Overview

• New, more-complete fossils from near Boulemane confirm Spicomellus afer as the earliest known ankylosaur and the first identified from Africa.
• The specimen shows spikes fused to every rib and a robust bony neck collar bearing spikes up to about 87 centimeters long, an armor configuration unknown in any other vertebrate.
• Fused tail vertebrae indicate the handle for a club-like weapon, pushing the origin of ankylosaur tail weaponry more than 30 million years earlier than previously recognized.
• The partial skeleton, including vertebrae, ribs, pelvic elements and osteoderms, was discovered after flash flooding and has been prepared and catalogued in Fez through UK–Morocco collaboration.
• Project leaders warn of fossil poaching at the site and report suspected Spicomellus bones appearing for sale online, prompting efforts to safeguard the locality and collections.