Ankylosaurus

fused lizard (often rendered "stiffened lizard")

• ankylos · Greek · crooked, curved, or stiffened/fused
• sauros · Greek · lizard

The name combines the Greek "ankylos" (often translated as crooked, bent, or fused/stiffened) with "sauros" (lizard). Barnum Brown chose it in 1908, and it is often interpreted as referring to the animal's fused skull bones and its armor of bony plates (osteoderms) embedded in the skin. The name is also commonly rendered as "stiffened lizard" or "fused lizard".

Named by

Brown

Year named

1908

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stage

Maastrichtian

Found in

Hell Creek Formation, Montana, USA; Lance Formation, Wyoming, USA; Scollard Formation, Alberta, Canada

A large armored ankylosaurid dinosaur and the type genus of the family Ankylosauridae. The type species is Ankylosaurus magniventris. It is known from relatively few specimens.