Ahshislepelta
Ahshislepelta (meaning "Ah-shi-sle-pah Wash shield") is a monospecific genus of ankylosaur dinosaur from New Mexico that lived during the Late Cretaceous (late Campanian stage, 74.5 Ma) in what is now the Hunter Wash Member of the Kirtland Formation. The type and only species, Ahshislepelta minor, is known only from an incomplete postcranial skeleton of a small subadult or adult individual. It was named in 2011 by Michael Burns and Robert M. Sullivan. Based on the size of the humerus, Ahshislepelta is larger than Pinacosaurus mephistocephalus but smaller than Talarurus and Pinacosaurus granger
Article
9 sectionsContents
- Discovery and naming
- Description
- Distinguishing traits
- Postcrania
- Osteoderms
- Classification
- Paleoenvironment
- See also
- References
Ahshislepelta (meaning "Ah-shi-sle-pah Wash shield") is a monospecific genus of ankylosaur dinosaur from New Mexico that lived during the Late Cretaceous (late Campanian stage, 74.5 Ma) in what is now the Hunter Wash Member of the Kirtland Formation. The type and only species, Ahshislepelta minor, is known only from an incomplete postcranial skeleton of a small subadult or adult individual. It was named in 2011 by Michael Burns and Robert M. Sullivan. Based on the size of the humerus, Ahshislepelta is larger than Pinacosaurus mephistocephalus but smaller than Talarurus and Pinacosaurus grangeri.
==Discovery and naming== left|thumb|Location and stratigraphy of the Kirtland Formation. In 2005, a partial postcranial skeleton of an ankylosaur was discovered from the Hunter Wash Member in the lower part of the Kirtland Formation, New Mexico at the Ah-shi-sle-pah Wilderness Study Area. The specimen was later collected over consecutive field seasons from 2005 to 2009 and was subsequently described in 2011 by Michael Burns and Robert M. Sullivan. The holotype specimen, SMP VP-1930, consists of a partial girdle, partial scapulocoracoid, a proximal portion of the radius, numerous cervical and/or dorsal vertebrae fragments, complete and fragmentary thoracic osteoderms, and other unidentifiable postcranial fragments. The holotype specimen is currently housed at the State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg.