Gastonia

Gastonia is an nodosaurid dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period that lived in what is now Utah.

Description
Known from relatively complete remains, Gastonia grew to approximately 3 meters in length. Like other ankylosaurs it was heavily armored, and also had large shoulder spikes.

Classification
Gastonia was a polacanthine ankylosaur, closely related to Mymoorapelta and Polacanthus.

Discovery
Gastonia was described from the Cretaceous-age Cedar Mountain Formation in 1998 by James Kirkland. It was named after its discoverer, Robert Gaston.

In popular culture
Gastonia appeared in Bob Bakker's novel Raptor Red. A pack of Utahraptor (whose bones were found in the same formation) encountered these dinosaurs through the course of the book. Similarly, a Utahraptor attacks a Gastonia in an episode of the series Jurassic Fight Club.