Dino card No. 0051 of 2,027

Akainacephalus

Say it: ah-KAI-nuh-SEF-uh-lus

Name means: “thorny head”1

Ate: PlantsArmoured dinosLate Cretaceous

Akainacephalus was an armored dinosaur that looked like a living tank. It had a bony club at the end of its tail and a head covered in spiky, pyramid-shaped bumps. This dinosaur lived in what is now southern Utah, USA, about 76 million years ago.1 3

Lived

84 to 72 million years ago3

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Kaiparowits Formation, southern Utah, USA3 1

Food

Plants3 1

Length

4.5 to 5.5 m1

estimate based on related ankylosaurids

Weight

1 tonnes to 1.5 tonnes1

Height

1.5 to 2 m1

at the hips

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How tall was it?

at the hips

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 1 cars

as long as 6 dogs nose to tailas long as 31 bananas end to endas heavy as 50 big dogsas heavy as 300 watermelonsabout as tall as a door

How big was Akainacephalus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Akainacephalus is the most complete ankylosaurid dinosaur ever found from the southern part of ancient Laramidia.1

Its skull was covered with raised, cone-shaped and pyramid-shaped bony plates called caputegulae.1

This dinosaur had a massive tail club made of two large bones fused together.1

Akainacephalus lived about 76 million years ago during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous.1

Its closest relatives include Nodocephalosaurus from New Mexico and Asian ankylosaurids like Saichania.1

The only known specimen was discovered in a bonebed that also contained fossils of other animals.1

AI-made picture of Akainacephalus — An AI-made picture of how Akainacephalus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Akainacephalus

?How big was Akainacephalus?

Scientists do not know its exact size because no complete skeleton has been found. The only known specimen includes about 45% of the skeleton, so its total length and weight are still uncertain.2 1

?What did Akainacephalus eat?

Akainacephalus was a plant-eater. Like other ankylosaurids, it had a narrow, U-shaped beak and teeth suited for cropping and chewing tough plants.2

?Did Akainacephalus have a tail club?

Yes. Akainacephalus had a complete tail club made of two large bones fused together, which it could have used for defense.2 1

?Where was Akainacephalus found?

Akainacephalus was discovered in southern Utah, USA, in the Kaiparowits Formation of the Grand Staircase, Escalante National Monument. The site is called the Horse Mountain Gryposaur Quarry.2 1

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Myth buster

Myth: Akainacephalus could roll into a ball like an armadillo.

Truth: No ankylosaur could roll into a ball. Akainacephalus defended itself with its bony armor and tail club.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Akainacephalus
Named by: Wiersma and Irmis 20183
Group: Armoured dinos
Family / clade: Ankylosauridae3
Classification: Ornithischia > Ankylosauria > Ankylosauridae > Thyreophora3
Age of the rocks: 84 to 72 million years (Campanian)3
Rock formations: Kaiparowits3
Countries: USA3
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database3
Discovery: Akainacephalus was named in 2018 by paleontologists Jelle Wiersma and Randall Irmis. The skeleton was found in the Kaiparowits Formation of southern Utah, USA.3 1
Still debated: Scientists are still debating exactly how Akainacephalus is related to other ankylosaurids, especially those from Asia.1

Where the facts come from

PeerJ A new southern Laramidian ankylosaurid, Akainacephalus johnsoni gen. et sp. nov., from the upper Campanian Kaiparowits Formation of southern Utah, USA (peerj.com)
Akainacephalus (en.wikipedia.org)
Akainacephalus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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