Dracopelta
Dracopelta (meaning “dragon shield”) is a monospecific genus of ankylosaur dinosaur from Portugal that lived during the Late Jurassic (uppermost lower Tithonian-upper Tithonian, 152.1-145.0 Ma) in what is now the Lourinhã Formation. The type and only species is Dracopelta zbyszewskii, which is represented by a partial skeleton including unpublished material.[1][2]
In 1963 or, more likely, early 1964, a partial skeleton was discovered during road construction works between the village of Barril and Praia da Assenta.[1] Leonel Trindade confirmed the presence of the fossil in the area and photographed the specimen in situ.[1] Georges Zbyszewski and Octávio da Veiga Ferreir organized the excavation and extraction of the specimen in December 1964.[1] Parts of the specimen were unprepared and misplaced, mixed in with a specimen of Miragaia.[1] The holotype specimen, MG 3 (formerly IGM 5787 and IGM 3), consists of dorsal vertebrae, articulated proximal ribs, osteoderms, an incomplete autopodium and unpublished material including a tibia, femur, and an ossified tendon.[1][2] Currently new material pertaining to the holotype specimen is being described.[1] The generic name, Dracopelta, is derived from the Latin word draco (dragon) and the Greek word πέλτη, pelte, (Latinised to pelta) ,"small shield".[2] The specific name, zbyszewskii, honours Georges Zbyszewski, after his research on fossil vertebrates from Portugal.[2]
The holotype was originally, and incorrectly, identified to be from the Kimmeridgian stage of Ribamar.[1][2][3] However, Antunes and Mateus (2003) noted that at a locality named Ribamar, there are outcrops of Lower Cretaceous that date to the Valanginian and Albian stages and deemed it as highly unlikely that the specimen was obtained from that locality.[4] Pereda-Suberbiola et al. (2005) determined that the specimen was from a locality constrained to the uppermost lower Tithonian-upper Tithonian which shows characteristics consistent with what is recognized in the Assenta Member of the Lourinhã Formation, an observation agreed upon by Russo and Mateus (2021).[3]
In 2019, a specimen of an ankylosaur consisting of a nearly complete skull, articulated dorsal vertebrae, proximal half of ribs, articulated anterior caudal vertebrae, mostly complete and articulated synsacrum, fragments of disarticulated and broken ribs, femora, partial ilia with attached pelvic shield, humerus, partial scapulocoracoid, tendons mostly attached to vertebrae, and osteoderms from the Lourinhã Formation was reported.[5] The specimen is currently being studied on to clarify if it represents an additional, more complete specimen, of Dracopelta or a new taxon.[1]
Dracopelta has an estimated body length of 3 metres (9.9 feet) and a weight of 300 kilograms (600 lb).[6] The holotype specimen represents an adult individual.[3]
