Ankylosaurus vs Apatosaurus

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

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Side-by-Side Comparison

Property Ankylosaurus Apatosaurus
Scientific Name Ankylosaurus magniventris Apatosaurus ajax
Classification Ankylosauria Sauropoda
Period Cretaceous Late Jurassic Late
Diet Herbivore Herbivore
Length 10.0 m 22.0 m
Height 1.7 m 4.5 m
Weight 6.0 t 22.7 t
Discovery Year 1908 1877
Discovery Location Hell Creek Formation, Montana, USA Morrison Formation, Colorado, USA
Named By Barnum Brown Othniel Charles Marsh
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Size Comparison

Ankylosaurus 10.0 m

about as long as 2 cars end-to-end

Apatosaurus 22.0 m

about as long as 4 cars end-to-end

Weight Comparison

Ankylosaurus 6.0 t

about the weight of 1.0 elephants

Apatosaurus 22.7 t

about the weight of 3.8 elephants

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Timeline Comparison

Ankylosaurus
100.5 Mya Cretaceous Late (Mesozoic) 66.0 Mya
Apatosaurus
161.5 Mya Jurassic Late (Mesozoic) 145.0 Mya
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Diet Comparison

Ankylosaurus

Herbivore

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

Apatosaurus

Herbivore

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

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Classification Comparison

Ankylosaurus

Clade: Thyreophora

Group: Ankylosauria

(Fused lizards)

Apatosaurus

Clade: Sauropodomorpha

Group: Sauropoda

(Lizard feet)

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Did You Know?

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Apatosaurus was about 2.2x longer than Ankylosaurus.

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Apatosaurus weighed roughly 4x more than Ankylosaurus.

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Both Ankylosaurus and Apatosaurus were herbivores.

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Ankylosaurus lived during the Cretaceous Late while Apatosaurus lived during the Jurassic Late, separated by roughly 96 million years.

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Apatosaurus was discovered 31 years earlier, in 1877.

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Ankylosaurus belonged to Ankylosauria while Apatosaurus belonged to Sauropoda.

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