Types of dinosaurs, all types of dinosaurs. What were the dinosaurs? What is a dinosaur called with

The beginning of history was the climatic changes that occurred on Earth 300 million years ago. There was a significant increase in average temperature, which contributed to the extinction of some species and the spread of others. In particular, the heyday of reptiles began.

Both the number of individuals and the number of species increased. From them came the ancestors of the dinosaurs - archosaurs. Modern representatives of this group of reptiles are crocodiles. Archosaurs of the Permian period were distinguished by the specific structure of their teeth, as well as a specific protective coating of the skin - scales. Like modern crocodiles, they are eggs.

Carnivorous dinosaurs fed mainly on small mammals. There were also herbivorous dinosaurs with plant diets.

After the Mass Permian, only 5% of previously existing species, and the ancestors of the dinosaurs managed to survive this ecological upheaval. Dinosaurs themselves arose 230 million years ago. The earliest dinosaur species known to scientists is the stavricosaurus. It was about 2 m long, and its weight reached 30 kg. The stavricosaurus was a predator and moved on its hind legs.

The era of dinosaurs and their decline

Gradually, dinosaurs became an increasingly diverse group of creatures, capturing ever new habitats. Dinosaurs could live in the water, competing with large predatory fish. Gradually flying dinosaurs appeared. Also, over time, the sizes of reptiles became more diverse - their weight could reach 200 kg or more.

The heyday of the dinosaurs came in the Cretaceous and Jurassic periods, when the species of dinosaurs accounted for more than half of all species of fauna of the Earth. In total, the remains of about 500 species of dinosaurs were found, but scientists believe that there were significantly more - up to 2000 for the entire existence of this squad.

The largest dinosaurs were herbivores or lived in water.

The exact cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs remains unknown. One theory suggests that dinosaurs died due to a meteorite falling and the resulting tsunami and other disasters. Other scientists believe that the reason was a gradual climate change, which led to the extinction of not only dinosaurs, but also a number of other species - up to 20% of the species of flora and fauna disappeared. It is only known for certain that dinosaurs disappeared at the end of the Cretaceous - about 65 million years ago. The dominance of reptiles has been replaced by widespread mammals.

About 230 million years ago, the first dinosaurs evolved from a population of archosaurs (Archosauria)that shared the planet with many other reptiles, including beast-like reptiles - therapsids (Therapsida)  and pelicosaurs (Pelycosauria). As a separate group, dinosaurs were defined by a set of (mostly incomprehensible) anatomical features, but the main thing that simplifies their identification and distinguishes them from archosaurs is a two-legged or four-legged upright, as evidenced by the shape and location of the bones of the thigh and lower leg. See also: "" and ""

As in all such evolutionary transitions, it is impossible to determine the exact moment when the first dinosaur appeared on Earth. For example, two-legged archosaurus marazuh (Marasuchus)  perfectly suited for the role of an early dinosaur, and lived with dinosaurs a saltopus (S. elginensis)  and procomsognat (P. triassicus)  during the transition between these two life forms.

Newly discovered genus of archosaurs - asylizaurs (Asilisaurus), can shift the roots of the family tree of dinosaurs up to 240 million years ago. There are also controversial tracks of the first dinosaurs in Europe dating back 250 million years!

It is important to keep in mind that archosaurs did not "disappear" from the face of the Earth, after becoming dinosaurs. They continued to live side by side with their possible descendants for the remainder of the Triassic period. And in order to confuse us completely, at about the same time, other populations of archosaurs began to evolve into the first pterosaurs (Pterosauria)  and prehistoric crocodiles. For 20 million years, during the Late Triassic, the landscapes of South America abounded with similar-looking archosaurs, pterosaurs, ancient crocodiles and the first dinosaurs.

South America - Land of the First Dinosaurs

The earliest dinosaurs lived in the region of the supercontinent Pangea, corresponding to the territory of modern South America. Until recently, the most famous of these creatures were: the relatively large herrerasaurus (about 200 kg) and the medium-sized stavricosaurus (about 35 kg), which lived about 230 million years ago. But now, part of the attention has shifted to the eoraptor (Eoraptor lunensis), discovered in 1991, a small (about 10 kg) dinosaur.

A recent discovery could revolutionize our understanding of the South American origin of the first dinosaurs. In December 2012, paleontologists announced the opening of a nyasasaur (Nyasasaurus)who lived in the Pangea area corresponding to modern Tanzania, Africa. Amazing! The fossil remains of this dinosaur are 243 million years old, which is about 10 million years earlier than the first South American dinosaurs. However, perhaps the nyasasaurus and its relatives represented a short-term branch from the genealogical tree of the early dinosaurs, or technically it was archosaurs, not dinosaurs.

These early dinosaurs spawned an enduring group of reptiles that quickly (at least in terms of evolution), spread to other continents. The first dinosaurs quickly migrated to the area of \u200b\u200bPangea, corresponding to North America (a striking example is the celophysis (Coelophysis),  thousands of fossils of which were discovered in the Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, USA, as well as the recently discovered tava (Tawa)which are given as evidence of the South American origin of the dinosaurs. Small and medium carnivorous dinosaurs, for example, , soon paved their way to eastern North America, and then further to Africa and Eurasia.

Specialization of early dinosaurs

The first dinosaurs coexisted on equal terms with archosaurs, crocodiles and pterosaurs. If you moved back in time to the end of the Triassic period, you would never have guessed that these reptiles are above all others. Everything changed with the mysterious Triassic-Jurassic, which destroyed most of the archosaurs and therapsids. No one knows exactly why the dinosaurs survived, perhaps this is due to upright posture, or the more complex structure of the lungs.

By the beginning of the Jurassic, dinosaurs began to diversify the ecological niches left after extinct counterparts. Split between the lizards mi (Saurischia)  and poultry (Ornithischia) dinosaurs occurred at the end of the Triassic period. Most of the very first dinosaurs belonged to the lizards, for example, sauropodomorphs (Sauropodomorpha)that evolved into bipedal herbivores prozavropod (Prosauropoda)  in the early Jurassic period, as well as larger sauropods (Sauropoda)  and titanosaurs (Titanosaurus).

As far as we can tell, poultry-dinosaurs, including ornithopods, hadrosaurs, ankylosaurs and ceratops, evolved from an eocursor (Eocursor)  - a genus of small, two-legged dinosaurs of the late Triassic of South Africa. The eocursor most likely descended from an equally small South American dinosaur (possibly an eoraptor) that lived 20 million years earlier (a vivid example of how such a huge variety of dinosaurs could have arisen from such a modest progenitor).

List of first dinosaurs

Name (genus or species)	Short description	Picture
	genus of lizardotazovy dinosaurs related to herrerasaurs (Herrerasaurus).
Tselofiz   (Coelophysis)	a genus of medium-sized dinosaurs that lived in North America.
	genus of small dinosaurs, close relative (Compsognathus).
Compsognat (Compsognathus)	a genus of dinosaurs the size of a large chicken, living in the late Jurassic period.
Demonosaurus (Daemonosaurus)	predatory reptiles from theropod suborder (Theropoda).
Elafrosaurus (Elaphrosaurus)	genus of carnivorous dinosaurs from the late Jurassic period.
Eodromeus (Eodromaeus murphi)	view of ancient predatory dinosaurs from South America.
Eoraptor (Eoraptor lunensis)	a kind of small dinosaur, one of the first of its kind.
	a genus of early dinosaurs named after Godzilla.
Guerrerasaur (Herrerasaurus)	the genus of the first predatory dinosaurs from the vastness of South America.
Lilienstern	genus of the largest carnivorous dinosaurs of the Triassic period.
Megapnosaurus (Megapnosaurus)	translated from Greek, the name of the genus means "large dead lizard."
Pampadromaeus barberenai	ancient species of herbivorous reptiles and ancestor of sauropods.
	genus of one of the very first dinosaurs in North America.
Procomsognat (Procompsognathus)	a genus of prehistoric reptiles that possibly belonged to the archosaurs.
Saltopus	as in the previous case, the saltopus was definitely unknown to dinosaurs or archosaurs.
Sanhuanzavr (Sanjuansaurus)	genus of early dinosaurs from South America.
	genus of carnivorous dinosaurs from the vastness of England of the early Jurassic period
	a genus of small reptiles from the theropod suborder living on the territory of North America of the Jurassic period.
Stavricosaurus	primitive carnivorous dinosaur of the late Triassic period.
Tava (Tawa)	genus of lizardotazovy carnivorous dinosaurs found in southern North America.
Zupaurus (Zupaysaurus)	a representative of the early theropods found in the territory of modern Argentina.

Species of dinosaurs of this group lived in the late Jurassic period in the territory of modern North America about 150 million years ago. Paleontologists consider diplodocus one of the most easily recognizable dinosaurs. Moreover, this species is the largest of all dinosaurs known for its found complete skeletons. Diplodocus were herbivores, and their enormous size was a deterrent to predatory dinosaurs of those times - ceratosaurs and allosaurs.

Allosaurus is a thunderstorm of diplodocus!

In the framework of this article, we will not be able to consider all types of dinosaurs with names, so we turn only to the most striking and famous representatives of these legendary giants. One of them is the allosaurus. This is a representative of the genus of carnivorous dinosaurs from the theropod group. Like diplodocus, allosaurus existed in the Jurassic period about 155 million years ago.

These creatures moved on their hind legs and had very small forelimbs. On average, these lizards reached a length of 9 meters and a height of 4 meters. Allosaurus were considered large bipedal predators of the time. The remains of these insidious creatures were found on the territory of modern Southern Europe, East Africa and North America.

Ichthyosaurs - legendary fish hunters

They represent an extinct squad of large marine reptiles, reaching a length of 20 meters. Outwardly, these lizards resembled modern fish and dolphins. Their distinguishing feature was large eyes, protected by a bone ring. In general, at a short distance, ichthyosaurs could well be mistaken for fish or dolphins.

The origin of these creatures is still in question. Some paleontologists believe that they are natives of diapsids. This version is confirmed only by conjectures: apparently, the escape of ichthyosaurs somehow branched off from the main stem of the diapsid even before this subclass was divided into archosaurs and lepidosaurs. Nevertheless, the ancestors of these fish farmers are still not known. Ichthyosaurs became extinct about 90 million years ago.

Dinosaurs rise in the sky

At the end of the Triassic period, the first flying dinosaur species appeared on the planet, which unexpectedly appeared in the fossil record. It is curious that they were already fully formed. Their direct ancestors, from whom they developed all this time, are unknown.

All Triassic pterosaurs belong to the group of ramphorinchs: these creatures had huge heads, jagged mouths, long and narrow wings, a long and thin tail. The size of these "leather birds" varied. Pterosaurs - as they were called - possessed mainly the size of both gulls and hawks. Of course, among them were 5-meter giants. Pterosaurs became extinct about 65 million years ago.

Tyrannosaurs are the most famous dinosaur species.

The list of ancient dinosaurs would be incomplete if we did not mention the most magnificent dinosaur of all time and time - the tyrannosaurus. This insidious and dangerous creature fully justifies its name. This creature represents a genus from the group of coelurosaurs and theropod suborder. It includes one single species - the tyrannosaurus rex (from the Latin language “rex” is the king). Tyrannosaurs, like allosaurs, were two-legged predators with massive skulls and sharp teeth. The limbs of a tyrannosaurus represented a continuous physiological contradiction: massive hind legs and tiny hook-shaped forelegs.

The tyrannosaurus is the largest species within its own family, as well as one of the largest land predatory dinosaurs in the history of our planet. The remains of this animal were found in the west of modern North America. According to scientists, they lived about 65 million years ago, that is, it was precisely their century that the death of the entire dynasty of ancient dinosaurs occurred. It was tyrannosaurs that crowned the whole great era of dinosaurs, which ended during the Cretaceous period.

Feathered heritage

For many people, it is no secret that birds are direct descendants of dinosaurs. Paleontologists saw a lot in common in the external and internal structure of birds and dinosaurs. It should be remembered that birds are descendants of land dinosaurs - dinosaurs, and not flying dinosaurs - pterosaurs! Currently, two subclasses of ancient reptiles are "hanging in the air" because their ancestors and their exact origin have not been established by paleontologists. The first subclass is ichthyosaurs, and the second is turtles. If we have already dealt with ichthyosaurs above, then nothing is clear with turtles!

Are turtles amphibians?

And therefore it is clear that, considering a topic such as "Types of dinosaurs", one cannot fail to mention these animals. The origin of the subclass of turtles is still shrouded in mystery. True, some zoologists still believe that they came from anapsids. However, they are opposed by other pundits who are sure that turtles are the descendants of some ancient amphibians. And do not depend on other reptiles. If this theory is confirmed, then a major breakthrough will take place in the science of zoology: it may happen that turtles do not have the slightest relation to reptiles, because then they will become ... amphibians!

These giants have dominated our planet for more than 160 million years, but at the end of the Cretaceous, they completely disappeared as a species. Scientists still find dinosaur remains that have completely disappeared as a species about 66 million years ago. And even now, their size is amazing!

In total, paleontologists account for more than 1000 species of dinosaurs, but only ten of them can be distinguished by a special feature. They do not have outstanding dimensions, are not bloodthirsty, but simply very strange.

10 Amargasaurus

This species was first described in 1991, after Jose Bonaparte discovered the remains in the career of La Amarga. A distinctive feature of this dinosaur is two rows of spikes on the neck and back, about 65 centimeters long. Amargazaurus has no more outstanding qualities.

Scientists are still arguing why there were thorns on the back of this lizard. This design significantly reduced the mobility of the dinosaur, so protection from predators was in doubt. You can definitely say that the male amagasaur had longer spikes, which means it was used for mating games.

9 Conquenator

This predatory dinosaur was first discovered in 2003, and scientists are still arguing about its strange skeleton. The conquenator had a small body about 6 meters long and a strange feature - the hump between the 11th and 12th vertebra of the skeleton.

The hump did not carry any useful function, as did the bumps in the bones of the forearm of the concave. But paleontologists were able to take a fresh look at the theory of kinship between birds and dinosaurs, because before that not a single relative of this dinosaur had feather rudiments.

8 Cosmoceratops

Another strange representative of this species refers to horned dinosaurs. Perhaps this is where all his advantages ended. The name cosmoceratops did not come from the word cosmos, but means richly decorated in ancient Greek.

And he really, very richly decorated! Cosmoceratops had 15 horns, and by their number it is the most equipped dinosaur. True, there was no sense from them, except that beautiful horns came in handy during mating games.

7 Kulindadromeus Transbaikal

This miracle animal, as the name implies, was discovered in Russia, in the Kulinda valley in 2010. Since then, the minds of scientists have not ceased to digest information, because culindadronius violated all conceivable theories about dinosaurs.

It belongs to the group of poultry-dinosaurs, but has no wings (or their primordia). All previously found representatives of this group did not even have the rudiments of feathers, which caused discussion in the scientific worlds. So far, it has been possible to establish that feathers were served to this dinosaur to maintain heat and for mating games.

6 Notronic

This wonderful dinosaur belongs to the genus of therapists (predators), but is a herbivore. His remains were discovered in 1998 at a ranch in New Mexico. It had a rather impressive weight - 5.1 tons and a height of about 5 meters.

Now imagine a giant sloth standing on the ground. This is exactly what this dinosaur looked like, which greatly surprised paleontologists. Its huge claws were an absolutely unnecessary fixture, given its herbivore. Nootronich because of the claws was very, very slow ...

5 Orictodrome

This poultry-dinosaur had a very unusual property. Small, only 2.1 meters long and 22 kg in weight, he looked like a modern mole or rabbit.

Yes, the orictodrome dug minks and hid in them from predators. It looks like a pretty cute wombat, only many times more. The sight, obviously, was funny - a dinosaur that lives in a hole and digs the ground with its claws!

4 ganchosaurus

This species was discovered in the eponymous province of China in 2013. Scientifically, it is called Qianzhousaurus, and in everyday life - "Pinocchio dinosaur". In practice, he is a tyrannosaurus, only slightly modified.

The fact is that the Ganzhousaurus has a very long jaw, the structure of which cannot be explained. Their brethren, tyrannosaurs, have a very massive skull box that withstood powerful blows. Why does the Pinocchio dinosaur with the same body structure have a long jaw, unable to withstand the load - a real mystery.

3 Rinorex

This species belongs to the genus of herbivorous hadrosaurids, but differs from them in one feature in the structure of the skull. Rinorex has just a huge nasal plate, which defies any explanation.

The purpose of such a nose in this dinosaur has been discussed by scientists for many years. Like relatives, he did not have a special sense of smell, so such a growth on the nose is pointless from the point of view of convenience. The duckbill dinosaur is still being studied and explored by paleontologists.

2 stygomolokh

Oh, his name is already causing fear - in translation it is "a horned demon from a hellish river." This herbivorous dinosaur had a domed skull with horns located at the back.

The name stygimoloch came from mythology - Moloch (Semitic deity) and Styx (nymph in Hades). Scientists are still arguing why he needed such a strange skull and came to the conclusion that these are again mating games. Stygomolokh fought with rivals with a convex forehead and horns.

1 Utirannus

This dinosaur species was related to the tyrannosaurus rex, although the difference is immediately apparent. It was covered with short, like chicken feathers, about 15 centimeters long. He was a predator, although at first glance, he looked in these feathers not at all frightening.

At the same time, he had a considerable weight of about two tons. The finds of such dinosaurs are increasingly prompting scientists to think that all representatives of this species first had feathers, and then lost them during evolution.

Humanity is fortunate that these powerful creatures became extinct many millions of years ago. Even the strangest and most ridiculous of them could destroy a person with one blow.

Each of us is familiar with the classic dinosaur names, such as the Stegosaurus, the Apatosaurus and the Tyrannosaurus Rex, which is often simply called the tyrex (T. rex). These Mesozoic fossils were widely known in the late XIX - early XX centuries, when they first began to be exhibited in museums.

But where did these names come from? And how did the lesser-known dinosaur names come about - Spinops, Bistahieversor and Pantydraco? Let's try to figure out what scientists are guided by choosing official names for their favorite pangolins \u003e\u003e

At the dawn of paleontology, the question was simply solved - by adding to the keyword the Greek ending -saurus (–saurus), that is, in fact, the lizard. The very first dinosaur to be officially named back in 1824 was the megalosaurus (Megalosaurus), or "huge lizard." True, the dinosaur following the time of description in 1825 was called the iguanodon (Iguanodon), that is, literally "iguana tooth". But still the vast majority of dinosaurs that became famous in the 19th century received names ending in -zavr.

The first part of the typical dinosaur name, traditionally dating back to Latin or Greek roots, usually emphasizes the main feature of ancient animals. For example, when in 1877, Yale paleontologist Otniel Marsh (O.C. Marsh) came up with the name Stegosaurus, which means “rooftop,” he proceeded from the erroneous assumption that the back plates of this dinosaur formed a fragile outer cover. The other godson of Marsch - Triceratops (Triceratops) - also has a description of his own appearance, enclosed in the name. After all, the name given to him in 1889 literally translates as "three-horned muzzle." Indeed, you cannot confuse with any other dinosaur.

However, some dinosaur names have rather strange meanings. Despite the fact that the allosaurus (Allosaurus) was the dominant predator and even the hero of many films, its name translates simply as "another lizard." Probably, according to the first sample found to the paleontologists who studied it, it became clear that this animal is different from those found previously.

Some dinosaur skeletons, by the way, can also receive proper names in addition to species. The Field Museum of Natural History (Chicago) is home to Sue (“Sue”), and the National Museum of Natural History (Washington) has Triceratops Hatcher. In general, the same nomenclature rules are used in the systematics of dinosaurs as in other animals. First comes the name of the genus - for example, Brontosaurus, and after it - the name of the species: excelsus. From time to time, paleontologists find new species belonging to an already known genus. For example, Velociraptor mongoliensis was found back in 1924, and in 2008 another species of the same genus, Velociraptor osmolskae, was described.

For many paleontologists, choosing the name of an ancient animal is a very serious matter. “Choosing a name for a new species of dinosaur has always been a difficult task for me,” says Lindsay Zanno, a paleontologist at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. After all, these names play a large role not only for communication between researchers. Dinosaurs have their own, and quite significant, niche in pop culture, and an interesting, vivid name is a great way to interest the audience. “A well-chosen name will arouse interest, revive extinct species in the collective imagination,” adds Dr. Zanno.

But in the most serious case, sometimes there is a place of stupidity. A long-necked dinosaur with muscular legs was called Brontomerus, which literally translates as "rattling thighs." This name was invented by Mike Taylor and colleagues in 2011. And in 2012, another paleontologist Michael - Ryan (Michael Ryan) - a paleontologist at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, examined with his colleagues a sample that was believed to belong to a representative of centrosaurs (Centrosaurus ), that is, "spiked lizards." Scientists have found that in fact the sample belongs to another species, which was called the coronosaurus (Coronosaurus) - or the "lizard with the crown."

But, Ryan recalls, his fellow paleontologist Jim Gardner called him Broccoliceratops for the duration of the study because of the protuberant ridges on the crest. “I'm sure Jim suggested the name just for fun,” recalls Ryan. “But it's very expressive.”

However, sometimes such working nicknames given to an undescribed dinosaur stick to him forever. This happened with the Wendiceratops, described there by Ryan and David Evans in 2015. The lizard received this nickname in honor of its discoverer Wendy Sloboda, and then it became the official scientific name of the animal.

Often dinosaurs are named after peoples or tribes, in the places of residence of which the find was made. In the 1980s, the bones of duckbill dinosaurs found in the Colville River region of Alaska were identified as the remains of Edmontosaurus, a widespread and well-studied Cretaceous herbivore. But last year, paleontologist Hirotsugu Mori (Hirotsugu Mori) and colleagues found that these bones belong to another, not previously described species, which they called Ugrunaaluk kuukpikensis. This name, translated from Inuit, Inupiak means "an ancient animal grazing on the Colville River."

The co-author of the study, Patrick Druckenmiller, proposed this name. "He believed that the indigenous peoples of Alaska knew that the bones belong to the herbivorous reptile before they were found by scientists," said Mori.

An appeal to human culture, and in particular to mythology in general, is very popular with paleontologists, says Zanno: “This is a way to connect science and imagination - two sides of the same coin, although we often don’t realize it.” As an example, Zanno cites a large oviraptorosaurus resembling a flightless parrot.

"It was clear that the name should emphasize its huge size, but in addition, I would like to transfer the audience to bygone days when our planet was a completely different, almost unimaginable world," the paleontologist explained. And he chose the name Hagryphus giganteus for the new animal, in which "the name of the Egyptian god Ha of the western desert Ha and the name of the mythical beast of the griffin were combined." The species name in this case indicates a large size of animals. “This is now my favorite combination,” Zanno added.

There is no doubt that over time, science will be enriched with even more names - after all, paleontologists constantly find new dinosaurs. In fact, we now live in the golden age of paleontological discoveries: a new species of dinosaurs is described on average every two weeks. And estimates of the number of fossils not yet found say that we discovered and described only a small fraction of all types of dinosaurs.

Gradually, the methods of inventing names for new species of dinosaurs change. “My generation is probably the first one that did not have to learn Greek and Latin during training,” says Ryan. “Over time, ignorance of these languages \u200b\u200bgrows and scientists are further moving away from previous taxonomic traditions.”

All this, coupled with the fact that researchers are also influenced by pop culture, has led to a noticeable change in the names of dinosaurs. In 2001, the wry-toothed "vicious lizard" Masiakasaurus knopfleri received a specific name in honor of Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler - because it was to the music of this group that the remains of a dinosaur were discovered.

Nevertheless, the anatomical traits traditionally noted in the names, locations, as well as the names of the authors of the find still play an important role in naming new species - both dinosaurs and other animals. "Researchers emphasize morphological features in the name of the genus, while the name of the species can be given in honor of some geographical object or person. But if you discovered a new species of beetles with a Superman sign on their abdomen, it’s hard to resist giving its obvious name, "Ryan summed up.

Based on materials from Smitrsonian.com