ankylosaur

noun

an·​ky·​lo·​saur ˈaŋ-kə-lō-ˌsȯr 

: any of a suborder (Ankylosauria) of herbivorous Cretaceous ornithiscian dinosaurs having a long low-lying thickset body covered dorsally with bony plates

Examples of ankylosaur in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And while bonebeds with ankylosaurs, hadrosaurs, and sauropods have hinted at herd behavior, so, too, have deposited dino tracks, suggesting some dinosaurs had a distinct social streak. —Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 28 Mar. 2024

The head of the ankylosaur still partly encased in the concretion it was discovered in. —Jeanne Timmons, Ars Technica, 25 Jan. 2023

A number of other ankylosaurs have been preserved in this manner, albeit not as well as Borealopelta. —Jeanne Timmons, Ars Technica, 25 Jan. 2023

One glass case contains bits of armor and bone from an unknown ankylosaur that Mr. LuJan discovered on his West Texas ranch in 2017, and which paleontologists from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science are studying. —Asher Elbein Nina Riggio, New York Times, 17 July 2023

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin ankylosaur-, base of the taxa Ankylosaurus ankylosaurus, Ankylosauridae (from Anykylosaurus + -idae -idae), and Ankylosauria (from Ankylosaurus + -ia -ia entry 2)

First Known Use

1908, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

ankylosaur

noun

an·​ky·​lo·​saur ˈaŋ-kə-lō-ˌsȯr 

: any of several plant-eating dinosaurs of the Cretaceous period having a thickset body with bony plates covering the back