Acanthopholis

Acanthopholis (/knfls/; meaning spiny scales)

is a genus of ankylosaurian dinosaur in the family
Nodosauridae that lived during the Early Cretaceous
Period of England.

Anoplosaurus major. He also described a new species,

Acanthopholis eucercus, on the basis of six caudal vertebrae (CAMSM 55552-55557).[6] In 1902 however Franz
Nopcsa changed it into another species of Acanthopholis:
Acanthopholis major. Nopcsa at the same time renamed
Anoplosaurus curtonotus into Acanthopholis curtonotus.
In 1879 Seeley named the genus Syngonosaurus based
on part of the type material of A. macrocercus. In
1956 Friedrich von Huene renamed A. platypus into
Macrurosaurus platypus.

History

In 1999 Xabier Pereda-Superbiola and Paul M. Barrett reviewed all Acanthopholis material. They concluded that
all species were nomina dubia whose syntype specimens
were composites of non-diagnostic ankylosaur and ornithopod remains. For example, the metatarsals included
in the syntype series of Acanthopholis platypus are from
a sauropod, but the remaining syntypes are not. They
Hypothetical restoration
also found two previously unpublished names which Seeley had used to label museum specimens: AcanthophoAround 1865 commercial fossil collector John Griths lis hughesii indicated SMC B55463-55490 and Acanfound some dinosaurian remains, including osteoderms, thopholis keepingi SMC B55491-55526. Both names
at the shoreline near Folkestone in Kent, which he sold to were not proposed by them as new species and are nomina
the metallurgist Dr. John Percy. Percy brought them to nuda.[7]
the attention of Thomas Henry Huxley, who paid GrifAcanthopholiss armour consisted of oval keeled plates set
ths to dig up all fossils he could nd at the site. Despite
almost horizontally into the skin, with long spikes probeing hampered by the fact that it was located between
truding from the neck and shoulder area, along the spine.
the tidemarks, he managed to uncover several additional
Acanthopholis was quadrupedal and herbivorous. Its size
bones and parts of the body armour.
has been estimated to be in the range of 3 to 5.5 meters
In 1867 Huxley named the genus and species Acan- (10 to 18 ft) long and approximately 380 kilograms (840
thopholis horridus.[1] The dinosaurs generic name refers lb) in weight.
to its armour, being derived from Greek akanAcanthopholis was originally assigned to the
tha meaning 'spine' or 'thorn' and pholis meaning
Scelidosauridae by Huxley.
In 1902 Nopcsa cre'scale'. The specic name horridus means 'frightening' or
ated a separate family Acanthopholididae. Later, he
'rough' in Latin. Arthur Smith Woodward emended the
named Acanthopholinae as a subfamily. In 1928,
species name to Acanthopholis horrida in 1890 because
he corrected Acanthopholididae to Acanthopholidae.
pholis is feminine.[2]
Today Acanthopholis is considered a member of the
The type specimens, cotypes GSM 109045-GSM Nodosauridae within the Ankylosauria.
109058, were found in the Chalk Group,[3] a formation
itself dating to the Albian to Cenomanian stages around
100 million years ago.. The specimens consist of three 2 See also
teeth, a basicranium, a dorsal vertebra, spikes and scutes.
Timeline of ankylosaur research

In 1869 Harry Govier Seeley named several new species

of the genus based on remains from the Cambridge
Greensand: Acanthopholis macrocercus, based on specimens CAMSM B55570-55609; Acanthopholis platypus (CAMSM B55454-55461);[4] and Acanthopholis
stereocercus (CAMSM B55558 55569).[5] Later, Seeley split the material of Acanthopholis stereocercus and
based a new species of Anoplosaurus on part of it:

3 Notes
[1] Huxley, T.H., 1867, On Acanthopholis horridus, a new
reptile from the Chalk-Marl, Geological Magazine, 4: 6567

[2] A.S. Woodward and C.D. Sherborn, 1890, A Catalogue of

British Fossil Vertebrates Dulao & Company, London pp.
396
[3] Etheridge, R., 1867, On the stratigraphical position of
Acanthopholis horridus, a new reptile from the Chalk
Marl, Geological Magazine, 4: 67-69
[4] Seeley, H.G., 1871, On Acanthopholis platypus (Seeley),
a pachypod from the Cambridge Upper Greensand, Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 8: 305-318
[5] Seeley, H.G., 1869, Index to the Fossil Remains of Aves,
Ornithosauria, and Reptilia from the Secondary Strata arranged in the Woodwardian Museum of the University of
Cambridge. Deighton, Bell and Co., Cambridge, 143 pp
[6] Seeley, H.G., 1879, On the Dinosauria of the Cambridge
Greensand, Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society
35: 591-636
[7] Pereda-Suberbiola, X. & Barrett, P.M., 1999, A systematic review of ankylosaurian dinosaur remains from
the Albian-Cenomanian of England, Special Papers in
Palaeontology, 60: 177-208

References
Carpenter, Kenneth (2001). Phylogenetic Analysis
of Ankylosauria. In Carpenter, Kenneth(ed). The
Armored Dinosaurs. Indiana University Press. pp.
455480. ISBN 0-253-33964-2.

External links
Acanthopholis data sheet at Dinosaurier-info.de (in
German)

EXTERNAL LINKS

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

6.1

Text

Acanthopholis Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acanthopholis?oldid=663289843 Contributors: Merovingian, Yosri, Kjoonlee,

Kwamikagami, Firsfron, LadyofHats, MWAK, YurikBot, RussBot, Spawn Man, KnightRider~enwiki, SmackBot, Nowic, Commander
Keane bot, J. Spencer, Abyssal, Jerkov, Dudo2, Yannzgob~enwiki, Sheep81, Ballista, Cydebot, Casliber, JAnDbot, Deective, ArthurWeasley, AstroHurricane001, Smeira, LordAnubisBOT, TXiKiBoT, Kumioko (renamed), ClueBot, Mild Bill Hiccup, Alexbot, Addbot,
Betterusername, LaaknorBot, AndersBot, Lightbot, , Luckas-bot, Citation bot, Uranepu, EmausBot, Elspooky, RockMagnetist, ClueBot NG, Irvin calicut, Extrapolaris, IJReid and Anonymous: 15

6.2

Images

File:Acanthopholis_copia.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Acanthopholis_copia.jpg License: CC

BY 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Karkemish
File:Acanthopholis_suposed.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Acanthopholis_suposed.jpg License:
Public domain Contributors: i did myself Original artist: Mariana Ruiz LadyofHats
File:Tyrannoskull.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Tyrannoskull.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/handle/2246/49 Original artist: A.E. Anderson

6.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0