SPICOMELLUS
a plant-eating ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of Morocco
Pronunciation: SPY-co-MELL-us
Meaning: Collar of spikes
Author/s: Maidment
et al. (
2021)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Fès-Meknès, Morocco
Discovery Chart Position: #1050
Spicomellus afer
(African Collar of spikes)Etymology
Spicomellus is derived from the Latin "spica" (spike) and "mellum" (dog collar), referring to the spines that are fused to its holotype rib.
The
species epithet,
afer, means "an inhabitant of Africa" in Latin.
Discovery
The remains of
Spicomellus were discovered in the El Mers III Formation (El Mers Group), near Boulahfa, south of Boulemane, Fès-Meknès, Middle Atlas Mountains, Morocco.
The
holotype (NHMUK PV R37412) is a rib with four spines fused to its surface. It was aquired by London'a Natural History Museum from a commercial fossil dealer, Moussa Direct, in Cambridge, U.K., in 2019.
Estimations
Timeline:
Era: Mesozoic
Epoch: Middle Jurassic
Stage: Bathonian-Callovian
Age range: 167-163 mya
Stats:
Est. max. length: 3 meters
Est. max. hip height: ?
Est. max. weight: ?
Diet: Herbivore
References
• Maidment SCR, Strachan SJ, Ouarhache D, Scheyer TM, Brown EE, Fernandez V, Johanson Z, Raven TJ and Barrett PM (2021) "Bizarre dermal armour suggests the first African ankylosaur".
Nature Ecology & Evolution, 5(12): 1-6. DOI: 10.1038/s41559-021-01553-6.
• Maidment SCR, Raven TJ, Ouarhache D and Barrett PM (2019) "North Africa's first stegosaur: Implications for Gondwanan thyreophoran dinosaur diversity".
Gondwana Research, 77: 82-97.
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To cite this page:
Atkinson, L.
"
SPICOMELLUS :: from DinoChecker's dinosaur archive".
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http://www.dinochecker.com/dinosaurs/SPICOMELLUS›. Web access: 06th Mar 2026.
