- The exact arrangement of armour around the neck is open to question
- Details of the face*
- *Gastonia*


[b]The layout of the animal[/b]

[i]Pictures (underlying bones - the most reliable references):[/i]
sauropeltaminusarmourtop.jpg
sauropeltasidebones.jpg

[i]Pictures (fleshed out reconstruction):[/i]
sauropeltasidefull.jpg 
sauropeltafrontfull.jpg

[i]Note:[/i] This is the 1983 reconstructions, since then additional neck armour has been found (see section on armour below)

[b]Feet, Gait and Muscles:[/b]

[i]Pictures:[/i]
Ankylimbmuscles.jpg (shows limb muscle arrangements proposed for a similar but more recent Ankylosaur)
footdetail.jpg (shows the foot bones as viewed from below, and also a set of matching footprints)
sauropeltagaittop.jpg (shows an outline of the animal matching those above, with the foot positions etc.)

Notes: 
- The shoulder muscles would likely have had a slightly different arangement that was geared to allowing the animal to bring the front of its body low to the ground (probably part of a defensive/offensive display).
- The feet can also be seen from the side in the sideview above

[b]Armour details:[/b]

[i]Pictures:[/i]
neckarmourminusshoulderspike.jpg (Upper row of neck armour minus the shoulder spike)
saurpeltatopofneck.jpg (a colour view showing more detail of the neck scales)
sauropeltaneckunderarmour.gif (Newly discovered lower row of neck armour)
sauropeltaskinarmour.JPG (The back of sauropelta had many bony plates - this should help with texturing)
sauropeltatail.jpg (The tail of sauropelta was relatively stiff, narrow and lacked a club)

[i]Notes:[/i]
- The neck spines and pair of shoulder spikes may have had softer tissues outside of the bony core and thus their exact size is uncertain and they may have been slightly longer or thicker
- The back armour consisted of small plates that rested in the skin and so would have been relatively mobile
- The sides of the animal likely had smaller armoured plates on average, but may have had occasionaly plates like those on the back.
- Areas without any armour (like the top of the skull, the outer tail), likely had large numbers of very small scales.

[b]Skull enlargements:[/b]

[i]Pictures:[/i]
sauropeltaskullside.jpg
sauropeltaskulltop.jpg 
sauropeltaskull3d.jpg (note the two prongs behind each eye - one below and one above)
sauropeltatopofneck.jpg

[i]Notes:[/i]
- Sauropelta would had an unusually long tongue and a beak. Sauropelta would have likely had large cheeks (but these would be relatively rigid as they had bone plates inside them). Alternatively, but less likely, there may have been no cheeks: http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/Panoplosaurus%20Tracy%20Ford.jpg
- The lower jaw and the back part of the skull would have been connected by jaw muscles (completely filling in the rear of the skull).
- It is also likely that the eyes were relatively deeply set in the skull and/or would have had large fleshy eyelids (both the lower and upper eyelids). The nostrils would have had fleshy covers that would have allowed them to shut almost completely or open very slightly.
- while these images are in scale, they are for an animal holdings its neck toward the ground, so the top view will look shorter (as it shows distance forward), whereas in the side view the neck looks longer (as it shows distance forward and distance downward).

[b]Miscellaneous[/b]

Here is a PDF where a number of the images come from: sauropelta.pdf
Additional reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauropelta

It might also be good to save a copy of an early draft of this animal, as we might model a very similar animal later (but with a different armour arrangment).

Don't worry too much about getting it perfect - these references are hear to help make it easier to get dimensions correct (etc.), but aren't meant to be too restrictive. 

If you have any questions, want any more references, or have any ideas - let me know: ee555@ncf.ca

- Jonas Weselake-George

P.S.

I doubt I'll have much feedback on any WIP images you post (based on these references they should be reasonably accurate) - but post them anyway (I want to see :) ).




(Of course, the more praise we can get from paleontologists - the better, both for résumés and the project).