Science puts back together '˜Mona Lisa' armed dinosaur

The plant-eating nodosaur was 18ft long, weighed more than 1.3 tonnes and had two huge horns and spikes along its body. It also had camouflage as protection from even bigger creatures.

Palaeobiologist Dr Jakob Vinther, from Bristol University, worked with researchers from Canada, where the specimen was found by a construction worker six years ago, to study its build.

He said tests had been able to confirm that the nodosaur had been protected from predators by its reddish-brown patterning.

Donald Henderson, a curator at Alberta’s Royal Tyrrell Museum, said: “Finding the remains of an armoured dinosaur that was washed far out to sea was huge surprise. The fact that it was so well preserved was an even bigger surprise.”

Lead researcher Caleb Brown called it “the Mona Lisa of dinosaurs”, and added: “It will go down in science history as one of the most beautiful and best preserved dinosaur specimens. If you just squint your eyes a bit, you could almost believe it was sleeping.”

Researchers are now exam­ining the dinosaur’s preserved innards to determine the nature of its last meal,