Stegosaurus

As a child I can recall stegosaurus being my favorite dinosaur. I had an orange and red hollow plastic stegosaurus that was my buddy.

One of the more recognizable dinosaurs, stegosaurus (meaning roof lizard) has a distinct spiked tail and large plates on its back (more on those later). About the size of the bus, this herbivore used its aggressive appearance as a defense.

While it is still up for inquiry, some believe the plates on the stegosaurus' back helped cool the dinosaur. The large surface area would help the most amount of skin come in contact with the wind.

I like this idea the best, it would mean the stegosaurus was the prototype for modern day refrigeration equipment. Simply put, the hot gas travels through a coil that has fins attached to it (all to increase the surface area of a given space), and as the gas is exposed to more and more wind it releases its heat. Its amazing how many intricate and detailed systems we create are just innovations on what already exists in nature.



Sources: Stegosaurus Fact sheet at Enchantedlearning.com

Wikipedia

Troodon

On Des's favorite tv show, Dinosaur Train, the Troodons (pronounced TROH-o-don), operate the train. Lacking modesty, the Troodons constantly proclaim themselves as the smartest dinosaurs.

This is because fossil records show that the Troodon had the largest brain according to its body size. Scientists think the Troodon was about as smart as modern day birds.

Troodons lived in North America in the late Cretaceous period, about 70 million years ago.

Troodon was a carnivore, with sharp teeth and a toe claw. Not as big as the Deinonychus's toe claw, but still deadly. Troodon was a bipedal theropod, who probably ran very fast.

Some paleontologists theorize that Troodon was nocturnal because of their large eye sockets.

Troodon on Dinosaur Train:





Sources: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/facts/Troodon/
Dinosaur Train

Lambeosaurus (Lam-bee-oh-sore-uss)

It's been a crazy couple of months. I went from super pregnant to now trying to figure out how to take care of an infant and a 2.5 year old. I do hope to post regularly someday soon.




Lambeosaurus was a large Hadrosaur. They lived in the late Cretaceous period in North America.

Lambeosaurus was an herbivore. They had a large crest on their head that looked like an axe. Some scientist believe that the crest was used to make sounds so they could communicate with each other.

Check out how big the Lambeosaurus was:



Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambeosaurus
http://www.kidsdinos.com/dinosaurs-for-children.php?dinosaur=Lambeosaurus
http://www.atomicthinktank.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=20940&start=3585
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lambeosaurus_magnicristatus_DB.jpg

Elasmosaurus.

I am deciding to dive into the ocean for my first post and introduce everyone to the elasmosaurus! There is a character in the show Dinosaur Train named Elmer, and he is an elasmosaurus who they meet on their underwater adventure.

This dinosaur is half neck and has 71 vertebrae, more than any other animal. Elasmosaurus is a plesiosaur who lived in the late Cretaceous period. At 45' they were about the size of a shipping container, and weighing in around 9000 pounds.

Due to their large size, it was thought that they used their long necks to stalk and prey on schools of fish, rather than engaging in a chase.

Sources: Wikipedia, About.com

Eoraptor

I've been slacking with this blog. I know.


The Eoraptor! I got Des a book with the Eoraptor and I have been pronouncing it wrong. I was saying what sounding like "your raptor."

Des kept asking me to read about "my raptor." hahahah

The correct pronunciation is: EE-oh-rap-tore.

The Eoraptor was an early tiny predator. He lived in the forests of South America during the middle of the Triassic Period. The Eoraptor was not a true raptor.

To read about raptors: http://dinosaurs.about.com/od/typesofdinosaurs/a/raptors.htm


Sources: http://dinosaurs.about.com/od/carnivorousdinosaurs/p/eoraptor.htm

Spinosaurus

If you've seen Jurassic Park 3, then you've seen this guy.

He may be the biggest carnivore, even bigger than the giganotosaurus. Because of his long jaw, scientists think the spinosaurus ate fish, very similar to the modern crocodile.

Spinosaurus lived during the Cretaceous Period in North Africa.

Picture from this site: http://wargames.spyz.org/convSALAMANDER.html

Info from here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinosaurus

Parasaurolophus or Charonosaurus?

I see this dinosaur a lot. In dinosaur books, stickers, magnets, etc, but I never see the name of this dinosaur!

I did some research and there are two very similar dinosaurs that this could be.

Parasaurolophus lived in the woods of North America during the late Cretaceous period.

Charonosaurus's lived in the woods of Asia also during the late Cretaceous period.

Charonosaurus was slightly bigger, but other than that, they were similar.

Both were hadrosaurs, quadrupedal herbivores that lived in packs, like deer, cows, etc.

Info from: http://dinosaurs.about.com/od/typesofdinosaurs/a/hadrosaurs.htm
http://dinosaurs.about.com/od/herbivorousdinosaurs/p/parasaurolophus.htm
and
http://dinosaurs.about.com/od/herbivorousdinosaurs/p/charonosaurus.htm