The Gastonia
A armored and dangerous dinosaur from the early Cretaceous period. It is a type of ankylosaur (which means “fused lizard,”) known for its formidable body armor and spikes.
The “Gastonia,” although it shares the name with the City of Gastonia in North Carolina, was actually named after Robert Gaston, the paleontologist who discovered the dinosaur in eastern Utah.
Unlike later Ankylosaurs, it relied on an intense array of body armour and shoulder spikes rather than a heavy tail club. Its tail ended in sharp lateral projections instead of a fused bony mallet. It measured about 15 feet (4.5–6 meters) long and weighed roughly 1 ton, making it much smaller and sleeker than a true Ankylosaurus.
at the “Gastonia.”
The “Gastonia” fossils were found in the same Utah quarries as Utahraptor. That fact meant that its spikes served as a defense against pack-hunting dromaeosaurs. It was a low-slung quadrupedal herbivore with a toothless beak which was specialized for cropping ferns and low-lying vegetation.
Click image to enlarge.
John’s CellPic Sunday-2026.10.11
Photo Credit: Copyright ©️2026 Deb L. Waters … All Rights Reserved.
Camera: Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max
Location: The Hall of Dinosaurs; The Schiele Museum of Natural History; Gastonia, North Carolina, USA
God Bless. Have a wonderful week. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
I’ve never heard of this dinosaur. Fascinating. My grandson is a fan; maybe he can tell me all about it.
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Great images. That looks like the Gastonia was quite formidable. Thank you for the interesting information, too.
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