Ankylozaur

Ankylozaur
Ankylosaurus magniventris (Brown, 1908)
literally: “bent lizard”

This armoured dinosaur lived in the late Cretaceous (68-66 mln years ago) on the territory of today’s North America. Only one species of Ankylosaurus has been described: A. magniventris. It was characteristised by the specific armour of bone knobs and plates (osteoderms), as well as its four horns on the head and the large tail club, which probably could be moved sideways but not up and down. A full Ankylosaurus skeleton has never been found. There are other skeletal forms from the same family with a larger number of preserved fossils, but it is Ankylosaurus that’s the most famous among Ankylosauridae. It was quadrupedal, its forelimbs being shorter than the rear ones. Its head was placed lower than its back, which is an indicator of its adaptation to herbivory. It foraged on low vegetation, including ferns, shrubs and fruit. It may have consumed as much as 60 kg of plants a day!

Body length: 8-9 m
Body weight: 8000 kg