Nodosauridae is a family of ankylosaurian

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

s, from the Late Jurassic to the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the ...

period in what is now

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

Description

Nodosaurids, like their close relatives the

ankylosaurids Ankylosauridae () is a family of armored dinosaurs within Ankylosauria, and is the sister group to Nodosauridae. The oldest known Ankylosaurids date to around 122 million years ago and went extinct 66 million years ago during the Cretaceous–Pal ...

, were heavily armored dinosaurs adorned with rows of bony armor nodules and spines (osteoderms), which were covered in keratin sheaths. All nodosaurids, like other ankylosaurians, were medium-sized to large, heavily built, quadrupedal, herbivorous

s, possessing small, leaf-shaped teeth. Unlike ankylosaurids, nodosaurids lacked mace-like tail clubs, instead having flexible tail tips. Many nodosaurids had spikes projecting outward from their shoulders. One particularly well-preserved nodosaurid "mummy", known as the Suncor nodosaur (''Borealopelta markmitchelli''), preserved a nearly complete set of armor in life position, as well as the keratin covering and mineralized remains of the underlying skin, which indicate reddish dorsal pigments in a

countershading Countershading, or Thayer's law, is a method of camouflage in which an animal's coloration is darker on the top or upper side and lighter on the underside of the body. This pattern is found in many species of mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, and ...

pattern.

Classification

The

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Nodosauridae was erected by

Othniel Charles Marsh Othniel Charles Marsh (October 29, 1831 – March 18, 1899) was an American professor of Paleontology in Yale College and President of the National Academy of Sciences. He was one of the preeminent scientists in the field of paleontology. Among h ...

in 1890, and anchored on the genus ''

Nodosaurus ''Nodosaurus'' (meaning "knobbed lizard") is a genus of herbivorous nodosaurid ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous, the fossils of which are found exclusively in the Frontier Formation in Wyoming. Description ''Nodosaurus'' grew ...

''. The

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

Nodosauridae was first informally defined by

Paul Sereno Paul Callistus Sereno (born October 11, 1957) is a professor of paleontology at the University of Chicago and a National Geographic "explorer-in-residence" who has discovered several new dinosaur species on several continents, including at sites ...

in 1998 as "all ankylosaurs closer to ''Panoplosaurus'' than to ''

Ankylosaurus ''Ankylosaurus'' is a genus of armored dinosaur. Its fossils have been found in geological formations dating to the very end of the Cretaceous Period, about 68–66 million years ago, in western North America, making it among the last of the n ...

''," a definition followed by Vickaryous, Teresa Maryańska, and Weishampel in 2004. Vickaryous ''et al.'' considered two

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

of nodosaurids to be of uncertain placement (''incertae sedis''): ''Struthiosaurus'' and ''Animantarx'', and considered the most primitive member of the Nodosauridae to be ''Cedarpelta''.Vickaryous, M. K., Maryanska, T., and Weishampel, D. B. (2004). Chapter Seventeen: Ankylosauria. in The Dinosauria (2nd edition), Weishampel, D. B., Dodson, P., and Osmólska, H., editors. University of California Press. Following the publication of the PhyloCode, Nodosauridae needed to be formally defined following certain parameters, including that the type genus ''

'' was required as an internal specifier. In formally naming Nodosauridae, Madzia and colleagues followed the previously established use for the clade, defining it as the largest clade including ''

Nodosaurus textilis ''Nodosaurus'' (meaning "knobbed lizard") is a genus of herbivorous nodosaurid ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous, the fossils of which are found exclusively in the Frontier Formation in Wyoming. Description ''Nodosaurus'' grew ...

'' but not ''

Ankylosaurus magniventris ''Ankylosaurus'' is a genus of armored dinosaur. Its fossils have been found in geological formations dating to the very end of the Cretaceous Period, about 68–66 million years ago, in western North America, making it among the last of the n ...

''. As all phylogenies referenced included both ''Panoplosaurus'' and ''Nodosaurus'' within the same group relative to ''Ankylosaurus'', the addition of another internal specifier was deemed unnecessary. The

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

phylogenetic analysis of Rivera-Sylva and colleagues was used as the primary reference for Panoplosaurini by Madzia ''et al.'', in addition to the supplemental analyses of Thompson ''et al.'' (2012), Arbour and Currie (2016), Arbour ''et al.'' (2016), and Brown ''et al.'' (2017). The highly isolated ''

Antarctopelta ''Antarctopelta'' ( ; meaning 'Antarctic shield') was a genus of ankylosaurian dinosaur with one known species, ''A. oliveroi'', which lived in Antarctica during the Late Cretaceous Period. It was a medium-sized ankylosaur, reaching 4 meters (13& ...

'', from the late Cretaceous of

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

, was previously thought to be the most basal nodosaurid, but a 2021 study found it to belong to the Parankylosauria, a separate basal lineage of ankylosaurs restricted to the Southern Hemisphere. However, the 2022 description of '' Patagopelta'', a nodosaurine from

, suggests that true nodosaurids also inhabited Gondwana, having colonized

during a

biotic interchange Biotic interchange is the process by which species from one Biota (taxonomy), biota invade another biota, usually due to the disappearance of a previously impassable barrier. These dispersal barriers can be physical, climatic, or biological and ca ...

from

during the Campanian.

Biogeography

The near simultaneous appearance of nodosaurids in both North America and Europe is worthy of consideration. '' Europelta'' is the oldest nodosaurid from Europe, it is derived from the lower Albian

Escucha Formation The Escucha Formation is a geological formation in La Rioja and Teruel provinces of northeastern Spain whose strata date back to the late Aptian to middle Albian stages of the Early Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have bee ...

. The oldest western North American nodosaurid is ''

Sauropelta ''Sauropelta'' ( ; meaning 'lizard shield') is a genus of nodosaurid dinosaur that existed in the Early Cretaceous Period of North America. One species (''S. edwardsorum'') has been named although others may have existed. Anatomically, ''Saurop ...

'', from the lower Albian Little Sheep Mudstone Member of the Cloverly Formation, at an age of 108.5±0.2 million years. Eastern North American fossils seem older. Teeth of '' Priconodon crassus'' from the Arundel Clay of the

Potomac Group The Potomac Group is a geologic group in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Virginia. It preserves fossils dating back to the Cretaceous period. An indeterminate tyrannosauroid and '' Priconodon crassus'', a nodosaurid, are known from indetermi ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, which dates near the Aptian–Albian boundary. The ''

Propanoplosaurus ''Propanoplosaurus'' is a genus of herbivorous nodosaurid dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Patuxent Formation of Maryland, USA. Its type specimen is a natural cast and partial natural mold of a hatchling. Discovery and Naming From 1994 onwa ...

'' hatchling from the base of the underlying

Patuxent Formation The Patuxent Formation is a Cretaceous geologic formation of the Atlantic coastal plain. Description The Patuxent formation was first described by William Bullock Clark in 1897. The formation is primarily unconsolidated white-grey or orange-brow ...

, dating to the upper

Aptian The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous Epoch or Series and encompasses the time from 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma to 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma (million years ago), a ...

, is the oldest known nodosaurid. ImageSize = width:1250px height:auto barincrement:15px PlotArea = left:10px bottom:50px top:10px right:10px Period = from:-199.6 till:-23.03 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:-190 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:-199.6 TimeAxis = orientation:hor AlignBars = justify Colors = #legends id:triassic value:rgb(0.51,0.17,0.57) id:jurassic value:rgb(0.2,0.7,0.79) id:earlyjurassic value:rgb(0,0.69,0.89) id:middlejurassic value:rgb(0.52,0.81,0.91) id:latejurassic value:rgb(0.74,0.89,0.97) id:cretaceous value:rgb(0.5,0.78,0.31) id:earlycretaceous value:rgb(0.63,0.78,0.65) id:latecretaceous value:rgb(0.74,0.82,0.37) id:paleogene value:rgb(0.99,0.6,0.32) id:paleocene value:rgb(0.99,0.65,0.37) id:eocene value:rgb(0.99,0.71,0.42) id:oligocene value:rgb(0.99,0.75,0.48) BarData= bar:eratop bar:space bar:periodtop bar:space bar:NAM1 bar:NAM2 bar:NAM3 bar:NAM4 bar:NAM5 bar:NAM6 bar:NAM7 bar:NAM8 bar:NAM9 bar:NAM10 bar:NAM11 bar:NAM12 bar:NAM13 bar:NAM14 bar:NAM15 bar:NAM16 bar:NAM17 bar:NAM18 bar:NAM19 bar:NAM20 bar:NAM21 bar:NAM22 bar:NAM23 bar:space bar:period bar:space bar:era PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark:(line,black) width:25 shift:(7,-4) bar:eratop from: -199.6 till: -145.5 color:jurassic text:

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The J ...

from: -145.5 till: -66.0 color:cretaceous text:

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

from: -66.0 till: -23.03 color:paleogene text:

Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; British English, also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period, geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million yea ...

bar:periodtop from: -199.6 till: -175.6 color:earlyjurassic text:

Early Early may refer to: History * The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.: ** Early Christianity ** Early modern Europe Places in the United States * Early, Iowa * Early, Texas * Early ...

from: -175.6 till: -161.2 color:middlejurassic text: Middle from: -161.2 till: -145.5 color:latejurassic text:

Late Late may refer to: * LATE, an acronym which could stand for: ** Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, a proposed form of dementia ** Local-authority trading enterprise, a New Zealand business law ** Local average treatment effect, ...

from: -145.5 till: -99.6 color:earlycretaceous text:

from: -99.6 till: -66.0 color:latecretaceous text:

from: -66.0 till: -55.8 color:paleocene text: Paleo. from: -55.8 till: -33.9 color:eocene text: Eo. from: -33.9 till: -23.03 color:oligocene text: Oligo. PlotData= align:left fontsize:M mark:(line,white) width:5 anchor:till align:left color:triassic bar:NAM1 from:-166 till:-164 text:

Sarcolestes ''Sarcolestes'' (meaning "flesh robber") is an extinct genus of ankylosaurian ornithischian dinosaur from the Oxford Clay of England. The current type and only species is ''S. leedsi'', and the holotype is a single partial left mandible. The ...

? color:triassic bar:NAM2 from:-157 till:-153 text: Gargoyleosaurus color:triassic bar:NAM3 from:-157 till:-145 text:

Mymoorapelta ''Mymoorapelta'' (Meaning "Vannetta Moore and Pete and Marilyn Mygatt's shield" after a combination of the names of the discoverers of the Mygatt-Moore Quarry that fossils were originally collected from, and pɛltə "shield") is a monospecific ...

? color:triassic bar:NAM4 from:-145 till:-100 text:

Taohelong ''Taohelong'' is a genus of nodosaurid dinosaur known from Lower Cretaceous rocks in north-central China. ''Taohelong'' is based on Gansu Dinosaur Museum (GSDM) 00021, fossils including a tail vertebra, ribs, a left ilium (the main bone of th ...

color:triassic bar:NAM5 from:-137 till:-134 text: Hylaeosaurus? color:triassic bar:NAM6 from:-131 till:-126 text: Polacanthus color:triassic bar:NAM7 from:-131 till:-113 text: Sauroplites color:triassic bar:NAM1 from:-128 till:-126 text: Gastonia color:triassic bar:NAM2 from:-128 till:-126 text:

Horshamosaurus ''Horshamosaurus'' is a genus of herbivorous ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of England. It lived during the Barremian of the Cretaceous and the type species is ''Horshamosaurus rudgwickensis''. Discovery In 1985, at the marl ...

color:triassic bar:NAM3 from:-128 till:-126 text:

Hoplitosaurus ''Hoplitosaurus'' (meaning "Hoplite lizard") was a genus of armored dinosaur related to ''Polacanthus''. It was named from a partial skeleton found in the ?Barremian-age Lower Cretaceous Lakota Formation of Custer County, South Dakota. It is an ...

color:triassic bar:NAM1 from:-113 till:-94 text:

Dongyangopelta ''Dongyangopelta'' (meaning "Dongyang shield") is an extinct genus of nodosaurid, ankylosaurian, dinosaur known from the Early to Late Cretaceous Chaochuan Formation (Albian or Cenomanian stage) of Dongyang, Zhejiang Province, China. The genus c ...

color:triassic bar:NAM2 from:-105 till:-100 text:

Anoplosaurus ''Anoplosaurus'' (meaning "unarmored or unarmed lizard") is an extinct genus of herbivorous nodosaurid dinosaur, from the late Albian-age Lower Cretaceous Cambridge Greensand of Cambridgeshire, England. It has in the past been classified with e ...

color:triassic bar:NAM3 from:-97 till:-95 text: Acanthopholis color:jurassic bar:NAM8 from:-118 till:-108 text:

color:jurassic bar:NAM9 from:-118 till:-108 text:

Tatankacephalus ''Tatankacephalus'' is a basal genus of nodosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous. Its length has been estimated at 7 meters (23 ft). Its fossil has been collected from the Cloverly Formation (Aptian-Albian) of central Mon ...

color:jurassic bar:NAM10 from:-116 till:-113 text:

color:jurassic bar:NAM11 from:-113 till:-108 text: Priconodon color:jurassic bar:NAM12 from:-113 till:-100 text:

Silvisaurus ''Silvisaurus'', from the Latin silva "woodland" and Greek sauros "lizard", is a nodosaurid ankylosaur from the Early to Late Cretaceous period. Discovery and species A fossil of the species was discovered in the fifties by rancher Warren H. ...

color:jurassic bar:NAM13 from:-112 till:-107 text: Borealopelta color:jurassic bar:NAM14 from:-100 till:-94 text:

Zhejiangosaurus ''Zhejiangosaurus'' (meaning "Zhejiang lizard") is an extinct genus of ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian stage) of Zhejiang, eastern China. It was first named by a group of Chinese authors Lü Junchang, Jin Xingsheng, S ...

? color:jurassic bar:NAM15 from:-100 till:-94 text:

color:jurassic bar:NAM16 from:-99 till:-96 text:

Peloroplites ''Peloroplites'' (meaning “monstrous heavy one”) is a monospecific genus of nodosauridae, nodosaurid dinosaur from Utah that lived during the Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian to lower Turonian stage, 98.2 to 93 Ma) in what is now the Mussentuchit ...

color:jurassic bar:NAM8 from:-86 till:-84 text:

Acantholipan ''Acantholipan'' is a genus of herbivorous nodosaurid dinosaur from Mexico from the early Santonian age of the Late Cretaceous. It includes one species, ''Acantholipan gonzalezi.'' Discovery and naming In the north of Mexico, fragmentary fossil ...

color:jurassic bar:NAM9 from:-86 till:-84 text: Niobrarasaurus color:jurassic bar:NAM10 from:-84 till:-75 text: Danubiosaurus? color:jurassic bar:NAM11 from:-84 till:-75 text: Rhadinosaurus? color:jurassic bar:NAM12 from:-81 till:-79 text: Invictarx color:jurassic bar:NAM13 from:-75 till:-74 text:

Ahshislepelta ''Ahshislepelta'' (meaning "Ah-shi-sle-pah Wash shield") is a monotypic taxon, monospecific genus of ankylosauria, ankylosaur dinosaur from New Mexico that lived during the Late Cretaceous (late Campanian stage, 74.5 Ma) in what is now the Hunter ...

? color:jurassic bar:NAM14 from:-72 till:-70 text:

Glyptodontopelta ''Glyptodontopelta'' (meaning "''Glyptodon'' shield") is a monospecific genus of nodosaurid dinosaur from New Mexico that lived during the Late Cretaceous (lower to upper Maastrichtian, 69 to 66 Ma) in what is now the Naashoibito member of the O ...

color:cretaceous bar:NAM17 from:-113 till:-108 text: Europelta color:cretaceous bar:NAM18 from:-103 till:-100 text:

Pawpawsaurus ''Pawpawsaurus'', meaning "Pawpaw Lizard", is a nodosaurid ankylosaur from the Cretaceous (late Albian) of Tarrant County, Texas, discovered in May 1992. The only species yet assigned to this taxon, ''Pawpawsaurus campbelli,'' is based on a comp ...

color:cretaceous bar:NAM19 from:-97 till:-95 text: Stegopelta color:cretaceous bar:NAM17 from:-86 till:-84 text:

Hungarosaurus ''Hungarosaurus tormai'' is a herbivorous nodosaurid ankylosaur from the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian) Csehbánya Formation of the Bakony Mountains of western Hungary. It is the most completely known ankylosaur from the Cretaceous of Europe. Di ...

color:cretaceous bar:NAM18 from:-84 till:-66 text:

Struthiosaurus ''Struthiosaurus'' (Latin ''struthio'' = ostrich + Greek ''sauros'' = lizard) is a genus of nodosaurid dinosaurs, from the Late Cretaceous period (Santonian-Maastrichtian) of Austria, Romania, France and Hungary in Europe.

color:paleogene bar:NAM20 from:-103 till:-100 text:

Texasetes ''Texasetes'' (meaning "Texas resident") is a genus of ankylosaurian dinosaurs from the late Lower Cretaceous of North America. This poorly known genus has been recovered from the Paw Paw Formation (late Albian) near Haslet, Tarrant County, Te ...

color:paleogene bar:NAM21 from:-99 till:-96 text: Animantarx color:paleogene bar:NAM20 from:-84 till:-68 text:Argentinian taxon color:paleogene bar:NAM21 from:-77 till:-72 text: Edmontonia color:paleogene bar:NAM22 from:-76 till:-75 text: Panoplosaurus color:paleogene bar:NAM23 from:-68 till:-66 text: Denversaurus PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark:(line,black) width:25 bar:period from: -199.6 till: -175.6 color:earlyjurassic text:

from: -175.6 till: -161.2 color:middlejurassic text: Middle from: -161.2 till: -145.5 color:latejurassic text:

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from: -66.0 till: -55.8 color:paleocene text: Paleo. from: -55.8 till: -33.9 color:eocene text: Eo. from: -33.9 till: -23.03 color:oligocene text: Oligo. bar:era from: -199.6 till: -145.5 color:jurassic text:

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References

External links

Alberta oilsands discovery of 2011
{{Taxonbar, from=Q134193 Kimmeridgian first appearances Maastrichtian extinctions Taxa named by Othniel Charles Marsh Prehistoric dinosaur families

Description

Classification

Biogeography

See also

References

Further reading

External links