Prehistoric Animals : Stegosaurus

Stegosaurus

Although nowhere near the largest of the Jurassic dinosaurs, Stegosaurus were still about the size of a bus. Distinctive and heavily built, they were herbivores with short forelimbs and would have walked with their small head close to the ground and the four-spiked tail held high. The double row of plates running along the back helped control body temperature and were probably used in display or possibly in defence against carnivorous Allosaurs. Most fossils for the three known species, including some complete skeletons, have come from the USA, although a recent discovery in Portugal suggests a wider distribution.

Scientific name: Stegosaurus
Rank: Genus

roof-lizard

Stegosaurus (pron.: /ˌstɛɡɵˈsɔrəs/, meaning "roof lizard" or "covered lizard" in reference to its bony plates) is a genus of armored stegosaurid dinosaur. They lived during the Late Jurassic period (Kimmeridgian to early Tithonian), some 155 to 150 million years ago in what is now western North America. In 2006, a specimen of Stegosaurus was announced from Portugal, showing that they were present in Europe as well. Due to its distinctive tail spikes and plates, Stegosaurus is one of the most recognizable dinosaurs. At least three species have been identified in the upper Morrison Formation and are known from the remains of about 80 individuals.
A large, heavily built, herbivorous quadruped, Stegosaurus had a distinctive and unusual posture, with a heavily rounded back, short forelimbs, head held low to the ground and a stiffened tail held high in the air. Its array of plates and spikes has been the subject of much speculation. The spikes were most likely used for defense, while the plates have also been proposed as a defensive mechanism, as well as having display and thermoregulatory functions. Stegosaurus had a relatively low brain-to-body mass ratio. It had a short neck and small head, meaning it most likely ate low-lying bushes and shrubs. It was the largest of all the stegosaurians (bigger than genera such as Kentrosaurus and Huayangosaurus) and, although roughly bus-sized, it nonetheless shared many anatomical features (including the tail spines and plates) with the other stegosaurian genera.

 

Prehistoric Animals : Velociraptors

Velociraptors

Velociraptors were made famous in the film 'Jurassic Park', though they were a little less impressive in reality, standing not much taller than domestic turkeys. A famous fossil has one locked in battle with a Protoceratops. The predatory Velociraptor had pinned down its plant-eating victim, but both appear to have been overcome, perhaps by a sudden sandstorm. Fossils also show that Velociraptor had large feathers on its forelimbs, perhaps used for display.

Scientific name: Velociraptor
Rank: Genus

Common names:swift seizer

Velociraptor (pron.: /vɨˈlɒsɨræptər/; meaning 'swift seizer') is a genus of dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 75 to 71 million years ago during the later part of the Cretaceous Period. Two species are currently recognized, although others have been assigned in the past. The type species is V. mongoliensis; fossils of this species have been discovered in Mongolia. A second species, V. osmolskae, was named in 2008 for skull material from Inner Mongolia, China.
Smaller than other dromaeosaurids like Deinonychus and Achillobator, Velociraptor nevertheless shared many of the same anatomical features. It was a bipedal, feathered carnivore with a long tail and an enlarged sickle-shaped claw on each hindfoot, which is thought to have been used to kill its prey. Velociraptor can be distinguished from other dromaeosaurids by its long and low skull, with an upturned snout.
Velociraptor (commonly shortened to 'raptor') is one of the dinosaur genera most familiar to the general public due to its prominent role in the Jurassic Park motion picture series. In the films it was shown with anatomical inaccuracies, including being much larger than it was in reality and without feathers. It is also well known to paleontologists, with over a dozen described fossil skeletons—the most of any dromaeosaurid. One particularly famous specimen preserves a Velociraptor locked in combat with a Protoceratops.

Prehistoric Animals : Carcharodontosaurids

Carcharodontosaurids

The carcharodontosaurids were a group of giant carnivorous dinosaurs that rivalled and even exceeded Tyrannosaurus in size. Scientists have calculated that one of them, Giganotosaurus, could run at 50 km/h, which is just slower than an ostrich, but 13 km/h faster than a gold medal-winning Olympic sprinter. Carcharodontosaurids were top predators in the ancient continent of Gondwanaland: the area of the world that's now the southern hemisphere continents - South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia - and India. They evolved from an Allosaurus-like ancestor and became extinct about 89 million years ago.

Scientific name: Carcharodontosauridae
Rank: Family

Shark-toothed lizards

Carcharodontosaurids (from the Greek Carcharodontosauros: "shark-toothed lizards") were a group of carnivorous theropod dinosaurs. In 1931 Ernst Stromer named Carcharodontosauridae as a family, in modern paleontology this name indicates a clade within Carnosauria. Carcharodontosaurids included some of the largest land predators ever known: Giganotosaurus, Mapusaurus, Carcharodontosaurus, and Tyrannotitan all rivaled or exceeded Tyrannosaurus in size.

Prehistoric Animals : Ceropod Dinosaurs

Ceropod dinosaurs

Ceropod dinosaurs were all plant-eaters and include the horned and duck-billed dinosaurs. The secret of their success was in their teeth. These were much more efficient at grinding up plant food than your typical dinosaur's dentition, so cerapods were able to extract more nutritional value from their food and tackle plants that others found too tough to digest. It wasn't until big herbivorous mammals evolved that such efficient chewing teeth were seen again on Earth.

Scientific name: Cerapoda
Rank: Suborder

Common names: horn foot

Cerapoda ("ceratopsians and ornithopods") is a clade of the dinosaur order Ornithischia.

Prehistoric Animals : Sauropodomorph dinosaurs

Sauropodomorph dinosaurs

Sauropods are among the most famous and recognisable dinosaurs: long-necked, long-tailed giants that include Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus. Early sauropods were bipedal and quite small compared to their later descendants which became the heaviest and longest dinosaurs. It requires a four-legged stance to get to truly giant size, as you need to spread your weight. Like elephants today, the largest sauropods could only move at a walk as their leg bones couldn't withstand the impact of trotting or galloping gaits. However, just because they were restricted to walking didn't mean they couldn't put on a turn of speed: their top walking speed has been estimated at between 20 and 35 km/h.

Scientific name: Sauropodomorpha
Rank: Suborder

Sauropodomorpha (pron.: /sɔːˌrɒpɵdəˈmɔrfə/ saw-ROP-ə-də-MOR-fə; from Greek, meaning "lizard-footed forms") is an extinct clade of long-necked, herbivorous, saurischian dinosaurs that includes the sauropods and their ancestral relatives. Sauropods generally grew to very large sizes, had long necks and tails, were quadrupedal, and became the largest animals to ever walk the Earth. The "prosauropods", which preceded the sauropods, were smaller and were often able to walk on two legs. The sauropodomorphs were the dominant terrestrial herbivores throughout much of the Mesozoic Era, from their origins in the mid-Triassic until their decline and extinction at the end of the Cretaceous.

Prehistoric Animals : Ornithopod Dinosaurs

Ornithopod dinosaurs

With some of the most advanced chewing apparatus ever developed by a reptile, ornithopod dinosaurs became a most successful group of herbivorous dinosaurs. They rapidly became a prominent feature on North America's Cretaceous landscape, until they were wiped out by the famous Cretaceous-Tertiary, or K-T, extinction event. Early ornithopods were only about a metre long and could probably run very fast on their hind legs. They evolved to become as large as some of the mighty sauropods, walking and grazing on all four legs, but still using the hind legs for running and reaching up into trees. Notable ornithopods include the duck-billed hadrosaurs and, of course, iguanodon.

Scientific name: Ornithopoda
Rank: Infraorder

Common names:bird feet

Prehistoric Animals : Common names:

Duck-billed dinosaurs

Duck-billed dinosaurs were successful and common herbivores from the upper Cretaceous period. The secret of their success perhaps lay with the duck-shaped bill that clipped vegetation and the many small teeth that ground it down. There were two types: some with a bony crest on their head for resonating sound and some without. Fossilised nest sites have shown that some species may have travelled to communal nesting grounds to lay eggs, as many bird species do today. Fossils from the many species are found all over modern-day Europe, Asia and North America, and show that some grew to around 12 metres.

Scientific name: Hadrosauridae
Rank: Family

Common names:bulky lizard, Hadrosaurs

Hadrosaurids or duck-billed dinosaurs are members of the family Hadrosauridae, and include ornithopods such as Edmontosaurus and Parasaurolophus. They were common herbivores in the Upper Cretaceous Period of what are now Asia, Europe and North America. They are descendants of the Upper Jurassic/Lower Cretaceous iguanodontian dinosaurs and had similar body layout. They were ornithischians.
Hadrosaurids are divided into two principal subfamilies. The lambeosaurines (Lambeosaurinae) had hollow cranial crests or tubes, and were generally less bulky. The saurolophines, identified as hadrosaurines in most pre-2010 works (Saurolophinae or Hadrosaurinae), lacked hollow cranial crests (solid crests were present in some forms) and were generally larger.