Ziapelta

Ziapelta Temporal range: Campanian, 74.5–72.6 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Holotype skull
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	†Ornithischia
Clade:	†Thyreophora
Clade:	†Ankylosauria
Family:	†Ankylosauridae
Subfamily:	†Ankylosaurinae
Tribe:	†Ankylosaurini
Genus:	†Ziapelta Arbour et al., 2014
Type species
†Ziapelta sanjuanensis Arbour et al., 2014

Ziapelta is an extinct genus of ankylosaurid. Its fossils have been found in the Hunter Wash and De-na-zin members of the Kirtland Formation of Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) New Mexico. It was named in 2014, in a research paper led by ankylosaur researcher Victoria Arbour. There is a single species in the genus, Ziapelta sanjuanensis. The genus is named after the Zia sun symbol, a stylized sun with four groups of rays, having religious significance to the Zia people of New Mexico, and the iconic symbol on the state flag of New Mexico, and pelta (Latin), a small shield, in reference to the osteoderms found on all ankylosaurids. The specific name is in reference to San Juan County and the San Juan basin, where the fossils were found. Multiple specimens have been described to date, though the fossils are mostly from the front part of the animal. Its closest relative appears to be either Scolosaurus or Nodocephalosaurus, depending on what cladistic model is used.