Jakapil kaniukura

Formally discovered in 2020, Jakapil kaniukura is a small and peculiar armored dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina. Measuring approximately 1.5 meters long and weighing between 4 and 7 kilograms, Jakapil was the first known member of the thyreophoran group—distant relatives of ankylosaurs and stegosaurs—to be discovered in South America.

It inhabited arid and semiarid environments with low vegetation, possibly coexisting with smaller theropod dinosaurs and ancestors of titanosaurs. Its discovery expanded knowledge about the geographic and evolutionary diversity of armored dinosaurs, demonstrating that even small herbivores could thrive in ecosystems dominated by giants.