Dinosaur with elaborate armour and spikes one of the ‘strangest ever discovered’

One of the “strangest dinosaurs” ever discovered had elaborate armour including spikes of up to a metre-long projecting out of its neck, fossils have revealed.

Spicomellus, the world’s oldest ankylosaur, roamed the earth 165 million years ago and had bony spikes fused onto all of its ribs – a feature which has never been seen before in any other vertebrate species living or extinct, according to scientists.

Ankylosaurs were a herbivorous group of dinosaurs known for their armoured, tank-like bodies and a club-shaped tail tip.

Remains found by a team of palaeontologists have helped to build upon the original description of the animal which was based on just one rib bone found near the town of Boulemane in Morocco.

The fossils also revealed the dinosaur had spikes measuring 87 centimetres, which could have been even longer during its life, emerging from a bony collar around its neck, according to the research published in science journal Nature.

Professor Richard Butler, from the University of Birmingham and project co-lead, described the fossils as an “incredibly significant discovery.”

He added: “Spicomellus is one of the strangest dinosaurs that we’ve ever discovered.

“It’s utterly unlike any other found anywhere else in the world.”

“I think it’s going to really capture the imagination of people around the world, and tell us a lot about the early evolution of the tank-like ankylosaurs.”

Professor Susannah Maidment of Natural History Museum, London, and the University of Birmingham, who co-led the team of researchers said the “absolutely bizarre” fossils were changing how scientists believe the armoured dinosaurs evolved.

She said: “When we originally named spicomellus, there were doubts that it was an ankylosaur at all.

“Now, not only can we confirm beyond a doubt that this interpretation was correct, but Africa’s only known ankylosaur is far weirder than anyone imagined.”

She added: “Spicomellus had a diversity of plates and spikes extending from all over its body, including metre-long neck spikes, huge upwards-projecting spikes over the hips, and a whole range of long, blade-like spikes, pieces of armour made up of two long spikes, and plates down the shoulder.

“We’ve never seen anything like this in any animal before.”

Professor Maidment said that while it is likely the armour evolved initially for defence purposes, it was probably used later to attract mates and show off to rivals.

The discovery of the spicomellus species was made after Professor Maidment acquired a rib bone from a fossil dealer in Cambridge in 2019.