Borealopelta markmitchelli
读音： 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
- 时代
- 白垩纪· 阿尔布阶
- 食性
- 植食性
- 体长
- 5.5 m
- 体重
- 1,300 kg
- 地点
- Alberta, Canada
快速问答
- Borealopelta markmitchelli有多大？
- Borealopelta markmitchelli体长约5.5 m。髋部高约1.2–1.6 m。体重约1.3 t。 (Wikipedia: Borealopelta 2026; Paul 2016)
- Borealopelta markmitchelli生活在什么时候？
- Borealopelta markmitchelli生活在早白垩世，约1.13亿至1.005亿年前。 (Brown et al. 2020; Cohen et al. 2023)
- 在哪里发现过Borealopelta markmitchelli的化石？
- Borealopelta markmitchelli的化石发现于Clearwater Formation (Alberta)和Canada。 (Brown et al. 2017; Brown 2017)
- Borealopelta markmitchelli吃什么？
- Borealopelta markmitchelli是植食性。 (Brown et al. 2017; Brown 2017)
- Borealopelta markmitchelli由谁命名，何时命名？
- Borealopelta markmitchelli由Caleb M. Brown et al.于2017年描述。 (Brown et al. 2017; Brown 2017)
本页内容
- 时代
- 白垩纪113–100.5 Ma
- 食性
- 植食性
- 体长
- 5.5 m
- 体重
- 1.3 t
- 产地
- Canada
- 分类
- Ankylosauria · Nodosauridae
- 命名
- 2017, Caleb M. Brown et al.
概览
此内容目前仅提供英文版。
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).
名称含义
"Northern shield", from Latin borealis ("northern") and Greek peltē ("shield"); markmitchelli honours Mark Mitchell, who prepared the specimen (Brown et al. 2017).
生物学与证据
科学家对这种动物生活方式的看法，以及每种观点的证据有多充分。
进食
Borealopelta fed on plants regrowing after a wildfire.
证据等级：假说About 6% of the meal is charcoal, which may mean it browsed ferns in a recently burned forest.
支持 / 反对证据 · 1
支持证据
标本 · 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.
证据等级：直接证据Plant remains preserved in its stomach are dominated by fern leaves, with few cycads or conifers. It is one meal, not a full diet.
支持 / 反对证据 · 1
支持证据
标本 · 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.
皮肤与体表覆盖
Borealopelta was countershaded, darker above and lighter below.
证据等级：中等证据Chemical traces of melanin show the pattern. Countershading is camouflage, which implies that large predators hunted even this armored animal.
支持 / 反对证据 · 1
支持证据
其他 · 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.
证据等级：直接证据The sheaths are preserved in place over the bony plates, which shows spines were longer in life than the bone alone suggests.
支持 / 反对证据 · 1
支持证据
皮肤印痕 · Borealopelta keratin sheaths and scales
Organic scales and horn-like keratin sheaths cap and exaggerate nearly all osteoderms along the body.
体型
- 体长
- 5.5 m
- 身高
- 1.4 m文献范围 1.2–1.6 m
- 体重
- 1,300 kg
（18 英尺）
依据 TMP 2011.033.0001
（4.6 英尺）
依据 TMP 2011.033.0001
依据 TMP 2011.033.0001
时间线
时代： 阿尔布阶 (113–100.5 Ma), 早白垩世 (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.
产地
地层
- Clearwater Formation · Alberta
- Suncor Millennium Mine, near Fort McMurray, Alberta · Clearwater Formation · Alberta
这些是发现化石的地点，而不是该动物生活的全部范围。
生态系统
生活于： Clearwater Sea
海洋边缘
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.
分类
- 演化支Dinosauria
- 演化支Ornithischia
- 演化支Thyreophora
- 演化支Ankylosauria
- 科Nodosauridae
- 属Borealopelta
- 种Borealopelta markmitchelli
分类地位： 有效
化石记录
| 编号 | 类型 | 收藏机构 | 发现年份 |
|---|---|---|---|
| TMP 2011.033.0001 | 正模标本 | Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology (TMP) | 2011 |
已发现的部分
正模标本: TMP 2011.033.0001
- 保存
- 部分保存
- 复原
- 未知 / 未记录
按部位查看（表格）
| 部位 | 状态 |
|---|---|
| Skull | 保存 |
| Mandible | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Teeth | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Cervical vertebrae | 保存 |
| Dorsal vertebrae | 保存 |
| Sacrum | 部分保存 |
| Caudal vertebrae | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Ribs | 保存 |
| Gastralia | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Scapula / shoulder girdle | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Humerus | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Forearm (radius / ulna) | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Hand (manus) | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Pelvis | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Femur | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Tibia / fibula | 未知 / 未记录 |
| Foot (pes) | 未知 / 未记录 |
发现
- 命名年份
- 2017
- 命名者
- Caleb M. Brown et al.
- 模式标本
- TMP 2011.033.0001
发现时间线
2011 · 首次发现材料
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 · 正式命名
Brown et al. name Borealopelta markmitchelli
The new nodosaur is described with evidence of countershading.
人物：Caleb M. Brown, Donald M. Henderson
2020 · 重要研究
The last meal of Borealopelta is described
The stomach contents are analysed plant by plant.
人物：Caleb M. Brown
参考文献
- (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（在新标签页中打开）
- (2026). Wikipedia: Borealopelta. Wikipedia (English), accessed 2026-09-23. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borealopelta（在新标签页中打开）
- 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（在新标签页中打开）
- 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（在新标签页中打开）
- 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（在新标签页中打开）
- 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（在新标签页中打开）
- Paul, G. S. (2016). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (2nd edition). Princeton University Press.