Ankylosaurus means "hard lizard," and this dinosaur's name is due to the pronounced ossification of its skeleton.

The head was covered with an additional layer of bony plates and spikes; the back and tail had bony scutes; and the vertebrae at the tip of the tail were fused together by bones.

The Ankylosaurus weighed about 6 tons and was a herbivorous dinosaur.

It had short legs and fed on low vegetation, which did not grow taller than 2 meters. Its mouth was beak-shaped, similar to that of a turtle or parrot. This beak was used to cut the plants it fed on, as if its beak were scissors, and it was also used to dig and obtain small nutritious roots. It had small, leaf-like teeth, and its jaws were very strong, as some bones in its skull and body were fused together to increase the animal's strength.

The Ankylosaurus was the last of the armored dinosaurs and the largest. Its armor and massive tail meant this dinosaur had no reason to fear predators.

This is one of the many dinosaurs discovered by the famous paleontologist Barnum Brown. In 1910, Brown found part of a fossilized Ankylosaurus skeleton, which is on display at the American Museum of Natural History.

Although it was a very slow dinosaur, the Ankylosaurus was difficult to hunt. It is believed that it would stand with its back to its predator, threatening it with its tail club, protecting its head and belly.

Despite the great weight of its tail mass, and the fact that most of it was at the end of a long, heavy tail, Ankylosaurus managed to balance itself with its tail held high.