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herbivore

Ankylosauridae

Club-tailed armored dinosaurs

83.6–66 MYA

Ankylosaurids carried the same body armor of embedded bony plates seen across the wider armored-dinosaur lineage, but the family's defining feature is at the tail's end: a heavy knob of fused vertebrae and bone, swung on a stiffened tail handle, capable of delivering real force to an attacker's legs. Some genera also had armored eyelids and complex, sinus-riddled nasal passages whose exact function -- vocalization, temperature regulation, or both -- is still debated.

Ankylosaurids were concentrated mostly in the Cretaceous, with strong representation across North America and Asia. Ankylosaurus, the genus that names the family, is known from relatively fragmentary remains despite its fame; better-preserved relatives like Euoplocephalus and Pinacosaurus have filled in much of what's understood about how the family's armor and tail club actually worked in life.

Meet the giants

37 genera, ordered oldest to newest — the evolutionary line, not the alphabet.

GenusPeriodMax weightHeightDietRegion
MinmiAnkylosauridae132.6–119.6 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownOceania
LiaoningosaurusAnkylosauridae125.8–119.6 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownAsia
CedarpeltaAnkylosauridae121.4–100.5 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownNorth America
ShamosaurusAnkylosauridae121.4–100.5 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownAsia
ZhongyuansaurusAnkylosauridae121.4–100.5 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownUnknown
GobisaurusAnkylosauridae121.4–100.5 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownAsia
ChuanqilongAnkylosauridae121.4–113.2 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownAsia
JinyunpeltaAnkylosauridae113.2–100.5 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownAsia
CrichtonpeltaAnkylosauridae106.3–89.8 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownAsia
ZaraapeltaAnkylosauridae100.5–83.6 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownAsia
TalarurusAnkylosauridae100.5–83.6 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownAsia
ShanxiaAnkylosauridae100.5–72.2 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownUnknown
TianzhenosaurusAnkylosauridae100.5–72.2 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownUnknown
MaleevusAnkylosauridae100.5–83.6 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownUnknown
TsagantegiaAnkylosauridae100.5–83.6 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownAsia
SaichaniaAnkylosauridae100.5–72.2 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownAsia
BissektipeltaAnkylosauridae93.9–89.8 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownAsia
DataiAnkylosauridae93.9–85.7 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownAsia
PinacosaurusAnkylosauridae89.8–72.2 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownAsia
SyrmosaurusAnkylosauridae89.8–72.2 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownUnknown
DyoplosaurusAnkylosauridae83.6–72.2 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownNorth America
ScolosaurusAnkylosauridae83.6–72.2 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownNorth America
ZuulAnkylosauridae83.6–72.2 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownNorth America
OohkotokiaAnkylosauridae83.6–72.2 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownNorth America
HuaxiazhoulongAnkylosauridae83.6–72.2 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownAsia
NodocephalosaurusAnkylosauridae83.6–72.2 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownNorth America
AkainacephalusAnkylosauridae83.6–72.2 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownNorth America
AletopeltaAnkylosauridae83.6–72.2 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownNorth America
ZiapeltaAnkylosauridae83.6–72.2 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownNorth America
StereocephalusAnkylosauridae83.6–66 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownUnknown
PlatypeltaAnkylosauridae83.6–72.2 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownNorth America
AhshislepeltaAnkylosauridae83.6–72.2 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownNorth America
EuoplocephalusAnkylosauridae83.6–66 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownNorth America
TarchiaAnkylosauridae83.6–66 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownAsia
AnodontosaurusAnkylosauridae83.6–66 MYAUnknownUnknownUnknownNorth America
AnkylosaurusAnkylosauridae68–66 MYA~6 t~1.7 mherbivoreNorth America
MinotaurasaurusAnkylosauridaeUnknown rangeUnknownUnknownUnknownUnknown

Weight and height are best estimates from published research, not exact measurements — sauropod mass in particular varies by method and specimen. Most genera below are newly classified and still awaiting full measurements.

Further reading