All kinds of dinosaurs with names, their description. Types of dinosaurs, animals that do not exist. What were the dinosaurs

Dinosaurs, which is translated from Greek means - terrible (terrible) lizards (lizards), are a superorder of aboveground vertebrates that existed and led an active lifestyle throughout the Mesozoic era. Dinosaurs are considered to be the first vertebrate animals that settled throughout the planet, while their ancestors, amphibians, were forced to live only near water bodies, to which they were attached due to the specifics of reproduction. The finds of the first representatives of the dinosaurs are dated 225 million liters BC. e. Over the history of its existence, which lasted for 160 million years, this superorder has expanded extremely, giving a huge number of varieties. Scientists suggest that the number of genera of dinosaurs at the peak of their prosperity could reach 3400, although so far, as of 2006, only 500 of them were confidently described. Each genus had an indefinite number of species. In 2008, 1047 species of these ancient vertebrates were described. And at the moment, as a result of new archaeological discoveries, this number is increasing.

On the border of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic, there was a kind of global shock that served the mass extinction of dinosaursafter which only miserable units remained from the reptiles dominating throughout the Mesozoic.

Pelvic bone dinosaur classification

There are many ways to classify dinosaurs. In connection with the specifics of their works and literary works, it is convenient for someone to sort the ancient vertebrates of the Cretaceous period by size, someone according to their habitat, since at that time there were water reptiles, and land and aeronautics. Someone prefers to divide the dinosaurs into bipeds and tetrapods. But the main generally accepted form of classification is dinosaur classification   according to the method of the pelvic bones, proposed back in 1887 by the famous English paleontologist G. Seeley.

Fig. 1 - Classification of dinosaurs

Despite the fact that the group of ancient reptiles is considered the ancestors of all dinosaurs without exception archosaursAt the beginning of the Triassic, their development went in different ways. It is from this time that happened separation of reptiles according to the principle of the structure of the pelvis   on the:

• lizotropic;
• poultry.

But this does not mean at all that it was from the lizards that all lizards evolved, and from the poultry-lazy birds — the birds. These are conditional names, associated only with the fact that in the lizards of the pelvis the pubic bones of the pelvis were primarily directed forward, in the manner of the current crocodiles, while in the poultry ones - back, in the bird's manner.

In appearance, it would be difficult to determine which group a particular dinosaur belongs to. Much more clearly, these groups differ in the structure of the jaws. Lizards possessed jaws, the rows of teeth which were located strictly along the edges in one row, reaching the tip of the muzzle. All teeth had a conical or chisel shape and were each located in its own separate cell. Ptitsetazovye had lower jaws ending in the anterior part of the predental bone. Often had no teeth in the front and upper jaw. Often, the front of the poultry-gaz dinosaurs simply looked like a massive horned tortoise beak.

Lizard-dinosaur dinosaurs

Lizard-dinosaur dinosaurs   (Fig. 2) were divided into:

• Theropodov   - appeared on the borders of the Cretaceous and Jurassic and are the largest representatives of carnivorous carnivorous reptiles that existed until the end of the Cretaceous period and the global cataclysm that caused the mass extinction of species.
• Sauropodomorphs   - also originating in the late Triassic, some of which were the most gigantic creatures in the entire history of the Earth. All of them were herbivorous and were subdivided, in turn, into two further subgroups, namely, the prosauropods living in the Late Triassic - the early Jurassic and replaced by later and developed sauropods closer to the middle of the Jurassic.

Fig. 2 - Lizard dinosaur

Theropods were mainly two-legged predators, but omnivores, for example, such as therizinosaurus or ornithomimid, came across among them. Some of the theropods, such as the spinosaurus, reached 15 meters in height. These predatory representatives of the lizards have three advantages over other dinosaurs, consisting in:

• extreme agility and speed of movement;
• unusually developed vision;
• freedom of the front paws, because they ran on two unusually developed hind legs, and thus could freely perform any other functions of the front ones.

Giant growth often had detrimental effects on theropods. For example, a tyrannosaurus, catching up with its prey, had to be very careful when running, because with its impressive dimensions (one hind limb reached 4 meters height), any wrong step, any bump or uneven ground could cause a fall, which often led to tangible, and sometimes fatal injuries. In turn, theropods are classified   on the:

• coelurosaurs, small and nimble bird-like lizards, such as ornithomimes and velociraptors;
• carnosaurs, large predators, examples of which were the aforementioned tyrannosaurus and allosaurus.

The sauropodomorphs were the owners of the sacral brain, which exceeded the head in size by 20 times. Despite their huge weight and size, they became frequent victims of predatory dinosaurs. The sheer size of these ancient reptiles was a consequence of the build-up of intestinal mass necessary for the digestion of hard-leaved plants. As a result, along with the stomach, the rest of the body was forced to increase in size. Examples of such lizards were camarosaurs, giraffatitans, brachiosaurus, etc.

Let's take a closer look at the theropods using the example of one of the most numerous predators of that Middle Jurassic - allosaurus   (fig. 3). On average, these predators reached a 3.5-meter height at the withers and 8.5-meter length from muzzle to tail. Their habitat was the North American, South European and East African parts of the ancient mainland Pangea.

Fig. 3 - Allosaurus

Allosaurus had a fairly large skull, their jaws were equipped with a huge number of sharp teeth. In order to balance the body when moving as opposed to a massive head, there was an equally massive tail, with which the animal often knocked its victims down. For the same, a massive head often served. Compared to other large terraces, allosaurus were relatively small, but this gave them more maneuverability and mobility. There is also evidence that large dinosaurs such as some representatives of sauropods, such as brontosaurs and thyroids, such as the stegosaurus, they hunted in the herd method, like the current wolves. Although many scientists are skeptical that these animals could coexist in packs. In their opinion, for this they had too primitive mental development and extremely strong ferocity and aggressiveness.

Poultry Dinosaurs

Despite their name, the scientists proved that it was not they, namely the lizards and dinosaurs, who later became avian ancestors. But, returning precisely to poultry dinosaurs   (Fig. 4), note that they classified   into two main suborders, namely:

• thyrophors;
• therapies.

Fig. 4 - Poultry Dinosaur

TO thyreophore   include herbivorous dinosaurs such as ankylosaurs and stegosaurs. A distinctive feature of these lizards was that their body was partially covered with shell armor, and on the back there were huge shield-shaped growths.

To discharge therapists   includes marginocephals, such as ceratops and pachycelosaurs and all ornithopods, of which the most widespread representative was iguanodon   (fig. 5).

The iguanodons had their peak in the first half of the Cretaceous, and populated the vast expanses of the European, North American, Asian and African parts of Pangea. The 12-meter and 5-ton iguanodons moved on two massive hind legs, in front of the muzzle they had a massive beak, with which they plucked the plants they needed. Next came the rows of teeth, more similar to the teeth of iguanas, only of much larger sizes.

Fig. 5 - Iguanodon

The forelimbs of iguanodons were a quarter of the size shorter than the hind legs. Thumbs were equipped with spikes, with the help of which the animal defended itself from predators. The most mobile of the fingers of the forelimbs were the little fingers. It should be noted that the iguanodons could not run, their hind limbs were adapted only for leisurely walking, because of which they often became victims of predators such as allosaurs, tyrannosaurs, etc. The hind limbs had three fingers, similar to current hens, and their spine and massive tail were supported by strong tendons.

The problems of classification of dinosaurs in our time

Many scientists insist that a large number of dinosaurs already described did not exist before, because some of the described species were nothing more than doubles of the species already described earlier. The difference between them was supposedly only in that they were either at an earlier or a later stage of development. Also, a fairly large group of scientists insists that about 50% of all dinosaurs found were classified and named incorrectly.

Thus, the current paleontologists were divided into two camps. While some continue to further divide the bulk of the found remains of ancient reptiles into ever new species based on the revealed significant and not very distinctive features, others completely doubt the correctness of the species described earlier.

Eodromaeus

Every year, scientists discover more and more new species of dinosaurs. Among them, for example, sauroniops, named after the dark magician from The Lord of the Rings, the nosed Pinocchio Rex, the scary Siats Meekerorum, terrorizing tyrannosaurs, and many others.

If you ask for a dinosaur, most likely long-known species will come to mind, such as a tyrannosaurus or triceratops. However, science already knows hundreds of species of ancient dinosaurs, and annually paleontologists discover fossilized remains of more and more.

Discovered in 2012, a predatory dinosaur the size of a tyrannosaurus was dubbed by scientists in honor of the dark magician from The Lord of the Rings Tolkien and the film trilogy of Peter Jackson filmed by him.

What could be common with a dinosaur hunting in North Africa and a book villain?

The fact is that the only remaining bone of the prehistoric beast was its eye socket. It turned out to be enough to identify the dinosaur as a completely new species. Naturally, a giant eye of Sauron from the fantasy trilogy, which ultimately gave a name to a new species, came to mind.

Sauroniops Pachytholus dines with a young spinosaurus. Two other spinosaurs flee

Eodromaeus

In addition to giant dinosaurs exceeding the length and height of modern terrestrial mammals, many small species were found on Earth at one time, no larger than cats or dogs.

These include, for example, an eodromeus, whose body length is approximately 1.2 meters, and weight - not more than five kilograms. This carnivorous animal lived 230 million years ago in Argentina and was probably the ancestor of larger predators such as the tyrannosaurus.

Eodromaeus

Anzu wyliei

Another mythological name was given to a funny pangolin that lived in the northeastern United States. Anzu Wyliei - the so-called feathered demon from Mesopotamian mythology.

This three-meter dinosaur from the genus oviraptor weighed approximately 225 kg and was omnivorous. The basis of his diet was plants and small animals.

The paleontologist, who discovered the well-preserved skeleton of Anzu Wyliei, first dubbed him the “hell of a hen”. In fact, this creature resembles a hybrid, say, an emu with a tyrannosaurus rex. But despite its comical appearance, the lizard was a dangerous opponent due to its powerful jaws.

Anzu Wyliei as a representation of the artist

Qianzhousaurus sinensis

Another very comical view, discovered a few weeks ago at an excavation in China. Due to the elongated shape of the skull, he received the nickname "Pinocchio" in honor of the long-nosed fellow Pinocchio.

The Pinocchio Rex snout was long and narrow, and the nose was 35% longer than the noses of any of the famous dinosaurs of similar sizes.

Qianzhousaurus Sinensis is a close relative of the most famous predatory dinosaur - Tyrannosaurus rex. Paleontologists believe that the body shape allowed the Pinocchio tyrannosaurus to run faster than its cousin, and therefore, he was a more dangerous predator.

Qianzhousaurus sinensis as an artist

Torvosaurus gurneyi

Torzosaurus, recently opened in Portugal, was one of the largest animals that ever lived in Europe. Its length reached 10 meters, and it weighed somewhere around 4-5 tons.

Initially, scientists took it for another well-known species of torzosaurs living in North America, Torvosaurus tanneri. However, after careful study, it turned out that this species has less than 11 teeth in the upper jaw, but the existing ones are 10 cm longer than that of an American relative.

Torvosaurus gurneyi as a representation of the artist

Yongjinglong datangi

Of course, among herbivorous dinosaurs, new species are constantly opening up. These include the newly discovered Yongjinglong Datangi, recently discovered in northwestern China.

The new lizard belongs to the genus of titanosaurs - the largest terrestrial animals that have ever existed on our planet. The found bones most likely belong to a young individual, but, nevertheless, we are talking about a titanosaurus 15-18 meters in size.

This species of titanosaurus is considered one of the most evolutionarily developed among specimens still found in Asia. By the way, if earlier it was believed that the most different types of dinosaurs were found in the United States, then since 2007, China has also closed this record.

Yongjinglong datangi

Europelta Carbonensis

Not one, but two skeletons of a new type of nodosaurus were found last year in one of the Spanish mines. The new dinosaur received the strange name Europelta Carbonensis - "the coal shield of Europe."

Nodosaurs lived almost everywhere on Earth in the late Jurassic era. The ancient species found in Spain is more similar to its European counterparts than to its American relatives. This means that, perhaps, Europe and North America became separate continents already 110 million, and not 80 million years ago, as previously thought.

Europelta Carbonensis as a painter

Leinkupal laticauda

This is the first dinosaur of the genus of diplodocus found in South America. Leinkupal in Mapuche language, inhabiting Patagonia, means “disappeared family”, laticauda in Latin - wide tail. Although it is smaller than its African relatives, but still its length is a solid 9 meters.

Diplodocuses belonging to the group of four-legged sauropods were distinguished by elongated necks and tails, which were used in defense against predatory relatives. The found remains of Leinkupal Laticauda belong to the early Cretaceous period, which makes them unique, because until now it was believed that all diplodocuses became extinct in the Late Jurassic.

Leinkupal laticauda as a representation of the artist

Siats meekerorum

Another predatory dinosaur, which probably terrorized tyrannosaurs for a while. Siats Meekerorum is the name of a cannibal monster from the legends of the North American Indians in Utah, where its remains were discovered.

This monster inhabited the United States 98 million years ago - while tyrannosaurs were much smaller. Its length was 10 meters, and weight - up to 4 tons. Thanks to the remains of Siats Meekerorum, paleontologists were able to establish the name of “the king of animals in North America at that time.

Siats Meekerorum as an artist

Kryptodrakon progenitor

Discovered in northwestern China, the pterosaur is considered the oldest of all known flying reptiles. Judging by the found remains, he lived 160 million years ago.

Although its descendants reached the size of small aircraft, the wingspan of this cryptodragon was only 1.4 m. The ancient pterosaur did not live in coastal areas like other pterodactyls, but on land.

Kryptodrakon Progenitor as an artist

The origin of dinosaurs was one of the most acute mysteries and topics for discussion in the last century. But even now, very little is known about these dinosaurs. What were they like? Can a dinosaur be considered the “king of nature” and the top of the food chain of its period?

Answers to these and many other questions were never found. Even those pieces of information that archaeologists and paleontologists managed to collect are based more on the analysis of fossils and theories built around the principles of vital activity of similar organisms.

Many dinosaur species are still only studied superficially, and therefore it is not necessary to speak of a sufficient knowledge base on this issue.

The main classification of dinosaurs

The difference in species of dinosaurs is dictated by the habitat, food preferences, diet features, and even class.

Some names come directly from the names of the discoverers, as well as the territories where the skeleton of a particular lizard was first found.

The dinosaur species also varied significantly from which predator dominated the region. So to

for example, huge diplodocus were perfectly protected from small aggressors, for example, Deinocheirs, but he didn’t just hunt for the young of this subspecies of herbivores, he literally threatened their population.

In general, dinosaurs can be divided into 4 classes:

• Predators
• Herbivores.
• Flying.
• Water.

However, some dinosaurs managed to combine several classes in their specificity.

Predators

The predator class includes several subspecies that can conditionally be grouped into two categories: large and pack.

For example, “Tirex”, in other words, a tyrannosaurus, can be attributed to the class of the former. He was one of the most famous predators of his period, and this is about 65 million years ago.

For this dinosaur, as well as for its counterparts, a solitary lifestyle is characteristic with the hunt mainly for big game. With a fang length of 15-19 centimeters, for a given lizard it was not a problem to bite through even a stegosaurus robust carapace or meet in a battle with triceratops.

Its name even indicates a direct reference to the reputation of the lizard - namely, the prefix "tee", whose entomology is close to "terror", which translates as "horror."

Allosaurus, dilafosaurus, carnosaurus and megalosaurus should also be referred to the same kind of dinosaurs.

The latter species is characterized by absolutely, but the full skeleton of this lizard was never found.

Flock predators   They were distinguished by considerable intellect and preyed mainly on young growth of large herbivorous dinosaurs and sick loners.

Could not just coordinate their actions within the flock, they made contact with

other representatives through sound effects. If the middle stegosaurus brain reached the size of a walnut, then the Velociraptor was already the size of a large orange.

A distinctive feature of this type of dinosaur is a large claw on the first finger of the hind paw, through which the hunt took place.

The Velociraptor jumped onto the back of its prey, after which it tried to kill the ridge or inflict wounds, resulting in blood loss. This type of dinosaur is characterized by a pack flight, the type of which resembles the actions of wolves.

Herbivores

The herbivore class has several subspecies. Most often they are called according to the names of several of the most famous representatives (triceratops, stegosaurus and diplodocus).

At one time, the last of the mentioned was for the entire period of the existence of the dinosaurs. Its length from nose to tip of tail reached 30 meters.

The Ultrasaur was supposed to be the new record holder, but, as in the case of the megalosaurus, the full skeleton of the lizard was not found. This species is characterized by enormous size, even the "smaller" of them, namely the apatosaurus reached a record 22 meters.

A dinosaur called Triceratops was not threatened by a head-on battle. Like the modern rhinoceros, this dinosaur crushed the enemy with horns, although they were present in the amount of three pieces, and the neck of the lizard was covered by a bone “collar”, which also served to regulate heat transfer.

Stegosaurs and brontosaurs preferred defense to attack. Such dinosaurs just needed to stand on their feet, stray into the flock and patiently wait out the attack. Their backs are tightly protected by a horn shell.

The stegosaurus also had spikes at the tip of its tail, with which the lizard skillfully defended itself against small aggressors.

One of the heaviest dinosaurs, namely the brontosaurus, had a weighty bone club at the end of the tail, which could easily break through a skull, for example, a velociraptor.

Water

Aquatic dinosaurs are almost entirely represented by the predator class. The largest of them, namely the plesiosaurus, according to a number of scientists, may well be that way. The length of his neck reached 11-15 meters.

The Mozasaurus and Ichthyosaurus are called the ancestors of modern and dolphins.

The pliosaurus, also known as the X-predator, was the most aggressive. This dinosaur is characterized by attacks, including on its own kin. It is likely that killer whales are the heirs of the pliosaurus. Most of these lizards died out after the average water temperature began to fall as a result of the onset of the ice age.

Flying

Some flying dinosaurs later evolved into birds, others remained their own subclass, however, they posed a serious threat to their habitat and deserve mention.

He hunted insects (the size of which reached 2 meters for the period of the pangolin existence) and he was far rather big. It was in his skeleton that the remains and traces of feather cover were found, after which the origin of modern birds from this subspecies was proved.

The second subclass, represented by pterodactyl, had a woolen coat and huge leathery wings. Dinosaurs of this species have a diet of fish, fruits and insects.

Each dinosaur species was distinguished by its own specificity and features. Such a concise characterization is not able to give a full assessment thereof, but sufficient for the primary. At one time, dinosaurs were a huge force, but later lost the battle to nature and even mammals, losing the championship once and for all.

1. Triceratops (Triceratops horridus)

Triceratops is a herbivorous dinosaur that lived on Earth at the end of the Cretaceous in the regions of North America.

Being herbivores, Triceratops fed on shrubs and plants, such as ferns, palm trees, and cicadeides. These herbivorous dinosaurs had beak-like mouths that could basically only grab food rather than bite. Interestingly, these dinosaurs had up to 800 teeth that served solely to grab vegetation.

An interesting fact - many of them had horns.

2. Dracorex († Dracorex hogwartsia)

Dracorex is a herbivorous dinosaur that existed during the Late Cretaceous. This dinosaur reached 1.4 meters in height, 6.2 meters in length and weighed about 45 kg. Drakoreks was the owner of the original long mouth. Numerous spikes and bumps were located on his skull.

It is still being debated whether this dinosaur is a herbivore or not. Dracorex had extremely sharp teeth with many fangs,

therefore, some scholars classify it as omnivorous.

Its name is Dracorex hogwartsia - taken from the popular Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling. As you understand, this name means "dragon-king of Hogwarts."

3. Moschops († Moschops capensis)

Moskhops is a genus of the prehistoric herbivore mammal of the reptile that existed during the Permian period. Most of the remains of the Moskhops were excavated in a region called Karu in South Africa.

In this habitat, Moschops was the largest herbivore. He had a massive

body (about 5 meters in length), a thick skull and a very short, but heavy tail.

As mentioned above, this dinosaur had a herbivorous way of life, so its teeth had serrations at the ends - this helped to chew plants.

4. Argentinosaurus († Argentinosaurus huinculensis)

The next herbivore dinosaur on this list is the Argentinosaurus, which was arguably the largest and most massive terrestrial animal that has ever existed. The Argentinosaurus led a herbivorous lifestyle, as it fed on plants that grew on our planet during the Jurassic period and until the end of the Cretaceous. He had a long neck, allowing easy access to the tops of trees.

Literally, the name of this dinosaur means “silver lizard”. Argentinian dinosaur fossils were first excavated in South America in 1988. Unfortunately, very little information is known about this species of dinosaur.

5. Stegosaurus († Stegosaurus)

Stegosaurus, as you know, is a genus of herbivorous dinosaurs that mainly settled in areas of western North America in the late Jurassic period.

This herbivorous dinosaur is characterized by a toothless beak and small teeth on the inside of its cheeks. It follows that such teeth were not suitable for eating animal flesh. Unlike other herbivorous dinosaurs, which had strong jaws and teeth for grinding plant mass, this dinosaur had jaws that allowed teeth to move only up and down.

Among dinosaurs, the Stegosaurus is known for having a relatively small brain, and perhaps even for having the lowest brain-body ratio.

This dinosaur, whose name literally means "covered lizard", is remembered due to the presence of plates that lay along its back in a vertically flattened position. In total, this dinosaur had 17 original spines on its back (they are called forceps), which were not solid as such, but consisted of soft bone material, where many blood vessels passed.

6. Edmontosaurus († Edmontosaurus regalis)

Next on this list is the edmontosaurus. It is characterized by the presence of a coracoid mouth, short limbs and a very long pointed tail.

7. Diplodocus († Diplodocus longus)

Diplodocus is considered one of the longest land animals that have ever existed.

The fossils of this herbivorous dinosaur showed that these animals existed in the late Jurassic period. Most of their fossils have been excavated in the Rockies in the western United States.

Due to its huge size, in order to survive, Diplodocus also required a huge amount of plant material. Scientists suggested that his blunt teeth functioned to cut plants, as a diplodocus swallowed whole food without even chewing.

It is interesting to know that, having such dimensions and body structure, this dinosaur did not have the ability to raise its long neck above five meters from the ground.

8. Hadrosaurus († Hadrosaurus foulkii)

Literally means “strong lizard”. The hadrosaur is a genus of herbivorous dinosaurs that lived in parts of North America in the late Cretaceous.

The hadrosaur had a mouth in the form of a beak and a jaw, which were designed to grind plant matter, such as pine needles and cones.

It is also important to note that only one skeleton of this dinosaur has ever been found. This fossil lacked a skull; therefore, it was difficult for scientists to analyze the appearance of the hadrosaur.

9. Nodosaurus († Nodosaurus textilis)

Another famous herbivorous dinosaur is the Nodosaurus, which is very notable for its “armor”.

This dinosaur was a herbivore. He had a rather narrow head with an elongated mouth. Interestingly, the nodosaurus had cavities in the skull that separated the jaws from its nasal passages, thus making it capable of eating and breathing at the same time.

Individuals of this genus existed from the late Jurassic period until the early Cretaceous. It is interesting that at this time the lands of Alabama were divided into two parts: the northern part was covered with forests, and the southern one - with small lakes.

10. Ankylosaurus († Ankylosaurus magniventris)

The name comes from other Greek. ??????? ??????, which means "bent pangolin." Ankylosaurus is a genus of armored dinosaur that existed in parts of the western United States and Canada in the late Cretaceous.

Like the Stegosaurus, this massive dinosaur had a body also covered with bone plates (called “shields”). These scutes grew on different places in the dinosaur's body, such as the neck, back, and hips.

This dinosaur was a herbivore that fed on low-lying vegetation. The coracoid mouth allowed the animal to pluck leaves from plants. In addition, studies have shown that he could swallow a huge number of plants without even chewing.

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 concavator 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.