#spicomellus

Spicomellus was a request from Dan West, a Cretaceous tier member on Patreon!

Sketch_ Spicy Spicomellus. Pencils, 2025.

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Dinosaur Spicomellus afer, of Middle Jurassic, Morocco!

Initially described and named in 2021 based on a single rib with fused osteoderms, Spicomellus afer set the paleontological community ablaze this past year when more material was found. This new material revealed that the animal would have had a unique array of spines over its body, including extremely elongated neck spines, as well as spines on its tail, making it the oldest known ankylosaur with a tail weapon. Even the original rib that was once Spicomellus’ only known fossil is unique, as its spikes are fused directly to the bone, a trait not known in any other vertebrate. Despite all this prickly, seemingly defensive weaponry, it’s more likely that Spicomellus’ long neck spines evolved for display, similar to the antlers of a deer, with defense being their secondary purpose.

Ankylosaurs are thought to have eventually taken the place of the Jurassic stegosaurs, but the discovery of Spicomellus places the rise of ankylosaurs further back in the Jurassic. In the El Mers III Formation of Middle Jurassic Morocco, Spicomellus would have actually lived alongside at least two stegosaurs: Adratiklit and Thyreosaurus. This indicates that the two major thyreophoran groups (Ankylosauria and Stegosauria) coexisted for more than 20 million years, at least in this locality. Spicomellus would have also encountered the sauropod Turiasauria. Other dinosaurs in this formation have thus far been fragmentary.

Spicomellus afer was a fascinating and extremely unusual ankylosaur discovered in Morocco, making it the first and last definitive ankylosaur found in Africa and the oldest known ankylosaur genus in the history of paleontology. It lived during the Middle Jurassic Period, about 165 million years ago.

Key Information

• Meaning of Name: The genus name Spicomellus stems from the Latin words “spicus” (meaning “spiked”) and “mellus”, which refers to a spiky collar worn by dogs in ancient times as a means of protecting them from wild animals. The species name, afer, is Latin for “African”.

• Habitat: It was found in the El Mers III Formation of Morocco. During the Middle Jurassic, this area would have been a vast network of wetlands.

• Diet: Spicomellus was a herbivorous (or plant-eating) dinosaur, likely feeding on the abundant vegetation in its wetland environment.

Behavior and Features

• Unique Armor: Its most distinguishing feature is that its spikes and osteoderms were fused directly to its bones (most notably its ribs), a characteristic not seen in any other known animal, extinct or otherwise. Most armored animals have spikes embedded only in the skin.

• Extravagant Spikes: This particular dinosaur was covered in a diversity of spikes, including a unique, enormous bony collar around its neck with osteoderms up to a meter long protruding from it. It also had huge upward-projecting spikes over its hips and various blade-like spikes down its sides and shoulders.

• Tail Weapon: Evidence from its fused tail vertebrae suggests it possessed a tail club or similar weapon, an adaptation that was previously thought to have evolved much later (30 million years later to be exact) in other ankylosaurs.

• Display vs. Defense: While later ankylosaur armor became simpler and more focused on defense, the extravagance of Spicomellus's spikes suggests they may have been used for attracting mates and showing off to rivals in addition to defense.

• Modern Relatives: As an extinct dinosaur, Spicomellus has no direct modern relatives. Its place in the fossil record is as the oldest known member of the Ankylosauria group, which in turn belongs to the larger group of armored dinosaurs known as Thyreophora.

Inaccuracies in Media & Connection to Anguirus

As of right now, no widely documented inaccuracies commonly found in media were mentioned in the available information, possibly because Spicomellus is a very recent and “bizarre” discovery whose strange features—such as the bone-fused spikes and early tail weapon—are what primarily draw attention.

However, the unique and extremely spiked appearance of Spicomellus has recently led to a popular comparison:

• Real-Life “Anguirus”: Upon the description of its elaborate armor, especially the large spikes and the presence of a tail weapon, many in people and online communities noted that Spicomellus looks more like a “real-life” version of the character Anguirus, a giant, spiky, quadrupedal kaiju from the Godzilla franchise.

• Specifically, the massive neck spikes and potential spiked club tail make Spicomellus appear visually similar to some modern interpretations of Anguirus, such as the one seen in the Japanese anime series “Godzilla Singular Point”. Although Anguirus's design was originally inspired by the broader Ankylosauria group, Spicomellus has a combination of features—extravagant spikes fused to the body and a tail weapon—that make the comparison particularly striking.