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Euplocephalus: While its name isnt well known, Euplocephalus is more illustrated than its associate Ankylosaurus.
Euplocephalus probably ate any kind of plant it came across, chewing the food up with small teeth embedded in its mouth.
Both the body and head were well-armored, hence the meaning of its name, Well-armored Head. Armor was joined to the head,
and even the dinosaurs eyelids were made of bone! Bands of armor than horizontal across the back; large spikes protected its
neck and the back of tail, and smaller spikes were probably situated over the back. On its tail was a deadly club that could
deliver crushing blows in a very real way. Air passages in the nostrils were looped, indicating numerous sensory nerves; Euplocephalus
probably had an enhanced sense of smell, and might also have used the air canals as air ducts to deliver groaning bugles to
other dinosaurs of its kind.
Eustreptospondylus: Despite the limited fossil remains it is clear that Eustreptospondylus was a bipedal, carnivorous, theropod dinosaur. Only one fossilized specimen of Eustreptospondylus has been found in a quarry north of Oxford, England. The skeleton was found in marine clays so it was probably a carcass that had drifted out to sea. The
single skeleton is of an animal about 5 meters long. This is fairly small for a theropod. However vertebrae of this specimen
looked as if they had not finished growing so this individual was probably not fully grown, and just how big this animal got
is not certainly known.
Fabrosaurus:
In the 1970s, Fabrosaurus became known as Lesothosaurus, the new name taken from the area where the remains
were discovered. Both names are still in use today, but because Fabrosaurus is the originaland thereforethe first name
attributed to the dinosaur, it is the name most often used by paleontologists and scholars. Fabrosaurus had small forearms and very long legs. It was good at both standing and
running on the back legs, assisted by the light weight of its body. The reduction of weight on the animal was because of hollow
cavities within the bones of the skeleton, and cavities in the skull also helped keep the weight to a bare minimum. Each hand had four large fingers, and a smaller fifth finger. The tips of the fingers
were claws, not hooves, and were probably used for holding foliage as Fabrosaurus fed. The long tail acted as counterbalance against the weight of its body, keeping it from toppling over. The legs were
held directly under the body, which offered more support, not sprawled like the legs of other reptiles like alligators and
iguanas; the legs were held in a position like that of a mammals legs. Its
small, pointed teeth were rather simple. The jaw action was strictly up and down, able to slice apart and tear up tough plant
matter, such as the cycads and ferns that were included in its daily diet.
Gallimimus: Gallimimus
is one of the largest and best-known bird-mimic dinosaurs.Its skull was relatively small with toothless jaws. The limbs were nimble and long;
the bones in the handthe metacarpalswere unusually long; even the xthumb metacarpal was long than it is in most theropods,
where the thumb is usually the smallest digit. The long, strong, agile legs were able to give the Gallimimus amazingly
swift bursts of speed. The arms were long with a considerable range of motion, but yet it wouldnt be able to lift its food
up to its mouth on the face, which was perched on a long, S-curved neck; Gallimimus probably bowed its head to eat
from its hands. Feeding on smaller animalssuch as rodents, insects or lizardsand also some possibly plant matter (the hands
were more suited for digging around in the dirt for roots than grasping squirming prey), it might have also snatched eggs
from other dinosaurs, cracking the shell with its beak and slurping the contents down its throat.
Gargoyleosaurus: Gargoyleosaurus was a small armored dinosaur that walked on four legs and had a stiff
tail. This plant-eater had protective body armor on the upper surface of its body and tail (hollow bony oval plates). It also
had a series of spikes running along each side of its body. This dinosaur had a long, narrow beak with teeth on both the upper
and lower inner surface (most other ankylosaurs have teeth on only the lower beak). This unusual ankylosaur also had a straight
nasal passage and hollow armor (again, this is unlike most other ankylosaurs). According to Gargoyleosaurus' describers, Kenneth Carpenter et al., "Despite its geological age, the skull shows features seen in Late Cretaceous
ankylosaurs, including fusion of bone armour to the surface of the skull and mandible and closure of two skull openings, the
antorbital and upper temporal fenestrae. This is strange for evolutionists, because techniques that are supposed to be in
a different geological age arent where theyre supposed to be! Is it because all dinosaurs lived at the same time?Gargoyleosaurus
was an herbivore eating low-lying plant material like cycads, gingkoes, conifers, ferns, horsetail rushes, etc. Gargoyleosaurus
was an ankylosaur, whose intelligence (as measured by its relative brain to body weight, or EQ) was low among the dinosaurs.
Gargoyleosaurus probably moved relatively slowly on four legs. The rear legs were slightly longer than the front legs.
Giganotosaurus: In 1995, the first
news to trickle into the mainstream of Giganotosaurus was delivered to a very sensational audience. At the time, Tyrannosaurus
was believed to be the king of all dinosaurs, the biggest of them all; but Giganotosaurus discoveries place it as just
as long, and some even longer! Paleontologist Rodolfo Coria and Leonardo Salgado of Argentina reported a length of a Giganotosaurus
find at much longer than Tyrannosaurus; the longest reports put it at around fifty feet long! Several Giganotosaurus skeletons have been found together, indicating that these creatures might have hunted
in packs, like wolves or lions. Giganotosaurus now presides over Tyrannosaurus, although Tyrannosaurus
will always have the upper hand in fame. But if its any consolation, Giganotosaurus could whoop Tyrannosaurus
butt!
Hadrosaurus:
Hadrosaurus was the first hadrosaur to be discovered. Hadrosaurus stood on the back legs; the front legs were too small to assist in walking.
It had a horny beak for chopping plants and leaves; a complex teeth chewing system in the mouth behind the beak assisted the
devouring of the food. Hadrosaurus had a deep and narrow face. It also might have hadalthough this has not been provenan
arch above the nostrils. This arch most likely would be covered in thick skin, and used as a sex attractor, an identification
tag, or even a weapon to combat against predators or rivals. The arch was possibly more prominent in males than in females.
Heterodontosaurus: Small and speedy, Heterodontosaurus lived on a diet of plants. Three different
teeth were included in its mouth (hence the meaning of its namedifferent-toothed lizard). In the front of the mouth, small
chopping teeth were used for chopping up plant matter. Large, fat, thickly enameled chewing teeth were at the back of the
mouth. Fleshy cheeks on the sides of the mouth were able to hold food, like storage containers, similar to those in rodents,
such as hamsters. Double pairs of large tusks rested between the chopping
teeth in the front and the back chewing teeth. These were probably used for digging up roots to eat, threatening rivals, or
to turn-on potential mates. In some types of deer, antlers are only on the males; it is very possibly that tusks only adorned
a particular sex on Heterodontosaurus, but it is unknown if this is fact and is merely speculation. Heterodontosaurus thumbs might have been opposable like human thumbs, making it much
easier to grab vegetation to eat. Also, it probably walked on all fours most of the time, but when fleeing danger or in the
middle of a hectic run, it could rear back on its back legs and sprint into the sunset.
Homalocephale: Homalocephale was a thick-skulled, plant-eating dinosaur. Its flat head housed a very
thick skull, a tiny brain, and large eyes. The skull consisted of porous, non-rigid bone interlaced with blood vessels. Homalocephale
grew to weigh about 95 pounds. Homalocephale probably had a good sense of smell. It had bumpy knobs on its snout and along
the rear of its skull. It had leaf-shaped teeth, short forelimbs and a stiff tail. Homalocephale may have been a herding dinosaur that lived in small groups in coastal and upland regions, but this is
not certain since no bone beds of Homalocephale have been found. Running and flank-butting (ramming into an enemy's body with
the head) were probably the first line of self-defense. It had long been
thought that Pachycephalosaurids' thick skulls may have been used for ramming rivals during mating and dominance combat, for
attracting mates, and as a last-ditch self-defense against predators (this idea was first presented by Ed Colbert in 1955).
Paleontologist Mark Goodwin of the University of California at Berkeley has analyzed many pachycephalosaur skulls (including
those of Pachycephalosaurus), finding no evidence of healed scars. Also, under close analysis, the thick skull bone is not
rigid and solid, but porous and fragile when put under extreme pressure. ``It's time to kill the myth ... It certainly wouldn't
be in their own best interests to ram heads in a fight,'' said Goodwin ``They would have killed each other, and a couple of
bowling balls would hardly make good targets.'' It is more likely that Pachycephalosaurus butted other animals sides (flank-butting),
rather than their heads. This would inflict damage on the other animal and not injure the Pachycephalosaurid. Homalocephale was an herbivore, eating soft plants, fruit, and seeds. Its teeth were
small and leaf-shaped. Homalocephale walked on two legs, and was not a very fast dinosaur. When it walked or ran, it probably
held its back level to the ground. It may have gone on all fours to forage for low-lying plants.
Hylaeosaurus:Hylaeosaurus (meaning "woodland lizard") was an armored, quadrupedal, plant-eating
dinosaur. It looked a lot like Ankylosaurus, but didn't have the bony nodes at the end of its tail or horns on its head.
Hylaeosaurus may actually be Polacanthus. It had a toothless horny beak and leaf-shaped cheek. Hylaeosaurus had short
legs, a narrow head with a pointed snout, a long, heavy tail, spikes along its shoulders and sides, and horn-covered oval
plates embedded in its skin all over the top of its body. Its entire topside was heavily protected from predators. Only its
under-belly was unplated. Flipping it over was the only way to show it your hunger. This huge, heavy reptile was an herbivore. It had to eat a huge amount of low-lying plant material to sustain itself so
its gut must have been very large. It may have had a fermentation compartment to aid in the digestion of the tough plant material,
producing prodigious amounts of gas. Hylaeosaurus was an ankylosaur, whose intelligence (as measured by its relative brain
to body weight, or EQ) was low among the dinosaurs. Ankylosaur trackways
were found in 1996 near Sucre, Bolivia, South America showing that these huge creatures could run at a "decent jog," according
to Christian Meyer, a Swiss paleontologist working at the site. Speed estimates are made using the distance between the footprints, the animal's leg length,
the pattern of the tracks, and other factors.
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