Predators would have had to flip the squat, four-legged animal over, exposing its unprotected underbelly, to find a weak spot.
Ankylosaurus's distinctive plates did more than deflect blows—they could also be used as weapons. At the end of the animal's tail, a series of plates were fused together and held aloft by tail vertebra fused together. This clublike tail likely delivered a powerful blow and served as a serious deterrent to would-be predators.
Ankylosaurus had a beak and small teeth, which it used to browse the large quantities of plants necessary to sustain a three- to four-ton body. Ankylosaurus magniventris was the biggest and heaviest of the several ankylosaurid species and grew up to 33 feet (10 meters) long.
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