What is Sauropelta?
{{taxobox | color = lightblue | name = ''Sauropelta'' | fossil_range = [[Lower Cretaceous]] | image = Sauropelta_jconway.png | image_width = 250px | regnum = [[Animalia]] | phylum = [[Chordata]] | classis = [[Sauropsida]] | superordo = [[Dinosauria]] | ordo = [[Ornithischia]] | subordo = [[Thyreophora]] | infraordo = [[Ankylosauria]] | familia = [[Nodosauridae]] | genus = '''''Sauropelta''''' }} [[File:Sauropelta.png|right|thumb|220px|''Sauropelta edwardsorum'' with a human for scale.]] '''''Sauropelta''''' was an [[armour]]ed [[dinosaur]] from the [[Lower Cretaceous]]. It looked a lot like its more advanced relative ''[[Ankylosaurus]]'', but didn't have the bony nodes at the end of its [[tail]]. Anatomically, ''Sauropelta'' is one of the best-understood nodosaurids, with [[fossil]]ized remains recovered in the [[U.S.]] states of [[Wyoming]], [[Montana]], and possibly [[Utah]]. It is also the earliest known [[genus]] of [[nodosaurid]]; most of its remains date to about 115 to 110 million years ago. It was a medium-sized nodosaurid, measuring about 5&nbsp;meters (16.5 ft) long. ''Sauropelta'' had a distinctively long tail which made up about half of its body length. Although its body was smaller than a modern [[black rhinoceros]], ''Sauropelta'' was about the same mass, weighing in at about 1,500 [[kilograms]] (3,300 [[pound (mass)|lb]]). The extra weight was largely due to its extensive armour, including the large spines projecting from its neck. As in other ankylosaurs, thick triangular [[scute]]s projected above and behind the eyes, as well as below and behind the eyes.<ref>Carpenter, Kenneth & Kirkland, James I. 1998. Review of Lower and Middle Cretaceous Ankylosaurs from North America. In Lucas, Spencer G.; Kirkland, James I; & Estep, J.W. (eds) ''Lower and Middle Cretaceous Ecosystems''. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin #14, 249–270.</ref> More typically for nodosaurids, leaf-shaped teeth lined both upper and lower jaws, used for cutting plant material. The front end of the [[