African Bush Elephant vs Ankylosaurus

[DinosaurMichael]

African Bush Elephant - Loxodonta africana
The African Bush Elephant or African Savanna Elephant (Loxodonta africana) is the larger of the two species of African elephant. Both it and the African Forest Elephant have usually been classified as a single species, known simply as the African Elephant. Some authorities still consider the currently available evidence insufficient for splitting the African Elephant into two species. It is also known as the Bush Elephant. The African Elephant is the largest living terrestrial animal, normally reaching 6 to 7.3 metres (19.7 to 24.0 ft) in length and 3.5 to 4 metres (11.5 to 13.1 ft) in height at the head, and weighing between 6,000 to 9,000 kg (13,000 to 20,000 lb). The largest on record, shot in Angola in 1955, was a bull weighing 12,274 kg (27,060 lbs and standing 4.2 metres (13.8 ft) high, the body of which is now mounted in the rotunda of the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.. (The museum's website states that the specimen weighs only 8 tons.) The Bush Elephant normally moves at a rate of 6 km/h (4 mph), but it can reach a top speed of 40 km/h (25 mph) when scared or upset. The animal is characterized by its large head; two large ears that cover its shoulders and radiate excess heat; a large and muscular trunk; two prominent tusks, which are well-developed in both sexes, although more commonly in males; a short neck; a large, barrel-like body; four long and heavy legs; and a relatively short tail. The animal is protected by a heavy but flexible layer of gray-brown skin, dotted with mostly undeveloped patches of hair and long, black hair at the tip of its tail. Its back feet have three toes that form a hoof, while the number of toes on the front feet have varied between four and five. The forehead is smoother and less convex than that of the Asian Elephant. The trunk is the most characteristic feature of the African Bush Elephant. It is formed by the fusion and elongation of the nose and upper lip, forming a flexible and strong organ made purely of muscle. Little scientific research has been carried out into elephants' cognitive or perceptual abilities. An exception is a recent report that African Bush Elephants are able to use seismic vibrations at infrasound frequencies for communication.



Ankylosaurus - Ankylosaurus magniventris
Ankylosaurus (which is pronounced /?æ?k?l??s?r?s/ [ANG-ki-lo-SAWR-us] or /æ??ka?l??s?r?s/ [ang-KIE-lo-SAWR-us], and which means "fused lizard") is a genus of ankylosaurid dinosaur, containing one species, A. magniventris. Fossils of Ankylosaurus are found in geologic formations dating to the very end of the Cretaceous Period (about 66.5–65.5 Ma ago) in western North America. Although a complete skeleton has not been discovered and several other dinosaurs are represented by more extensive fossil material, Ankylosaurus is often considered the archetypal armored dinosaur. Other ankylosaurids shared its well-known features—the heavily-armored body and massive bony tail club—but Ankylosaurus was the largest known member of the family. In comparison with modern land animals the adult Ankylosaurus was very large. Some scientists have estimated a length of 9 meters (30 ft). Another reconstruction suggests a significantly smaller size, at 6.25 m (20.5 ft) long, up to 1.5 m (5 ft) wide and about 1.7 m (5.5 ft) high at the hip. Ankylosaurus may have weighed over 6,000 kilograms (13,000 lb), making it one of the heaviest armored dinosaurs yet discovered. The body shape was low-slung and quite wide. It was quadrupedal, with the hind limbs longer than the forelimbs. Although its feet are still unknown, comparisons with other ankylosaurids suggest Ankylosaurus probably had five toes on each foot. The skull was low and triangular in shape, wider than it was long. The largest known skull measures 64.5 centimeters (25 in) long and 74.5 cm (29 in) wide. Like other ankylosaurs, Ankylosaurus was herbivorous, with small, leaf-shaped teeth suitable for cropping vegetation. These teeth were smaller, relative to the body size, than in any other ankylosaurid species. Ankylosaurus did not share the grinding tooth batteries of the contemporaneous ceratopsid and hadrosaurid dinosaurs, indicating that very little chewing occurred. Bones in the skull and other parts of the body were fused, increasing their strength.

[Godzillasaurus]

I'm going to have to go with the dinosaur here. Not only is it armored, but also much lower to the ground than the elephant. Because of this, it would be particularly difficult for the elephant to wound it with its tusks, especially if the ankylosaurus's only area open to attack is its carapace. The dinosaur appears to be in the perfect place to strike at the elephant's much longer and more pillar-like legs.

[Infinity Blade]

I recall giving Ankylosaurus a slight edge against T.rex because it is still in the perfect position to hit the theropod's legs, even with its size disadvantage (I'm sure there are people who would still disagree with me). I might have to do the same here. If this were magically at parity, or if it was a forest elephant Ankylosaurus was pitted against, I'd more confidently back the dinosaur.

[Godzillasaurus]

But I must add though that the elephant could potentially gore the dinosaur's flanks, as they were more subtly armored than its back, but it would still be very difficult, as it would be unlikely for the dinosaur to immediately give up its most vulnerable point

[Deleted]

Anky got downsized, so elephant.

[Infinity Blade]

It would appear that Ankylosaurus did indeed reach elephantine proportions. Blaze suggested before that the largest specimen should have weighed in the order of ~5 tonnes (excluding armor, I think), while this relatively recent study suggests the following.

To calculate the mass of Ankylosaurus, we used the QE function in the MASSTIMATE v. 1.3 package of Campione (2016) in R version 3.2.3 (R Core Team 2015). This package estimates body mass from combined stylopodial shaft circumferences using a scaling equation described by Campione and Evans (2012). For AMNH 5214, the smallest known Ankylosaurus (humeral shaft circumference = 315 mm, femoral shaft circumference = 363 mm), the estimated mass is 4.78 ± 1.22 t. For comparison, the estimated mass of AMNH 5404, a large specimen of Euoplocephalus (humeral shaft circumference = 244 mm, femoral shaft circumference = 278 mm), is 2.33 ± 0.60 t. Thus, Ankylosaurus appears to have been a substantially bulkier animal, even if its total body length did not greatly exceed those of its closest relatives (which is consistent with standard allometric scaling relationships of the vertebrate skeleton).

How heavy was the largest known Ankylosaurus, CMN 8880? With only an isolated skull available, it is difficult to be certain. However, it is possible to hazard a first approximation by isometrically scaling up stylopodial shaft circumferences from AMNH 5214 using width between the supraorbitals as a common reference. (Stylopodial shaft circumference very likely scaled allometrically in the genus, but there are too few specimens to determine a scaling coefficient.) In this way, we estimate that CMN 8880 might have weighed approximately 7.95 ± 2.04 t—about as massive as a large male African elephant (Loxodonta africana) (Colbert 1993)—but these values must obviously be regarded with due scepticism. Other published mass estimates for Ankylosaurus (Paul 1997), presumably using the smaller and more complete AMNH 5214 as reference, place the animal at approximately 6 t, although methodological details in these studies are lacking. Seebacher (2001) estimated a mass of just ∼1.7 t using his polynomial technique, which strikes us as excessively small for an animal of otherwise elephantine proportions.

www.researchgate.net/publication/320349340_Unusual_cranial_and_postcranial_anatomy_in_the_archetypal_ankylosaur_Ankylosaurus_magniventris

An Ankylosaurus in this size range would win. Nothing the elephant could theoretically do to this biological tank with a wrecking ball on a handle for a tail could be done before a forearm or even humerus (or anywhere else the ankylosaur could reach) is cracked or shattered by that tail club. The ankylosaur would need only swing twice to do damage to both of the elephant's forelimbs, leaving it largely immobile and consequently at the ankylosaur's mercy.

[marsupial]

I believe that the ankylosaurus would win because it has a low slung body that makes it harder for the elephant to hit any unarmored parts and the fact that it has basically a wrecking ball as a tail means it could probably hit the pillar like limbs of the elephant and possibly break it with a few hits. So overalli think the anky has good chance ranging from 6-8/10 times winning.

[dinosauria101]

Ankylosaurus wins. the elephant can't get past the armor, and the club would be devastating