Ankylosaurus Characteristics

Ankylosaurus had an estimated length of 9 metres (30 feet.) and up to 1.5 metres (5 feet) wide and about 1.7 metres (67 inches) high at the hip. Ankylosaurus weighed around 3 - 4 tons. Their body shape was low-slung and very wide. Ankylosaurus was quadrupedal, with the hindlimbs longer than the forelimbs. Although its feet are still unknown to science, comparisons with other ankylosaurs suggest Ankylosaurus probably had 5 toes on each foot. The skull was low and triangular in shape, wider than it was long. The largest known skull measures 64.5 centimetres (25 inches) long and 74.5 centimetres (29 inches) wide.

Ankylosaurus was herbivorous, with very small, leaf-shaped teeth suitable for cropping vegetation. Ankylosaurus did not share the grinding tooth batteries of the contemporaneous ceratopsid and hadrosaurid dinosaurs, indicating that very little chewing occurred. 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. Bones in their skull and other parts of the body were fused to increase their strength.

Ankylosaurus was one of the last armored dinosaurs to live, and indeed one of the last dinosaurs of any type to live. During the time period that Ankylosaurus roamed the North American continent, a number of large dangerous predators also were on the prowl, including Tyranasaurus. Ankylosaurus was a slow moving herbivore, and needed protection from these hungry hunters. That is why its natural protection was in the form of its sharp spikes and long, hammered tail. The Ankylosaurus also had armoured eyelids to protects its eyes. Two Ankylosaurus skulls and three partial skeletons (including armour and a tail club) have been found. Ankylosaur trackways were found near Sucre, Bolivia, South America.

Ankylosaurus was named by Barnum Brown in 1908.