Giganotosaurus carolinii

      Giganotosaurus' full name is giganotosaurus carolinii. Pronunciation: JYE-ga-NO-toe-SORE-us CARE-oh-LEAN-ee-eye. Giganotosaurus was the longest meat-eating dinosaur yet discovered is Giganotosaurus, a 44-46 ft long behemoth, who weighed about 8 tons and stood 12 feet tall (at the hips). It walked on two legs, had a brain the size of a banana, and an enormous jaws with 8-inch long serrated teeth in a 6-foot  long skull. Giganotosaurus was a theropod from the mid-Cretaceous, living about 100-95 million years ago, toward the end of the Mesozoic Era, the "Age of Reptiles".                                                                                Giga-noto-saurus means "giant southern reptile". Its fossil was unearthed in Argentina in 1994. They found 70% of the skeleton has been found. You will never guess what they found near the Giganotosaurus?!?! Fossils were found of 75-foot-long plant eaters, presumably victims of this Giganotosaurus. 

Allosaurus, "Meat Eating " Reptile

 Allosaurus (Al-oh-SAWER-us) Whose name means "strange lizard." I think they were unique not strange. He was a ginormous meat eater with a huge appetite. Who topped the scales at around a mere 2 tons and was about 40 feet long! He had long forearms which had 3 claw fingers.  A small head, it was only 3 foot big with 2 ridges over its eyes. I would definitely run if I seen it coming. His finger claws where 6 inches long. He would leave a mark!

They used their impressive tails for balance. They grabbed their pray with their sharp claws and held on tight so they wouldn't drop their food. Then they proceed to ripe apart their prey with their razor sharp teeth and claws and feast way. Their favorite pray was the ornithiscians and sauropods. It is thought that they  may have hunted in packs or alone. Alleosaurus was the top predator during the Late Jurassic Period.

Allosaurus lived in Canada and U.S.A. in the Late Jurassic Period (about 150 million years ago). Utah has the biggest fossil site in the U.S.A. There where 60 skeletons of juvenile and adult Allosaurus  found at a single site.  As fas as  evolution  goes, Coelophysis is 1st because it lived in the Triassic period , Allosaurus is 2nd because it lived in the Jurassic period, and T-Rex is 3rd because it lived in the Cretaceous period. Allosaurus was king in the Jurassic period because he was the fiercest of all hunters. 

                                  

             http://www.history.com/shows/jurassic-fight-club/interactives/dinopedia

Where They Lived and What Their Name Means part 3

Where in the world did they live?

*Kritosaurus means "Noble lizard" ~lived in Mexico and Texas. 
*Lambeosaurus means "Lamb's lizard" ~lived in Alberta
*Leaellynasaura means "Leaelly  lizard"~ lived in Australia 
*Leptoceratops means "Slender horned face" ~ lived in Alberta
*Lesothosaurus means "lizard from Lesotho" ~ lived in Africa
*Lufengosaurus means "Lufeng lizard" ~ lived in China
*Mamenchisaurus means "Mamen lizard"~ lived in China
*Manirapters means "Hand snatcher" ~ lived in World Wide
*Massopondylus means "Massive vertebra"~ lived in Arizona
*Mononykus means "Single claw" ~lived in Mongolia
*Mosasaurs means "lizard from the Meuse"~ lived in Africa and Canada
*Mussaurus means "Mouse lizard"~ lived in Argentina
* Megalosaurus means "Great lizard"~ lived in England 
*Majungatholus means "Majunga dome" and lived in Madagascar
*Maiasaura means "Good Mother lizard"~ lived in Montana
*Nanotyrannus means "Dwarf tyrant"~ lived in Montana
*Nemegtosaurus means "lizard from Nemegt"~ lived in Mongolla 
*Nodosaurus means "Knobby lizard"~ lived in Wyoming

Gastonia Is Built Like A "Tank"

 Gastonia was a (gas-toh-nee-ah) ankylosaurid dinosaur and they were built like a tank. Gastonia stood three feet tall and was between 13 and 16 feet long, and weighed about one ton. His entire body was covered by bony plates and spikes of different shapes and sizes. You wouldn't want to pet him! 


He has lots of heavy armor so he moves slow. He had poor eyesight (bet he wishes he had glasses or a magnifying glass) but a strong sense of smell and hearing (sneaking up on him would not be easy). He has a solid bony plate over its hips, which allowed him to crouch down to protect his vulnerable stomach from attacking predators. The spikes covering his body and the spikes on his tail were used like "chainsaws" as offensive weapons to protect itself from an attacking predators like Utahraptor. 


Gastonia lived in the USA, North America in the early Cretaceous Period (142-127 million years ago) and Gastonia was a plant-eater. One of Gaston neighbor was a predator named Utahraptor. Talk about neighbors who don't get along! Eeeeep!!!! 


Gastonia was named after paleontologist Robert Gaston. He made the first discovery of Gastonia fossilized remains in Moab, Utah, in 1989. Thank you Robert Gaston!

Andrewsarchus

Andrewsarchus (and-rooz-ark-us) was as a big as a rhino! Its head looks like a wolf a not so nice wolf LOL! Used to eat meats like primitive whales and had strips like a tiger. Andrewsarchus names mean "Andrews' beast" because its named after Paleontologist Roy Champman Andrews who was the one who found Andrewsarchus. Roy was the role model for Indiana Jones  and how cool is that? Imagine if that was you? It must be pretty cool to have a movie series after you!!! Roy's last name Andrews was the first part for Andrewsarchus. Andrewsarchus weighs more then a car, 15 feet long, 6 feet high, and a skull around 33 inches. It used lived in what we currently call Asia.   

Nanotyrannus The Small Version Of The T-Rex

In 1942, Charles W. Gilmore discover the first fossils of the Nanotyrannus in Wyoming.                                                                                         

Nanotyrannus is the small version of T-Rex. Think of him a mine me T-Rex. I wouldn't want to meet either of them on the street! Would you? 

                                        

                                                          T-Rex and Nanotyrannus

 Nanotyrannus is know as the "tiny tyrant" He might of been "tiny" coming in at a mere 7 ft. in height, 17 feet long and weighing bout 1 ton. Tho, that's not my definition of tiny!

 Nanotyrannus lived in the United States in the Late Cretaceous Period 67-65 millions of years ago. Nanotyrannus was a great hunter, he had sharp claws and knife-like teeth, powerful neck muscles and was a swift and agile predator. Their favorite prey were the hadrosaurs that had the pleasure of living with them. They had great vision and depth perception due to their large eyes which looked forward. 

Many paleontologists now believe that Nanotyrannus was in fact a juvenile Tyrannosaurus Rex and not a separate genus of dinosaur. Partially because of the skull bones not being fused together indicating a young animal. Others believe that they might be a type of huge Dromaeosaur.  

                                                                                                                                                            

                    

http://www.history.com/shows/jurassic-fight-club-archived/interactives/dinopedia

                                           

                                                                                         

Brachiosaurus

Brachiosaurus name means "Arm Lizard", was one of the largest and tallest dinosaurs ever found. It had a long neck, small head, and a short, thick tail. Grows up to 40-50 feet (12-16 m) tall. Brachiosaurus lived in the middle to late Jurassic period, about 156-145 million years ago. Brachiosaurus was about 85 feet (26 m) long, and weighed about 33-88 tons. It had a claw on the first toe of each front foot had a claws on the first three toes of each rear foot (each foot had five toes with fleshy pads). Some dating estimates have Brachiosaurus surviving until 140 million years ago, during the dawn of the Cretaceous period. `
                                                 
Herds: Brachiosaurus probably traveled in herds and may have migrated when they wasted their local food supply. Eggs: Brachiosaurus have hatched from eggs, like other sauropods. Sauropod eggs have been found in a linear pattern and not in nests; presumably the eggs were laid as the massive reptiles was walking. It is thought that sauropods did not take care of their eggs. Brachiosaurus Life Span: Sauropod life span may have been as old as 100 years old. Brachiosaurus Defense: Brachiosaurus's best defense was size. In colluding, its long tail could whip away most predators. Also, Brachiosaurus had leathery skin, everyone though this wasn't much of a defense against predators, sharp Theropods teeth. They also had one claw on the front feet that were used protected  young.






               
                               


                

                                                                                                                          

The Places Where They Lived and Their Name Means Part 2

Where in the world did they live?

*Kritosaurus means "Noble lizard" and lived in mexico and Texas.  

*Lambeosaurus means "Lamb's lizard" and lived in Alberta

*Leaellynasaura means "Leaelly  lizard" and lived in Australia 

*Leptoceratops means "Slender horned face" and lived in Alberta

*Lesothosaurus means "lizard from Lesotho" and lived in Africa

*Lufengosaurus means "Lufeng lizard" and lived in china

*Mamenchisaurus means "Mamen lizard" and lived in china

*Manirapters means "Hand snatcher" and lived in world wide

*Massopondylus means "Massive vertebra" and lived in Arizona

*Mononykus means "Single claw" and lived in Mongolia

*Mosasaurs means "lizard from the Meuse" and lived in Africa and Canada

*Mussaurus means "Mouse lizard" and lived in Argentina

* Megalosaurus means "Great lizard" and lived in England 

*Majungatholus means "Majunga dome" and lived in Madagascar

*Maiasaura means "Good Mother lizard" and lived in Montana

*Nanotyrannus means "Dwarf tyrant" and lived in Montana

*Nemegtosaurus means "lizard from Nemegt" and lived in Mongolla 

*Nodosaurus means "Knobby lizard" and lived in Wyoming

                                                                       

I think it's really cool to know names of the mammals and where they come from. Trivial information but oh, so fascinating.

Smilodon

 Smilodon (say Smi-Le-don) means "Saber Tooth Tiger" and lived in North and South America. It was the top predator of its time because it could eat the biggest animals ever! Giant Deer, Woolly Mammoth, Mastodon, and Giant Ground Sloth are just a few they ate because these animals were the slowest animals ever in history.