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A Dinosaur Covered in Spikes
Imagine a dinosaur so bizarrely armed that even other armored dinosaurs would look plain beside it. Fragments of Spicomellus afer were first discovered in 2021, but it wasn't until 2025 that a more complete specimen was found, revealing the full extent of its unusual anatomy. This newly described ankylosaur from Morocco was covered in an unusually long and excessive number of spikes that even jutted straight from its ribcage. Unlike anything seen in other dinosaurs, or even modern animals, this extravagant body armor was as much a spectacle as it was a shield, making Spicomellus one of the most extraordinary dinosaurs ever discovered.

A Breakthrough in Africa
Ankylosaurs are best known from the Late Cretaceous of the Northern Hemisphere, where they lumbered across ancient landscapes with heavy armor and, in some cases, massive tail clubs. But their earlier history in the Jurassic period has remained murky due to a sparse fossil record. Until recently, the only evidence of ankylosaurs in Africa was a fragmentary rib of Spicomellus found in Morocco. Now, paleontologists have unearthed a much more complete specimen, confirming this dinosaur's place in the ankylosaur family and revealing just how strange it really was.

Spikes Like No Other Vertebrate
The armor of Spicomellus was unlike that of any other vertebrate, past or present. Its spikes were not small, isolated plates like those on other ankylosaurs. Instead, they formed unusually elaborate structures directly fused to the ribs, creating a bristling wall of natural weaponry along its sides. This bizarre feature has no parallel in the fossil record, setting Spicomellus apart from every known armored dinosaur.

A Tail Weapon Ahead of Its Time
Even more surprising was the discovery of unique "handle" vertebrae in the tail of Spicomellus. These features indicate the dinosaur had the early stages of a tail weapon - something once thought to have appeared much later in ankylosaur evolution, during the Early Cretaceous. Although the actual tail weapon was not found, this pushes back the origins of tail clubs by tens of millions of years and shows that ankylosaurs were experimenting with weapons earlier than scientists believed.

Display or Defense?
The extravagant spikes raise an important question: were they purely defensive, or did they serve another purpose? While they undoubtedly offered protection against predators, paleontologists suggest they may also have been used for display, intimidation, or even courtship. Later ankylosaurs of the Cretaceous had simpler, sturdier armor, suggesting a shift toward purely defensive adaptations as predation pressures changed or courtship strategies evolved.

Almost Lost to Poaching
The story of Spicomellus also shows a darker side of paleontology: fossil poaching. The specimen was discovered in Morocco's Kem Kem Beds, a region notorious for the black-market trade of fossils. Many extraordinary finds from this area have been smuggled out and sold to private collectors, stripping them of scientific value. In the case of Spicomellus, researchers were able to secure the fossil and study it before it vanished into obscurity; an outcome that highlights the urgent need for protecting scientifically priceless fossils from the fossil trade.

Changing the Evolutionary Story
The discovery of Spicomellus reshapes our understanding of ankylosaur evolution. Instead of a slow progression from simple armor to advanced tail clubs, ankylosaurs were far more diverse and experimental in their early forms than once assumed. The fact that the earliest known ankylosaur came from Africa also highlights how little we know about the spread and diversification of these dinosaurs during the Jurassic.

A Window Into a Lost World
More than just another fossil find, Spicomellus provides a rare glimpse into the experimentation of early armored dinosaurs. Its excessive, rib-fused spikes and early tail weaponry paint a picture of a creature that was as flamboyant as it was fearsome. That this fossil nearly disappeared into the black market makes its recovery all the more remarkable. This unusual ankylosaur reminds us that dinosaur evolution was full of unexpected detours, producing animals stranger than we ever imagined.

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Journal Article:
Maidment, S.C.R., Ouarhache, D., Ech-charay, K. et al. Extreme armour in the world's oldest ankylosaur. Nature (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09453-6

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