Bissektipelta is an ankylosaurid dinosaur

Dinosaur

Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...

 from the Upper Cretaceous

Cretaceous

The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...

 of Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....

. The holotype

Holotype

A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...

 (ZIN PH 1/6) and only known specimen was collected from the Bissekty Formation (lateTuronian

Turonian

The Turonian is, in the ICS' geologic timescale, the second age in the Late Cretaceous epoch, or a stage in the Upper Cretaceous series. It spans the time between 93.5 ± 0.8 Ma and 89.3 ± 1 Ma...

-Coniacian

Coniacian

The Coniacian is an age or stage in the geologic timescale. It is a subdivision of the Late Cretaceous epoch or Upper Cretaceous series and spans the time between 89.3 ± 1 Ma and 85.8 ± 0.7 Ma...

), of Dzharakuduk, and the name Bissektipelta refers to this geological formation (Bissekt + Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 pelte = "shield"). The holotype consists of a braincase and incomplete skull roof, along with isolated teeth and osteoderms. Originally, this material was referred to the genus "Amtosaurus

Amtosaurus

Amtosaurus is a genus of ornithischian dinosaur based on a fragmentary skull collected from the Upper Cretaceous Bayanshiree Svita Formation of Mongolia and originally believed to represent an ankylosaurid. Hadrosaurid affinities have also been suggested...

", but was reassigned to a new taxon

Taxon

|thumb|270px|[[African elephants]] form a widely-accepted taxon, the [[genus]] LoxodontaA taxon is a group of organisms, which a taxonomist adjudges to be a unit. Usually a taxon is given a name and a rank, although neither is a requirement...

 when that genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 was declared a nomen dubium

Nomen dubium

In zoological nomenclature, a nomen dubium is a scientific name that is of unknown or doubtful application...

. Bissektipelta is presently monospecific, containing only B. archibaldi. The holotype was collected in September 1998 by the joint Usbek-Russian-British-American-Project. This specimen can be distinguished from "A. magnus" in having three exits for N. hypoglossus (XII) instead of two, by the lesser angle between ventral surfaces of basisoccipital and basisphenoid, and by the more caudally situated basispterygoid processes.

Links

• http://www.thescelosaurus.com/ankylosauridae.htm
• http://www.dinosaurier-web.de/galery/pages_b/bissektipelta.html