Dinosaurs, pterosaurs & marine reptiles of Isla Sorna

A final reminder about this week's quiz question before the answer is revealed tomorrow. You've been asked: On which continent have the most dinosaur fossils been found? North America, Asia, Africa, Antartica, Europe, Australia or South America?


Today's dino:


Name: Erketu
Pronunciation: Er-keh-too
Meaning of name: "Erketü Tengri", after the creator god (tengri) of the Mongolian shamanism.
Species: E. ellisoni
Size: Estimated to have measured around 15 metres long and weighing 5 metric tonnes.
Family: Uncertain. Possibly a primitive Titanosaurid.
Diet: Herbivore
First fossils found: Known from neck vertebrae, a partial sternum and partial bones from the right hindleg discovered by an American Museum of Natural History–Mongolian Academy of Sciences expedition in the Bayan Shireh Formation of Mongolia in 2002. Named by palaeontologists, Daniel Ksepka and Mark Norell, in 2006. Erketu was one of the first sauropods to be discovered in the Bayan Shireh Formation and its elongated neck vertebrae indicate that it was the sauropod with the longest neck in relation to its body size.
Lived: 96 to 89 million years ago from the Cenomanian stage through to the Coniacian stage of the Late Cretaceous in what is now Mongolia.

darrenvox , well done for correctly guessing the answer to this week's quiz question. You were asked: On which continent have the most dinosaur fossils been found? North America, Asia, Africa, Antartica, Europe, Australia or South America?


Answer: North America. More than 320 different dinosaur species have been discovered throughout North America, most of which come from the western United States. Other hotspots for dino fossils include China and Argentina.


Today's dino:


Name: Owenodon
Pronunciation: Oh-wen-oh-don
Meaning of name: "Owen's tooth", after English biologist, comparative anatomist and palaeontologist, Sir Richard Owen.
Species: O. hoggii
Size: Uncertain due to a lack of fossils.
Family: Uncertain. Likely Iguanodontid.
Diet: Herbivore
First fossils found: Known only from an isolated tooth, a partial hindlimb and a partial lower jaw discovered in England, Spain and Romania. Originally named as a species of Iguanodon by English biologist, comparative anatomist and palaeontologist, Sir Richard Owen. Was recognized as a new genus and named Owenodon by British palaeontologist, Peter Malcolm Galton, in 2009.
Lived: 143 million years ago during the Berriasian stage of the Early Cretaceous in what is now England, Spain and Romania.

I would say yes.

Here's a new burrowing dino that's just been discovered in Utah:


Name: Fona
Pronunciation: Foe-nah
Meaning of name: Named after a figure in Chamorro culture.
Species: F. herzogae
Size: Estimated to have measured around 2.1 metres long.
Family: Thescelosaurinae (a subfamily of Thescelosauridae)
Diet: Herbivore
First fossils found: Known from several partial skulls and skeletons discovered in the Cedar Mountain Formation of eastern Utah. Named by Haviv M. Avrahami, Peter J. Makovicky, Ryan T. Tucker and Lindsay E. Zanno in 2024. Based on anatomical similarities to the closely related Oryctodromeus, Fona likely spent a significant amount of time in underground burrows. It also represents the oldest known definitive thescelosaurine.
Lived: 99.4 to 99.2 million years ago during the Cenomanian stage of the Late Cretaceous in what is now the western United States.

Yes, the front limbs haven't decided if they are arms or legs. LOL