Ankylosaurus

Ankylosaurus is an ankylosaurid dinosaur that was found in North America. It lived during the end of the Cretaceous Period. Ankylosaurus was the largest known member of its family.


Ankylosaurus was 9 meters long and 6 tons weight. Its skull was 65 centimeters long. The most obvious feature of Ankylosaurus is its armour, consisting of massive knobs and plates of bone, known as osteoderms or scutes, embedded in the skin. Osteoderms are also found in the skin of crocodiles, armadillos and some lizards.


Ankylosaurus is known from its tail club. It was heavy and supported by the last seven vertebrae.Ankylosaurus magniventris existed between 66.5 to 65.5 million years ago, in the final Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period, and was among the last dinosaur species that appeared before the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event.


Ankylosaurus shared its environment with dinosaurs including the ceratopsids Triceratops and Torosaurus, hypsilophodont Thescelosaurus, hadrosaurid Edmontosaurus, nodosaurid Edmontonia, pachycephalosaurian Pachycephalosaurus, and the theropods Ornithomimus, Troodon, and Tyrannosaurus. Ankylosaurus was named by American paleontologist Barnum Brown, in 1908.