Borealopelta markmitchelli Borealopelta

Borealopelta (meaning ‘northern shield’) is an extinct genus of herbivorous nodosaurid ankylosaur from the Lower Cretaceous of what is today Alberta, Canada. It contains a single species, B. markmitchelli, named in 2017 by Caleb Brown and colleagues from a well-preserved specimen known as the Suncor nodosaur. Discovered at an oil sands mine north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, the specimen is remarkable for being among the best-preserved dinosaur fossils of its size ever found. It preserved not only the armor (osteoderms) in their life positions, but also remains of their keratin sheaths, overlying skin, and stomach contents from the animal’s last meal. Melanosomes were also found that indicate the animal had a reddish pinkish skin tone.