Dinosaur with protrusion from back of head

Ceratopsians came in many shapes and sizes. Ceratopsians— the horned, frilled dinosaurs—were some of the most common plant-eaters of the later Mesozoic Era.

Newly discovered dino with skull protrusion like "decorative fins on classic s cars" gets a name like a god and a car. Mercuriceratops gemini. It might sound like the home planet of a yet-to-be- introduced Marvel superhero, but in fact it's the moniker given to a new kind of dinosaur that has a swooping bony plate extending up behind its head. Evans is a co-author of a paper that describes the new species online in the journal Naturwissenschaften. The big beast -- which lived about 77 million years ago, weighed more than 2 tons, ate only plants, and was about 20 feet long -- belongs to the group of dinos known as ceratopsian, which is the horned class. It got the "Mercuriceratops" part of its name because the bony ornamentation on its head reminded scientists of the wings on the helmet of the Roman god Mercury -- though one might be forgiven for thinking the name came from a certain model of Ford. It definitively would have stood out from the herd during the Late Cretaceous," said Michael Ryan in a statement.

Dinosaur with protrusion from back of head

Of all the dinosaurs, this one had the best chance of being a radio star. Called the Parasaurolophus, it was a duck-billed plant eater about the size of a pickup truck that had a unique characteristic — a large crest jutting from the back of its head that served as a horn. As part of the summer-long series Backyard Dinosaurs — which will feature a different dinosaur found in Alberta each week — University of Alberta paleontologist Scott Persons explained to the Homestretch how scientists came to that conclusion, and were even able to reproduce the sound it may have made. For our first backyard dinosaur, I want to talk about a critter called Parasaurolophus. It's a kind of duckbill or hadrosaur. So, it was a plant-eater, about the size of a big pickup truck. Of all the dinosaurs, I think Parasaurolophus is the best candidate to be a radio star, because it's the one dinosaur that scientists can attempt to recreate what it sounded like. Well, it's not easy. But to explain that, we need to talk about a bizarre mystery that Parasaurolophus presents. When the first Parasaurolophus skeleton was excavated in Alberta back in the early s, the dinosaur's skull seemed to defy all explanation.

Small size; bipedal posture; thickened skull. Enormous frill; two long horns over eyes.

Find out about its size, habitat, diet and more! Parasaurolophus had a broad flat mouth that looked like a duck's beak. It was a very unusual looking dinosaur :. This site contains affiliate links. Please read my advertising disclosure. Dinosaur Activity Pack. Dinosaur Coloring!

Ceratopsians came in many shapes and sizes. Ceratopsians— the horned, frilled dinosaurs—were some of the most common plant-eaters of the later Mesozoic Era. Explore pictures and detailed profiles of over 60 ceratopsian dinosaurs, ranging from A Achelousaurus to Z Zuniceratops. Woodlands of North America. Historical Period:.

Dinosaur with protrusion from back of head

Parasaurolophus meaning "near crested lizard" in reference to Saurolophus is an extinct genus of ornithopod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period]] of what is now North America, about million years ago. It was a herbivore that walked both as a biped and a quadruped. Three species are recognized: P.

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The name Yinlong "hidden dragon" is something of an inside joke: the fossils of this dinosaur were found in the part of China where the epic movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was filmed. However this dinosaur winds up being classified, the skull of Magnirostris is one of the best-preserved in the small ceratopsian fossil record, with a sharp, horny, roughly triangular beak that must have come in handy for shearing off tough vegetation. Not to be confused with Parasaurus. Ceratopsians , or horned, frilled dinosaurs, followed a unique evolutionary pattern. Additionally, work on the nasal cavity of lambeosaurines shows that olfactory nerves and corresponding sensory tissue were largely outside the portion of the nasal passages in the crest, so the expansion of the crest had little to do with the sense of smell. Small size; beaked, horned snout. Large size; ornate frill and horns. Ryan is the curator of vertebrate paleontology at The Cleveland Museum of Natural History and the lead author of the paper. Series 4 in German. Miscellaneous Publication As with other ceratopsians, Regaliceratops doubtless evolved its frill as a sexually selected characteristic; it may also have helped with intra-herd recognition, considering how common thick horned, frilled dinosaurs were during the late Cretaceous in North America. Middle Cretaceous million years ago. Cast of the incomplete Parasaurolophus walkeri type specimen in Warszawa.

The type species , P.

About 20 feet long and 1,, pounds. Read Edit View history. Yinlong's claim to fame is that it's the oldest ceratopsian dinosaur yet identified, a tiny, late Jurassic precursor of much bigger horned dinosaurs of the late Cretaceous period like Triceratops and Centrosaurus. Retrieved August 18, Download as PDF Printable version. Hadrosaurid ornithopod dinosaur genus from Late Cretaceous Period. Stick Puppets. As with other dinosaurs, Nasutoceratops likely evolved its facial characteristics as a means of intra-species recognition and sexual differentiation— that is, males with bigger noses and straighter horns were more attractive to females. Horned, Frilled Dinosaur Profiles and Pictures. Clearly, the ecosystem of late Cretaceous North America had room for at least one genus of small ceratopsian, which presumably stayed well out of the way of its smaller cousins and may even have done them a favor, by attracting the interest of hungry tyrannosaurs and raptors. Many early suggestions focused on adaptations for an aquatic lifestyle, following the hypothesis that hadrosaurids were amphibious, a common line of thought until the s. Colepiocephale lambei.