Gastonia is a 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...

 of nodosaurid 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 Early Cretaceous

Early Cretaceous

The Early Cretaceous or the Lower Cretaceous , is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous...

 of North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, around 125 million years ago. Closely related to Polacanthus

Polacanthus

Polacanthus, deriving its name from the Ancient Greek poly-/πολυ- "many" and acantha/ακανθα "thorn" or "prickle", was an early armored, spiked, plant-eating ankylosaur from the early Cretaceous period. Early depictions often gave it a very vague head as it was only known from the rear half of the...

, it has a sacral shield and large shoulder spikes. It is also the first polacanthine dinosaur to have been mounted for display at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science

Denver Museum of Nature and Science

The Denver Museum of Nature & Science is a municipal natural history and science museum in Denver, Colorado. It is a resource for informal science education in the Rocky Mountain region. A variety of exhibitions, programs, and activities help museum visitors learn about the natural history of...

, together with the related Gargoyleosaurus

Gargoyleosaurus

Gargoyleosaurus is one of the earliest ankylosaurs known from reasonably complete fossil remains. Its skull measures in length, and its total body length is an estimated . It may have weighed as much as...

. This dinosaur was found in the same quarry as Utahraptor

Utahraptor

Utahraptor is a genus of theropod dinosaurs, including the largest known members of the family Dromaeosauridae. Fossil specimens date to the upper Barremian stage of the early Cretaceous period...

, the largest known dromaeosaurid.

Discovery and species

Named by James Kirkland in 1998 from material recovered in Grand County Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

, more complete material exists for Gastonia than for any other polacanthine ankylosaur. Unfortunately, a wealth of disarticulated material from a bonebed presents problems as it can be hard to tell how many spikes a particular Gastonia actually had. Gastonia was named after Robert Gaston, the discoverer of the genus.

The type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

, G. burgei, was found in rocks of the Cedar Mountain Formation

Cedar Mountain Formation

The Cedar Mountain Formation is the name given to distinctive sedimentary rocks in eastern Utah that occur between the underlying Morrison Formation and overlying Naturita Formation . It is composed of non-marine sediments, that is, sediments deposited in rivers, lakes and on flood plains...

 (Yellow Cat member), which has been dated to 126 million years ago.

In popular culture

• Gastonia was featured in a chapter of Raptor Red
  Raptor Red
  Raptor Red is a 1995 American novel by paleontologist Robert T. Bakker. The book is a third-person account of dinosaurs during the Cretaceous Period, told from the point of view of Raptor Red, a female Utahraptor...
  
  , Robert T. Bakker
  Robert T. Bakker
  Robert T. Bakker is an American paleontologist who helped reshape modern theories about dinosaurs, particularly by adding support to the theory that some dinosaurs were endothermic...
  
  's fictional account of the events in the life of a female Utahraptor
  Utahraptor
  Utahraptor is a genus of theropod dinosaurs, including the largest known members of the family Dromaeosauridae. Fossil specimens date to the upper Barremian stage of the early Cretaceous period...
  
  . Bakker described defense behaviors as an Acrocanthosaurus
  Acrocanthosaurus
  Acrocanthosaurus is a genus of theropod dinosaur that existed in what is now North America during the Aptian and early Albian stages of the Early Cretaceous. Like most dinosaur genera, Acrocanthosaurus contains only a single species, A. atokensis. Its fossil remains are found mainly in the U.S...
  
  attacks a young Gastonia (without success). Later in the novel, male Gastonia are shown to compete in leks, and losers wallow in shallow pools, sometimes exposing their armor-free bellies. Such behavior was speculation informed by modern animals and not based directly on fossil evidence.
• Gastonia appears in an episode of Jurassic Fight Club
  Jurassic Fight Club
  Jurassic Fight Club is a paleontology-based television series on History which premiered in the USA in July 2008.-Summary:Scientists study the battles of prehistoric creatures, such as dinosaurs, before they went extinct. Each episode features a forensic-styled breakdown of a prehistoric battle...
  
  , where it fights a Utahraptor.