Spiclypeus (meaning spike shield) is an extinct genus of chasmosaurine ceratopsian dinosaur that lived in Montana, United States during the Late Cretaceous period. The type species is Spiclypeus shipporum.
Discovery and Naming[]
In 2000, Nuclear Physicist Bill D. Shipp bought the Paradise Point Ranch near the town of Winifred, Fergus County, Montana. He hired the local veteran fossil collector John C. Gilpatrick to explore the terrain together. On their first trip, Shipp found the specimen on his land in Montana. He then hired novice paleontologist Joe Small to excavate the fossils. At the cost of $700,000, a road was constructed, and eventually, Small and his team managed to secure all those bones. Then the fossils were prepared in Hill City, South Dakota. They were studied by Christopher Ott, and during this time it was informally called "Judith". But eventually in 2016, paleontologist Jordan Mallon wrote the description of it, and the specimen was sold to Canadian Museum of Nature for $350,000. The generic name is derived from Latin words Spica and Clypeus, both meaning spike and shield. The specific name is named after the original owners of the fossil, Bill D. Shipp and his family.
Description[]
The holotype (CMN 57081) is a disarticulated skull and its postcranial elements. It has a length of 4.5 to 6 meters (15-20ft) and weighs three to four tonnes. It can be distinguished by having a wrinkled nose bone contact on the side surface of the rear projection of the premaxilla. It is also unique in having the trait combination of eye-socket horncores that project to above and sideways, all six epiparietals (frill horns) that are fused at their base, etc. It can be directly distinguished from other Judith River ceratopsian Mercuriceratops, Medusaceratops, and Judiceratops, but morphologically simiar to the Ceratops, which is dubious. The skull has a length of 167 centimeters. The rear bones of the frill, the parietals, each carry three epiparietals. Examination of the specimen's bones determines that it is a mature species.
Classification[]
It is classified as a member of chasmosaurinae.
Paleopathology[]
The infection is present at the left humerus, and the entire lower half of the body was diseased.
Gallery[]
