NAME

Meaning - Ankylosaurus means “fused lizard”
Pronounced - ang-KIE-lo-SAWR-us
Named By - Barnum Brown
When Named - 1908
DIET

Herbivore (plant-eater) - Ankylosaurus had to eat a huge amount of low-lying plant material to sustain itself so its gut must have been very large. It probably had a fermentation compartment to aid in the digestion of the tough plant material, producing prodigious amounts of gas!
SIZE

Length - 25-35 feet (7.5-10.7 m) long
Height - 4 ft (1.2 m) tall at the hips
Weight - 3-4 tons
WHEN IT LIVED

Late Cretaceous period, about 70-65 million years ago
WHERE IT LIVED

Ankylosaurus fossils have been found in the western USA (Montana) and Canada (Alberta), North America.
FOSSILS

Two Ankylosaurus skulls and three partial skeletons (including armor and a tail club) have been found. Ankylosaur trackways were found near Sucre, Bolivia, South America.
CLASSIFICATION
  • Kingdom Animalia (animals)
  • Phylum Chordata (having a hollow nerve chord ending in a brain)
  • Class Archosauria (diapsids with socket-set teeth, etc.)
  • Order Ornithischia - bird-hipped dinosaurs
  • Suborder Thyreophora (Enoplosauria) - armored, spiked and/or plated dinosaurs
  • Superfamily Ankylosauria - armored dinosaurs
  • Family Ankylosauridae - armored dinosaurs that have clubbed tails
  • Genus Ankylosaurus
  • Species A. magniventris (type species named by Brown, 1908)
INTERESTING FACTS

Ankylosaurus was a tank-like dinosaur - its entire top side was heavily protected from carnivores with thick, oval plates embedded (fused) in its leathery skin, 2 rows of spikes along its body, large horns that projected from the back of the head, and a club-like tail. It even had bony plates as protection for its eyes. Only its under-belly was unplated. Among its contemporaries were the large meat-eating Tyrannosaurus, Tarbosaurus, and Deinonychus. Short of being flipped over, the Ankylosaurus was well protected from these predators, and could even defend itself with its club-like tail.
LINKS

A detailed page on Ankylosaurus.
Ankylosaurus information page to print and color.