英国伯明翰大学Richard J. Butler团队的研究开发出了世界上最古老的甲龙身上的甲胄。2025年8月27日，国际知名学术期刊《自然》发表了这一成果。

在这里，课题组人员描述了一个新的、更完整的标本，它证实了Spicomells与甲龙的亲缘关系，并证明了它具有独特的精致的皮臂，不同于任何其他现存或灭绝的脊椎动物。Spicomellthem尾巴上“柄”椎骨的存在表明它拥有尾巴武器，推翻了目前对甲龙尾巴棒进化的理解，因为这些结构以前被认为只在早白垩纪进化。这种华丽的手臂可能既有展示的功能，也有防御的功能，后来在白垩纪晚期的分类群中，它们变成了更简单的手臂，骨皮更少，这可能表明它们向主要的防御功能转变，也许是为了应对不断增加的捕食压力，或者是为了向好斗的姿态转变。

研究人员表示，甲龙类恐龙在北半球的晚白垩纪生态系统中最为人所知，但由于化石记录不完整，它们在早-中侏罗世的早期进化一直笼罩在谜团之中。Spicomellthem之后被认为是世界上最古老的甲龙，也是第一个来自非洲的甲龙，但它只基于摩洛哥中侏罗世的一根部分肋骨。

附：英文原文

Title: Extreme armour in the world’s oldest ankylosaur

Author: Maidment, Susannah C. R., Ouarhache, Driss, Ech-charay, Kawtar, Oussou, Ahmed, Boumir, Khadija, El Khanchoufi, Abdessalam, Park, Alison, Meade, Luke E., Woodruff, D. Cary, Wills, Simon, Smith, Mike, Barrett, Paul M., Butler, Richard J.

Issue&Volume: 2025-08-27

Abstract: The armoured ankylosaurian dinosaurs are best known from Late Cretaceous Northern Hemisphere ecosystems, but their early evolution in the Early–Middle Jurassic is shrouded in mystery due to a poor fossil record1,2. Spicomellus afer was suggested to be the world’s oldest ankylosaur and the first from Africa, but was based on only a single partial rib from the Middle Jurassic of Morocco3. Here we describe a new, much more complete specimen that confirms the ankylosaurian affinities of Spicomellus, and demonstrates that it has uniquely elaborate dermal armour unlike that of any other vertebrate, extant or extinct. The presence of ‘handle’ vertebrae in the tail of Spicomellus indicates that it possessed a tail weapon, overturning current understanding of tail club evolution in ankylosaurs, as these structures were previously thought to have evolved only in the Early Cretaceous4. This ornate armour may have functioned for display as well as defence, and a later reduction to simpler armour with less extravagant osteoderms in Late Cretaceous taxa might indicate a shift towards a primarily defensive function, perhaps in response to increased predation pressures or a switch to combative courtship displays.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09453-6

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09453-6