CNN reported on the remains of a dinosaur with spiked armor found in Morocco

Scientists in Morocco have found the fossilized remains of a dinosaur covered in spikes and armor. This was reported by CNN on August 28.

"Researchers have described the extensive fossilized remains of a Jurassic dinosaur named Spicomellus, discovered in the Atlas Mountains near the Moroccan city of Bulman," the publication says.

According to the TV channel, its length reached about 4 m, and its weight, according to preliminary information, ranged from one to two tons. It is specified that the dinosaur is the oldest representative of a group of tank-like armored dinosaurs, which are called Ankylosaurus.

Richard Butler, a vertebrate paleontologist from the University of Birmingham in England and one of the leaders of the study, noted that Spicomellus had an "incredibly strange" shell. He emphasized that the dinosaur also had a series of sharp, long spikes on each rib, which none of the other animals had.

Butler added that the dinosaur had "spikes the length of golf clubs sticking out around its neck." According to him, this feature served two functions: it protected from large carnivorous dinosaurs and helped to demonstrate "its beauty to attract partners."

Previously, Spicomellus was known only from a single rib fragment described in 2021.

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On July 7, a team of researchers led by the Smithsonian Institution discovered the jawbone of one of the oldest pterosaurs in the Petrified Forest National Park in North America. It is noted that the fossils found belong to the late Triassic period, which took place about 209 million years ago. According to the study, the pterosaur was supposedly the size of a seagull.

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