sp. (Ornithischia: Thyreophora) from the Lower Cretaceous Allaru Mudstone of Richmond, Queensland, Australia" © SlvrHwk · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
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Ornithischia Unranked clade
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Parapredentata Unranked clade
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Saphornithischia Unranked clade
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Prionodontia Unranked clade
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Genasauria Unranked clade
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Thyreophora Unranked clade
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Thyreophoroidea Superfamily
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Eurypoda Unranked clade
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Ankylosauria Unranked clade
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Euankylosauria Unranked clade
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Nodosauridae Family
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Patagopelta Genus
Fossil sites 1 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇦🇷 Argentina
1
Geological formations
Allen
1
Temporal distribution
Maastrichtian (72.2–66 Ma)
1
Species (1)
Patagopelta cristata 72 Ma
Images 3
Bibliography
Original description
F. Riguetti, X. Pereda-Suberbiola, and D. Ponce, L. Salgado, S. Apesteguía, S. Rozadilla, V. Arbour. 2022. A new small-bodied ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of North Patagonia (Río Negro Province, Argentina). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 20(1):2137441 DOI ↗
Bibliography (1)
F. Riguetti, X. Pereda-Suberbiola, and D. Ponce, L. Salgado, S. Apesteguía, S. Rozadilla, V. Arbour. 2022. A new small-bodied ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of North Patagonia (Río Negro Province, Argentina). Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 20(1):2137441 DOI ↗