Length
InferredAbout 4.5–6 m (museum reference)
AMNH gives this educational interval for G. burgei, without specimen ages or a measured adult range. Reconstructed mounts need separate interpretation. [D1]
EXHIBIT 91
Gastonia
Gastonia
Gastonia was an armored plant-eater from Utah.
TWO WAYS TO PICTURE THE PAST
Science & the silver screen
Compare the evidence with the familiar movie image. The illustrations are not to a shared scale.
01 / SCIENTIFIC RECONSTRUCTION
An animal, reconstructed
Image unavailableSide-view life reconstruction of Gastonia burgei showing shoulder spikes, pelvic armor and an unclubbed tail.The exhibit and its credited image source remain available.
Life reconstruction of Gastonia burgei by TotalDino. Colors, patterns and soft tissues are interpretive; its armor arrangement does not establish a courtship display. [1]
Gastonia TD · TotalDino. CC BY 4.0. Commons-listed 1280 px preview converted to WebP; smaller responsive copy proportionally resized. Artwork preserved.
Scientific reconstruction is an interpretation; source credit does not certify every anatomical detail.
02 / MOVIE-STYLE INTERPRETATION
A cinematic imagination
Image unavailableIllustrative reconstruction of Gastonia; color and soft tissues remain interpretive.The exhibit and its credited image source remain available.
Original cinematic interpretation of Gastonia burgei. Coloration, soft tissues and scenery are artistic choices; reconstructed proportions do not establish a measured individual. Lighting, coloration and scenery are artistic choices. This image does not document a fossil locality or behavior.
Original artwork · artistic interpretation.
Scientific view: source-informed reconstruction, credited paleoart or specimen-based imagery. Movie-style view: Original artistic interpretation. Reconstructions involve uncertainty.
PERIODEarly Cretaceous[1]
DIETHerbivoreEvidence and uncertainty in the dossier
TOTAL LENGTHSee the dossierEstimate scope matters
FOSSILS FOUNDUtah, USA[3]
MEET THE ANIMAL
Meet Gastonia
Gastonia was an armored plant-eating dinosaur from Early Cretaceous Utah. Gastonia burgei had prominent shoulder spikes and a broad armored outline, but lacked the large tail club familiar from some later ankylosaurs. A museum size reference introduces its scale without describing a measured adult population. Its own fossil anatomy should guide the picture. [D1]
Its fossils occur in the Cedar Mountain Formation. Geological work places Gastonia burgei in the Yellow Cat Member and the second named species, Gastonia lorriemcwhinneyae, in the overlying Poison Strip Member. Members are subdivisions of a rock formation. Keeping those layers separate helps distinguish the fossil occurrences rather than turning all Gastonia discoveries into one time and place. [D3]
The second species was described from a large collection of disarticulated bones, meaning bones that no longer lay together as connected skeletons. Drought or drowning was suggested as a possible cause of death. A mass-death collection does not automatically show permanent herd behavior, and an interpretation for one species cannot simply be copied to another. Its bones preserve a death assemblage that researchers must explain. [D2]
PREHISTORIC ANIMAL DOSSIER
A life in profile.
The animal, the evidence, and the questions still open.
With pelvic armor.
Profile scope: Genus; size references concern G. burgei.
- Time
- Early Cretaceous
- Fossil locations in this exhibit
- Utah, USA
How to read the evidence
Source supported identifies a description documented by the cited source. Inferred marks a reconstruction or functional estimate. Debated marks competing interpretations. Not established means the sources reviewed for this dossier do not support a firm conclusion; it does not mean a behavior never occurred.
A size reference is an estimate, not a population range. Nesting evidence does not by itself establish courtship, mate choice, or lifelong pairing.
Mass
InferredAbout 1.4 tonnes (limb model)
CEUM3646 bonebed reconstruction; dataset mature label is not independent confirmation of a complete mature individual or population average. [D5]
Diet and feeding
Source supportedPlant-eater
The museum identifies herbivory; particular plant species and feeding height remain unresolved here. [D1]
Habitat and range
Source supportedUtah; Cedar Mountain Formation
G. burgei is recorded in the Yellow Cat Member; UGS places G. lorriemcwhinneyae in the overlying Poison Strip Member. [D4] [D3]
Movement
InferredFour-legged walking inferred
The low armored body and ankylosaur limb plan support quadrupedal reconstruction; no speed estimate is established. [D4]
Distinctive anatomy
Source supportedShoulder spikes; pelvic shield; no tail club
G. burgei combines large spikes with plates and a fused pelvic shield. Its tail lacks an ankylosaurid-style club. [D1] [D2]
Reproduction & life together
Reproduction and care
Not establishedNot established here
Focused review found no securely assigned nests, eggs, incubation pattern or parental care for these species.
Courtship and mating
Not establishedNot established here
Armor alone does not establish mate choice, sexual dimorphism or a courtship sequence.
Social behavior
InferredG. lorriemcwhinneyae mass-death assemblage
Drought or drowning was proposed for its bonebed. A death assemblage does not establish permanent herds for either species. [D2]
Dossier research & sources
Sources and inspection notes for the claims in this profile.
- Gastonia burgei — OLogyAmerican Museum of Natural History · Accessed 2026-10-02G. burgei educational size interval, diet, Utah/Early Cretaceous occurrence, armor and absence of a tail club; card inspected. · Inspected: page
- Redescription of Gastonia burgei (Dinosauria: Ankylosauria, Polacanthidae), and description of a new speciesNeues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie; Kinneer, Carpenter and Shaw (2016) · Accessed 2026-10-02Publisher abstract inspected; skull, postcranial armor, G. lorriemcwhinneyae diagnosis and mass-mortality hypotheses. Its Ruby Ranch assignment is superseded here by the UGS Poison Strip account. · Inspected: abstract
- Does Utah Preserve North America’s Oldest Cretaceous Dinosaurs Because of Ancient Salt Deposits?Utah Geological Survey; James I. Kirkland (2017) · Accessed 2026-10-02Cedar Mountain stratigraphy and G. lorriemcwhinneyae in the Poison Strip Member; locality and regional depositional context inspected. · Inspected: page
- Utah’s Prehistoric Tanks: The AnkylosaursUtah Geological Survey; James I. Kirkland and Mark A. Loewen · Accessed 2026-10-02G. burgei Gaston Quarry museum reconstruction and Yellow Cat Member occurrence; ankylosaur body-plan and feeding discussion inspected. · Inspected: page
- Rates of Dinosaur Body Mass Evolution Indicate 170 Million Years of Sustained Ecological Innovation on the Avian Stem LineagePLOS Biology; Benson et al. (2014) · Accessed 2026-10-02Methods and Dataset S1 XLS inspected. Gastonia burgei CEUM3646 has measured humeral/femoral circumferences and a 1,411.220 kg model estimate; full-data notes describe bonebed reconstruction and label it mature, rather than documenting one complete mature individual. · Inspected: page
THE STORY IN THE FOSSILS
Meet Gastonia.
Gastonia burgei illustrates an armored dinosaur without a tail club. Its conspicuous shoulder spikes and broad armor distinguish its silhouette from later club-tailed ankylosaurs. [1]
A second named species, G. lorriemcwhinneyae, was described from a large disarticulated bonebed. Proposed causes of death remain hypotheses, and its assemblage cannot simply be applied to G. burgei behavior. [2]
A note on scale and time
The dossier identifies the scope of each reference estimate. A mount, an individual fossil and a species-wide adult range are different measurements. Comparison metrics remain unavailable where adult scope has not been established. Unknown does not mean zero.
Sources & editorial notes
Sources support the stated claims and scopes. Refer to the evidence notes for uncertainty.
- Gastonia burgei — OLogyAmerican Museum of Natural History · Accessed 2026-10-02G. burgei educational size interval, diet, Utah/Early Cretaceous occurrence, armor and absence of a tail club; card inspected. · Inspected: page
- Redescription of Gastonia burgei (Dinosauria: Ankylosauria, Polacanthidae), and description of a new speciesNeues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie; Kinneer, Carpenter and Shaw (2016) · Accessed 2026-10-02Publisher abstract inspected; skull, postcranial armor, G. lorriemcwhinneyae diagnosis and mass-mortality hypotheses. Its Ruby Ranch assignment is superseded here by the UGS Poison Strip account. · Inspected: abstract
- Does Utah Preserve North America’s Oldest Cretaceous Dinosaurs Because of Ancient Salt Deposits?Utah Geological Survey; James I. Kirkland (2017) · Accessed 2026-10-02Cedar Mountain stratigraphy and G. lorriemcwhinneyae in the Poison Strip Member; locality and regional depositional context inspected. · Inspected: page
- Utah’s Prehistoric Tanks: The AnkylosaursUtah Geological Survey; James I. Kirkland and Mark A. Loewen · Accessed 2026-10-02G. burgei Gaston Quarry museum reconstruction and Yellow Cat Member occurrence; ankylosaur body-plan and feeding discussion inspected. · Inspected: page
- Rates of Dinosaur Body Mass Evolution Indicate 170 Million Years of Sustained Ecological Innovation on the Avian Stem LineagePLOS Biology; Benson et al. (2014) · Accessed 2026-10-02Methods and Dataset S1 XLS inspected. Gastonia burgei CEUM3646 has measured humeral/femoral circumferences and a 1,411.220 kg model estimate; full-data notes describe bonebed reconstruction and label it mature, rather than documenting one complete mature individual. · Inspected: page
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