Something I'd like to point out: Pterodactyl is not a dinosaur, it's a Pterosaur. Even though they lived at the same time, Pterosaurs were a separate group of reptiles.
Well, that's me told - in italics and underlined for emphasis.
I first started learning about dinosaurs at the age of six and, at that age, I thought that Pterodactyl was a flying dino and that Plesiosaurs were swimming dinos. However, as the years went on, I learnt more about these fascinating animals and discovered that neither of them are classed as dinosaurs. Pterodactyl is a Pterosaur whilst Plesiosaurs are marine reptiles.
My son was totally besotted with dinosaurs and had a collection of model ones. He also did a topic about them when in junior school and got an A grade. He grew out of it and moved on to an interest in computers.
Near where I used to live in Leicestershire, they found a near complete Plesiosaur skeleton back in the mid 1800s. It is now on display in a museum in Leicester.
In the 1950s, a replica was made and copies of this were designed - one of the copies was integrated into a monument on a traffic roundabout in Barrow-on-Soar. My Grandfather was an architect and was part of the team who created this.
Like yesterday's entry, today's "Dino of the Day!" isn't really a dino, but rather a very large marine reptile with an incredibly long neck: Elasmosaurus.
Pronunciation: Ee-lazz-mo-sore-us. Meaning of name: "Thin plate lizard". Species: E. platyurus Size: Estimated to have measured around 14 metres long and weighed 2.5 metric tonnes. Family: Elasmosauridae. Diet: Piscivore. First fossils found: Known only from a single, partial skeleton discovered by American army surgeon, Theophilus Hunt Turner, in the Pierre Shale Formation of Kansas in 1867. Named by American palaeontologist, Edward Drinker Cope, in 1868. The most striking feature of this Plesiosaur is its neck, which measured half of the animal's total body length, and contained 72 vertebrae. Lived: 80 million years ago during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous in the warm oceans that once covered what is now the western and midwestern United States.
So, today's entry isn't, technically, a dinosaur. It's my favourite Pterosaur: Pteranodon.
Pronunciation: Teh-ran-oh-don. Meaning of name: "Winged and toothless". Species: P. longiceps. Wingspan: Males had an estimated wingspan of between 5 and 7 metres. The wingspan for females is estimated to have measured between 3 and 4 metres. Weight estimated between 20 and 90kgs. Family: Pteranodontidae. Diet: Piscivore. First fossils found: Known from dozens of specimens, most of which are partial skeletons. First discovered by American palaeontologist, Othniel Charles Marsh, in the Niobrara Chalk Formation of western Kansas, in 1870. Named by Mr. Marsh in 1876. A distinguishing feature of this Pterosaur was the crest on its head, which was probably used for display. Lived: 89.8 to 72.1 million years ago during the Coniacian, Santonian and Campanian stages of the Late Cretaceous in what is now the midwestern, southeastern and western United States.
What an amazing looking creature, @taliragreycrest. He looks a little scary. But as long as he's toothless, he's fine by me.
Today's entry is another Pterosaur and one of the largest flying animals to ever exist: Quetzalcoatlus.
Pronunciation: Kwet-zal-co-at-lus. Meaning of name: Named after Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec feathered serpent god. Species: Q. northropi. Wingspan: Estimated to have measured between 10 and 11 metres. Weighed between 200 and 250kgs. Family: Azhdarchidae. Diet: Carnivore. First fossils found: Known from at least four partial skeletons, the first of which was discovered by palaeontologist, Douglas A. Lawson, in Big Bend National Park, Texas, in 1971. Named by Mr. Lawson in 1975. Was originally thought to have had a wingspan of between 15 and 20 metres, however, studies have now lowered the estimated wingspan to 11 metres. Lived: 68 million years ago during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous in what is now the south-central United States.
It would be truly amazing to see one of these magnificent Pterosaurs in flight.
The skeletons displayed at my local museum are replicas, not actual real bones, but I've just heard something very exciting on the news....we're getting a real genuine Triceratops skeleton!! It'll be put on display late next year.
Today's "Dino of the Day!" holds a very important place in the history of palaeontology as it was the very first dinosaur to be officially named: Megalosaurus.
Pronunciation: Meg-ah-low-sore-us. Meaning of name: "Great lizard". Species: M. bucklandii Size: Estimated to have measured around 9 metres long, 3 metres tall and weighing around 1 metric tonne. Family: Megalosauridae. Diet: Carnivore. First fossils found: Known only from partial specimens. First discovered in a limestone quarry in Oxfordshire, southeast England, in 1676. Named by English palaeontologist, William Buckland, in 1824. Megalosaurus was the first non-avian dinosaur to be scientifically recognised. Eighteen years later, in 1842, English palaeontologist, Sir Richard Owen, coined the word 'dinosaur' which means "terrible lizard". Lived: 168 to 166.1 million years ago during the Bathonian stage of the Middle Jurassic in what is now southeast England.
Pronunciation: Sore-rol-low-fus. Meaning of name: "Lizard crest". Species: S. osborni, S. angustirostris Size: Depending on species, measured between 8 and 13 metres long, between 4 and 6 metres tall when standing upright and weighing between 3 and 11 metric tonnes. Family: Saurolophinae (sub-family of Hadrosauridae). Diet: Herbivore. Fed on both high and low-growing vegetation. First fossils found: Known from skin impressions and several skeletons, some of which are almost complete. First discovered by American palaeontologist, Barnum Brown, in the Upper Cretaceous Horseshoe Canyon Formation of Alberta, Canada, in 1911. S. osborni named by Mr. Brown in 1912. Additional specimens discovered in the USA and Mongolia's Gobi Desert during the mid/late 1940s. S. angustirostris named by Russian palaeontologist, Anatoly Konstantinovich Rozhdestvensky, in 1952. Lived: 70 to 66 million years ago during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous in what is now western Canada, southern Mongolia and the Pacific region of the United States.
Pronunciation: Sty-rak-oh-sore-us. Meaning of name: "Spiked lizard", in reference to the large spikes on its neck shield. Species: S. albertensis Size: 5.5 metres long, 2 metres high and weighing around 3 metric tonnes. Family: Centrosaurinae (a sub-family of Ceratopsidae). Diet: Herbivore. Fed on low-growing vegetation. First fossils found: Known from several individuals, the first of which was discovered by American-Canadian palaeontologist, Charles Mortram Sternberg, in Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada. Named by Canadian palaeontologist, Lawrence Lambe, in 1913. Bonebeds containing the remains of entire herds have also be found. Lived: 76 to 75 million years ago during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous in what is now western Canada.
Today's "Dino of the Day!" is one of my personal favourites: Stegosaurus
Pronunciation: Steg-oh-sore-us Meaning of name: "Roofed lizard", because palaeontologists once thought that the plates on its back lay flat like tiles on a roof. We now know the plates stood upright in two alternating rows. Species: S. stenops, S. ungulatus, S. sulcatus Size: Depending on the species, measured between 7 and 9 metres long, 4.5 metres high and weighed between 5 and 7 metric tonnes. Family: Stegosauridae. Diet: Herbivore. Fed on low-growing vegetation. First fossils found: Known from at least 80 individuals. First discovered by Arthur Lakes and H. C. Beckwith in the Morrison Formation of Colorado in 1877. S. stenops and S. sulcatus named in the same year by American palaeontologist, Othniel Charles Marsh. S. ungulatus named by Mr. Marsh in 1879. Palaeontologists are still unsure about the function of the plates, but it's been suggested they may have been used for protection, display or to regulate the animal's body temperature. The 1-metre-long spikes on the end of the tail were likely used for defense. Lived: 155 to 150 million years ago during the Kimmeridgian and Tithonian stages of the Late Jurassic in what is now Portugal and the western United States.