Genus
Valid Extinct

Ankylosaurus

Brown 1908
Etymology Reptile rigide

Ankylosaurus is a genus of armored dinosaur. Its fossils have been found in geological formations dating to the very end of the Cretaceous Period, about 70-66 million years ago, in western North America, making it among the last of the non-avian dinosaurs. It was named by Barnum Brown in 1908; it is monotypic, containing only A. magniventris. The generic name means "fused" or "bent lizard", and the specific name means "great belly". A handful of specimens have been excavated to date, but a complete skeleton has not been discovered. Though other members of Ankylosauria are represented by more extensive fossil material, Ankylosaurus is often considered the archetypal member of its group, despite having some unusual features.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
16
Group
Dinosaures
Herbivore Ground dwelling, gregarious Terrestrial
Ankylosaurus
click to enlarge
An Ankylosaurus head (cast of specimen AMNH 5214), on display at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana. This is from a specimen collected in Custer County, Montana. The Ankylosauria were armored dinosaurs that lived from 122 million years ago to 66 million years ago in western North America, Europe, and East Asia. There were two subgroups: The Nodosauridae and Ankylosauridae. The Ankylosauridae contained six species, and a single subfamily -- the Ankylosaurinae. There 18 genus within the subfamily, of which Ankylosaurus is the best known. Ankylosaurus as the last of these, and lived 65.5 to 66.5 million years ago. Ankylosaurus was about 20.5 feet long, 5 feet wide, and 5.5 feet tall at the hip. It walked on all fours, with the rear legs longer than the front ones. They ripped vegetation, and swallowed it whole. Their defining feature was their armor. They body was covered in thick, heavy bony plates, and most of the plates were fused together to make them even stronger. Embedded in the skin were more knobs of bone, and the outer skin above these knobs covered in keratin (the same stuff fingernails are made of). Ankylosaurus had a tail club, which consisted of several large osteoderms fused to the last few tail vertebrae. Ankylosaurus was discovered in 1908. © Tim Evanson · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
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Ornithischia Unranked clade
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Parapredentata Unranked clade
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Saphornithischia Unranked clade
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Prionodontia Unranked clade
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Genasauria Unranked clade
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Thyreophora Unranked clade
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Thyreophoroidea Superfamily
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Eurypoda Unranked clade
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Ankylosauria Unranked clade
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Euankylosauria Unranked clade
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Ankylosauridae Family
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Ankylosaurinae Subfamily
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Ankylosaurus Genus
Fossil sites 16 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇺🇸 United States
13
🇨🇦 Canada
3
Geological formations
Ferris
5
Hell Creek
4
Lance
3
Scollard
2
Kirtland
1
Frenchman
1
Temporal distribution
Maastrichtian (72.2–66 Ma)
15
Campanian (83.6–72.2 Ma)
1
Species (1)
Ankylosaurus magniventris 72 Ma
Bibliography
Original description
B. Brown. 1908. The Ankylosauridae, a new family of armored dinosaurs from the Upper Cretaceous. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 24(12):187-201 DOI ↗
Bibliography (9)
W. W. Stein. 2021. The paleontology, geology and taphonomy of the Tooth Draw Deposit; Hell Creek Formation (Maastrictian), Butte County, South Dakota. The Journal of Paleontological Sciences JPS.C.21:0001:1-108
V. M. Arbour and J. C. Mallon. 2017. Unusual cranial and postcranial anatomy in the archetypal ankylosaur Ankylosaurus magniventris. Facets 2(2):764-794 DOI ↗
V. M. Arbour and P. J. Currie. 2016. Systematics, phylogeny and palaeobiogeography of the ankylosaurid dinosaurs. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 14(5):385-444 DOI ↗
K. Carpenter. 2004. Redescription of Ankylosaurus magniventris Brown 1908 (Ankylosauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous of the Western Interior of North America. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 41:961-986 DOI ↗
B. H. Breithaupt. 1982. Paleontology and paleoecology of the Lance Formation (Maastrichtian), east flank of Rock Springs Uplift, Sweetwater County, Wyoming. Contributions to Geology, University of Wyoming 21(2):123-151
K. Carpenter. 1982. Baby dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous Lance and Hell Creek formations and a description of a new species of theropod. Contributions to Geology, University of Wyoming 20(2):123-134
B. S. Kues, J. W. Froehlich, and J. A. Schiebout, S. G. Lucas. 1977. Paleontological survey, resource assessment, and mitigation plan for the Bisti-Star Lake Area, northwestern New Mexico. Report to the Bureau of Land Management, Albuquerque, New Mexico
B. Brown. 1914. Cretaceous Eocene correlation in New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana, Alberta. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America 25:355-380 DOI ↗
B. Brown. 1908. The Ankylosauridae, a new family of armored dinosaurs from the Upper Cretaceous. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 24(12):187-201 DOI ↗