Scientists discover fossil of armored Spicomellus in Morocco

The Spicomellus, the world’s oldest ankylosaur, had spikes protruding from its neck, a weapon on its tail and extravagant armor, it has been discovered.

You think you know a dinosaur, and then it turns out it had 3-foot spikes protruding from its neck, a weapon on its tail and extravagant armor.

The creature’s presence some 165 million years ago in what is now Morocco has been known for years. But only now has the Spicomellus been revealed in all its bizarre beauty, forcing a rethink among scientists.

“This dinosaur is totally unlike anything else that we have ever seen,” paleontologist Susannah Maidment told NBC News in a phone interview. She co-led a team of researchers studying the Jurassic-era beast’s fossilized remains in the Atlas Mountains near the Moroccan town of Boulemane.

Their findings were published Wednesday in the journal Nature.