Ankylosauria is a group of herbivorous dinosaurs of the clade Ornithischia. It includes the great majority of dinosaurs with armor in the form of bony osteoderms, similar to turtles. Ankylosaurs were bulky quadrupeds, with short, powerful limbs. They are known to have first appeared in the Middle Jurassic, and persisted until the end of the Cretaceous Period. The two main families of Ankylosaurs, Nodosauridae and Ankylosauridae are primarily known from the Northern Hemisphere, but the more basal Parankylosauria are known from southern Gondwana during the Cretaceous.
Nodosaurus is a genus of herbivorous nodosaurid ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous, the fossils of which are found exclusively in the Frontier Formation in Wyoming.
Hylaeosaurus is a herbivorous ankylosaurian dinosaur that lived about 136 million years ago, in the late Valanginian stage of the early Cretaceous period of England. It was found in the Grinstead Clay Formation.
The Isle of Wight is one of the richest dinosaur localities in Europe, with over 20 species of dinosaur having been recognised from the early Cretaceous Period, some of which were first identified on the island, as well as the contemporary non-dinosaurian species of crocodile, turtle and pterosaur.
Polacanthus, deriving its name from the Ancient Greek polys-/πολύς- "many" and akantha/ἄκανθα "thorn" or "prickle", is an early armoured, spiked, plant-eating ankylosaurian dinosaur from the early Cretaceous period of England.
Minmi is a genus of small herbivorous ankylosaurian dinosaur that lived during the early Cretaceous Period of Australia, about 120 to 112 million years ago.
Nodosauridae is a family of ankylosaurian dinosaurs known from the Late Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous periods in what is now Asia, Europe, North America, and possibly South America. While traditionally regarded as a monophyletic clade as the sister taxon to the Ankylosauridae, some analyses recover it as a paraphyletic grade leading to the ankylosaurids.
Polacanthoides is an invalid genus of nodosaurid dinosaur from Europe. It lived about 140 to 135 million years ago in what is now England. It was named by Nopsca in 1928. The type specimen is NHMUK 2584. It is a junior synonym of both Hylaeosaurus and Polacanthus and was based on a chimera of skeletal elements.
Mymoorapelta is a nodosaurid ankylosaur from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation of western Colorado and central Utah, USA. The animal is known from a single species, Mymoorapelta maysi, and few specimens are known. The most complete specimen is the holotype individual from the Mygatt-Moore Quarry, which includes osteoderms, a partial skull, vertebrae, and other bones. It was initially described by James Kirkland and Kenneth Carpenter in 1994. Along with Gargoyleosaurus, it is one of the earliest known nodosaurids.
Denversaurus is a genus of panoplosaurin nodosaurid dinosaur from the late Maastrichtian of Late Cretaceous Western North America. Although at one point treated as a junior synonym of Edmontonia by some taxonomists, current research indicates that it is its own distinct nodosaurid genus.
Polacanthinae is a subfamily of ankylosaurs, most often nodosaurids, from the Late Jurassic through Early Cretaceous of Europe and potentially North America and Asia. The group is defined as the largest clade closer to Polacanthus foxii than Nodosaurus textilis or Ankylosaurus magniventris, as long as that group nests within either Nodosauridae or Ankylosauridae. If Polacanthus, and by extent Polacanthinae, falls outside either family-level clade, then the -inae suffix would be inappropriate, and the proper name for the group would be the informally defined Polacanthidae.
Zhejiangosaurus is an extinct genus of ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous of Zhejiang, eastern China. It was first named by a group of Chinese authors Lü Junchang, Jin Xingsheng, Sheng Yiming and Li Yihong in 2007 and the type species is Zhejiangosaurus lishuiensis. It has no diagnostic features, and thus is a nomen dubium.
Tatankacephalus is a basal genus of nodosaurid dinosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous. Its length has been estimated at 7 meters (23 ft).
This timeline of ankylosaur research is a chronological listing of events in the history of paleontology focused on the ankylosaurs, quadrupedal herbivorous dinosaurs who were protected by a covering bony plates and spikes and sometimes by a clubbed tail. Although formally trained scientists did not begin documenting ankylosaur fossils until the early 19th century, Native Americans had a long history of contact with these remains, which were generally interpreted through a mythological lens. The Delaware people have stories about smoking the bones of ancient monsters in a magic ritual to have wishes granted and ankylosaur fossils are among the local fossils that may have been used like this. The Native Americans of the modern southwestern United States tell stories about an armored monster named Yeitso that may have been influenced by local ankylosaur fossils. Likewise, ankylosaur remains are among the dinosaur bones found along the Red Deer River of Alberta, Canada where the Piegan people believe that the Grandfather of the Buffalo once lived.
Horshamosaurus is a genus of herbivorous ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of England. It lived during the Barremian of the Cretaceous and the type species is Horshamosaurus rudgwickensis.
Parankylosauria is a group of basal ankylosaurian dinosaurs known from the Cretaceous of South America, Antarctica, and Australia. It is thought the group split from other ankylosaurs during the mid-Jurassic period, despite this being unpreserved in the fossil record.
Jakapil is a genus of basal thyreophoran dinosaur from the Candeleros Formation of Argentina. The type species is Jakapil kaniukura.
Datai is an extinct genus of ankylosaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Zhoutian Formation of Jiangxi Province, China. The genus contains a single species, D. yingliangis, which is known from the articulated skulls and partial skeletons of two individuals.
