This armored dinosaur is a paleontologist’s dream. Named Borealopelta in 2017, the dinosaur’s fossil preserves a great deal of its bony armor in place. In fact, the animal is so intricately preserved that paleontologists have been able to work out the dinosaur’s color — rusty red above and lighter below. But the so-called “northern shield” still has secrets to reveal. Inside the dinosaur, protected by its bones, are the remnants of the ankylosaur’s last meal.
Paleontologists know relatively little about what dinosaurs actually had for lunch. For carnivorous animals, the key evidence often comes from bitten bones and petrified poop that contains bone shards and muscle fibers.
