Dinosaurs, pterosaurs & marine reptiles of Isla Sorna

I agree, plus it had 4 legs to get a better swing at something.

Yes! Talira Greycrest keeps feeding us with interesting facts about dinosaurs and other cool stuff. Man, she knows a lot and we are lucky to have her here to expand our horizon.

This dino is one of longest known from a complete skeleton, its tail alone measuring eight metres long.


Name: Diplodocus
Pronunciation: Di-plod-oh-cus.
Meaning of name: "Double beam", in reference to the double-beamed chevron bones located in the underside of the tail.
Species: D. hallorum, D. carnegie
Size: Depending on species, measured between 24 and 33 metres long, 6 metres tall and weighing between 11 and 15 metric tonnes.
Family: Diplodocidae.
Diet: Herbivore. Fed on both high and low-growing vegetation.
First fossils found: Known from several specimens, the first of which was discovered by Benjamin Franklin Mudge and Samuel Wendell Williston in the Morrison Formation of Colorado in 1877. D. carnegie named by American palaeontologist, John Bell Hatcher, in 1901. D. hallorum named by David Gillette in 1991. Footprints have also been discovered.
Lived: 154 to 152 million years ago during the Kimmeridgian stage of the Late Jurassic in what is now the mid-western United States.

It's been suggested that Diplodocus could crack its tail like a giant whip. The tail also provided support when Diplodocus reared up on its back legs, which potentially increased its feeding height to 11 metres.

This is the largest and most well-known Theropod from the Late Jurassic:


Name: Allosaurus
Pronunciation: Al-low-sore-us.
Meaning of name: "Different lizard"
Species: A. fragilis, A. europaeus, A. jimmadseni
Size: Between 8 and 12 metres long, 3 metres tall and weighing around 2.5 metric tonnes.
Family: Allosauridae.
Diet: Carnivore.
First fossils found: Known from several specimens, the first of which was a fragmentary specimen discovered in Colorado in 1869. First named Antrodemus ("Chamber-bodied") by American palaeontologist, Joseph Leidy, in 1870. A second fragmentary specimen named Allosaurus by American palaeontologist, Othniel Charles Marsh, in 1877. In 1920, it was suggested by another palaeontologist, Charles Whitney Gilmore, that Allosaurus and Antrodemus may be the same animal. During the early 1960's, thousands of fossils were discovered at the Cleveland-Lloyd Quarry in Utah and, after studying the bones, it was decided that Allosaurus would be the official name because Antrodemus was based on poor material.
Lived: 155 to 145 million years ago during the Kimmeridgian and Tithonian stages of the Late Jurassic in what is now the western, south-central, midwestern and south-western United States.

This tiny dino is featured in the 'Jurassic Park' franchise:


Name: Compsognathus
Pronunciation: Komp-sog-nath-us
Meaning of name: "Elegant jaw"
Species: C. longipes
Size: Measured between 70cm and 1.4 metres long, 30cm tall and weighing around 3kgs.
Family: Compsognathidae.
Diet: Carnivore
First fossils found: Known from two specimens, the first of which was discovered by fossil collector, Joseph Oberndorfer, in limestone deposits in Bavaria, southeast Germany, during the late 1850s. Named by German palaeontologist, Johann Andreas Wagner, in 1859. 
Lived: 150 million years ago during the Tithonian stage of the Late Jurassic in what is now France and Germany.









'Jurassic Park' Compsognathus

This is what I like best about dinosaurs. They come in all shapes and sizes, from teeny tiny to absolutely huge.