Imagine a dinosaur that looked like a walking medieval weapon rack. That’s basically Spicomellus afer, the oldest-known ankylosaur ever discovered, recently unearthed in Morocco. And trust me, this guy makes every other armored dinosaur look underdressed for battle.
Dating back over 165 million years, Spicomellus wasn’t some towering T. rex rival. Instead, it was a squat, tank-like herbivore about 13 feet long and weighing nearly two tons. But what it lacked in size, it more than made up for in outrageous armor. Picture a giant bony collar around its neck with meter-long spikes sticking straight out, razor-sharp rib spikes along its sides, and a tail that likely ended in a brutal club. Basically, if a cactus and a turtle had a prehistoric baby, you’d get this dinosaur.Here’s where it gets even cooler: scientists think Spicomellus wasn’t just using all that armor for protection. The spikes may have doubled as a flashy display, like a peacock showing off its feathers. Only instead of pretty colors, it was “Hey, check out these meter-long murder spikes, don’t mess with me and by the way, I’m a great mate.” That’s nature’s ultimate combo of defense and swagger.And about that tail? It may be the earliest sign of the classic ankylosaur tail club, appearing 30 million years earlier than anyone expected. That means these dinosaurs were arming themselves with serious weaponry way before the Jurassic world was ready.The discovery of Spicomellus completely rewrites what we thought we knew about ankylosaurs. It shows that even early on, these animals were masters of both survival and style. They weren’t just armored tanks lumbering through the Jurassic—they were armored tanks with flair.
So next time you see a peacock strutting, just remember: 165 million years ago, dinosaurs were pulling the same move, only with spikes that could skewer a predator. Source
“Bizarre” armoured dinosaur Spicomellus afer rewrites ankylosaur evolution
A beastie Sci-Fi couldn’t outdo. The planet is a wondrous place.