File:Akainacephalus cladogram1.jpg

English: Phylogenetic position of Akainacephalus johnsoni in (A), a strict consensus of 21 equally most parsimonious trees, including the wildcard taxon Ahshislepelta minor, placing A. johnsoni within a large polytomy, consisting of crown group taxa that include Asian and all Laramidian ankylosaurids; and (B), the resulting strict consensus of six equally most phylogenetic trees, from which the wildcard taxon Ahshislepelta minor has been pruned. The crown group taxa are slightly better resolved in the pruned analysis, in which Akainacephalus johnsoni forms a clade with its sister taxon Nodocephalosaurus kirtlandensis, nested within the clade that also includes the Asian taxa Minotaurasaurus ramachandrani, Tarchia kilanae, and Shanxia tianzhenensis, suggesting a close taxonomic relationship with Nodocephalosaurus kirtlandensis and Asian taxa.