Anchiornis vs Ankylosaurus

A detailed side-by-side comparison of Anchiornis and Ankylosaurus, covering size, diet, classification, geologic period, and discovery history.

Side-by-Side Comparison

Property Anchiornis Ankylosaurus
Scientific Name Anchiornis huxleyi Ankylosaurus magniventris
Classification Theropoda Ankylosauria
Period Jurassic Late Cretaceous Late
Diet Insectivore Herbivore
Length 0.4 m 10.0 m
Height 0.2 m 1.7 m
Weight 0 kg 6.0 t
Discovery Year 2009 1908
Discovery Location Tiaojishan Formation, China Hell Creek Formation, Montana, USA
Named By Xu Xing et al. Barnum Brown

Size Comparison

Anchiornis 0.4 m

smaller than a human child

Ankylosaurus 10.0 m

about as long as 2 cars end-to-end

Weight Comparison

Anchiornis 0 kg

lighter than a human adult

Ankylosaurus 6.0 t

about the weight of 1.0 elephants

Timeline Comparison

Anchiornis
161.5 Mya Jurassic Late (Mesozoic) 145.0 Mya
Ankylosaurus
100.5 Mya Cretaceous Late (Mesozoic) 66.0 Mya

Diet Comparison

Anchiornis

Insectivore

Anchiornis primarily fed on insects and other small invertebrates.

Ankylosaurus

Herbivore

Ankylosaurus was a plant-eater, feeding on vegetation like ferns, conifers, and cycads.

Classification Comparison

Anchiornis

Clade: Saurischia

Group: Theropoda

(Beast feet)

Ankylosaurus

Clade: Thyreophora

Group: Ankylosauria

(Fused lizards)

Did You Know?

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Ankylosaurus was about 25.0x longer than Anchiornis.

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Ankylosaurus weighed roughly 60000x more than Anchiornis.

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Anchiornis was a insectivore while Ankylosaurus was a herbivore.

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Anchiornis lived during the Jurassic Late while Ankylosaurus lived during the Cretaceous Late, separated by roughly 44 million years.

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Ankylosaurus was discovered 101 years earlier, in 1908.

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Anchiornis belonged to Theropoda while Ankylosaurus belonged to Ankylosauria.

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