The Armoured Dinosaurs--The Ankylosaurs - Page 2


© Beverly Eschberger
Page 2
Euoplocephalus
Talarurus was an Asian species of Ankylosaur that also lived during the late Cretaceous Period. It had an armor-plated skull that broadened out at the back into a pair of bony spikes, which gives it an appearance of having external ears. It also had another pair of spikes that projected from the cheek regions of its skull. Talarurus had a heavy club at the end of its tail that was formed from three masses of fused bone, welded to the tail vertebrae in two lobes. The tail was kept off the ground by bony tendons that kept the vertebrae together; the tendons kept the tail stiff and would have increased the force with which it could swing the club.

Saichania was another Asian species of Ankylosaur that lived during the late Cretaceous Period. Saichania had air passages that were much more complex than those of other Ankylosaurs, and were probably more effective at cooling and moistening the air Saichania breathed before it reached the lungs. There is also some skeletal evidence to suggest that Saichania had a salt gland associated with its nostrils. The modern climate in Mongolia's Gobi Desert, where the remains were found, is cold and dry, but these skull adaptations would have helped Saichania to survive in the hot and dry environment of Late Cretaceous Mongolia.

Other less well-known species of Ankylosaurids included Amtosaurus, Pinacosaurus, Sauroplites, and Tarchia.

Euoplocephalus
       

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