Armored dinosaur with prickly head unveiled at the Utah Museum

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) – A dinosaur covered with bone armor from his thorny head up to his clubbed tail was unveiled in a museum in Utah where he found himself in a state of the art. species has been discovered.

The Ankylosaurus was a stocky plant eater that roamed south of Utah on all fours about 76 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous. At that time, the desert state was hot and humid, covered with slow watercourses and large evergreens, said paleontologist Randall Irmis.

He was about as long as a tall alligator and was at a height that would have been about the size for a tall human. He probably used his distinctive tail and armor for protection, although they could also be used for display.

The fossil unveiled Thursday at the Utah Museum of Natural History was discovered in 2008 in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, a rich dinosaur deposit in southern Utah.

The fossil was discovered on the Kaiparowits Formation, a thick layer of sandstone that also has extensive coal reserves inside a sprawling national monument that was one of the two Donald Trump to have been reduced last year. The place where the fossil was found remains within the boundaries of the monument, although areas that are now out of bounds also have fossil potential, said Irmis.

Researchers expected to have smooth and smooth armor on the skull like other North American ankylosaurs, but were surprised to find spiky armor on the head and muzzle, similar to the fossils found in Canada. Asia.

Paleontologists believe that animals have migrated to North America several times over the centuries, while the lowering of the sea level has allowed them to cross a land bridge.

The species was named Akainacephalus johnsoni to recognize Randy Johnson, a retired chemist and a museum volunteer who spent hundreds of hours painstakingly releasing skulls from rocks and debris.

With a complete skull, the fossil also includes the distinctive tail club, large parts of his vertebral spine and parts of his armor, including two neck rings and spiked armor plates, the museum said in a statement.