Dinosaurs · Armoured dinosaur

Sauropelta

Say it sore-oh-pelt-ah. The name means ‘lizard shield’.

Sauropelta beside a person 1.75 m tall. Ticks mark every metre.Body shape drawn for this site, showing the general build of armoured dinosaurs

Length: 6.5 m
Diet: Plant-eater
When: Early Cretaceous121 to 94 million years ago
Fossils found in: USA
Named by: Ostrom (1970)
Family tree: Dinosauria › Ornithischia › Thyreophora › Ankylosauria › Nodosauridae

Where Sauropelta sits in the age of dinosaurs.Periods from the ICS chart; dinosaur dates from the Natural History Museum

Armoured dinosaurs. Plated and armoured plant-eaters, such as Stegosaurus and the ankylosaurs. See all 33

Lived at the same time

Acrocanthosaurus · same country
Nodosaurus · same country
Tenontosaurus · same country
Zephyrosaurus · same country
Silvisaurus · same country
Deinonychus · same country
Aquilops · same country
Eolambia · same country

Other armoured dinosaurs

Gobisaurus Early Cretaceous
Minmi Early Cretaceous
Shamosaurus Early Cretaceous
Silvisaurus Early Cretaceous
Polacanthus Early Cretaceous
Nodosaurus Early Cretaceous
Cedarpelta Early Cretaceous
Gastonia Early Cretaceous

Source: Sauropelta in the Natural History Museum Dino Directory, read 12 November 2026. Sizes are the museum's estimates for a typical adult. "Lived at the same time" lists dinosaurs whose dates overlap, which does not always mean they met.