The big and powerfull dinosaur

Name: Acanthopolis

Diet: Herbivore

Weight: 2 tons

Period: Cretaceous

Found In: Europe

What does the name Acanthopolis mean?

One of the prehistoric animals with good records is the Acanthopolis.

The name given to this animal literally means “Thorny Scales” this is because when its fossil remains were discovered it possessed an armored and very strong body.

Without a doubt this body served to protect him from the great predators that lived in antiquity.

Even though many sources of information deny that this species of dinosaur belongs to the Nodosaurus (Lizard) and invalidate its name.

For years, attempts have been made to collect as much information as possible about it, to legitimize the name it bears.

However, the incessant search for the remains of this animal to gather enough information has yielded little fruit.

History of the discovery

In one of the excavations carried out by Thomas Huxley, the partial fossil remains of a dinosaur were found for the first time.

This discovery was made in 1867 and immediately began a kind of campaign in which paleontologists were encouraged to carry out searches that would give accurate information about this animal.

At first, there were many doubts about the anatomy of this dinosaur. However, a series of later discoveries shed more light on it.

Because the first Acanthopolis fossil belonged to a young dinosaur that had not developed its full anatomy, it tended to be confused with another species.

It was not until 1998 when, thanks to the advance of technology, it was discovered that the resemblance of the Acanthopolis with the one that had a similar anatomy differed.

This question could be clarified since the affinities of this animal were proven by an acromial process.

When did the Acanthopolis live

This wonderful animal had the opportunity to live in the Cretaceous period, that is to say around 145 million years, in the Albiense and Cenomanian region that is currently known as Europe.

Acanthopolis Period

The era in which the Acanthopolis lived is known as one of the oldest.

In this period of time, land and sea fauna abounded, allowing millions of species to live freely on land until it finally suffered a great extinction.

At the time when this majestic animal lived, survival was a predetermined factor in the evolution and development of life.

Thanks to the shell that protected the Acanthopolis, it was one of the dinosaurs that lived long enough to leave a record on earth.

Characteristics of the Acanthopolis

Without a doubt, the Acanthopolis was a quadruped that stood out for having in its body a very powerful and solid armor that allowed it to protect itself from predators.

In spite of this, due to the shape of its legs and weight, it is believed that it could be quite slow.

Thanks to the teeth obtained from its remains, it can be seen that the Acanthopolis was a herbivore. This fits quite well since its natural habitat was the forests and jungles.

Although many of its remains are incomplete, the information drawn from the intense studies on the Acanthopolis continues to shed light to this day.

This majestic animal possessed a compact and rather low body compared to other quadrupeds of its species.

The fossil records show that its bone structure was about 5 meters long and 1.70 meters high, and it is estimated that it could have weighed between 2500 and 2700 kilograms.