'Strangest' dinosaur covered in spiked armoury: scientists

London: A dinosaur dubbed one of the strangest ever boasted an elaborate armoury of long bony spikes and a tail weapon, according to findings publis...

London: A dinosaur dubbed one of the "strangest" ever boasted an elaborate armoury of long bony spikes and a tail weapon, according to findings published in the science journal Nature.

Spicomellus, which roamed the earth 165 million years ago, is the world's oldest ankylosaur, a herbivorous group of dinosaurs known for their tank-like bodies.

Palaeontologists' image of Spicomellus was based on a single rib bone found in Morocco in 2019.

But newly discovered remains have helped scientists form a clearer picture of the unusual dinosaur.