Scientists have announced the discovery of the oldest known ankylosaur in the world, found in Morocco’s Middle Atlas Mountains.

The nearly complete skeleton, named Spicomellus afer, dates back approximately 165 million years to the Middle Jurassic period. This makes it significantly older than any previously discovered definitive ankylosaur.

Measuring around 4 meters (13 feet) long and weighing roughly 2 tonnes, the dinosaur featured an extraordinary level of armor. It had long, sharp spikes that were uniquely fused directly to its ribs — an adaptation more extreme than that seen in later armored dinosaurs.

The fossil represents the first ankylosaur ever found in Africa, providing important new evidence about the early evolution and geographical spread of these heavily protected herbivores.

“This discovery rewrites our understanding of when and where ankylosaurs first appeared,” researchers noted. The elaborate armor suggests that complex defensive structures evolved much earlier than previously thought.

The findings raise intriguing questions about why such heavy armor developed so early in the dinosaur era, and what environmental pressures may have driven such an “over-the-top” evolutionary design.

The study was published in a leading scientific journal, highlighting the growing importance of North African fossil sites in understanding dinosaur evolution.