Meaning of Names
of Alberta" Why? It was discovered in/near Alberta Canada.
Lizard" because it had an unusual backbone
Lizard" Scientists first thought it lived underwater, because
its bones were similar to the mosasaurus, a sea creature, and because
it was so heavy. They were wrong! This plant eater weighed as much
as 4-5 big elephants!
Claw," named after the first fossil found with its 11" claw
lizard (brachio = arm). Its front legs were longer than its back,
mostly dinosaurs' back legs are longer. Remember the T-rex?
dinosaur, whose name means "Thunder Beast" was a mix up
in a dig! The head of one was put with the body of another. Turns
out what was found was really an apatosaurus!
form" because its legs were hollow. Being hollow, they were lightweight
so this meat eater could run fast.
jawed" because its jaw worked and looked (with canine teeth and
smaller sharp incisors) like a dog's. It probably also had fur but
was still a reptile!
hand" -- This dinosaur had HUGE claws on each foot at the second
"toe" area. No one knows whether it had feathers, so I've
drawn it both ways.
lizard" - named for the two crests on its head
sizes of teeth" -- it had both stabbing fangs and razor-sharp
TYPES of teeth" -- long teeth in the front, small spiky teeth
on the sides
stalk" for the two long bones that stuck out from its sides like
a boomerang (not a dinosaur, it is a prehistoric killer amphibian)
beamed lizard" -- it was 90 feet long, 45 feet at the tail!
snout" -- he was a reptile who swam in the oceans and ate squid
lizard' - named after this small but speedy (and deadly) dinosaur
plated lizard" -- it had thin plates near its pelvis. The scientist
who first discovered this put its head on the wrong end!
mimic" - it looked like an ostrich but it was a very fast lizard/bird/
lizard of the south" - it was the largest meat eating dinosaur
who lived on the land, even bigger than T-rex
western bird" - found all the way from Kansas to Canada
lizard" - it ate fish, octopus and other swimming animals
tooth" - This plant eater had a special set of grinding teeth.
lizard" - "Titan" means "giant" and this
thing was huge! It was a swimming reptile that weighed up to 22 tons.
teeth" - but they were big! Up to 12 inches long!
mother lizard" - They built nests and cared for their eggs just
like most birds do today.
shark" Its huge teeth were jagged like saw blades. Some people
claim that the megalodon is still alive today! I hope not!
lizard" - Meuse is the name of the river in the Netherlands where
the first mosasaur fossils were found
lizard" - Get it? "Not-a-lizard"! The Nothosaurus lived
like our seals do today: sometimes on land, and sometimes in the water.
robber" - When scientists first found a fossil with eggs, they
thought it was stealing them! Turns out, it was nesting on them -
it was the mom!
mimic" - it had 3 toes, long hands and a bird-like skull
thief" - Just like ornitholestes, this dinosaur was misnamed!
It too was just sitting on its eggs. The scientists first thought
the fossils they found proved it was eating the eggs of other dinosaurs!
to lizard" - they lived at the same time, but these water reptiles
(who mostly lived in the ocean) were not dinosaurs! "Close to
lizard" meant that they were more reptilian (reptile-like) than
lizards" - marine reptiles, they were part of the plesiosaur
horn face" - it had a narrow horned beak like a bird or turtle.
It is an ancestor of the more well-known triceratops
lizard" - they were flying reptiles
without teeth" - a flying reptile
Quetzalcoatl" - a snake-god of the Aztecs. Quetzalcoatl was a
huge flying reptile with a 36-39-foot wingspan!
Foot" because it was small and quick, and scientists think it
may have been a jumping dinosaur.
lizard" - It had a long "sail" of spines covered with
skin on its back.
lizard" - named for the bony plates along its back
mimic" - It had a face and jaws like a crocodile but was more
upright, and scientists think it hunted like a T-rex.
face" for the three horns on its face, of course!
lobes" - these were early marine creatures with three distinct
tooth" - they had sharp, saw-like teeth
lizard" - Well, you saw it in Jurassic Park, didn't you? I'd
call that a tyrant!
from Utah"- found near Arches National Park in Utah
robber" - they were fast! But not nearly as big as you saw them
in Jurassic Park. They were actually about the size of a turkey!
Lizard" - First fossils found in the Yang Chuan area of China