Dinosaur Stakeout (19 page)

Creatures Mentioned in this Book

Ankylosaurs
(AN-­kye-­loh-­sawrs):

A group of armoured, ­plant-­eating dinosaurs that existed from the ­mid-­Jurassic to the late Cretaceous Periods.
Ankylosaurus
was a huge armoured dinosaur, measuring about 7.5 to 10.7 m (25 to 35 feet) long, 1.8 m (6 feet) wide and 1.2 m (4 feet) tall; it weighed roughly 3 to 4 tonnes. Its entire top side was heavily protected from carnivores with thick, oval plates embedded (fused) in its leathery skin, 2 rows of spikes along its body, large horns that projected from the back of the head, and a ­club-­like tail. It even had bony plates as protection for its eyes. Only its ­under-­belly was unplated. Flipping it over was the only way to wound ­it.

Basilemys
­(BAH-­zil-­emm-­ees):

A ­tortoise-­like creature with a shell up to 1.5 m (5 feet) across. This is the largest known fossil turtle from the Frenchman River ­Valley.

Borealosuchus ­
(BOR-­ee-­al-­o-­such-­us):

A crocodile in existence in the late Cretaceous Period in Saskatchewan. This crocodile would be little compared to its earlier ancestors, about 2 to 3 m (7 to 10 feet) in length. It would run from a
T. rex,
as opposed to taking it ­head-­on like the larger ­crocodiles would have.

Champosaurus
(CHAMP–­oh-­SAWR-­us):

Most of the champosaurs are fairly small, reaching only about 1.5 m (5 feet) in length, but some specimens measuring over 3 m (10 feet) in length have been recently found in North Dakota. They had long, narrow jaws with fine, pointed teeth, and closely resemble the modern gavial of India. They may look like crocodiles, but are not closely related to them. Champosaurs fed on fish, snails, mollusks, and turtles. They lived in Saskatchewan from about 75 million years ago to about 55 million years ­ago.

Cimolopteryx
­(sim-­oh-­LOP-­ter-­icks)
(“Cretaceous wing”):

An early bird resembling typical shorebirds of today and found in the late Cretaceous Period in Saskatchewan. This bird had a long, slender bill and long, strong legs for wading and running. It probably probed in the sand or mud for ­food.

Corythosaurus
­(co-­RITH-­oh-­SAWR-­us)
(“Helmet lizard”):

Corythosaurus
was a large ­plant-­eating ­duck-­billed dinosaur that probably fed on palm leaves, pine needles, seeds, cycad ferns, twigs, magnolia leaves and fruit. It may have weighed up to 5 tonnes and was about 2 m (7 feet) tall at the hips and 9 to 10 m (30 to 33 feet) long. (NB: Corythosaurs are known from slightly older sediments.)

Dromaeosaurus ­
(DRO-­mee-­o-­SAWR-­us)
­(“fast-­running lizard”):

Dromaeosaurus
was a small, fast, ­meat-­eating, theropod dinosaur with ­sickle-­like toe claws, sharp teeth, and big eyes. It lived during the late Cretaceous Period and was about 1.8 m (6 feet) long, weighing roughly 15 kg (33 pounds). It was a very smart, deadly dinosaur and may have hunted in ­packs. Fossils have been found in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Montana.

Edmontosaurus
­(ed-­MON-­toh-­SAWR-­us)
(“Edmonton [rock formation] lizard”):

A large, ­plant-­eating member of the duckbill dinosaurs, or hadrosaurs that lived about 73 to 65 million years ago in the Cretaceous Period in western North America. It had hundreds of teeth crowded together in the huge jaw, enabling it to eat tough leaves and other vegetation. This ­flat-­headed duckbill grew to about 13 m (42 feet) in length and weighed 3.1 tonnes. It may have had anywhere from 800 to 1,600 teeth.
Edmontosaurus Saskatchewan-ensis
, named in 1926 by Sternberg, is the only identified species of
Edmontosaurus
so far found in ­Saskatchewan.

Garfish
(A.S. gar, “spear”):

Garfish is a name commonly given to certain fishes with long, narrow bodies and bony, ­sharp-­toothed beaks. Primarily freshwater fish, today the largest tropical gar reach lengths of about 3.7 m (12.1 feet). They are a primitive fish that have existed for millions of years. They have ­needle-­like teeth, a dorsal fin that sits far back on the heavily scaled body. They are able to breathe in stagnant water, and their roe is poisonous to many animals, including ­humans.

Hadrosaurs
­(HAD-­roh-­SAWRS)
(“bulky lizards”):

Hadrosaurs were a family of ­duck-­billed dinosaurs that ranged from 7 to 10 m (23 to 42 feet) long and lived in the late Cretaceous Period. They appear to have been highly social creatures, laying eggs in nests communally. Nests with eggs have been found in both Alberta and Montana. The only known hadrosaur in Saskatchewan is the
Edmontosaurus saskatchewanensis
(see description above).

Hesperornis
­(HES-­per-­OR-­nis)
(“western bird”):

Hesperornithids
were a family of large flightless birds that swam in the oceans of the late Cretaceous and preyed on small fish. They have been found in the Upper Creta-ceous of Western Kansas and Saskatchewan. It is likely that they swam and fed much like modern penguins. They were also apparently limited to the Northern Hemisphere, much like penguins are limited to the Southern Hemisphere ­today.

Iguanodon
­(ig-­WAHN-­oh-­don)
(“Iguana Tooth”):

The Iguanodon was a relatively fast plant eating dinosaur that ranged to about 6 to 11 m (30 feet) long, 4 to 5 m (16 feet) tall and weighed 4.5 to 5.5 tonnes. It was a herding animal that could run on two legs or walk on four and is said to have run at least 15 to 20 km/hr. It had a horny, toothless beak, ­three-­toed feet with ­hoof-­like claws, and a conical thumb spike on each hand that served as a weapon of defense. Some scientists think it had a long tongue like a giraffe and that it was extremely intelligent. The Iguanodon lived in the early Cretaceous Period, which was about 110 to 135 million years ­ago.

Mosasaurs
(MOES-­ah-­SAWRS):

Mosasaurs were a group of giant, ­lizard-­like marine reptiles that extended 12.5 to 17.6 metres (40 to 59 feet) long. They were not dinosaurs, but may be related to snakes and monitor lizards. They were powerful swimmers, adapted to living in shallow seas. These carnivores ­(meat-­eaters) still breathed air. A ­short-­lived line of reptiles, they became extinct during the ­K-­T extinction, 65 million years ­ago.

Plesiosaurs ­
(plee-­zee-­oh-­SAWRS)
(“near lizard”):

Plesiosaurs were not dinosaurs. They were flippered marine reptiles from the Mesozoic Era. Plesiosaurs are divided into two groups: the
Plesiosauroids
had long, ­snake-­like necks, tiny heads, and wide bodies; while the
Pliosauroids
had large heads with very strong jaws and short ­necks.

Pteranodons
­(tair-­AH-­no-­dons):

Pteranodons were large members of the pterosaur family from the Cretaceous Period. They were not dinosaurs, but flying prehistoric reptiles, toothless hunters who scooped up fish from the seas. They were about 1.8 m (6 feet) long, had a 7.8 m (25 foot) ­wingspan.

Pterodactylus
­(ter-­oh-­DAK-­til-­us)
(“winged finger”):

This small flying, prehistoric reptile, a member of the pterosaurs group, had a wingspan that spread up to .75 m (2.5 feet). The wing was made up of skin stretched along the body between the hind limb and a very long fourth digit of the forelimb. It lived during the late Jurassic ­Period.

Pterosaurs
(TER-­o-­SAWRS)
(“winged lizards”):

Flying reptiles that included Pteranodons and Pterodactyls, they were the largest vertebrates ever known to fly. They lived from the Jurassic to the Cretaceous ­Period.

Purgatorius
(pur-­ga-­TOR-­ee-­us):

A small, ­rodent-­sized mammal from the Cretaceous Period, which may have been about ten cm (4 inches) long, probably weighed no more than 20 g (
3
⁄
4
ounce), and fed on insects. Some have suggested that this mammal may have been the earliest primate ­known.

“Scotty”:

The
T. rex
found near Eastend, Saskatchewan in ­1991.

Quaesitosaurus
­(kway-­ZEE-­tuh-­SAWR-­us)
(“abnormal or extraordinary lizard”):

This ­long-­necked, ­whip-­tailed ­plant-­eater had good hearing. It lived about 80 to 85 million years ago, probably eating conifer tree leaves, gingkos, seed ferns, cycads, ferns, club mosses, and horsetails with their ­peg-­like teeth. It was about 20 to 23 m long (66 to 75 feet), and had a long skull, a wide snout and a large ear ­opening.

Stegoceras ­
(STEG-­oh-­CEER-­us)
(“roofed horn”):

A bipedal, herbivorous, ­dome-­headed, ­plant-­eating dinosaur from the late Cretaceous Period about 76 to 65 million years ago. It was about 2 m (7 feet) long and lived in what is now Alberta, Canada. (Not to be confused with a
Stegosaurus
­[pronounced STEG-­oh-­SAWR-­us],
meaning “roof lizard,” a ­plant-­eating dinosaur with armoured plates along its back and tall spikes that lived during the Jurassic Period, about 156 to 150 million years ago.)

Stygimoloch ­
(STIJ-­eh-­MOLL-­uk)
(demon from the river Styx):

Stygimoloch was a thick-skulled plant-eating dinosaur (a pachycephalosaur) that walked on two legs. It was only 2 to 3 m (7 to 10 feet) long, and weighed about 50 to 75 kg (110 to 165 pounds). This unusual-looking dinosaur had bony spikes and bumps on its skull; the many horns ranged up to 100 mm (4 inches) long. Pachycephalosaurs probably engaged in head-butting both as a defense against predators and during rivalry with others of their own species.

Thescelosaurus
­(THES-­ke-­loh-­SAWR-­us)
(“Marvellous lizard”):

This ­plant-­eating dinosaur had a small head, a bulky body that was 3 to 4 m long, and less than 1 m (3 feet) tall at the hips. A member of the ceratopsian group, it also had a long, pointed tail and shorter arms and could probably run at about 50 km/hr for an extended time. Two partial skeletons have been found in ­Saskatchewan.

Torosaurus ­
(TOR-­oh-­SAW-­rus)
(“pierced lizard”):

Torosaurus
had a strong toothless beak that was able to handle the toughest vegetation including small branches. A member of the ceratopsian group, it had a fierce appearance due to the two brow horns on its enormous 2.5 m (8 foot) skull, a short nose horn, and a ­long-­frilled crest. Its powerful front legs were shorter than its hind legs, which gave it a very stable posture.
Torosaurus
could chew well with its cheek teeth. It lived about 70 to 65 million years ago. Fossils have been found in Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, South Dakota, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah (usa), and in Saskatchewan (Canada)­.

Triceratops ­
(tri-­SER-­uh-­tops):

Triceratops was a rhinoceros-like dinosaur with a bony neck frill that lived about 72 to 65 million years ago. From the ceratopsian group, this plant-eater was about 8 m (26 feet) long, 3 m (10 feet) tall, and weighed from 6 to 12 tonnes. A relatively slow dinosaur, it had three horns on its head and a set of powerful jaws. Its parrot-like beak held many cheek teeth. It had a short, pointed tail, a bulky body, and columnar legs with hoof-like claws. Many Triceratops fossils have been found, mostly in the western United States and in western Canada, including Saskatchewan.

Troodon
­(TROH-­oh-­don):

A very smart, ­human-­sized, ­meat-­eating dinosaur from the late Cretaceous Period. Fossils of
Troodon
have been found in Montana and Wyoming (USA), and Alberta and Saskatchewan (Canada). It may have been one of the smartest dinosaurs, because it had a large brain compared to its body ­size.

Tyrannosaurus Rex
­(tye-­RAN-­oh-­SAWR-­us recks or ­Tie-­ran-­owe-­saw-­rus-­recks)
(“tyrant lizard king”):

A huge, ­meat-­eating theropod dinosaur from the late Cretaceous Period. The largest ­meat-­eater that has ever existed, it stood 5 to 7 m (16 to 21 feet) tall on its great clawed feet and had terrible, ­dagger-­like teeth, 15 cm (6 inches) long.
Tyrannosaurus rex
was roughly 5 to 7 tonnes in weight. Its enormous skull was about 1.5 m (5 feet) long. The eye sockets in its skull are 10.2 cm (4 inches) across; its eyeballs would have been about 7.6 cm (3 inches) in diameter.

Zapsalis
­(ZAP-­sa-­lis) (“through shears”):

A ­meat-­eating dinosaur (a theropod) that lived during the Cretaceous Period. This theropod was found in the Judith River Formation, Montana, usa in 1876. It is only known through its teeth and is currently classified as a ­troodontid.

Other References & Notes

Bees:

Over the past three years, Stephen Hasiotic, a Colorado University doctoral student and geology lab instructor, has found nests, almost identical to modern honeybee nests, that date back 207 to 220 million years, or about twice as far back as the oldest fossils of flowering plants. This means bees have been around longer than previously thought. The ancient bees could have found sugars and nutrients – which they find today in the nectar of flowers – in coniferous plants or even in animal ­carcasses.