Borealopelta markmitchelli

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Time: Early Cretaceous (~110 million years ago)

Region: Alberta, Canada

Formation: Clearwater Formation

Coloration Data

In Brown et al. (2017), specimen TMP 2011.033.0001 was investigated. A total of 147 samples were taken across various parts of the fossil, allowing researchers to analyze the head and most of the dorsal armor. Organic residues chemically consistent with pheomelanin were detected, preserved within the scales and the keratinous sheaths of the osteoderms. The distribution of this pigment demonstrates countershading camouflage: the skin and armor of Borealopelta markmitchelli were brownish (most likely a reddish-brown tone), whereas the venter and prominent lateral spines were lighter than the rest of the dorsal armor.

Method: Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and pyrolysis gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS).

Publications

• Caleb M Brown, Donald M Henderson, Jakob Vinther, Ian Fletcher, Ainara Sistiaga, Jorsua Herrera, Roger E Summons (2017)
  A study of the coloration of Borealopelta markmitchelli.
• Arindam Roy, Michael Pittman, Evan T. Saitta, Thomas G. Kaye, Xing Xu (2020)
  An overview article on the paleo‑coloration of amniotes.

Documents and files

• Brown_et_al_2017.pdf (PDF)
  Article from Current Biology on the coloration of Borealopelta markmitchelli.
• Roy_et_al_2020.pdf (PDF)
  Review article on amniote paleocolor in Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Reconstructions

Fossils