Why are most ankylosaurus toys based off euoplocephalus?

[Brocc21]

Whoa I've posted quite a bit. But earlier I was watching Bioniclesaurus's review of the fantastic Safari ltd.'s ankylosaurus. He mentioned how most ankylosaur figures are based of not ankylosaurus but euoplocephalus. He says he forgot why this is so does any one here know why?

[IrritatorRaji]

I'm assuming it's because most of them copy Jurassic Park, whose Ankylosaurus looked like this:

[CityRaptor]

It started before JP. Also keep in mind that JP did not get one till 2001. It probably has to do with some old art. Here is a replica of the 1964 World's Fair Anky in the Royal Alberta Museum for example:


Other pre-JP examples:






Weren't the remains of Euoplocephalus far more complete than those of Ankylosaurus?

[suspsy]

Ankylosaurus remains a rather poorly known dinosaur. We have great specimens of the skull and the tail club, but most of the body and armour remains undiscovered. Here's an article from last year describing the most recent attempt at reconstructing it properly:

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/laelaps/presenting-the-new-ankylosaurus/

[Sim]

[...]
Weren't the remains of Euoplocephalus far more complete than those of Ankylosaurus?

I agree with you that it started before JP.  However, I don't think the ones in the images you posted are based on Euoplocephalus.  The ones it could be said were based on Euoplocephalus are ones with spikes on their back, in particular the ones with two large spikes above the shoulders, e.g. the Papo Ankylosaurus.  This isn't the end of the story though, which leads me to answer your question:

Euoplocephalus has been widely considered to be much more complete than Ankylosaurus, but my understanding is this is outdated information.  It's actually Scolosaurus that's fairly completely known, and it as well as Anodontosaurus and Dyoplosaurus were synonymised with Euoplocephalus for many years (without justification!), making Euoplocephalus become very well-known.  It's been shown that these ankylosaurid genera aren't synonyms of Euoplocephalus, which means the armour arrangement with the large spikes above the shoulders that's present in almost every restoration of Euoplocephlaus is actually based on the holotype of Scolosaurus cutleri.  This armour arrangement is also present in some Ankylosaurus toys/restorations, and some of the earlier Schleich Saichania, but again this armour arrangement is based on Scolosaurus cutleri.

[Ezikot]

Thank you, Sim.
So, if i haven't misinterpreted your words,
Scolosaurus cutleri > Euoplocephalus > Ankylosaurus
(> = "is better known than")?

If so, which toys are clearly based on Scolosaurus cutleri or Euoplocephalus and are a good representation of them without being simply a "mash-up"/hybrid?

[terrorchicken]

so are there any ankylosaurus toys/figures that are accurate(or mostly accurate)?

[Mononykus]

If so, which toys are clearly based on Scolosaurus cutleri or Euoplocephalus and are a good representation of them without being simply a "mash-up"/hybrid?

Basically, none. Most Euoplocephalus toys borrowed bits from various partial specimens that were formerly all lumped into Euoplocephalus, and are now split by Victoria Arbour. While we only know the armor of Scolosaurus with any certainty, it is certainly possible that Euoplocephalus, Dyoplosaurus and maybe Anodontosaurus had similar armor (using the Scolosaurus armor for them would be the 'best guess' of what they looked like). It is possible that Anodontosaurus is closer to Ankylosaurus, however, and thus may look more like that species.


The main known differences between the species are in the skull (squamosal horns, cervical and post-ocular osteoderms) and the tail club. Every model I am aware of has the wide, laterally pointed tail club of Anodontosaurus. The tail clubs of Euoplocephalus and Scolosaurus should look nearly round (rather than wider than long) when viewed from above. And Dyoplosaurus had a very narrow tail club.


On toys, the squamosal horns (upper horns on the back of the head) are probably the best feature to look for. They are swept back in Scolosaurus (as seen in the Papo "Ankylosaurus"), and project more laterally in the others. In Euoplocephalus tutus they are prominent and pointed (as seen in the Battat, the Schleich Replicasaurus "Saichania", and the first Favorite "Ankylosaurus"), while they may be more blunted in Anodontosaurus (as in the old Carnegie Euoplocephalus) (but with the caveat that some differences may be due to age or post-mortem wear).


There are other differences as well: the Cervical osteoderms (on the neck) are keeled in Euoplocephalus, flat in Scolosaurus (they are keeled in all of the above mentioned toys except for the Carnegie). The small osteoderms behind the eye (absent in Euoplocephalus, present in others) are probably not going to be reproduced reliably on models.


It may also be worth noting that Greg Paul's field guide suggests that Scolosaurus and Dyoplosaurus are both the same species as E. tutus, being the alternate sex and immature forms, respectively.


In summary, nearly all models combine features of Scolosaurus (armor, which is unknown in others), Anodontosaurus (tail club) and Euoplocephalus tutus (skull and neck in most)

[Ezikot]

Mononykus, thank you very much for your fast and exhaustive answer.

so are there any ankylosaurus toys/figures that are accurate(or mostly accurate)?

You mean ankylosaurus magniventris?
If so, i've understood that,
bearing in mind that we still miss something to really understand that species,
Watson's ankylosaurus is the most accurate ankylosaurus toy on the market.
But also the old carnegie and maybe the favorite are good figure and quite accurate (i mean based on scientific papers).

[Halichoeres]

so are there any ankylosaurus toys/figures that are accurate(or mostly accurate)?

The Safari (2018) and Carnegie are both quite good; there is necessarily some guesswork in the exact orientation and position of the armor elements, but the horns, nostrils, and club all look good to me. The Favorite is very pretty but gets the nostrils wrong. It might also be a little too narrow-gauged.

[DinoToyForum]

For your reference, here are all the Ankylosaurus toys that have been reviewed on the Dinotoyblog so far: http://dinotoyblog.com/genus/ankylosaurus/

[Brocc21]

Thanks for all the replies. That was pretty interesting.

[terrorchicken]

yeah thanks! I have the Carnegie ankylo and really like it so Ill hang on to it.