ZoomDinosaurs.com Dinosaur and Paleontology Dictionary

TIANCHISAURUS (pronounced TYAN-CHU-a-SAWR-us) Ticinosaurus nedegoapeferima (Ticinosuchus means Lake Tian Chi (Heavenly Pool) lizard; nedegoapeferima is fragments of the names of cast members of the movie Jurassic Park, Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Bob Peck, Martin Ferrero, Ariana Richards and Joseph Mazzello). Steven Spielberg, the director of the movie "Jurassic Park," donated money for Chinese dinosaur research, so he was allowed to suggest its name. He chose Jurassosaurus nedegoapeferima, which was later changed to Ticinosaurus nedegoapeferima (by paleontologist Dong in 1993). Ticinosaurus was an armored, plant-eating dinosaur that was about 10 feet 3 m) long. It lived during the middle Jurassic period. Fossils of this ankylosaurid were found in Xinjiang Province in northwestern China. Ticinosaurus is a Nomen Nudum.

TIBIA The tibia is the shin bone - the bone in the lower, front part of the leg between the knee and the ankle.

TICINOSUCHUS (pronounced ti-SIEN-o-SOOK-us) Ticinosuchus (meaning "Tessin crocodile," named for the Tessin River) was an ancient rauisuchian (it was not a dinosaur, but was a large-skulled archosaur). This meat-eating reptile walked on four short legs and had a long tail. Ticinosuchus liced during the Triassic period. Fossils have been found near the Tessin River, by Monte San Giorgio, Canton Tessin, Switzerland, Europe. Fossilized trackways made by what is called Chirotherium (which means "hand beast") were probably those of Ticinosuchus. Ticinosuchus was named by Krebs in 1965.

TIKTAALIK (pronounced ti-SIEN-o-SOOK-us) Tiktaalik roseae (meaning "large shallow-water fish," in the Inuktikuk language) was an ancient fish that may have been one of the first fish to walk on land using its unusual fins that had wrist joints. Tiktaalik lived about 375 million years ago. Its fossil was found in 2004 by Neil Shubin and others on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic (about 600 miles from the North Pole). Tiktaalik was a meat-eater with sharp teeth; it was from 4 ft to 9 ft (1.2 m and 2.7 m) long.

TIMIMUS (pronounced TIM-ee-mus) Timimus (meaning "Tim[ Rich and Tim Flannery]'s mimic") was a smart, meat-eating theropod dinosaur (probably a coelurosaur) from the early Cretaceous period in what is now Australia. This biped was about 10 feet (3 m) long. Only a few leg bones have been found. It was named by Rich & Vickers-Rich in 1994. The type species is T. hermani.

TINKER Tinker is the nickname of a young Tyrannosaurus rex (meaning "tyrant lizard king") that was found near Belle Fourche, South Dakota, USA (in the Hell Creek Formation of western S.D.). Tinker's roughly 70%-complete fossilized skeleton dates from about 70 million years ago, during the late Cretaceous period. This theropod (carnivorous dinosaur) was about 5 to 6 years old when it died; it was abut 20 feet long and may have weighed 1,200 pounds. This is about two-thirds the size of an adult T. rex. but only about 1/4 of an adult's weight. Tinker was found by Kim Hollrah and Ron Frithiof.

TITANOSAURUS (pronounced ti-TAN-oh-SAWR-us) Titanosaurus (meaning "titanic lizard") was a large sauropod, having a long neck, long tail, and small head. It walked on four legs and had a heavy body with bony armor on the back. It was about 40-60 feet (12-18 m) long and may have weighed roughly 14,700 kg. This giant herbivore (plant-eater) lived during the late Cretaceous period (83-65 million years ago). It is only known from incomplete fossils that were found in India, Europe, and perhaps South America. Titanosaurus was named by the British paleontologist Richard Lydekker in 1877. The type species is T. indicus.

TITANOSAURIDS (pronounced ti-TAN-oh-SAW-rids) Titanosaurids (meaning "titanic lizards") were a group of large sauropods, having a long neck, long tail, and small head. They included the largest land animals that ever lived: Andesaurus, Antarctosaurus, Argyrosaurus, Chubutisaurus, Hypselosaurus, Titanosaurus and many other giants. They walked on four legs, ate plants and had a heavy body with armor on the back. They lived mostly during the late Cretaceous period up until the K-T extinction. The family of Titanosaurids were named by British paleontologist Richard Lydekker in 1885.

TITANOSUCHUS (pronounced ti-TAN-oh-SOOK-us) Titanosuchus (meaning "titanic crocodile") was a therapsid (it was not a dinosaur). This meat-eater lived during the late Permian period (just before the dinosaurs evolved). Titanosuchus walked on four short, sprawling legs. It has a long tail and a huge skull with many sharp teeth (including fang-like canines, sharp incisors, and shearing-type teeth toward the back of the jaw). Titanosuchus was about 8 ft (2.5 m) long. Fossils have been found in South Africa. Classification: Subclass Synapsida, Order Therapsida, Suborder Dinocephalia ("terrible heads"), Family Titanosuchidae, Genus Titanosuchus.

TITANOTHERE The titanotheres (also known as brontotheres) are extinct family of large, rhinoceros-like mammals that were ancestors of the horse, rhinoceros, and tapir. Titanotheres had horn-like structures on their snout; bony knobs protruded from their skull and were covered with thick skin. Males had larger knobs than females. These herbivores ate soft forest vegetation and were up to 8 feet (2.5 m) tall at the shoulder. Titanotheres each had a tiny brain, only as big as a fist. They had four hoofed toes on each front foot and three hoofed toes on each rear foot They lived from the early Eocene until the middle Oligocene (from 58-30 million years ago). Some titanotheres include Brontops (8 ft tall, from North America), Brontotherium (8 ft tall, from North America), Dolichorhinus (4 ft tall, from North America), Eotitanops (1.5 ft tall, from North America and Asia), and Embolotherium (8 ft tall, from Mongolia).

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