In Depth
At the time of its description only known from a partial skull, Zaraapelta is a genus of ankylosaur that lived during the late Cretaceous. The Zaraapelta holotype skull was found in the Barun Goyot Formation of Mongolia, indicating that Zaraapelta shared the same ecosystem as two other ankylosaurid genera called Tarchia and Saichania. Out of these, Zaraapelta is considered to be most closely related to Tarchia. The fact that three separate ankylosaur genera could co-exist at the same approximate time as one another is seen as an indicator that Mongolia in the Cretaceous must have had substantial amounts of plant growth. In addition to these ankylosaur genera, several other types of plant eating dinosaurs such as ceratopsians and pachycephalosaurs are also known.
Further Reading
- The ankylosaurid dinosaurs of the Upper Cretaceous Baruungoyot and Nemegt formations of Mongolia. - Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 172: 631–652. - V. M. Arbour, P. J. Currie & D. Badamgarav - 2014.
