World of Dinosaurs/Akainacephalus

An Akainacephalus skeleton.

Basics

Akainacephalus means "Spike Head".

It lived during the Cretaceous.

Anatomy

It walked on four legs.

It was covered in armor.

It had spikes and horns covering its skull.

It had a large club tail.

Phylogeny

Akainacephalus is an ankylosaurids.

All ankylosaurids are dinosaurs.

All dinosaurs are amniotes and all dinosaurs are tetrapods.

Biomechanics

Akainacephalus had a large club tail made of bone that it could have used to discourage predators.

It also had bony plates (osteoderms) covering it in protective armor.

Fossil Record

It was found in Utah, in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Park.

Ecology

Flowering plants had evolved by this point.

Biogeography

At this time the continent was a large island continent.