page_title: Europelta
section_title: Skeleton
hierarchical_section_title: Europelta / Description / Skeleton
context_page_description: Europelta is an extinct genus of struthiosaurine nodosaurid dinosaur known from the Early Cretaceous lower Escucha Formation of Teruel Province, northeastern Spain. It contains a single species, Europelta carbonensis. It is known from two associated partial skeletons, and represents the most complete ankylosaur known from Europe.
context_section_description: The skull is pear-shaped in top view, with a length of 370.3 millimetres and a width, over the eye sockets, of 299.1 millimetres. The external nostril seems to be simple in build, without any sign of complex air passages. Likewise a secondary palate seems to be missing. The palate is only lightly constricted in top view and the typical ankylosaurian hourglass profile is largely lacking. The same is true for the curvature of the tooth rows in the maxillae. There are twenty-two to twenty-five maxillary teeth per side. The last six teeth in the rear are conspicuously larger than the front teeth. The skull roof is largely covered by a large single osteoderm on the frontal and parietal bones. The describing authors interpreted such osteoderms as ossified horn scales. On the rear corners of the skull squamosal horns are present. The large cheek horn is formed by the quadratojugal instead of the jugal bone.
caption: Size comparison of Europelta and a human.