In this research, the incorporation of material anisotropy is proposed for the large-deformation analyses of highly flexible dynamical systems. The anisotropic e ects are studied in terms of a generalized elastic forces (GEFs) derivation for a continuum-based, thick and fully parameterized absolute nodal coordinate formulation plate element, of which the membrane and bending deformation e ects are coupled. The GEFs are first derived for a fully anisotropic, linearly elastic material, characterized by 21 independent material parameters. Using the same approach, the GEFs are obtained for an orthotropic material, characterized by 9 material parameters. Furthermore, the analysis is extended to the case of nonlinear elasticity; the GEFs are introduced for a nonlinear Cauchy-elastic material, characterized by 4 in-plane orthotropic material parameters. Numerical simulations are performed to validate the theory for statics and dynamics to observe the anisotropic responses in terms of displacements, stresses and strains. The presented formulations are suitable for studying the nonlinear dynamical behaviour of advanced elastic materials of an arbitrary degree of anisotropy.