Aletopelta coombsi
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Aletopelta Temporal range: Campanian |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | †Ornithischia |
| Suborder: | †Ankylosauria |
| Family: | †Ankylosauridae |
| Genus: |
†Aletopelta Ford & Kirkland, 2001 |
| Species: | †A. coombsi |
| Binomial name | |
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Aletopelta coombsi Ford & Kirkland, 2001 |
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Aletopelta coombsi /əˌliːtoʊˈpɛltə ˈkoʊmzi/ is an herbivorous ankylosaurian ornithischian dinosaur that during the Late Cretaceous lived in the area of what is now Southern California.
In 1987, construction work was done on the College Boulevard near Carlsbad at the Californian coast. In the Letterbox Canyon between El Camino Real and Palomar Airport Road, northwest of McClellan–Palomar Airport, the road was widened. While paleontologically surveying the work, Bradford Riney noted that a skeleton had been uncovered by a ditch dug for a sewage pipe. Within days, it was secured by the San Diego Natural History Museum. In 1988, the find was reported by Thomas Deméré. The discovery drew much attention because it was the first important ankylosaurian fossil known from the area. It was dubbed the "Carlsbad Ankylosaur". In 1996, the fossil was described but not named by Deméré and Walter Preston Coombs.
In 2001, the type species Aletopelta coombsi was named by Tracy Lee Ford and James Kirkland. Etymologically, the generic name is composed of the Greek terms ἀλήτης, aletes, and πέλτη, pelte, meaning respectively "wanderer" and "small shield". This genus name was suggested by Ben Creisler because the fossil location, at the time the dinosaur died, being located on the tectonic plate containing the Peninsular Ranges Terrane, was somewhere opposite the middle of Mexico. This plate had thus been wandering northward since, carrying the specimen with it. The specific epithet honors the vertebrate paleontologist Walter Preston Coombs, Jr., "for his ground-breaking work on ankylosaurs and his years of research, which have inspired many an enthusiast as well as professional paleontologist".
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