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Ankylosaurus was the last and largest member of the ankylosaurid dinosaur family.

Facts

Ankylosaurus likely defended itself by pressing itself into the ground. When carnivores attacked it would do that or use his clubbed tail to hit any predators. Ankylosaurus was the largest of its kind (and also the type genus). It was approximately 6–11 meters in length, weighed 6-7 tons and was a distant relative of Polacanthus the earlier WWD episode Giant of the Skies and Edmontonia, from Walking with Dinosaurs 3D film.

Ankylosaurus was a plant-eating dinosaur; its bony armor weighed it down so much that it fed only on low-growing shrubbery and other vegetation. However, its legs were directly underneath its body, not sprawled out like a tortoise's, and when it was confronted with a predator, Ankylosaurus could move quickly enough. In addition, such formidable natural defenses meant that ankylosaurs did not need any serious brain power, and consequently its brain was quite small, even though the skull of this dinosaur was quite big and thick - even ankylosaurs' eyebrows were armored to provide better protection.

A species of extraordinary dinosaurs that specializes in defense, Ankylosaurus had evolved to withstand attacks even from giant predators such as Tyrannosaurus. At up to 7 tons, ankylosaurs were so heavily armored even their eyelids were hardened armor. And if that wasn't enough, they have a formidable club on the end of their tails, in which multiple vertebra had fused together to create this club, which was a 56–60 kg (140-150 lb) ball made out of solid bone. These are the most heavily armored animals of all time.

Literately, these creatures' bodies were like armored boxes. Armored dinosaurs like Ankylosaurus may have had poor eyesight, but they could smell a predator. They also had very little brain inside their reinforced skulls. So when faced with danger, they reacted automatically and aggressively.

Ankylosaurus lived in the Late Cretaceous time period, roughly about 70-65 MYA, and died out alongside other dinosaurs during the K/T extinction event.

Recent studies indicate that it could not chew bark and thus did not strip bark. Fossil evidence suggests that it was either a rare species or restricted to the upland areas. Anklylosaurus is believed to have inhabited floodplain enviroments that were heavily monsoonal that had occasional rainfall, tropical storms and forest fires.

In the Series

Walking with Dinosaurs

Death of a Dynasty

In the final episode of Walking with Dinosaurs this event is shown, shortly after an Ankylosaurus successfully fights-off a Tyrannosaurus, inflicting massive enough damage to kill it.

Walking with Beasts

In the later sequel, Walking with Beasts, this scene was re-shown as a prequel to the first episode of those series. The scene is shown right away.

Sea Monsters

Ankylosaurus makes an appearance on Nigel's Time Map.

Merchandise

The Ankylosaurus Toy

A toy of Ankylosaurus was made by Toyway for their Walking with Dinosaurs line.

Errors

  • Ankylosaurus is shown to be too tall, being up to a tyrannosaurus' waist. In reality they were only up to their knee.


Gallery

Behind the scenes

  • Ankylosaurus was not as big as appeared in the series, in reality it was about as tall as 4.6 to 5.6 feet, and roughly 20.5 - 23 feet in length, and weighed at least 3 or 4 tonnes.
  • And while a swing of its tail club probably could break bone, particularly for the largest specimens, that wouldn't be enough to instantly kill a tyrannosaurus within a short period; the largest of which exceed over 8 tones and tower over ankyosaurus in both height and length.
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