ZoomDinosaurs.com Dinosaur and Paleontology Dictionary

ANAPSID (pronounced an-AP-sid) Anapsids include the turtles and their extinct kin. They are distinguished by having no holes in the sides of their skulls.

ANASAZISAURUS (pronounced ahn-ah-SAH-zee-SAWR-us) Anasazisaurus (meaning "Anasazi lizard") was a plant-eating dinosaur very similar to Kritosaurus. This hadrosaur was about 33 ft (10 m) long and lived during the late Cretaceous period. Only a skull was found, in New Mexico, USA. Anasazisaurus was named by Hunt and Lucas in 1993. The type species is A. horneri.

ANATOMY Anatomy is the study of structure of organisms. Anatomists are scientists who study anatomy.

ANATOSAURUS (pronounced uh-NAT-uh-SAWR-us) Anatosaurus (meaning "duck lizard") is an obsolete name for Edmontosaurus, a duck-billed dinosaur from the Cretaceous period. Anatosaurus was named by Lull and Wright in 1942; the type species is A. annectens. A. longiceps = Anatotitan longiceps.

ANATOTITAN (pronounced un-NAT-uh-TYE-tan) Anatotitan (meaning "giant duck") was a large, duck-billed dinosaur up to 40 feet (12 m) long, weighing roughly 7300 kg. This plant-eater lived during the late-Cretaceous period, 70 million-65 million years ago in what is now western North America. The type species is A. copei.

ANCHICERATOPS (pronounced AN-key-SER-ah-tops) Anchiceratops (meaning "horn-near-face") was a Ceratopsid dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period, about 73 million to 70 million years ago. This plant-eater was 15-20 ft (4.5-6 m) long and weighed roughly 2470 kg. Anchiceratops was a quadruped. It had a long, rectangular-shaped frill with scalloped edges and a big skull with two long, pointed brow horns and a stubby snout horn. It is only known from 6 skulls found in Alberta, Canada. This dinosaur was named by fossil hunter B. Brown in 1914. The type species is A. ornatus.

ANCHISAURUS (pronounced AN-key-SAWR-us) Anchisaurus (meaning "near lizard") was a prosauropod from the early Jurassic period, about 200 million to 188 million years ago. This plant-eater was 6.5 to 8 feet (2 to 2.5 m) long and probably weighed from 65-150 pounds (30-70 kg). It was a quadruped that could also walk on two legs. It had serrated, leaf-shaped teeth, a small head, a long neck, a long body, long, thin feet, and a long tail. Almost complete fossils have been found in Connecticut and Massachusetts, USA. This dinosaur was named by paleontologist O. Marsh in 1885. The type species is A. polyzelus. It is also known as Yaleosaurus.

ANCHISAURIPUS (pronounced AN-key-SAWR-ip-us) Anchisauripus is an ichnogenus of dinosaur, a theropod dinosaur only known from fossilized, bipedal, three-toed footprints (roughly 4 to 7 inches long). This ichnogenus lived in what is now Connecticut, USA during the late Triassic to early Jurassic period. It was named by R. S. Lull in 1904.

ANDESAURUS (pronounced AN-di-SAWR-us) Andesaurus delgadoi was a 60-130? feet (18-40 m) long Titanosaurid sauropod that weighed roughly 12500 kg. It was an enormous, long-necked, long-tailed, quadrupedal, plant-eater from Argentina, South America during the Cretaceous period, about 113 million to 91 million years ago. Its tail vertebrae, which were ever 2 feet (0.6 m) long, had ball and socket joints (the same type of joint we have in our hips). Andesaurus, meaning "Andes mountain Lizard," was named by Calvo & José Bonaparte in 1991. It is known from vertebrae, arm, and hip bones.

ANDREWS, ROY C. Roy Chapman Andrews (1884-1960) was a US fossil hunter and director of the American Museum of Natural History. Andrews led four expeditions to the Mongolia's Gobi desert between 1922 and 1925. Many important finds were made on these expeditions, including Protoceratops bones and eggs (the first dinosaur eggs found!), and the new dinosaurs Oviraptor, Pinacosaurus, Saurornithoides, and Velociraptor.

ANDREWSARCHUS (pronounced ANN-drew-SARK-us) Andrewsarchus (named for paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews, who led the expedition on which it was found) was a primitive, carnivorous mammal that lived during the early Eocene Epoch, roughly 45 million years ago. This giant creodont was heavily-built and wolf-like. It was about 13 feet (4 m) long and had a skull over three feet (1 m) long; it was the largest creodont. It walked on four short legs and had a long body, a long tail, and a long snout. It had large, sharp teeth and clawed feet. Flat cheek teeth were perhaps used to crush bones. Fossils have been found in Mongolia; they were first found in 1923 by Kan Chuen Pao. Andrewsarchus may be an ancestor of the whales.

ANGATURAMA (pronounced AHN-gah-two-RAH-ma) Angaturama (meaning "noble one") was a meat-eating dinosaur, a spinosaurid theropod. It lived during the early Cretaceous period. Only a partial skull was found, in N.E. Brazil. It was named by Kellner and Campos in 1996. The type species is A. limai. Angaturama be the same as Irritator.

ANGIOSPERMS (pronounced AN-gee-oh-sperms) Angiosperms (meaning "covered seed") are flowering plants. They produce seeds enclosed in fruit (an ovary). They are the dominant type of plant today; there are over 250,000 species. Their flowers are used in reproduction. Angiosperms evolved about 140 million years ago, during the late Jurassic period, and were eaten by dinosaurs. They became the dominant land plants about 100 million years ago (edging out conifers, a type of gymnosperm). Angiosperms are divided into the monocots (like corn) and dicots (like beans).

ANHANGUERA Anhanguera santanae (meaning "old devil") was a pterosaur (not a dinosaur). This Pterodactyloid had a skull 1.6 ft (50 cm) long with a small crest on top of the snout. It had small, widely-spaced teeth in the long, sturdy jaws. Anhanguera had an estimated wingspan 13.6 feet (4.1 m). Fossils of this flying reptile were found in northeastern Brazil . This carnivore lived during the early Cretaceous period.

ANKYLOSAURIDS (pronounced AN-kye-loh-SAWR-ids or ang-KY-loh-SAWR-ids) Ankylosaurids were one division of the ankylosaurs, a group of armored, plant-eating, ornithischian dinosaurs with tail clubs and massive legs. Ankylosaurus and Euoplocephalus were ankylosaurids.

ANKYLOSAURS (pronounced AN-kye-loh-sawrs or ang-KY-loh-sawrs) The ankylosaurs (ankylosauria) were a group (family) of armored, plant-eating, ornithischian dinosaurs from the mid-Jurassic to the late Cretaceous periods. The ankylosaurs are divided into the Nodosaurids (having no tail clubs, like Sauropelta) and Ankylosaurids (with tail clubs, like Euoplocephalus).

ANKYLOSAURUS (pronounced AN-kye-loh-SAWR-us or ang-KY-loh-SAWR-us) Ankylosaurus (meaning "fused lizard") was a heavily armored plant-eating, ornithischian dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period. It was named by Barnum Brown in 1908. The type species is A. magniventris.

ANNING, MARY Mary Anning (1799-1847) was a British fossil hunter who began finding fossils as a child, and supported herself and her family by finding and selling fossils. She lived on the southern coast of England, in Lyme Regis. Anning found the first fossilized plesiosaur and Ichthyosaurus. She found many important fossils, including Pterodactylus, sharks, and many other reptiles and fish.

ANODONTOSAURUS (pronounced an-oh-DONT-oh-SAWR-us) Anodontosaurus (meaning "toothless lizard" was a small plant-eating dinosaur that actually had teeth, but only in the back of the mouth. It is actually an ankylosaurid, Euoplocephalus acutosquameus. It dates from the late Cretaceous period, about 76-70 million years ago. The type species is A. lambei. This doubtful genus was named by Sternberg in 1929.

ANOMOEPUS Anomoepus intermedius is a dinosaur known only from its fossilized tail prints; these prints are only a few inches long. This ichnogenus lived during the Triassic period. Anomoepus was named by E. B. Hitchcock in 1848. Fossils have been found in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, USA.

ANOPLOSAURUS (pronounced an-OP-loh-SAWR-us) Anoplosaurus (meaning "no-weapon lizard" was a small iguanodontid dinosaur from the early Cretaceous period, about 98 million years ago. This plant-eater had thumb spikes. A very incomplete fossil was found in England. The type species is A. curtonotus. This doubtful genus was named by British scientist Harry Govier Seeley in 1879.

ANORBITA FENESTRA An antorbital fenestra is a hole in the skull immediately in front of an eye. This fenestra is marks the diapsids.

ANSERIMIMUS (pronounced AN-ser-i-MIEM-us) Anserimimus (meaning "goose mimic" was an ornithomimid theropod dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period, about 75-70 million years ago. This 3 ft (1 m) long meat-eater was lightly built (weighing about 62 kg), had long legs, short arms with long claws, a long tail, a long neck, and very few teeth. One skeleton (without a skull) was found in Mongolia. The type species is A. planinychus. Anserimimus was named by Barsold in 1988.

ANTARCTICA Antarctica is an icy continent around the South Pole.

ANTARCTOSAURUS Antarctosaurus (meaning "opposite-of-northern lizard") was a giant, long-necked, long-tailed, very small-headed, quadrupedal, plant-eating titanosaurid sauropod from the late Cretaceous period, about 83 million to 65 million years ago. It had a bulky body, weak jaws, and had teeth only at the front of the mouth. It was 60-100 feet (19-30 m) long and weighed roughly 57900 kg. Its rear legs were much longer than the front legs. Incomplete fossils have been found in Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile, South America. Antarctosaurus was found in 1916 and named by paleontologist von Huene in 1929.

ANTHOPHYTA Anthophyta are flowering plants, the largest group of plants (which includes the grasses). The flowers are used in reproduction. They evolved during the Cretaceous period.

ANTIARCHI Antiarchs (the Antiarchi) were a type of (mosty) small placoderms that were abundant during mid- to late-Devonian. These armored fish ranged from 8-12 inches (20-30 cm) long. Instead of the pectoral fins that other fish have, these unusual tetrapods had segmented "arms" that were covered by hard dermal bone, but these arms lacked an internal skeleton. Arm muscles were attached to the interior of the dermal plates. The "arms" had two joints, at the shoulder and at the elbow (2/3 the way down from the shoulder) and may have allowed the fish to move in shallow water or perhaps on land briefly. Antiarchi also differed from other placoderms in that most placoderms had a flexible joint between the head and thorasic shields, but antiarchs lacked this joint, and the head and thorasic shield were fused together. Bothriolepis, which fed on organic-rich sediment, was a 20-30 cm long antiarch with auxillary lungs. Pterichthyodes was a 15 cm Antiarch from the mid-Devonian.

ANTRODEMUS (pronounced AN-truh-DEE-mus) Antrodemus is an invalid name for Allosaurus. It was a huge, meat-eating dinosaur from the late Jurassic period, about 156 million to 135 million years ago. It was a theropod that lived in what is now the western United States.

ANURA Anura (or Salienta) is the clade of frogs, toads, and their close fossil relatives. Anura means "no tail," since these amphibians lose their tail as an adult. The earliest anuran is Triadobatrachus, from the early Triassic period.

ANUROGNATHUS (pronounced uh-NUR-ugh-NATH-us) Anurgnathus was a pterosaur, a flying reptile that had a 1 foot (30 cm) wide wingspan, deep, wide, puffin-like jaws and a short tail. It probably ate insects with its peg-like teeth. It lived during the late Jurassic period in what is now Germany. It was not a dinosaur, but a closely related reptile. It was named by Doederline in 1923.

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