A recent study describes the evolution of the ankylosaur’s club tail, finding that, based on fossil evidence, it is likely that the tail vertebrae stiffened first to act as a handle and sustain the force generated by the knob tail which developed afterwards.

The dinosaur known as the ankylosaur may have been a plant eater, but some members wielded a club-like tail with a knob on the end that could keep potential predators away. 


Now, new research describes the way in which this unique feature developed among a group of them around 66 millions years ago even though the sort had existed for more than 80 million years before that.


Based on a comparison between mid-Cretaceous period fossils and those of ankylosaur predecessors, the scientists determined the first step in the