Sauropelta - birdwatching dinosaur from the Nodozavrid family who lived 115–110 million years ago in what is now North America . It was discovered and studied by John Ostrom in 1970 .
| † Sauropelta | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Latin name | ||||||||||||||||||
| Sauropelta Ostrom , 1970 | ||||||||||||||||||
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† Sauropelta edwardsorum Ostrom , 1970 |
Description
Sauropelta is the earliest representative of the nodozavrid family. Reached 5 meters in length and weighed 1.5 tons. The back, tail and neck were covered with hard armor consisting of bone plates. From the neck and shoulders stood spikes half a meter long. The lizard moved on four legs and ate low-growing plants.
Sauropelta edwardsorum is present in The Found World , a novel by Vladimir Serebryakov and Andrei Ulanov. The main characters even manage to tame the sauropelt to some extent and reward the creature with the nickname Katya (derived from the name of the legendary beast Catoblepas). [ significance of fact? ]