Ankylosaurus
(ang-KILE-uh-SAWR-us)

Meaning of Name: Fused Lizard
Height: 11 ft
Length: 35 ft
Weight: 10,000 lbs
Eats: Plants (Herbivore)
Period: Late Cretaceous

• Ankylosaurus was a heavily armored, plant-eating dinosaur of the late Cretaceous period.

• Despite being a herbivore (plant-eater), Ankylosaurus was a formidable animal. It weighed as much as 3 or 4 big cars, and was short, wide, and powerful. It had four horns on its head and a heavy club on the end of its tail.

• Ankylosaurus’s body was covered with bony plates called scutes. These probably grew in rows along its back, and were embedded in the Ankylosaurus’s tough skin. Crocodiles today have similar scutes in their skin.

• Parts of the Ankylosaurus’s skull were fused together for strength. This is what gives Ankylosaurus its name, which means ‘fused lizard’. If fact, Ankylosaurus’s skull was so protected that there was little room for a brain inside!

• Ankylosaurus had a wide beak and rows of small teeth. This allowed it to graze on low-growing vegetation.

• Ankylosaurus was built like a tank, and wouldn’t have been an easy meal for any predator brave (or hungry) enough to take it on.