An Ankylosaurus was an armored dinosaur with osteoderms or scutes all over the top of its body. These bony plates protected the Ankylosaurus from a Tyrannosaurus rex. The Ankylosaurus also had a clubbed tail it could swing to protect itself.
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Some Quick Facts About the Ankylosaurus
| Name | Ankylosaurus magniventris (Fused lizard) |
| Type of dinosaur | Armored dinosaur |
| Territory | The forested plains of North America |
| Size | Medium dino 17-26 feet long, 4-6 feet tall |
| Color | Olive green/brown with a cream-to-tan underbelly |
| Interesting Characteristics | Body covered with armor plates of bone and a tail club |
| Diet | Herbivore |
| Major Threats | Large Theropods like T-rex and raptors, climate change |
The Ankylosaurus was a slow-moving armored dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period, roaming around North America. Even though it lived at the same time as the Tyrannosaurus rex, Ankylosaurus’ armor was too tough for T-rex’s teeth. The Ankylosaurus also swung its tail club like a weapon, which kept most predators away.
How to pronounce Ankylosaurus?
The name Ankylosaurus is often mispronounced as “ankle-a-saurus,” but that is incorrect. “Ankylosaurus” is pronounced “Ann-KYlo-saurus” emphasizing the ky. In this version, “kylo” sounds like “hi-low.”
The Ankylosaurus gets its name from the way its bones grew. The skull bones and several other body parts fused for added strength. The second half of its name is “magniventris” or “great belly” because the Ankylosaurus had a round and soft underbelly.
What was the Ankylosaurus’ most famous feature?
Ankylosaurs’ tail club was its most famous feature. It could swing the tail club and hit predators, giving it a chance to escape being eaten. The tail club was also called a tail knob.
Ankylosaurs’ armor plates were another famous feature. The armor plates covered this dino from head to tail like an armadillo. These osteoderms that made up the armor contained keratin, just like your fingernails and hair!
Was the Ankylosaurus a Meat or a Plant Eater?
All Ankylosaurids were herbivores. They ate ferns and short shrubs that grew in North America during the Late Cretaceous period. The Ankylosaurus had leaf-shaped teeth that grind the plant matter down.
It also ate fruit and other plant material. They had a varied diet and would eat any plant they could reach. Unlike other herbivores, the Ankylosaurus couldn’t stand on its hind limbs to reach higher food, so it was stuck eating plants near the ground.
When and Where Did the Ankylosaurus Live?
The Ankylosaurus lived from about 70-66 million years ago. They lived with Triceratops and T-rex in what is now Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and Montana. Like most non-avian dinosauria, the Ankylosaurs went extinct when the asteroid hit Earth.
Ankylosaurus fossils came up during an expedition funded by New York’s American Museum of Natural History. In 1906 paleontologist Barnum Brown and his colleagues explored the Hell Creek Formation in Montana. Since then, Ankylosaurus fossils have been found throughout Western North America and as far north as Alberta, Canada.
Did the Ankylosaurus Evolve from Stegosaurus?
Ankylosaurus and Stegosaurus are not closely related, but they are the paleontology version of cousins. Both these armored dinosaurs are Thyreophora from the order Ornithischia. Thyreophora split into several suborders, including Ankylosauria and Stegosauria.
The Ankylosaurus is related to several dinos from the Ankylosauridae family. These awesome armored dinosaurs include Euoplocephalus, Saichania, and Tarchia. All of these dinos looked very similar to the Ankylosaurus.
Could the Ankylosaurus defeat the T-Rex?
The Ankylosaurus couldn’t kill the T-rex, but it could hurt it badly enough to escape. A well-placed swipe of the tail club was strong enough to break T-rex’s ankles! Once down, the T-rex had a really hard time getting back up.
Because of its armor plates, the Ankylosaurus wasn’t an easy meal. Even T-rex’s bone-crushing teeth couldn’t bite through the bony plates on Ankylosaurs’ backs. The only way for a predator to eat the Ankylosaur was to flip it over and expose the soft underbelly.