'Punk rock' dinosaur with metre-long spikes discovered

Scientists have discovered a bizarre armoured dinosaur which had metre-long spikes sticking out from its neck.

The species, called Spicomellus afer, lived 165 million years ago, and is the oldest example of a group of armoured dinosaurs called ankylosaurs.

The elaborateness and spikiness of the animal found in Morocco has come as a shock to experts, who now have to rethink how these armoured dinosaurs evolved.

Prof Richard Butler, from the University of Birmingham who co-led the research, told BBC News that it was the punk rocker of its time.

Punk rock is a sub-culture and music style that first emerged in the 1970s. Its followers often have spiky hair and accessories.

It is one of the strangest dinosaurs ever discovered, said Prof Butler.

Prof Butler's project co-leader, Prof Susannah Maidment of the Natural History Museum, added that it was surprising that the spikes were fused directly onto the bone.

We don't see that in any other animal, living or extinct, she said.

It's absolutely covered in really weird spikes and protrusions all over the back of the animal, including a bony collar that wraps around its neck and some sort of weapon on the end of its tail, so a most unusual dinosaur, she said.

The discovery is so unusual that the two professors are considering whether it might force a rethink of theories on how ankylosaurs evolved.

These animals survived late into the time dinosaurs were on Earth, in a period known as the Cretaceous, which lasted from 145 to 66 million years ago.

Previously, it was thought that ankylosaurs started off with simple small armoured plates on their backs that became larger and more extensive to protect themselves from large carnivorous predators, such as T. rex.

Prof Butler commented, If you had asked me what I would have expected the oldest known ankylosaur to look like, I would have said something with quite simple armour. Instead, we have an animal bristling with spikes like a hedgehog, the most bizarre armour that we've ever found in any animal, far outside the range of armour seen in later ankylosaurs.

The researchers don't have enough of the skeleton to be sure of the animal's proportions, but they estimate it would have been about four metres long and one metre high, weighing around two tonnes.

The discovery raises the possibility that ankylosaurs started off with elaborate armour which evolved over time to become more functional.

What we speculated is that maybe these structures were used for display, and only later, when we start to see gigantic dinosaurs with huge jaws, did they need to co-opt these structures as body armour, Prof Maidment said.

The fossils were discovered by a local farmer in what is now Morocco. Prof Butler recalls the moment he first saw the fossils, describing it as a jaw-dropping, spine-tingling moment, perhaps the most exciting in my career. It was clear right away that this animal was much weirder than we imagined.
Prof Driss Ouarhache, a member of the Moroccan team, highlighted the significance of this research in advancing Moroccan science.