Dinosaurs, pterosaurs & marine reptiles of Isla Sorna

Hmm this one may have eaten ME!!!

And the award for 'Dinosaur with the strangest name' goes to....Irritator!



Pronunciation: Ih-re-tay-tor
Meaning of name: "Irritating", in reference to the frustration felt by palaeontologists having to repair the damage illegal collectors had done to the only known fossils.
Species: I. challengeri
Size: Estimated to have measured around 8 metres long, 2.5 metres tall and weighing between 1 and 4 metric tonnes.
Family: Spinosauridae.
Diet: Carnivore.
First fossils found: Known only from a skull and some vertebrae discovered by commercial fossil poachers in the Romualdo Formation of northeastern Brazil in 1996. In hopes of making the skull look more complete and, therefore, more valuable, the collectors tried to reconstruct it by grafting parts of the upper jaw to the snout before illegally selling it to a museum in Germany. When palaeontologists finally got the skull, they had to work for hours to repair the damage the collectors had done before they could identify what type of dinosaur they had. Named in the same year by D. M. Martill, A. R. I. Cruikshank, E. Frey, P. G. Small and M. Clarke.
Lived: 110 million years ago during the Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous in what is now northeastern Brazil.

A dino made famous by its appearance in the Jurassic Park franchise:


Name: Velociraptor
Pronunciation: Veh-loss-ah-rap-tor.
Meaning of name: "Fast thief".
Species: V. mongoliensis, V. osmolskae.
Size: 2 metres long, 1 metre tall and weighing around 15kgs.
Family: Dromaeosauridae.
Diet: Carnivore.
First fossils found: Known from several specimens, the first of which was discovered by Peter Kaisen in Mongolia's Gobi Desert in 1923. V. mongoliensis named by American palaeontologist, Henry Fairfield Osborne, in 1924. V. osmolskae named by Belgian palaeontologist, Pascal Godefroit, in 2008. In 1971, a remarkable fossil was discovered. It's known as the "Fighting Dinosaurs" and preserves a Velociraptor in battle with a Protoceratops.
Lived: 75 to 71 million years ago during the Campanian and Maastrichtian stages of the Late Cretaceous in what is now southern Mongolia.

This dino has a small part in 'Jurassic Park 3':


Name: Ceratosaurus
Pronunciation: See-rat-oh-sore-us
Meaning of name: "Horned lizard", in reference to the stumpy horn on its snout.
Species: C. nasicornis, C. dentisulcatus, C. magnicornis. It's possible there may be other species.
Size: Estimated to have measured between 6 and 7 metres long, between 2 and 3 metres tall and weighing up to 700kgs.
Family: Ceratosauridae.
Diet: Carnivore.
First fossils found: Known from several specimens, the first of which was discovered in the Morrison Formation of Colorado by farmer Marshall Parker Felch. C. nasicornis named by American palaeontologist, Othniel Charles Marsh, in 1884. C. dentisulcatus and C. magnicornis named in 2000.
Lived: Depending on species, from 157.3 to 145 million years ago during the Kimmeridgian and Tithonian stages of the Late Jurassic in what is now Portugal and the western United States. May also have lived in what is now Switzerland, Tanzania and Uruguay.







The Ceratosaurus scene in 'Jurassic Park 3'

My favourite Sauropod and one of the tallest dinosaurs of the Late Jurassic:


Name: Brachiosaurus
Pronunciation: Brak-he-o-sore-us.
Meaning of name: "Arm lizard", because the front legs are longer than the hind legs to provide support for the 9-metre-long neck.
Species: B. altithorax
Size: Estimated to have Measured between 18 and 22 metres long, between 10 and 15 metres tall and weighing between 28 and 60 metric tonnes.
Family: Brachiosauridae.
Diet: Herbivore. Fed on high-growing vegetation.
First fossils found: Known from several specimens, the first of which was discovered by American palaeontologist, Elmer Samuel Riggs, in the Morrison Formation of Colorado in 1900. Named by Mr. Riggs in 1903.
Lived: 154 to 153 million years ago during the Kimmeridgian stage of the Late Jurassic in what is now the western United States.

You could if you climbed a really tall tree. There were definite advantages to being so big and tall. Sauropods could reach vegetation that other herbivores couldn't get to and, if they were lucky enough to reach their full adult size, only old age and the largest predators of the time would have been considered a threat.

Much interesting stuff here, Tal!