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Dilophosaurus (dye-LOF-uh-SAWR-us)
Carnivore
Lizard-hipped biped (saurischian)
Triassic/Early Jurassic Period (225 - 193 million years ago)
Found in: Africa
Height:
Length: 17 to 20 feet
Weight: 1000 to 1100 lbs

"Two-Crested Reptile", dilophosaurus had two bony crests that ran along the top of its head. Dilophosaurus likely lived and hunted in herds. Running at speeds up to 25 miles per hour and having sharp teeth, the Dilophosaurus was a skilled hunter. It's weak jaws likely required it to depend on its powerful claws in order to subdue its prey. The Dilophosaurus predates the velociraptor and Deinychus by several million years, and had no known enemies - truly the King of Beasts during its period!.

A dilophosaurus skulks in the mist and foliage behind these two unsuspecting tourists (my wife and youngest daughter).

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Apatosaurus (ah-PAT-uh-SAWR-us)
Herbivore
quadraped
Jurassic Period (193 - 136 million years ago)
Found in: Western North America and Europe
Height: 15 feet
Length: 75 feet
Weight: 30 tons

"Deceptive lizard", apatosaurus had teeth with which to bite and tear plants, but depended on stones - called gastroliths - in its stomach to grind its food (much like the gizzards of modern birds grind their food). They lived in large herds which were likely always on the move in search of food. It is estimated that each apatosaur needed to eat more than half a ton of vegetation per day!

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Juvenile Apatosaurus
(See above)

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Stegosaurus (STEG-uh-SAWR-us)
Herbivore
quadraped
Jurassic Period (193 - 136 million years ago)
Found in: Colorado, Utah, Wyoming
Height: 11 feet at the hips
Length: 25 feet
Weight:

"Plated lizard", stegosaurus had tough, armored skin and plates to protect its body from attack while lashing back with its ten foot long spiked tail. The plates along stegosaurus' back may have regulated the dinosaur's body temperature, or may have simply been a means for stegosaurs to recognize each other.

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Rearing Stegosaurus (See above)

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Allosaurus (AL-uh-SAWR-us)
Carnivore
Lizard-hipped biped
Jurassic Period (193 - 136 million years ago)
Found in: North America
Height: 16.5 feet
Length: 35 feet
Weight: 4 tons

"Other lizard", allosaurus had large jaws which expanded sideways to allow it to swallow huge pieces of meat - similar to the jaws of many kinds of modern shark! Allosaurus' teeth grew in to replace old or damaged teeth - another trait in common with the modern shark. Allosaurus preyed upon large plant-eating dinosaurs. It probably stalked the herd, located the easiest to catch and charged it with open, gaping jaws.

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Allosaurus (See above)

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Allosaurus (See above)

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Utahraptor (YOU-tah rap-tur)
Carnivore
XXXX-hipped biped
Cretacious Period (136 - 65 million years ago)
Found in: North America
Height:
Length: 15 to 16 feet
Weight:

"Predator from Utah", a close relative to the mongolian velociraptor, utahraptor lived and hunted in packs. These predators had sharp claws, grasping hands, great speed and large claws on the back feet to enable them to tear into their prey. Utahraptor was also very intelligent - it had a large brain relative to body size. It is believed that raptors, by cooperating with each other, could easily catch prey larger than themselves. Travelling in their packs, the spped and ferocity of utahraptor may have made them even more dangerous than the tyranosaurus-rex!

Wild dogs today use hunting strategies similar to those utahraptor is believed to have employed.

Until the recent discovery of the 25 foot long megaraptor namunhuaiquii (NA-moon-Y-kee) - meaning giant thief foot lance - in the Patagonia region of Argentina, the Utahraptor was the largest raptor known at about 15 feet in length. By comparison, velociraptor was about 5 to 6 feet long.

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Deinonychus (DYE-non-IK-kus)
Carnivore
Lizard-hipped biped
Cretacious Period (136 - 65 million years ago)
Found in: North America
Height: 5 to 6 feet
Length: 10 to 13 feet
Weight: 150 to 175 lbs

"Terrible claw", deinonychus was another of the dinosaur kingdom's elite predators with an impressive mix of speed and savagery. Deinonychus possessed a retractable, sickle-like claw on the inside of each hind leg. Being retractable, these claws were always sharp for delivering fatal slashes! Like raptors, teh deinonichus were strong fighters and would often attack animals larger than themselves. Also like raptors, deinonychus likely hunted in packs.

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Triceratops (try-SAIR-uh-tops)
Herbivore
Quadraped
Cretacious Period (136 - 65 million years ago)
Found in: Montana, Wyoming, Alberta (Canada)
Height: 9.5 feet
Length: 25 feet long
Weight: 5 tons

"Three-horned face", triceratops lived in large herds with members of all ages. In taimes of danger, adult triceratops probabaly faced outward using their horns and head-gear as shields for the young triceratops at the center of the herd. This behavior is found in such modern animals as musk oxen and elephants.

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Juvenile Triceratops (See above)

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Pteranodon (TAIR-AN-o-don)
Carnivore
Winged, bird-hipped biped pterosaur
Cretacious Period (136 - 65 million years ago)
Found in:
Height: About the size of a turkey qith a six-foot long head
Wing span: 27 feet
Weight: 33 lbs

"Winged and toothless", pteranodon was not actually a dinosaur (no dinosaurs could fly), but a group of flying reptiles called pterosaurs. The ability to fly provided the pterosaurs the means to escape predators, find a variety of foods and locate good sites for nesting. Some pterosaurs were tiny - the size of sparrows - while others had wingpans of 40 feet or more. Pteranodon was a skilled flier, able to scoop fish out of the water much like a pelican does today. Pteranodon's head could often reach six feet in length!

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Pteranodon (See above)

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Pachycephalosaurus (pak-ee-SEF-uh-lo-sawr-us)
Herbivore
Bird-hipped biped
Cretacious Period (136 - 65 million years ago)
Found in: North America
Height:
Length: 12 to 15 feet
Weight:

"Thick-headed lizard", pachycephalosaurus had a thick, bony dome on its head which could grow up to ten inches thick. Pachycephalosaurus had a heavy tail to counter the weight of their domes. It is believed that males had head-butting contests to win position in the herd and/or mating rights to females - much like modern sheep, rams, goats, elk and many others! Although its jaws were lined with small, sharp teeth, pachycephalosaurusfed on plants, fruits and, possibly, insects. They lived in mountainous terrain to avoid larger predators which rarely hunted there.

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Downed Triceratops, eyes closed (See Triceratops above)

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Downed Triceratops, eyes open (See Triceratops above)

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Torosaurus (TOR-uh-SAWR-us)
Herbivore
Quadraped
Cretacious Period (136 - 65 million years ago)
Found in:
Height:
Height:
Length: 20 feet
Weight: 5 tons

"Piercing lizard", Torosaurus had the largest head of any animal living on land - past or present! The head alone could reach a length of 8.5 feet! This dinosaur had an extraordinary neck frill that may have helped regulate its body temperature, or, perhaps to attract mates. The frill also may have been used to intimidate rivals and fight off predators. Torosaurus may have been able to show its authority with a harmless display of its giant frill; however, fossil skulls show many of these animals suffered head injuries.

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Torosaurus (See above)
Looks like my youngest would like to bring torosaurus home with her...

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Euoplocephalus (you-op-luh-SEF-uh-lus)
Herbivore
Quadraped
Cretacious Period (136 - 65 million years ago)
Found in:
Height:
Length: 20 feet (8 feet wide)
Weight: 3.5 tons

"Well-armed head", euoplocephalus is a member of the ankylosaur -or heavily armored dinosaur - family. Bands of bony armor protected most of its heads and neck - even its eyelids! Bony spikes covered most of its neck, body and tail. Not being a very fast dinosaur, euoplocephalus, required this impressive suit of armor to protect it while it ambled through the forests feeding on ground plants. To further defend itself, euoplocephalus had stone-like bony protrusions at the end of its tail, and powerful muscles with which to swing this club! Euoplocephalus' weak spot was his soft, unprotected belly. Should euoplocephalus be flipped by a predator, it'd be in great danger!

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Tyrannosaurus Rex (tye-RAN-uh-SAWR-us REX)
(juvenile pictured)
Carnivore
Lizard-hipped Biped
Cretacious Period (136 - 65 million years ago)
Found in: North America
Height: 15 to 20 feet
Length: 40 to 48 feet
Weight: 5 to 7 tons

"Tyrant-lizard king", tyrannosaurus rex is probably the most famous of the dinosaurs. T. rex, standing two stories tall, was the largest known predator to ever roam the earth. T. rex's head was approximately five feet long and had incredibly powerful jaws holding over fifty dagger-like teeth of up to seven inches in length! It is believed that T. rex could bite through any dinosaurs bones and hide with these powerful jaws! This large head housed a relatively large brain, indicating that T.rex was one of the more intelligent of the dinosaurs - though, like most dinosaurs, the majority of T.rex's brain was devoted to hearing, seeing, and smelling. A large tail was required to counterbalance T. Rex's large head. T.Rex is also believed to have had a voracious appetite, and likely never passed up an opportunity to feed. T. rex is an impressive work of Nature's art: one of the largest - and the last - of the dinosaurs.

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Tyrannosaurus Rex (tye-RAN-uh-SAWR-us REX)

Going through the display, and spotting this tiny little T.rex, I thought "What a rip! T. rex was over 40 feet tall!" (In which I was been mistaken anyway: as noted above, T. rex was 40 feet long; not tall...) Then I saw the leaves in a nearby tree start to rustle...

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Tyrannosaurus Rex (tye-RAN-uh-SAWR-us REX)

Those leaves just kept on rustling...

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Parasaurolophus (Par-uh-SAWR-oh-LO-fus)
Herbivore
XXXX-hipped Biped
Cretacious Period (136 - 65 million years ago)
Found in: New Mexico, Alberta (Canada)
Height: 16 feet
Length: 30 feet
Weight: 3 - 4 tons

Name meaning "Like Saurolophus", due to its similarities to that dinosaur, parasaurolophus had a distinctive hollow head crest that may have worked like an amplifier when the animal vocalized. The crest may also have helped these animals to recognize each other visually. Parasaurolophus nested in huge colonies, with nests spaced close together. Parasaurolophus' eggs were small for an animal of such size (eight inches long - the largest dinosaur egg was bout 10 inches long. A larger egg would have required a shell too thick to allow the infant to breathe or peck it's way out). Nest colonies of parasaurolophus may have been similar to those of modern flamingos and penguins.

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Tyrannosaurus Rex (tye-RAN-uh-SAWR-us REX)

The source of those rustling leaves! An adult T.rex appears to lunge from behind the trees (none of these models could actually lunge...) Feel like dinner?

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Tyrannosaurus Rex (tye-RAN-uh-SAWR-us REX)

Try as I might, I can't get the entire T. rex in a single frame. Here's a side view.

There's some controversy over whether T. rex was actually a monstrous predator, or a simple carrion eater. For instance, what were those stubby little, two-fingered arms for? Could such a massive beast move quietly enough to suprise its prey? If not, could it move fast enough to catch its food? Don't know. I like the image of T. rex rampaging through the land as a behemouth predator, but some of the elements of the carrion argument can be pretty compelling, too. What do YOU think?

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Unidentified

A nest of eggs with an unidentified little dinosaur nearby. The creature looks vaguely familiar, but I cannot put a finger on its name...

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Tyrannosaurus Rex (tye-RAN-uh-SAWR-us REX)

Another attempt at getting the T. Rex in one frame. Ok. Last one. No more...
(Click the pic to get a T.rex wave. Think this is what they really sounded like?)

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