Borealopelta markmitchelli
発音： bor-ee-AL-oh-PEL-tah mark-MICH-el-eye
Ankylosauria · Nodosauridae
A nodosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Alberta preserved in 3D with its skin, horn-covered armor, pigment and last meal. Found in an oil-sands mine in 2011, it had washed out to sea and was buried on the sea floor.
- Armored
- Quadrupedal
- Exceptional preservation
- Skin impressions known
- Famous specimen
- 時代
- 白亜紀· アルビアン期
- 食性
- 植物食
- 全長
- 5.5 m
- 体重
- 1,300 kg
- 産地
- Alberta, Canada
クイックアンサー
- Borealopelta markmitchelliの大きさは？
- Borealopelta markmitchelliの全長は約5.5 mでした。腰の高さは約1.2–1.6 mでした。体重は約1.3 tでした。 (Wikipedia: Borealopelta 2026; Paul 2016)
- Borealopelta markmitchelliはいつ生きていた？
- Borealopelta markmitchelliは白亜紀前期、約1.13億〜1.005億年前に生きていました。 (Brown et al. 2020; Cohen et al. 2023)
- Borealopelta markmitchelliの化石はどこで見つかった？
- Borealopelta markmitchelliの化石はClearwater Formation (Alberta)、Canadaで見つかっています。 (Brown et al. 2017; Brown 2017)
- Borealopelta markmitchelliは何を食べていた？
- Borealopelta markmitchelliは植物食でした。 (Brown et al. 2017; Brown 2017)
- Borealopelta markmitchelliは誰がいつ命名した？
- Borealopelta markmitchelliは2017年にCaleb M. Brown et al.によって記載されました。 (Brown et al. 2017; Brown 2017)
このページの内容
- 時代
- 白亜紀113–100.5 Ma
- 食性
- 植物食
- 全長
- 5.5 m
- 体重
- 1.3 t
- 産地
- Canada
- 分類
- Ankylosauria · Nodosauridae
- 記載
- 2017, Caleb M. Brown et al.
概要
このコンテンツは英語でご覧いただけます。
Borealopelta markmitchelli lived in what is now northern Alberta in the Early Cretaceous (early Albian). Its body floated out to sea and sank, and was buried in marine sediments of the Clearwater Formation. Shawn Funk found it in 2011 while digging at the Suncor Millennium Mine near Fort McMurray; technician Mark Mitchell spent nearly six years preparing it.
It is one of the best-preserved dinosaurs ever found: the front half of the body is in three dimensions, with the bony armor still capped by horn (keratin) sheaths and covered by scales. Melanin traces show it was darker on the back than on the belly, a camouflage pattern called countershading, which suggests that even a 1.3-tonne armored animal was hunted by large predators.
A mass in its belly holds its last meal: mostly fern leaves, with some twigs and about 6% charcoal. The plants point to feeding in late spring or summer, perhaps on regrowth after a wildfire (Brown et al. 2020).
名前の意味
"Northern shield", from Latin borealis ("northern") and Greek peltē ("shield"); markmitchelli honours Mark Mitchell, who prepared the specimen (Brown et al. 2017).
生態と証拠
この動物がどのように暮らしていたかについての科学者の考えと、それぞれの説を支える証拠の強さです。
摂食
Borealopelta fed on plants regrowing after a wildfire.
証拠レベル：仮説About 6% of the meal is charcoal, which may mean it browsed ferns in a recently burned forest.
賛成・反対の証拠 · 1
支持する証拠
標本 · Borealopelta stomach contents
A mass in the abdomen made of 88% leaf tissue, 85% of it leptosporangiate ferns, with stems, wood and about 6% charcoal.
The last meal of Borealopelta was mostly ferns.
証拠レベル：直接証拠Plant remains preserved in its stomach are dominated by fern leaves, with few cycads or conifers. It is one meal, not a full diet.
賛成・反対の証拠 · 1
支持する証拠
標本 · Borealopelta stomach contents
A mass in the abdomen made of 88% leaf tissue, 85% of it leptosporangiate ferns, with stems, wood and about 6% charcoal.
皮膚と体表
Borealopelta was countershaded, darker above and lighter below.
証拠レベル：中程度の証拠Chemical traces of melanin show the pattern. Countershading is camouflage, which implies that large predators hunted even this armored animal.
賛成・反対の証拠 · 1
支持する証拠
その他 · Borealopelta melanin pattern
Melanin identified by mass spectrometry in the organic residues, with a darker back and lighter underside, and paler parascapular spines.
The armor of Borealopelta was covered by horn sheaths and scales.
証拠レベル：直接証拠The sheaths are preserved in place over the bony plates, which shows spines were longer in life than the bone alone suggests.
賛成・反対の証拠 · 1
支持する証拠
皮膚印象 · Borealopelta keratin sheaths and scales
Organic scales and horn-like keratin sheaths cap and exaggerate nearly all osteoderms along the body.
サイズ
- 全長
- 5.5 m
- 体高
- 1.4 m文献上の範囲 1.2–1.6 m
- 体重
- 1,300 kg
（18 フィート）
TMP 2011.033.0001 に基づく
（4.6 フィート）
TMP 2011.033.0001 に基づく
TMP 2011.033.0001 に基づく
タイムライン
時代： アルビアン期 (113–100.5 Ma), 白亜紀前期 (145–100.5 Ma)
Albian stage bounds; ammonite, pollen and foraminifera date the Wabiskaw Member to the Early Albian (Brown et al. 2020). PBDB still lists the occurrence as Aptian.
産地
累層
- Clearwater Formation · Alberta
- Suncor Millennium Mine, near Fort McMurray, Alberta · Clearwater Formation · Alberta
これは化石が見つかった場所で、この動物が暮らしていた範囲全体ではありません。
生態系
生息環境： Clearwater Sea
海岸縁
An Early Cretaceous shallow sea (between fair- and storm-weather wave base) 200-400 km off the coast; Borealopelta is a land animal carried out to sea.
分類
- クレードDinosauria
- クレードOrnithischia
- クレードThyreophora
- クレードAnkylosauria
- 科Nodosauridae
- 属Borealopelta
- 種Borealopelta markmitchelli
分類上の地位： 有効
化石記録
| 標本番号 | 種別 | 所蔵機関 | 発見 |
|---|---|---|---|
| TMP 2011.033.0001 | ホロタイプ | Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology (TMP) | 2011 |
見つかった部位
ホロタイプ: TMP 2011.033.0001
- 保存
- 部分的
- 復元
- 不明・未記録
部位ごと（表）
| 部位 | 状態 |
|---|---|
| Skull | 保存 |
| Mandible | 不明・未記録 |
| Teeth | 不明・未記録 |
| Cervical vertebrae | 保存 |
| Dorsal vertebrae | 保存 |
| Sacrum | 部分的 |
| Caudal vertebrae | 不明・未記録 |
| Ribs | 保存 |
| Gastralia | 不明・未記録 |
| Scapula / shoulder girdle | 不明・未記録 |
| Humerus | 不明・未記録 |
| Forearm (radius / ulna) | 不明・未記録 |
| Hand (manus) | 不明・未記録 |
| Pelvis | 不明・未記録 |
| Femur | 不明・未記録 |
| Tibia / fibula | 不明・未記録 |
| Foot (pes) | 不明・未記録 |
発見
- 記載年
- 2017
- 記載者
- Caleb M. Brown et al.
- タイプ標本
- TMP 2011.033.0001
発見の年表
2011 · 最初の化石の発見
Shawn Funk finds a nodosaur in an oil-sands mine
A heavy-equipment operator hits the fossil at the Suncor Millennium Mine; the Royal Tyrrell Museum excavates it.
人物：Shawn Funk, Donald M. Henderson
2017 · 正式に記載
Brown et al. name Borealopelta markmitchelli
The new nodosaur is described with evidence of countershading.
人物：Caleb M. Brown, Donald M. Henderson
2020 · 主要な研究
The last meal of Borealopelta is described
The stomach contents are analysed plant by plant.
人物：Caleb M. Brown
出典
- (2026). Paleobiology Database: Borealopelta occurrences. The Paleobiology Database (paleobiodb.org), data service 1.2, accessed 2026-09-23. https://paleobiodb.org/data1.2/occs/list.txt?base_name=Borealopelta&show=coords,paleoloc,strat,loc,ref&pgm=gplates（新しいタブで開きます）
- (2026). Wikipedia: Borealopelta. Wikipedia (English), accessed 2026-09-23. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borealopelta（新しいタブで開きます）
- Brown, C. M. (2017). An exceptionally preserved armored dinosaur reveals the morphology and allometry of osteoderms and their horny epidermal coverings. PeerJ 5: e4066. doi:10.7717/peerj.4066（新しいタブで開きます）
- Brown, C. M., Greenwood, D. R., Kalyniuk, J. E., Braman, D. R., Henderson, D. M., Greenwood, C. L. & Basinger, J. F. (2020). Dietary palaeoecology of an Early Cretaceous armoured dinosaur (Ornithischia; Nodosauridae) based on floral analysis of stomach contents. Royal Society Open Science 7: 200305. doi:10.1098/rsos.200305（新しいタブで開きます）
- Brown, C. M., Henderson, D. M., Vinther, J., Fletcher, I., Sistiaga, A., Herrera, J. & Summons, R. E. (2017). An exceptionally preserved three-dimensional armored dinosaur reveals insights into coloration and Cretaceous predator-prey dynamics. Current Biology 27: 2514-2521. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2017.06.071（新しいタブで開きます）
- Cohen, K. M., Harper, D. A. T., Gibbard, P. L. & Car, N. (2023). International Chronostratigraphic Chart (v2023/09). International Commission on Stratigraphy. https://stratigraphy.org/ICSchart/ChronostratChart2023-09.pdf（新しいタブで開きます）
- Paul, G. S. (2016). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (2nd edition). Princeton University Press.