Zuul
Zuul was an armored ankylosaur, and one the most complete ankylosaurs discovered in North America.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Ornithischia
Clade: Thyreophora
Family: Ankylosauridae
Genus: Zuul (named after a fictional monster from the 1984 film “Ghostbusters”)
Species: Z. crurivastator
Zuul was a herbivore, meaning that it ate plants. Like other ankylosaurs, its body was protected by bony osteoderms that formed a sort of shield over its upper body. The species name “cruivastator” means “destroyer of shins”, referring to the dinosaur’s tail club, which could be swung at predators’ legs to cause severe damage to any would-be attacker.
Zuul is believed to have grown up to 20 feet long, with a weight of about 5,500 pounds. Like most members of the Ankylosauridae family, it had a spiked, armored head and body, with a bony tail club that was likely used to defend itself against large predators.
Zuul lived during the Late Cretaceous Period, around 75 million years ago, in what is now Montana. There, it may have encountered predators like Daspletosaurus and Gorgosaurus, as well as smaller theropod dinosaurs like Dromaeosaurus.
Zuul was discovered in 2014, and named and described in 2017. Zuul’s remains were very well preserved, and featured a complete tail and skull, as well as skin impressions, some soft tissue, and the horned sheaths that covered the spikes on the dinosaur’s armor. The pronounced spikes on the creature’s head are what prompted paleontologists to name it “Zuul”, after a monster from the 1984 comedy film “Ghostbusters” that featured very prominent horns on its head.