including pelvic shield and cervical half ring. The type specimen may represent an immature individual based on the unfused astragalus, partly fused scutes and unfused neural spines. The generic name, Aletopelta, is composed of the Greek words "aletes" (wanderer) and "pelte" (small shield), in reference to its armour and the fact that the tectonic plate containing the Peninsular Ranges Terrane was somewhere opposite the middle of Mexico in the Cretaceous, only moving northward due to plate tectonics, carrying the holotype specimen with it. The specific name, coombsi, honours the vertebrate palaeontologist Walter Preston Coombs, Jr., for their work and years of research. Description Size and distinguishing traits Ford & Kirkland (2001) originally gave Aletopelta an estimated length of 6 metres (19.7 feet). However, Gregory S. Paul gave a lower estimate of 5 metres (16 feet) long and weight of 2 tonnes (4,409 lbs) in 2010. Ford and Kirkland (2001) originally diagnosed Aletopelta based on the teeth being wider than tall; the femur being much longer than both the tibia and fibula; the presence of three metatarsals; a pelvic shield composed of polygonal, low-peaked osteoderms; a large short-pointed spike in the shoulder region; the presence of hollow cap-like osteoderms across dorsum; the presence of hollow pup-tent-like osteoderms over neck and shoulders; triangular, dorsally compressed caudal osteoderms that are highly asymmetrical from top to bottom; and hollow and thin osteoderms. However, Arbour & Currie (2015) later diagnosed Aletopelta based on the presence of hexagonal pelvic osteoderms that form a semi-continuous sheet over the pelvis; the pelvic osteoderms lack a dendritic surface texture; the first cervical half ring is composed of osteoderms fused to an underlying bony band rather than being closely appressed adjacent osteoderms. Classification Deméré & Coombs (1996) originally interpreted SDNHM 33909 as an indeterminate nodosaurid that showed similarities with Edmontonia, Panoplosaurus and Stegopelta but refrained from naming it as they considered it to be undiagnostic. Ford (2000) considered that SDNHM 33909 formed the clade Stegopeltinae, along with Stegopelta and Glyptodontopelta, within Ankylosauridae based on the presence of a pelvic shield composed of co-ossified hexagonal osteoderms. Ford & Kirkland (2001) also reinterpreted it as an ankylosaurid and considered it to be taxonomically distinct enough to be warranted as a new genus and species. Vickaryous et al. (2004) considered Aletopelta as a nomen dubium due to the lack of diagnostic characteristics. Arbour & Currie (2015), however, considered it as a valid genus