The Spicomellus Special

Perhaps the weirdest dinosaur ever has just been described in Nature, by The Fossil Files' own Susie Maidment. In a worldwide EXCLUSIVE*, Susie gives as the unvarnshed truth about how this spikey Jurassic weirdo came to be found, what makes it different, and peek under the hood as to how palaeontological research like this is conducted. The story weaves in the local and scientific communities in Morroco, funding crises, a global pandemic, dodgy fossil collectors, international law, and a lot of hard work. 

The paper is "Extreme armour in the world's oldest ankylosaur" by Susannah Maidment and colleagues, published in Nature August 27th, 2025.

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09453-6

*Not exclusive

Widescreen artwork: Matthew Dempsey