Ankylosaurus
The Ankylosaurus (also known as Ankylosaur) was a species of Dinosaur.
Biology[[edit] | [edit source]]
The body of the Ankylosaurus was "protected all over" by lumps of bone forming an armour, similar to, but more flexible than, the shell of a turtle. The creature was around four metres long and one and a half metres high, which the Fourth Doctor described as "not as big as Dinosaurs ago", but, for all that it was a herbivore, its armour-plating made the Ankylosaurus a difficult prey for predatoors. If it needed to actively defend itself, it also had at its disposabl a natural club in the form of a lump of bone a the end of its long, thick tail. (PROSE: The Doctor Who Dinosaur Book)
Roughly 10 metres long, some 1.4 metres high, and massing around 6 tonnes, the Ankylosaurus was quadrupedal and with the hind limbs longer than the forelimbs. The dinosaur was covered from head to tail in sheets of thick, bony Armour, with sharp spines sticking up along the back and tail. Large triangular horns projected from the back of its skull, and it has a blunt snout and a beak with cheek grinding teeth. The most impressive part of the Ankylosaurus is the heavy, bony club at the end of its tail, consisting of fused osteoderms. This tail could be swung from side to side and used to make devastating attacks.
It was a herbivore that fed on low-lying plants, shrubs and trees. Dwelling in well-watered forests, Ankylosaurus shared its environment with Edmontosaurus, Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus Rex, and Albertosaurus and so it needed all its Armour and its bony tail club to survive. The only true weak spot that Ankylosaurus had was its underside, which was not armoured, and thus the creature tended to crouch down to protect this vulnerable region. When defending itself, Ankylosaurus turned sideways to face its enemy so as to bring its tail to bear on them. (PROSE: Prehistory Repeating Itself [+]Loading...["Prehistory Repeating Itself (feature)"])
History[[edit] | [edit source]]
Ankylosaurus is one of the ankylosaurids that were found in North America, primarily in what would be Montana, Wyoming, the Western USA, and Alberta, Canada around 68-65 million BCE, whereas most of the other ankylosaurids were found in what would be eastern Asia. (PROSE: Prehistory Repeating Itself [+]Loading...["Prehistory Repeating Itself (feature)"])
The Fourth Doctor once travelled back to 80 million years before the 20th century, in the "Age of the Dinosaurs". He encountered a pair of Ankylosauri, whom he pointed out to his companion. (PROSE: The Doctor Who Dinosaur Book)
Ankylosauri were part of a herd of dinosaurs that Ace used to destroy a construction site in Cretaceous Mongolia and free alien slaves. (PROSE: Living in the Past)
In 2062, Ankylosauri were worth 650 points in the I-Spyder Book of Earth Creatures if it was spotted. The last Ankylosaurus was an exhibit in the Museum of the Last Ones. (PROSE: The Last Dodo)
In an alternative timeline, Ankylosaurus was one of the creatures the Silurians bought back from extinction. They were allowed to roam free and were presumably used as pack animals. (PROSE: Blood Heat)
Ankylosaurus was among the dinosaur species farmed by the Sanctified empire. At least two of the Sanctified's Ankylosaurus livestock came through the Cardiff Space-Time Rift to Cardiff in 2008. The Ankylosaurus were ultimately sent by the Torchwood Three team through a rift storm back to where they came from. (COMIC: Rift War!)
Ankylosauri were among the species placed aboard the Silurian Ark to repopulate the Earth with after the catastrophe the Silurians incorrectly predicted had passed. In the 24th century, the Ankylosaurus specimens aboard the Ark were sent by the Eleventh Doctor to the planet Siluria. (TV: Dinosaurs on a Spaceship)
Behind the scenes[[edit] | [edit source]]
The postcard Brian Williams sends Amy and Rory has a picture of some of the dinosaurs released in Siluria; however, although they are purported to be the same dinosaurs earlier seen in Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, one of them shows an Ankylosaurus from BBC's Walking With Dinosaurs rather than the design used earlier in the episode.
Ankylosauri from Dinosaurs on a Spaceship appear as enemies in the video game Doctor Who: Legacy, including a "Giant Ankylosaurus" variant.
