Ankylosauridae

Euoplocephalus

  • Worldwide?

The Ankylosauridae are one of the two subtaxa ( subgroups ), in which the dinosaur group of Ankylosauria is divided. They lived from the Upper Jurassic to Upper Cretaceous.

Features

The Ankylosauridae divide the Body of Ankylosauria. The broad, massive hull is supported by four short, powerful limbs, the hind legs are longer than the front legs. The neck, the trunk and the top of the tail were covered by an armor of bony plates.

The skull of Ankylosauridae was - built wider in contrast to the Nodosauridae, the second subgroup and has a roughly triangular shape. The two bony outgrowths behind the eye socket and cheek were large and pyramid - at the Nodosauridae they were rounded and blunt. As with all Ankylosauria the teeth were small and leaf-shaped and adapted to a plant-based diet. The top of the skull and sometimes even the eyelids were also provided with a bony armor.

In contrast to the Nodosauridae the Ankylosauridae had no noticeable spikes in the shoulder region. There are also differences in the construction of the scapula, not having the gall-like excrescence ( acromion ) in the Ankylosauridae. Another distinguishing feature is the bony tail club, which was present at least in the more developed Ankylosauridae.

Paleobiology

The wide mouth suggests that the Ankylosauridae were not specialized in certain plant forms, but have randomly picked off everything. The caudal lobe aim of defense against predators, according to other opinions they might have been used in rival fights with other dogs or have a dubious theory is that served as bait, the attacker distracting from the head. In many aspects, the alleged lifestyle of Ankylosauridae with the rest Ankylosauria match.

System

The systematics of Ankylosauria is controversial in many areas. This is also due to the fact that many findings are poorly preserved and a definite diagnosis is often hardly possible. Will also discuss the affiliation of Polacanthidae or Polacanthinae that are sometimes associated with the Ankylosauridae and sometimes the Nodosauridae. The system described here largely follows Vickaryous M. et al. (2004), for comparison is - where there are deviations - represented the systematics of K. Carpenter or the assignment by the describer in parentheses after the name. ( See also Internal classification of Ankylosauria. )

Maastrichtian Mya (unit) Fossil Barnum Brown Minmi (dinosaur)
65926
de