Ankylosaurus Facts For Children
Ankylosaurus must have been quite a find on the day they uncovered that 2 and a half foot long and wide skull. Almost solid bone it is easy to see why it got its name. Ankylosaurus means fused lizard as its bones are all very solidly connected to each other. There are plenty of facts about this dinosaur we know and we have highlighted the best ankylosaurus facts for kids in the article below.
Although ankylosaurus was a herbivore and probably prey for the large carnivores it lived with we are sure that it wasn’t the first choice for the carnivorous like Tyrannosaurus rex. The huge size, the armoured back, horned head and 2 ft long solid bone club on its tail shows how seriously this dinosaur took its defense. Let take a look at that armour and its club in our ankylosaurus facts below.
Ankylosaurus Quick Facts
Ankylosaurus was a dinosaur that lived during the Cretaceous period 68-66 million years ago.
Ankylosaurus was a herbivore, which means it at plants and bushes.
Its length could be up to 27ft (8 meters) and its weight was about 15000 lb (8000 kilograms).
Ankylosaurus had a club-like tail that it could use as a weapon.This bony club could be 2 ft long, 1.5 feet wide and 8 inches tall
Ankylosaurus armor was made of bony plates and spikes that protected it from predators. These bony plates, called scutes, covered nearly all its back
The ankylosaurus was likely to need about 130 lbs (60kg) of food every day
Ankylosaurus looks like a difficult word but is not that hard to say (for a dinosaur) You say it like this. ‘ANK-ee-low-SORE-us’
Ankylosaurus Facts for Kids
1. Ankylosaurus was a dinosaur that lived during the Cretaceous period it lived just before the big extinction of all the dinosaurs 68-66 million years ago.
2. Ankylosaurus was a herbivore, which means it ate plants. It beak like mouth and teeth were designed for this. It was low browser meaning it would have eaten low bushes and grasses, not the high leaves on trees like the sauropods. it may have eaten fruit as well.
3. Ankylosaurus was a large dinosaur, its length could be up to 27ft (8 meters) and its weight was about 15000 lb (8000 kilograms). All that armour would have added to the weight!
4. Ankylosaurus had a very large and heavy skull that was about 2 feet long and about 2 and a half feet wide. So the ankylosaurus head was wider than it was long.
5. Ankylosaurus had a club-like tail that it could use as a weapon.This bony club could be 2 ft long, 1.5 feet wide and 8 inches tall. Making it a useful weapon to swing at attacking dinosaurs.
6. It is thought that the club would have been swung with enough force to break the legs of even large dinosaurs like T-rex if it hit them in the feet and shins.
You can download the fact sheet for Ankylosaurus above.
7. Ankylosaurus armor was made of bony plates and spikes that protected it from predators. These bony plates, called scutes, covered nearly all the back and would have been used to try to stop dinosaur teeth from causing damage. Crocodiles have similar scutes on their bodies as well.
8. These bony plates and spikes could be various sizes and were from half an inch (1cm) to 14 inches in length (35cm)
9. Ankylosaurus had about 72 teeth in its mouth. these were shaped like leaves and like other herbivore dinosaurs could be replaced when they were worn out. In fact fossils have been found with both the old teeth and the new teeth.
10. Ankylosaurus is the name of a genus, which is a group of animals that all have the same species name. Other dinosaurs in this family include Anodontosaurus and Euoplocephalus.
11. The ankylosaurus was likely to need about 130 lbs (60kg) of food every day which is similar to what a large elephant eats today.
12. Ankylosaurus was a quadruped, which means it walked on four legs. The back legs were longer but the front legs were stronger. This was probably to bring the tail club up higher and the head closer to food.
13. The ankylosaurus had a very small brain for its size. Its skull was fused together, which is where it gets its name “fused lizard” as its skull was very solid and inflexible.
Ankylosaurus Coloring pages and Other Dinosaur Coloring Pages
14. Ankylosaurus was a slow-moving dinosaur, but was likely able to run for short distances if needed. Although not at huge speeds. if you think of a turtle, which this isn’t, but they rely on their armour to protect them. it is thought the Ankylosaurus did similar, except that big tail would have been used to bonk any dinsaours that get to close on the head.
15. Ankylosaurus seemed to live together when younger but there is no evidence that they lived in groups when they are adults.
16. Ankylosaurus has been discovered in North America which is where it would have lived 66 million years ago at the end of the Late Cretaceous.
17. The Ankylosaurus lived at the same time, and in the same area as the most famous predator. Tyrannosaurus Rex would likely have seen an Ankylosaurus as prey. Although with the armour and club on the tail he would have to be careful attacking one.
18. The first Ankylosaurus found was in the Hell Creek Fossil Formation in 1906. A lot of dinosaurs have been found here including T-Rex. Barnum Brown found the ankylosaurus and named it 2 years later.
19. Although quite long and very heavy Ankylosaurus was not the tallest of dinosaurs. it stood about 5 feet 7 inches at the hip and maybe 6-7 feet at the tallest point of the back
20. Ankylosaurus would have lived with other dinosaurs that included triceratops, edmontosaurus, pachycephalosaurus an of course the tyrannosaurus Rex.
21. Ankylosaurus was so different that it had a whole family of dinosaurs named after it ( like stegosaurus) and other members of the family as we mentioned are Anodontosaurus and Euoplocephalus.
22. Ankylosaurus has two names, the first means Fused lizard because so many bones and the skull were fused together. The second name is not so flattering though. It is Magniventris which means “great belly” or Fat!
23. Ankylosaurus also had four horns on its head. two pointed backwards and two points downwards. it really was very well protected.
24. Ankylosaurus was an ectotherm, which means it relied on the environment to regulate its body temperature.
25. Ankylosaurus looks like a difficult word but is not that bad to say (for a dinosaur) You say it like this. ‘ANK-ee-low-SORE-us’
‘ANK-ee-low-SORE-us’
Conclusion
We hope you have learnt a few more facts about the armored walking tank of a dinosaur from our ankylosaurus facts pages. it really was a incredible dinosaur and not an easy meal for any predator no matter how big they were.
Its 14 inch armoured plates, 2ft long and wide club on the ends of its tail would help it put up a fight against even a hungry tyrannosaur. There were other armoured dinosaurs in its family but this was the biggest and in our opinion the best.
if you want to know more about other dinosaur species we have both facts and question answers on the site which you can check out in the menu above or in the sidebar. Or you can click this button to see our (quite) organised lists of all the dinosaurs we have covered so far.
Some of My Dinosaur Resource Recommendations for Home and School.
Thanks for taking the time to read our facts and questions articles, as a teacher myself i have struggled to find resources in one place and that is why this website was born. I simply love teaching students about dinosaurs both in my role as a language and General Studies teacher. However there is sometimes a need for something more concrete than a printout (as useful as we think ours are! )
Sometimes having something tactile to touch in those tiny hands help to focus and cement learning and develop those big brains! Hope they are helpful too.
Dinosaur Books and Readers
There are of course hundreds of excellent, and not so excellent books on Dinosaurs for Children out there. So rather than, yet, go into huge detail. I will highlight the ones I love to use with my students from ages 6 to 10. We have include AR in these as well. ( nothing quite like a moving dinosaur in front of you!
Fossil Sets
I cant say how great these are to use in a classroom while reading with a group. the chance to read about a dinosaur and then touch a real piece is simply great. I have a selection ( self confessed dinosaur geek) but a cheap set of 10 or so will do the trick just as well. Dinosaur poop is great as well!!! i pass it round and ask them to guess what it is first!
Dinosaur Figures
I actually use realia in a lot of classes especially with animals and dinosaurs, and figures help to show the kind of animal we are reading about. It is possible to spend hundreds of dollars on dinosaur figures but there is no need, either as a teacher or a parent. The set below and similar we have used to help students picture dinosaurs to great effect.
References
https://www.activewild.com/ankylosaurus-facts-information-pictures/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ankylosaurus
https://www.britannica.com/animal/Ankylosaurus
Hi, I am Roy Ford a General Studies and English Teacher who has taught all over the world. What started as a fossil collection became a great way to teach, motivate and inspire students of all ages and all over the world about dinosaurs and from that and children’s love of dinosaurs came the site dinosaur facts for kids, a resource for all ages.
