Jurassic dinosaur Spicomellus afer stuns scientists with bizarre armor

For decades, paleontologists thought armored dinosaurs called ankylosaurs mostly roamed the Northern Hemisphere late in the Age of Dinosaurs. Their early history, especially during the Jurassic, was a puzzle because fossils from that time are so scarce. One candidate for the oldest ankylosaur, Spicomellus afer, was first described in 2021 from a single rib bone found in Morocco. At the time, many wondered if that was really enough proof.

Now, new fossils have not only confirmed its identity but revealed an animal stranger and more dazzling than anyone expected. Spicomellus isn’t just another ankylosaur—it’s a Jurassic showpiece with some of the most bizarre armor ever seen in a vertebrate.

Spicomellus wore armor like no other dinosaur. Long, blade-like spikes erupted from its ribs, fused so tightly to the bone that they became part of the skeleton itself. Across its shoulders, more spines jutted outward, while its back and hips bristled with upward-projecting spikes. Even its hips were capped with a bony shield. Most eye-catching of all was a collar of spikes around its neck, with some stretching nearly a meter long.

These weren’t just simple defensive plates. They were elaborate, exotic structures that looked more like decorative blades than tools of war. No other living or extinct animal has been found with spikes fused to its ribs in this way.

Professor Susannah Maidment of the Natural History Museum in London and the University of Birmingham, who co-led the study, described the discovery as “unlike anything we’ve seen before.” She added, “To find such elaborate armor in an early ankylosaur changes our understanding of how these dinosaurs evolved. It shows just how significant Africa’s dinosaurs are, and how important it is to improve our understanding of them.”

Armor wasn’t Spicomellus’ only surprise. Its tail vertebrae were partially fused into what paleontologists call a “handle.” That feature almost always supports a heavy tail club, a weapon known from much later ankylosaurs that used them like medieval maces.

Until this find, scientists believed tail clubs evolved tens of millions of years later in the Cretaceous period. The discovery of fused vertebrae in a Middle Jurassic species pushes the origin of this weapon back by more than 30 million years. Even though the very end of the tail hasn’t yet been found, the surviving bones strongly suggest Spicomellus had already developed the foundation for a tail club or at least a powerful tail weapon.

Professor Richard Butler of the University of Birmingham recalled his first reaction to the fossils: “Seeing and studying the Spicomellus fossils for the first time was spine-tingling. We just couldn’t believe how weird it was and how unlike any other dinosaur, or indeed any other animal we know of alive or extinct.”

The striking armor of Spicomellus probably served multiple purposes. The spikes and shields would have helped protect it from attackers, but their exaggerated form hints at another role. Paleontologists suggest that some of the armor was used for display—either to attract mates or to intimidate rivals.

This idea fits with how armor changed in ankylosaurs over time. Later species, especially those from the Late Cretaceous, wore simpler, sturdier plates designed mostly for survival against larger predators. Earlier in their evolutionary story, though, ankylosaurs like Spicomellus may have flaunted their ornamentation much like peacocks use feathers today.

That balance between defense and display helps explain why later species didn’t inherit Spicomellus’ flamboyant look. As predators grew more dangerous, flashy spikes gave way to practical protection.

Spicomellus lived over 165 million years ago in what is now Morocco, making it not only the earliest ankylosaur ever found but also the first known from Africa. This single species forces scientists to rethink the entire family tree of these dinosaurs.

Before this discovery, key ankylosaur features—ornamental armor and tail clubs—were thought to appear millions of years later. Spicomellus shows that many of these traits were already established early in their history. That revelation shifts the evolutionary timeline back by tens of millions of years.

It also highlights Africa’s role in dinosaur history. For a long time, the continent was underrepresented in the fossil record, but discoveries like this one demonstrate that Africa was home to early innovations in dinosaur evolution. Professor Driss Ouarhache of Université Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah, a co-author of the study, emphasized the importance of the find for local science. “This study is helping to drive forward Moroccan science. We’ve never seen dinosaurs like this before, and there’s still a lot more this region has to offer,” he said.

The skeleton of Spicomellus was collected by a team of paleontologists from the Natural History Museum in London, the University of Birmingham, and Moroccan institutions. The fossils were prepared at the Department of Geology of the Dhar El Mahraz Faculty of Sciences in Fez using equipment provided through international research partnerships.

The team meticulously cleaned and cataloged each fragment, carefully piecing together the unusual anatomy. Their findings were published in the journal Nature under the title “Extreme armour in the world’s oldest ankylosaur.”

Professor Butler summed up the experience of working with the fossils: “It turns much of what we thought we knew about ankylosaurs and their evolution on its head and demonstrates just how much there still is to learn about dinosaurs.”

Studying Spicomellus not only reveals the quirks of a single species but also helps answer larger questions about dinosaur evolution. Why did some species evolve flamboyant display features while others prioritized defense? How did rising predator threats shape their armor? And why did certain early traits, like tail weaponry, persist while others faded away?

The answers are still unfolding, but Spicomellus offers a vivid snapshot of evolution in progress. It shows that even in the Jurassic, dinosaurs were experimenting with forms that blurred the line between show and survival.

For paleontologists, it’s also a reminder that one fossil can overturn long-held assumptions. What began as a single mysterious rib has grown into a skeleton that redefines the story of armored dinosaurs.

Discoveries like Spicomellus afer reshape how scientists understand dinosaur evolution and the timing of key adaptations. By proving that armor and tail weapons appeared earlier than once believed, the find forces a reevaluation of how species adapted to changing predators and environments.

It also underscores the importance of African fossils in telling the global story of dinosaurs, helping to balance a record long dominated by discoveries from Europe, Asia, and North America.

Beyond paleontology, such studies show how unexpected evidence can rewrite scientific narratives, reminding us that exploration and curiosity still drive discovery.

For the public, it sparks imagination and deepens appreciation for the complexity of life on Earth’s distant past.

Note: The article above provided above by The Brighter Side of News.

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