During the Mesozoic era, the southern continents (South America, Antarctica, Australia, and Africa in

addition to India and Zealandia) were unified into a supercontinent known as Gondwana. This was in
contrast to the supercontinent of Laurasia in the Northern Hemisphere, with both originating from the
breakup of Pangaea. Gondwana itself gradually split apart over the course of
the Jurassic and Cretaceous eras.[2] Ankylosaurian dinosaurs from Laurasia have historically been
far more extensively recorded and studied. Reports of the group in Gondwana date back to 1904,
with a specimen from Australia and include referrals of Loricosaurus, Lametasaurus,
and Brachypodosaurus to group among assorted fragmentary material.[3] Much of this material
including would later be shown to be misidentified and not belonging to ankylosaurs, including the
named genera.[3][4][5] The first definitive ankylosaur to be recognized from Gondwana was discovered
in Australia in 1964 and later named in 1980 as Minmi paravertebra.[3] The validity of this taxon, as
well, has been challenged, though it is remains recognized as an ankylosaurian. The possibility of
a biogeographic connection between South America and ankylosaurs in Australia was raised
alongside discovery, though based on conjecture.[6]
Ankylosaurs from Gondwana have remained very mysterious. Fossil material continues to be scant
and southern taxa have been difficult to interpret in a phylogenetic context. Vertebrae
of Antarctopelta from Antarctica, for example, were so foreign compared to those
of euankylosaurs that it was questioned if they might instead belong to a marine reptile, which would
make the genus based on a chimeric specimen. The discovery of the genus Stegouros, published
and named in 2021, helped to clear up the previous confusion. The type specimen of the genus
preserved enough of the skeleton to make it clear that there was a previously
unrecognized monophyletic grouping of these southern ankylosaur taxa. Thus the study naming the
genus, by Sergio Soto-Acuña and colleagues, coined Parankylosauria based on the two
aforementioned genera and Kunbarrasaurus. The name, referencing its parent group, means "at the
side of Ankylosauria".[1]
Ankylosaurus is a member of the family Ankylosauridae, and its closest relatives appear to
be Anodontosaurus and Euoplocephalus. Ankylosaurus is thought to have been a slow-moving
animal, able to make quick movements when necessary. Its broad muzzle indicates it was a non-
selective browser. Sinuses and nasal chambers in the snout may have been for heat and water
balance or may have played a role in vocalization. The tail club is thought to have been used in
defense against predators or in intraspecific combat. Ankylosaurus has been found in the Hell
Creek, Lance, Scollard, Frenchman, and Ferris formations, but appears to have been rare in its
environment. Although it lived alongside a nodosaurid ankylosaur, their ranges and ecological
niches do not appear to have overlapped, and Ankylosaurus may have inhabited upland
areas. Ankylosaurus also lived alongside dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops,
and Edmontosaurus.
At the end of the Cretaceous, the impact of a large body with the Earth may have been the
punctuation mark at the end of a progressive decline in biodiversity during the Maastrichtian age.
The result was the extinction of three-quarters of Earth's plant and animal species. The impact
created the sharp break known as K–Pg boundary (formerly known as the K–T boundary). Earth's
biodiversity required substantial time to recover from this event, despite the probable existence of an
abundance of vacant ecological niches.[13]
Despite the severity of K-Pg extinction event, significant variability in the rate of extinction occurred
between and within different clades. Species that depended on photosynthesis declined or became
extinct as atmospheric particles blocked solar energy. As is the case today, photosynthesizing
organisms, such as phytoplankton and land plants, formed the primary part of the food chain in the
late Cretaceous, and all else that depended on them suffered, as well. Herbivorous animals, which
depended on plants and plankton as their food, died out as their food sources became scarce;
consequently, the top predators, such as Tyrannosaurus rex, also perished.[14] Yet only three major
groups of tetrapods disappeared completely; the nonavian dinosaurs, the plesiosaurs and
the pterosaurs. The other Cretaceous groups that did not survive into the Cenozoic Era,
the ichthyosaurs and last remaining temnospondyls and nonmammalian cynodonts were already
extinct millions of years before the event occurred.[citation needed]
Coccolithophorids and molluscs, including ammonites, rudists, freshwater snails, and mussels, as
well as organisms whose food chain included these shell builders, became extinct or suffered heavy
losses. For example, ammonites are thought to have been the principal food of mosasaurs, a group
of giant marine reptiles that became extinct at the boundary.[15]
Omnivores, insectivores, and carrion-eaters survived the extinction event, perhaps because of the
increased availability of their food sources. At the end of the Cretaceous, there seem to have been
no purely herbivorous or carnivorous mammals. Mammals and birds that survived the extinction fed
on insects, larvae, worms, and snails, which in turn fed on dead plant and animal matter. Scientists
theorise that these organisms survived the collapse of plant-based food chains because they fed
on detritus.[16][13][17]
In stream communities, few groups of animals became extinct. Stream communities rely less on
food from living plants and more on detritus that washes in from land. This particular ecological niche
buffered them from extinction.[18] Similar, but more complex patterns have been found in the oceans.
Extinction was more severe among animals living in the water column, than among animals living on
or in the seafloor. Animals in the water column are almost entirely dependent on primary
production from living phytoplankton, while animals living on or in the ocean floor feed on detritus or
can switch to detritus feeding.[13]