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Here is my final for Zuul crurivastator.

Zuul was discovered on a dig in the Montana Badlands in 2014, during the excavation of what was thought to be Gorgosaurus, an early relative of Tyrannosaurus rex that stalked North America roughly 76.6 to 75.1 million years ago. While it was initially thought to be a specimen of another ankylosaur called Euplocephalus that had been known to science since 1897 known to live in the same area at the same time, research done at the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada would later identify the specimen as belonging to an as yet unknown genus of armored dinosaur. The specimen was given the genus name of Zuul, after the horned monster dog from the classic 1984 film, Ghostbusters, and the species name of crurivastator meaning "Destroyer of Shins."

Z. crurivastor is known from just the one specimen but it is currently the best preserved and most complete of any ankylosaurid with a tail weapon known to science. Along with a complete skull and tail, the specimen has also yielded several examples of soft tissue perservation like skin. The specimen also sported other rarely preserved features like the thin layers of keratin on some of the spikes covering it's body, Keratin is the same material that makes up your hair and fingernails. There was also preservation of osteoderms and ossicles, the bony protuberances that make up the animal's armor, found in their original positions, all of this allowed for the researchers to get a very clear picture of what this animal looked like when it was alive.

At around 20 feet in length, it is estimated to have weighed a hearty 2.76 tons. Like other Ankylosaurs, Zuul possessed a wide, flat body, with a relatively low center of gravity, from stem to stern it was covered in hard bony armor and large protruding spikes on the top and sides of it's body, horns adorned it's well armored face, which was tipped with a broadly shaped beak that appeared well adapted for stripping low growth foliage like ferns. The tail was tipped with a flat club-like structure, measuring around 20.7 inches in length and 14.5 inches in width, it is believed to have serve as a defensive weapon to ward off predators (by destroying their shins).

With such great preservation there is still much for science to learn from this specimen, given that it is still relatively new it is likely the future will reveal many new interesting facts about this amazing armored dinosaur.

Description

Here is my final for Zuul crurivastator.

Zuul was discovered on a dig in the Montana Badlands in 2014, during the excavation of what was thought to be Gorgosaurus, an early relative of Tyrannosaurus rex that stalked North America roughly 76.6 to 75.1 million years ago. While it was initially thought to be a specimen of another ankylosaur called Euplocephalus that had been known to science since 1897 known to live in the same area at the same time, research done at the Royal Ontario Museum in Canada would later identify the specimen as belonging to an as yet unknown genus of armored dinosaur. The specimen was given the genus name of Zuul, after the horned monster dog from the classic 1984 film, Ghostbusters, and the species name of crurivastator meaning "Destroyer of Shins."

Z. crurivastor is known from just the one specimen but it is currently the best preserved and most complete of any ankylosaurid with a tail weapon known to science. Along with a complete skull and tail, the specimen has also yielded several examples of soft tissue perservation like skin. The specimen also sported other rarely preserved features like the thin layers of keratin on some of the spikes covering it's body, Keratin is the same material that makes up your hair and fingernails. There was also preservation of osteoderms and ossicles, the bony protuberances that make up the animal's armor, found in their original positions, all of this allowed for the researchers to get a very clear picture of what this animal looked like when it was alive.

At around 20 feet in length, it is estimated to have weighed a hearty 2.76 tons. Like other Ankylosaurs, Zuul possessed a wide, flat body, with a relatively low center of gravity, from stem to stern it was covered in hard bony armor and large protruding spikes on the top and sides of it's body, horns adorned it's well armored face, which was tipped with a broadly shaped beak that appeared well adapted for stripping low growth foliage like ferns. The tail was tipped with a flat club-like structure, measuring around 20.7 inches in length and 14.5 inches in width, it is believed to have serve as a defensive weapon to ward off predators (by destroying their shins).

With such great preservation there is still much for science to learn from this specimen, given that it is still relatively new it is likely the future will reveal many new interesting facts about this amazing armored dinosaur.