A 165-million-year-old armored beast appears, 'strange and unprecedented'

Six meters long and sporting a unique asymmetrical leather armor, the North African beast is a completely new species of the Stegosaur family.

According to Sci-News, a new species of beast has appeared in the Middle Atlas mountain range south of Fès - Morocco. It was named Thyreosaurus atlasicus, a member of the Stegosaur family of armored dinosaurs.

A fragmentary partial skeleton of Thyreosaurus atlasicus was found in the gray rocks of the El Mers III Formation near the town of Boulemane, an area rich in fossils.

Armored beast Thyreosaurus atlasicus - (Graphic photo: SCI-NEWS).

Dr. Mostafa Oukassou from Hassan II University of Casablanca (Morocco) and his colleagues determined the date of the sample to 165 million years ago, which means it belongs to the Middle Jurassic of the Jurassic period.

'In 2021, during a geological mapping mission south of Boulemane, we discovered a new site rich in dinosaur remains in the El Mers III Formation' - the authors tell.

The site is called Boulahfa North , located north of the Boulahfa quarry.

The beast's massive fossils were collected over several consecutive field trips including back vertebrae and ribs, limb bones and leather armor.

Thyreosaurus atlasicus has a bizarre, asymmetrical leather armor that is unique among Stegosaurs.

It is a leather armor up to 4 cm thick, with flat oval to long rectangular hard plates.

The surface of the armor on both sides is unbalanced. One side has many small holes and tiny grooves, the other side has a clear mesh pattern. This is completely different from what has been observed in other armored dinosaurs.

The bone structure of this leather armor is reminiscent of the tail spikes of dinosaurs of the same family.

This armor is also arranged horizontally along the animal's body instead of vertically like other Stegosaurs.

The Thyreosaurus atlasicus is an adult individual that has not yet reached its maximum size, however it is up to 6 m long.

With the above unique characteristics, the beast in Morocco is an important piece of the puzzle in studying the evolutionary history of armored dinosaurs.