**Spicomellus: An Ancient Dinosaur**
Spicomellus is an extinct type of dinosaur that lived during the Middle Jurassic period, around 168 to 164 million years ago. This dinosaur is known from fossils found in Morocco and belongs to a group called ankylosaurs.
**What is Spicomellus?**
Spicomellus is a genus, which means it’s a group that includes a specific type of dinosaur known as **Spicomellus afer**. So far, only one species has been found. The fossils consist mainly of a single rib that has spikes fused to it. This feature is unique among dinosaurs.
**Discovery and Naming**
The first fossil of Spicomellus was discovered in a place called the El Mers III Formation in Morocco. This fossil, known as the holotype, was later studied by scientists at the Natural History Museum in London.
In 2021, researchers named this dinosaur Spicomellus afer. The name “Spicomellus” comes from Latin words that mean “spike” and “collar of spikes.” The term “afer” means “from Africa.”
**What Did Spicomellus Look Like?**
Spicomellus had special spikes that were attached directly to its bones, which is not common among dinosaurs. Usually, similar spikes in other dinosaurs are not fused to the bone. This makes Spicomellus quite different from others.
**Where Does It Fit in the Dinosaur Family?**
Initially, scientists thought Spicomellus might be related to another group of dinosaurs called stegosaurs. However, further studies showed that Spicomellus is a type of ankylosaur, making it the oldest named ankylosaur discovered so far.
**Living Environment**
Spicomellus lived in a region that used to be part of a supercontinent called Gondwana. During its time, it shared its habitat with various other dinosaurs, including giant plant-eating dinosaurs called sauropods and armored dinosaurs like stegosaurs. It also faced threats from meat-eating dinosaurs known as theropods.
The discovery of Spicomellus helps show that both ankylosaurs and stegosaurus coexisted for a long time, over 20 million years, indicating that their extinction might not have been caused by each other’s presence.
**In Summary**
Spicomellus is a fascinating dinosaur that gives us insight into the early diversity of ankylosaurs. This ancient creature’s unique features and the environment it lived in help scientists understand how dinosaurs evolved and how they interacted with one another.