Gargoyleosaurus parkpinorum was a very early ankylosaur that lived in what is now Wyoming, USA, during the Late Jurassic, about 154-150 million years ago.
Known from a partial skeleton — including much of its armor preserved in place — it was a fairly small ankylosaur, around 3.5m long (~11’6″). Its head was proportionally small, its snout was rather narrow, and unlike later members of the group it still had teeth in the front of its jaws.
It would have inhabited the warm and semi-arid “Jurassic savanna” environment of western North America, feeding on vegetation along river flood plains and sharing its ecosystem with more famous dinosaurs such as Stegosaurus, Diplodocus, and Allosaurus.
References:
- Abdale, Jason. “Gargoyleosaurus” Dinosaurs and Barbarians, 25 Aug. 2021, https://dinosaursandbarbarians.com/2021/08/25/gargoyleosaurus/
- Kilbourne, Brandon, and Kenneth Carpenter. “Redescription of Gargoyleosaurus parkpinorum, a polacanthid ankylosaur from the Upper Jurassic of Albany County, Wyoming.” Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen 237 (2005): 111-160. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/230823619_Redescription_of_Gargoyleosaurus_parkpinorum_a_polacanthid_ankylosaur_from_the_Upper_Jurassic_of_Albany_County_Wyoming
- Wikipedia contributors. “Gargoyleosaurus” Wikipedia, 10 Aug. 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gargoyleosaurus
- Wikipedia contributors. “Morrison Formation” Wikipedia, 26 Sep. 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morrison_Formation