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About Ampelosaurus:
Along with the South American Saltasaurus, the European Ampelosaurus is the best-known of the armored titanosaurs (an offshoot of the sauropods that prospered in the late Cretaceous). Unusually for a titanosaur, Ampelosaurus is represented by several more-or-less complete fossil remains, all from a single river bed, that have allowed paleontologists to reconstruct it in detail.
As titanosaurs go, Ampelosaurus didn't have an impressively long neck or tail, though otherwise it adhered to the basic sauropod body plan. What really set this herbivore apart was the armor along its back, which wasn't nearly as intimidating as what you'd see on a contemporary Ankylosaurus, but is the most distinctive yet to be found on a sauropod. Why did Ampelosaurus have armor? Probably to keep the carnivores of the late Cretaceous at bay.
