page_title: Timeline of ankylosaur research
section_title: 2000s
hierarchical_section_title: Timeline of ankylosaur research / 21st century / 2000s
caption_attribution_description: Skeletal reconstruction of Europelta carbonensis n. gen., n. sp. Skeletal reconstruction in: (A) lateral view with unknown parts of the skeleton shaded in gray, (B) lateral view with hypothetical distribution of the armor indicated, and (C) dorsal view with hypothetical distribution of the armor on right side of body indicated.
context_page_description: This timeline of ankylosaur research is a chronological listing of events in the history of paleontology focused on the ankylosaurs, quadrupedal herbivorous dinosaurs who were protected by a covering bony plates and spikes and sometimes by a clubbed tail. Although formally trained scientists did not begin documenting ankylosaur fossils until the early 19th century, Native Americans had a long history of contact with these remains, which were generally interpreted through a mythological lens. The Delaware people have stories about smoking the bones of ancient monsters in a magic ritual to have wishes granted and ankylosaur fossils are among the local fossils that may have been used like this. The Native Americans of the modern southwestern United States tell stories about an armored monster named Yeitso that may have been influenced by local ankylosaur fossils. Likewise, ankylosaur remains are among the dinosaur bones found along the Red Deer River of Alberta, Canada where the Piegan people believe that the Grandfather of the Buffalo once lived.
context_section_description: 2000
  Ford described the new species Edmontonia australis and the new genus and species Glyptodontopelta mimus.
  Molnar and Clifford reported fossilized gut contents in a specimen of Minmi, which consisted of plant matter.
  2001
  Rybczynsky and Vickaryous studied the jaws and teeth of Euoplocephalus. Contrary to decades of support for ankylosaurs chewing with a simple straight-up-and-down movement, they noticed visible wear facets and microscopic grooves that could only be explained by relatively complex jaw movements.
  Barrett reported wear facets on the teeth of Tarchia.
  Molnar and Clifford described the gut contents preserved in a specimen of the Australian ankylosaur Minmi. This specimen is catalogued by the Queensland Museum as QM F18101 and was excavated by the museum from near the Flinders River in 1990. The stomach contents consisted of plant vascular tissue, fruiting bodies, seeds, and possible fern spores. Molnar and Clifford described it as the most reliable evidence for the diet of an herbivorous dinosaur ever discovered.
  McCrea, Lockley, and Meyer observed that by this point in the history of ankylosaur research, ankylosaurs track fossils had been reported from North America, South America, Asia, and Europe. Most of these trackways were preserved in moist floodplain habitats where plant life was abundant. They attributed the Metatetrapous valdensis tracks from the Buckeburg Formation of Germany reported by Haubold in 1971 to ankylosaurs. They similarly argued that Macropodosaurus gravis of Tajikistan was produced by an ankylosaur rather than a theropod. The authors reported a single possible ankylosaur footprint from the Dakota Group of Baca County, Colorado. They also proposed that several footprint specimens collected from the Blackhawk Formation of Utah may have been ankylosaurian.
  Vickaryous and others described the new genus and species Gobisaurus domoculus.
  Carpenter and others described the new genus and species Cedarpelta bilbeyhallorum.
  Xu, Wang, and You described the new genus and species Liaoningosaurus paradoxus.
  Ford and Kirkland described the new genus and species Aletopelta coombsi.
  2002
  Dong described the new genus and species Crichtonsaurus bohlini.
  Averianov described the new genus and species Amtosaurus archibaldi.
  2003
  Garcia and Pereda-Superbiola described the new species Struthiosaurus languedocensis.
  Vickaryous and Russell described the common ways ankylosaur skulls were distorted after death that could potentially confound anatomical interpretation. They noted a relationship between this tendency to suffer distortion and their unusual cranial traits like the fusion of the skull bones and their "embossing" cranial ornamentation.
  2004
  Averianov, 2002, vide Parish & Barrett, 2004 described the new genus and species Bissektipelta archibaldi.
  2005
  Ősi described the new genus and species Hungarosaurus tormai.
  2006
  Salgado and Gasparini described the new genus and species Antarctopelta oliveroi.
  2007
  Lü Junchang; Jin Xingsheng; Sheng Yiming; Li Yihong described the new genus and species Zhejiangosaurus lishuiensis.
  Xu and others described the new genus and species Zhongyuansaurus luoyangensis.
  2008
  Carpenter and others described the new genus and species Peloroplites cedrimontanus
  Burns synonymizes Edmontonia australis with Glyptodontopelta mimus and confirms the validity of the latter
  2009
  Miles and Miles described the new genus and species Minotaurasaurus ramachandrani.
  Parsons and Parsons described the new genus and species Tatankacephalus cooneyorum.
  Arbour and others resurrect the genus and species Dyoplosaurus acutosquameus Parks, 1924
caption: Skeletal reconstruction of Europelta carbonensis
exif: {}