A new specimen of ankylosaurine dinosaur Crichtonpelta benxiensis is described. The new specimen is based on a nearly completely preserved skull from the same quarry as the holotype of the mid-Cretaceous Sunjiawan Formation in Shuangmiao, Beipiao City, Liaoning Province, China. Cladistic analysis incorporating new information from the new specimen resolves Crichtonpelta benxiensis is more advanced than basal members of Ankylosauridae (Kunbarrasaurus, Liaoningosaurus, Chuanqilong, Cedarpelta, Gobisaurus and Shamosaurus) and represents the first diverging branch of Ankylosaurinae. Comparisons to other mid-Cretaceous ankylosaurid-bearing dinosaur assemblages in northern China indicate a late Early Cretaceous to early Late Cretaceous age for the Shuangmiao dinosaur assemblage.