Zuul

What it was like

Zuul was a heavily armored ankylosaur, built low and wide on four sturdy legs, with a tail ending in a heavy, rounded club. Its skeleton is remarkably complete, preserving skin impressions and armor still in their original positions on the body, along with traces of the keratin that once covered the bony plates. It is considered one of the most complete ankylosaurid skeletons found in North America.

Its world

Zuul lived from about 84 to 72 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous, in what is now Montana in the United States. Its fossil comes from the Judith River Formation, where it shared its world with predators such as Gorgosaurus, Albertosaurus, and Daspletosaurus, along with other dinosaurs including Troodon and Corythosaurus.

How it was found

Arbour and Evans named Zuul in 2017, from a single, exceptionally complete skeleton. The genus takes its name from a monster in a work of fiction, continuing a playful tradition of naming fierce dinosaurs after fictional creatures. Zuul is closely related to Euoplocephalus and Ankylosaurus, and its fine preservation has taught paleontologists a great deal about how ankylosaurs were armored in life.