Sauropelta

dinosaur · armor · cretaceous

Built like a tank. Sauropelta was a nodosaur, which means its entire body was covered with thick, bony armor and sharp spikes sticking out all over to protect it from predators.

Very ancient detective work. Scientists found most of Sauropelta's fossils in Wyoming and Montana, in rocks that are 108.5 million years old, making it one of the earliest armored dinosaurs we know about.

Well-preserved remains. Sauropelta is one of the best-understood nodosaurs because paleontologists have recovered quite a few fossilized bones and armor pieces to study.

North American resident. This dinosaur lived in what is now the western United States during the Early Cretaceous Period, long before the Rocky Mountains looked the way they do today.