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Spinosaurids
Spinosauridae (or spinosaurids) is a clade or family of tetanuran theropod dinosaurs comprising ten to seventeen known genera. Spinosaurid fossils have been recovered worldwide, including Africa, Europe, South America, and Asia. Their remains have generally been attributed to the Early to early Late Cretaceous. Spinosaurids were large bipedal carnivores. Their crocodilian-like skulls were long, low, and narrow, bearing conical teeth with reduced or absent serrations. The tips of their upper and lower jaws fanned out into a spoon-shaped structure similar to a rosette, behind which there was a notch in the upper jaw that the expanded tip of the lower jaw fit into. The nostrils of spinosaurids were retracted to a position further back on the head than in most other theropods, and they had bony crests on their heads along the midline of their skulls. Their robust shoulders wielded stocky forelimbs, with three-fingered hands that bore an enlarged claw on the first digit. In many s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baryonyx
''Baryonyx'' () is a genus of theropod dinosaur which lived in the Barremian stage of the Early Cretaceous period, about 130–125 million years ago. The first skeleton was discovered in 1983 in the Smokejack Clay Pit, of Surrey, England, in sediments of the Weald Clay Formation, and became the holotype specimen of ''Baryonyx walkeri'', named by palaeontologists Alan J. Charig and Angela C. Milner in 1986. The genus name ''Baryonyx'' comes from Ancient Greek βαρύς (''barús''), meaning "heavy" or "strong", and ὄνυξ (''ónux''), meaning "claw", alluding to the animal's very large claw on the first finger; the specific name, ''walkeri'', refers to its discoverer, amateur fossil collector William J. Walker. The holotype specimen is one of the most complete theropod skeletons from the UK (and remains the most complete spinosaurid), and its discovery attracted media attention. Specimens later discovered in other parts of the United Kingdom and Iberia have also bee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irritator
''Irritator'' is a genus of Spinosauridae, spinosaurid dinosaur that lived in what is now Brazil during the Albian Geological stage, stage of the Early Cretaceous Geological period, Period, about 113 to 110 million years ago. It is known from a nearly complete skull found in the Romualdo Formation of the Araripe Basin. Fossil dealers had acquired this skull and sold it to the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart. In 1996 in paleontology, 1996, the specimen became the holotype of the type species ''Irritator challengeri''. The genus name comes from the word "irritation", reflecting the feelings of paleontologists who found the skull had been heavily damaged and altered by the collectors. The species name is a homage to the fictional character Professor Challenger from Arthur Conan Doyle's novels. Some paleontologists regard ''Angaturama limai''—known from a snout tip that was described a few weeks later also in 1996—as a potential junior synonym of ''Irritator''. Both ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ichthyovenator
''Ichthyovenator'' is a genus of spinosaurid dinosaur that lived in what is now Laos, sometime between 120 and 113 million years ago, during the Aptian Stage (geology), stage of the Early Cretaceous Period (geologic time), period. It is known from fossils collected from the Grès supérieurs Formation of the Savannakhet Basin, the first of which were found in 2010, consisting of a partial skeleton without the skull or limbs. This specimen became the holotype of the new genus and species ''Ichthyovenator laosensis'', and was described by palaeontologist Ronan Allain and colleagues in 2012 in archosaur paleontology, 2012. The generic name, meaning "fish hunter", refers to its assumed piscivorous lifestyle, while the specific name alludes to the country of Laos. In 2014, it was announced that more remains from the dig site had been recovered; these fossils included teeth, more Glossary of dinosaur anatomy#vertebrae, vertebrae (backbones) and a Glossary of dinosaur anatomy#pubi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cristatusaurus
''Cristatusaurus'' is a genus of theropod dinosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous Geological period, Period of what is now Niger, 112 million years ago. It was a baryonychine member of the Spinosauridae, a group of large Bipedalism, bipedal carnivores with well-built forelimbs and elongated, crocodile-like skulls. The type species ''Cristatusaurus lapparenti'' was named in 1998 in paleontology, 1998 by scientists Philippe Taquet and Dale Russell, on the basis of jaw bones and some vertebrae. Two claw fossils were also later assigned to ''Cristatusaurus''. The animal's Generic name (biology), generic name, which means "crested reptile", alludes to a sagittal crest on top of its snout; while the Specific name (zoology), specific name is in honor of the French paleontologist Albert-Félix de Lapparent. ''Cristatusaurus'' is known from the Albian to Aptian Erlhaz Formation, Elrhaz Formation, where it would have coexisted with Sauropoda, sauropod and iguanodontian dinosaurs, ot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oxalaia
''Oxalaia'' (in reference to the African deity ''Oxalá'') is a controversial genus of Spinosauridae, spinosaurid dinosaur that lived in what is now the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of Brazil during the Cenomanian Geological stage, stage of the Late Cretaceous Period (geologic time), period, sometime between 100.5 and 93.9 million years ago. Its only known fossils were found in 1999 on Cajual Island in the rocks of the Alcântara Formation, which is known for its abundance of fragmentary, isolated fossil specimens. The remains of ''Oxalaia'' were described in 2011 in paleontology, 2011 by Brazilian palaeontologist Alexander Kellner and colleagues, who assigned the specimens to a new genus containing one species, ''Oxalaia quilombensis''. The species name refers to the Brazilian quilombo settlements. ''Oxalaia quilombensis'' is the eighth officially named Theropoda, theropod species from Brazil and the largest carnivorous dinosaur discovered there. One study suggested ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the Latin word for the white limestone known as chalk. The chalk of northern France and the white cliffs of south-eastern England date from the Cretaceous Period. Climate During the Late Cretaceous, the climate was warmer than present, although throughout the period a cooling trend is evident. The tropics became restricted to equatorial regions and northern latitudes experienced markedly more seasonal climatic conditions. Geography Due to plate tectonics, the Americas were gradually moving westward, causing the Atlantic Ocean to expand. The Western Interior Seaway divided North America into eastern and western halves; Appalachia and Laramidia. India maintained a northward course towards Asia. In the Southern Hemisphere, Aus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Suchomimus
''Suchomimus'', from Ancient Greek ''σούχος'' (''soúkhos''), meaning "crocodile", and Latin ''mimus'', meaning "actor", is a genus of spinosaurid dinosaur that lived between 125 and 112 million years ago in what is now Niger, North Africa, during the Aptian to early Albian stages of the Early Cretaceous Period. It was named and described by paleontologist Paul Sereno and colleagues in 1998, based on a partial skeleton from the Elrhaz Formation. ''Suchomimus''' long and shallow skull, similar to that of a crocodile, earns it its generic name, while the specific name ''Suchomimus tenerensis'' alludes to the locality of its first remains, the Ténéré Desert. ''Suchomimus'' was a relatively large theropod, reaching in length and weighing . However, the age of the holotype specimen is uncertain, so it is unclear whether this size estimate would have been its maximum. The narrow head of ''Suchomimus'' was perched on a short neck, and its forelimbs were powerfully buil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baryonychinae
Baryonychinae is an extinct clade or subfamily of spinosaurids from the Early Cretaceous of Europe and West Africa. The clade was named by Charig & Milner in 1986 and defined by Sereno et al. in 1998 and Holtz et al. in 2004 as all taxa more closely related to '' Baryonyx walkeri'' than to ''Spinosaurus aegyptiacus''. Baryonychines were large, bipedal predators with elongated, crocodile-like skulls and lower jaw tips fanning out into rosettes bearing conical, often unserrated, teeth, and a distinct premaxillary notch. They possessed robust forelimbs supporting three-fingered hands with an enlarged first digit claw, to which the subfamily name indirectly refers. Members of this group, unlike the more derived Spinosaurinae, sported only low sails or none at all. History of discovery In 1820, paleontologist Gideon Mantell discovered numerous fossil teeth from the Wadhurst Clay Formation of Britain. These were in 1841 named '' Suchosaurus cultridens'' by paleontologist Richard Ow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ostafrikasaurus
''Ostafrikasaurus'' is a potentially nomen dubium, dubious genus of theropod dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Period (geologic time), period of what is now Lindi Region, Tanzania. It is known only from fossil teeth discovered sometime between 1909 and 1912, during an expedition to the Tendaguru Formation by the Natural History Museum, Berlin, Natural History Museum of Berlin. Eight teeth were originally attributed to the Dubious name, dubious dinosaur genus ''Labrosaurus'', and later to ''Ceratosaurus'', both known from the North American Morrison Formation. Subsequent studies attributed two of these teeth to a Spinosauridae, spinosaurid dinosaur, and in 2012 in paleontology, 2012, ''Ostafrikasaurus crassiserratus'' was named by French palaeontologist Eric Buffetaut, with one tooth as the holotype, and the other referred to the same species. The generic name comes from the German word for German East Africa, the former name of the colony in which the fossils were found, while the sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sigilmassasaurus
''Sigilmassasaurus'' ( ; "Sijilmassa lizard") is a controversial genus of spinosaurid dinosaur that lived approximately 100 to 94 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous Period in what is now northern Africa. Named in 1996 by Canadian paleontologist Dale Russell, it contains a single species, ''Sigilmassasaurus brevicollis''. The identity of the genus has been debated by scientists, with some considering its fossils to represent material from the closely related species ''Spinosaurus aegyptiacus'', while others have classified it as a separate taxon, forming the clade Spinosaurini with ''Spinosaurus'' as its sister taxon. ''Sigilmassasaurus'' was a moderately-built, ground-dwelling, bipedal carnivore, like most other theropods. It may have had strong neck musculature as evidenced by the morphology of its vertebrae (backbones). ''Sigilmassasaurus'' may have had semiaquatic habits and a partially piscivorous diet. It coexisted with other large theropods in the Kem Kem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siamosaurus
''Siamosaurus'' (meaning "Siam lizard") is a potentially nomen dubium, dubious genus of Spinosauridae, spinosaurid dinosaur that lived in what is now known as China and Thailand during the Early Cretaceous Period (geologic time), period (Barremian to Aptian) and is the first reported spinosaurid from Asia. It is confidently known only from tooth fossils; the first were found in the Sao Khua Formation, with more teeth later recovered from the younger Khok Kruat Formation. The Monotypic taxon, only species ''Siamosaurus suteethorni'', whose name honours Thai palaeontologist Varavudh Suteethorn, was formally described 1986 in paleontology, in 1986. In 2009, four teeth from China previously attributed to a Pliosauroidea, pliosaur—under the species "''Sinopliosaurus''" ''fusuiensis''—were identified as those of a spinosaurid, possibly ''Siamosaurus''. It is yet to be determined if two partial spinosaurid skeletons from Thailand and an isolated tooth from Japan also belong to ''S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Camarillasaurus
''Camarillasaurus'' (meaning " Camarillas lizard") is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous period (Barremian) of Camarillas, Teruel Province, in what is now northeastern Spain. Described in 2014, it was originally identified as a ceratosaurian theropod, but later studies suggested affinities to the Spinosauridae. If it does represent a spinosaur, ''Camarillasaurus'' would be one of several spinosaurid taxa known from the Iberian peninsula, the others being '' Iberospinus'', '' Protathlitis'', ''Baryonyx'', '' Riojavenatrix'', and '' Vallibonavenatrix''. Discovery and naming Fossils of ''Camarillasaurus'' were discovered in the Camarillas Formation. The type species, ''Camarillasaurus cirugedae'', was described by palaeontologists Bárbara Sánchez-Hernández and Michael J. Benton. The generic name, "Camarillasaurus''", combines a reference to the geologic formation in which the holotype was found with the Greek "sauros", meaning "lizard". The specific name, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
