Dinosaurs, pterosaurs & marine reptiles of Isla Sorna

This Hadrosaur gave us the first evidence of parental care among dinosaurs:


Name: Maiasaura
Pronunciation: My-ah-sore-ah.
Meaning of name: "Good mother lizard", in reference to its parental nature.
Species: M. peeblesorum
Size: 9 metres long, 3 metres high (up to 5 metres tall when standing upright) and weighed around 3 metric tonnes.
Family: Saurolophinae (a sub-family of Hadrosauridae)
Diet: Herbivore. Fed on both high and low-growing vegetation.
First fossils found: Known from over 200 specimens from adults to newly-hatched young. A large nesting colony discovered in Montana in 1978 contained not only adult specimens, but also eggs and juveniles. Named by palaeontologists, Robert Makela and John Robert Horner, in 1979. This discovery provided the first evidence of parental care among dinosaurs. Instead of abandoning their eggs, adult Maiasaura cared for their young, feeding them until they were old enough to leave the nest and join the main herd.
Lived: 76.7 million years ago during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous in what is now the northwestern United States.

The Edward Scissorhands of dinosaurs...

Wow that would never sit on my shoulder.

Name: Quetzalcoatlus
Pronunciation: Kwet-zal-co-at-lus.
Meaning of name: Named after Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec feathered serpent god.
Species: Q. northropi
Wingspan: Estimated to have measured between 10 and 11 metres. Weighed between 200 and 250kgs.
Family: Azhdarchidae.
Diet: Carnivore.
First fossils found: Known from at least four partial skeletons, the first of which was discovered by palaeontologist, Douglas A. Lawson, in Big Bend National Park, Texas, in 1971. Named by Mr. Lawson in 1975. Was originally thought to have had a wingspan of between 15 and 20 metres, however, studies have now lowered the estimated wingspan to 11 metres.
Lived: 68 million years ago during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous in what is now the south-central United States.

I have noticed that some of the dinosaurs were remarkably similar. How do the scientists determine whether a new discovery belongs to a different species or is a variation of one that is already known?

It can take years of studying the fossils for palaeontologists to know for certain if they've found a brand new animal or just a new species of an animal that's already been discovered.

This dino was a small, primitive Ceratopsian:


Name: Bainoceratops
Pronunciation: Bay-noe-seh-rah-tops
Meaning of name: "Mountain horned face"
Species: B. efremovi
Size: Unknown due to a lack of fossils.
Family: Protoceratopsidae.
Diet: Herbivore. Fed on low-growing vegetation.
First fossils found: Known only from a single, partial vertebral column discovered in the Djadochta Formation of Mongolia's Gobi Desert (date of discovery uncertain). Named by V. S. Tereschenko and V. R. Alifanov in 2003.
Lived: 83.6 to 72.1 million years ago during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous in what is now southern Mongolia.





Artist's impression of Bainoceratops

Recently added this dino to my collection:


Name: Kamuysaurus
Pronunciation: Kah-mu-e-sore-us
Meaning of name: "Deity lizard"
Species: K. japonicus
Size: Estimated to have measured around 8 metres long, 3 metres tall (between 5 and 6 metres when standing upright) and weighing between 4 and 5.5 metric tonnes.
Family: Saurolophinae (a sub-family of Hadrosauridae)
Diet: Herbivore. Fed on both high and low-growing vegetation.
First fossils found: Known from a single, mostly-complete skeleton discovered by amateur paleontologist Yoshiyuki Horita in the Hakobuchi Formation of Japan in 2003. Named by Y. Kobayashi, T. Nishimura, R. Takasaki, K. Chiba, A. R. Fiorillo, K. Tanaka, T. Chinzorig, T. Sato and K. Sakurai in 2019.
Lived: 70.6 million years ago during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous in what is now northern Japan.