The Dinosaur - Gastonia

With big, sharp spikes sticking out of its sides and bony studs along its back, the Gastonia was a fearsome creature.

The Gastonia belongs to the armoured group of dinosaurs called ankylosaurs that came with special in-built protection from meat-eating predators and weighed about a tonne. Who would want to attack a scary-looking dinosaur like that?

The spikes sticking out from its sides could be up to 30 centimetres long, the same length as a three-year-old's arm!

The skin of armoured dinosaurs was covered with pieces of bone. Some were flat, others pointed. In between were little bony lumps, about the size of a pea.

With thick legs like an elephant's, the Gastonia could support its heavy body and was a quadraped which means it walked around on all fours, as opposed to a biped which walked on two legs, just as humans do.

Its remains were found in the same quarry as those of Utahraptor, the largest and fiercest of all the North American raptors. Scientists think the Gastonia was definitely on the Utahraptor's menu. But it would not have been an easy task! The Utahraptor would have had to flip the Gastonia onto its back and bite into its soft belly to make any sort of meal of it.