Megalosaurus was a large, meat-eating dinosaur that lived about 181-169 million years ago. Megalosaurus was the first dinosaur fossil discovered (in England in 1676). It was also the first dinosaur given a scientific name - by William Buckland in 1824. Megalosaurus walked on two powerful legs, had a strong, short neck, and a large head with sharp, serrated teeth. It had a massive tail, a bulky body; toes also had sharp claws, and heavy bones. Its arms were short and had three-fingered hands with sharp claws. Megalosaurus was up to 30 feet long (9 m), 10 feet tall (3 m), and weighed about 1 ton. Megalosaurus lived during the Jurassic period, about 181-169 million years ago. Megalosaurus was a carnivore, a meat eater. It was a large, fierce predator that could kill even large sauropods. Megalosaurus may also have been a scavenger.
Megaraptor:
Megaraptor was a large, terrifying late Cretaceous predator with two enormous, sickle-like toe claws. It was a huge, lightly built, fast-moving, agile, and bipedal (walked on two legs), bird-like dinosaur. It had a curved, flexible neck and a big head with sharp, serrated teeth in very powerful jaws.Megaraptor was a carnivore, a meat eater. It probably ate just about anything it could slash and tear apart. If it hunted in packs, Megaraptor could probably kill any prey it desired.
Microvenator:
Microvenator (meaning "small hunter") was a small, fast-moving, lightly-built dinosaur that walked on two long legs. It was about 4 ft. (1.2 m) long and weighed roughly 6.5 to 14 pounds (3 to 6.4 kg). This turkey-sized predator had short arms, large eyes, a long neck, a small head, and a long snout tat may have had a toothless beak. Each hand had three long fingers, each equipped with a claw. Each foot had three, clawed, bird-like toes.Microvenator lived in the early Cretaceous period, about 119 million to 113 million years ago. This was a time when the Earth was warmer than it is now and the sea levels were much higher (since there was no polar ice).Microvenator was a relatively large-brained dinosaur that was among the most intelligent of the dinosaurs.Microvenator was a meat-eater. This small, quick-moving predator probably ate small reptiles, small mammals, and insects.
Ornitholestes:
Ornitholestes was a carnivore that walked on two long legs, was lightly built, and must have been a very fast runner. It had a small head, a small bony crest on its long snout, many sharp teeth, an s-shaped neck, and a long, tapered tail. Its arms were short and strong; it had long, clawed, four-fingered hands (one finger of which was tiny). Its long tail was probably used for balance and agility, allowing this predator to change directions quickly as it chased prey. Ornitholestes was about 6.5 feet (2 m) long (from snout to tail) and weighed roughly 25 pounds (12 kg).Ornitholestes lived in the late Jurassic period, about 156-145 million years ago. Ornitholestes was a carnivore, a meat eater. It may also have been a scavenger. It may have hunted the newly evolved Jurassic period birds.Slightly built and long legged, Ornitholestes was a very fast bipedal runner. Dinosaur speeds are estimated using their morphology (characteristics like leg length and estimated body mass) and fossilized track ways
Ornithomimus:
Ornithomimus was an ostrich-like dinosaur with a toothless, horny beak, a small head, large eyes, a relatively large brain, a long neck, long tail, long legs, and hollow bones. It was about 15-20 feet long (4.5-6 m) and 6-8 feet (1.8-2.4 m) tall. About half of its length was its neck and tail. It had short arms with three clawed fingers on each hand, and long legs with three clawed toes on each foot. A long tail acted as a counterbalance and as a stabilizer during fast turns. Its bones were hollow. Ornithomimus lived in the late Cretaceous period, about 76-65 million years ago. Among the contemporaries of rnithomimus in North America were Albertosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Euoplocephalus, Kritosaurus, and Nanotyrannus.Ornithomimus was an omnivore, eating both plant and animal matter, including insects, small reptiles and mammals, eggs, fruit, and leaves. Ornithomimus walked on two long, slender legs. It was a fast, agile dinosaur, probably running about as quickly as an ostrich, which can run up to 43 mph (70 kph).
Oviraptor:
Oviraptor was a small, bird-like, omnivorous dinosaur. It was about 6 to 8 feet long (1.8 to 2.5 m), weighing about 55 to 76 pounds (25 to 35 kg). It was lightly built, fast-moving, long-legged, and bipedal (it walked on two legs). It had a curved, flexible, s-shaped neck, a long tail, short, strong arms, and curved claws on its three-fingered hands and three-toed feet. The claws on its large hands were about 3 inches (8 cm) long. Its fingers were long and grasping.Its strangely-shaped, parrot-like head had a short, toothless beak and extremely powerful jaws, built for crushing action. Oviraptor lived during the late Cretaceous period, about 88-70 million years ago. Oviraptor was probably an omnivore, which is unusual for dinosaurs. It probably ate meat, eggs, seeds, insects, plants, etc. with its beak and powerful jaws. Oviraptor (meaning "egg stealer") was thought to eat mostly eggs. In 1924, an Oviraptor fossil was found on top of some eggs (which contained no fossilized embryos), and people assumed that it had been eating the eggs. Recently, however, in Mongolia, paleontologists found some eggs containing fossilized embryos that were identified as embryonic Oviraptors. These eggs were very similar to those eggs found in 1924 that originally implicated the Oviraptor as a thief.
Procompsognathus:
Procompsognathus triassicus (meaning "before pretty jaw from the Triassic period") was a small, speedy theropod dinosaur. This meat-eater lived during the late Triassic period, about 222 to 219 million years ago. It probably ate insects and lizards in a relatively dry, inland environment. Procompsognathus was named by Eberhard Fraas in 1913. The type species is P. triassicus.Procompsognathus may have been about 3.8 feet (1.2 m) long, weighing roughly 2.2 pounds (1 kg). A biped, it had long hind legs, short arms, large clawed hands (which it used to catch prey), a long pointed snout with many pointed teeth, and a stiff, pointed tail. A very incomplete Procompsognathus skeleton was found in Württemberg, Germany.
Saltopus:
Saltopus was a small, lightly-built dinosaur that walked on two legs. It was about 2 feet long (0.7 m) and weighing about 2 pounds (1 kg), about the size of a small cat. It had light, hollow bones, and a long head with dozens of small, sharp teeth. Saltopus has five fingers on its hands, but the fourth and fifth digits were very small.Saltopus lived in the late Triassic period, about 225-222 million years ago, when the Earth was warmer than it is now. Saltopus was a very early dinosaur; very few dinosaurs had evolved yet during this period.Saltopus was a carnivore, a meat eater that may have primarily eaten insects. It may also have been a scavenger, eating carcasses that it found. Saltopus walked on two legs and was a relatively fast runner. Dinosaur speeds are estimated using their morphology (characteristics like leg length and estimated body mass) and fossilized track ways.
Scipionyx samniticus:
One of the most important recent dinosaur finds is a tiny theropod (meat-eater) fossil found in Cretaceous limestone in southern Italy near Naples. Although it was unearthed 10 years ago, its true importance was not realized until lately. It is a very important specimen in that it has fossilized impressions of many of its internal organs and muscles. This type of detail is rare in fossils since the soft tissues from an animal do not usually fossilize; they almost always rot before mineral replacement can take place. This new fossil will yield a lot of information about dinosaur's anatomy and physiology as it is studied.The fossil is a theropod, perhaps a maniraptor (related to Velociraptor). It is a hatchling 9.5 inches (24 cm) long. It is from 113 million years ago (during the Cretaceous period) and has been named Scipionyx samniticus. During the Cretaceous period it lived near a shallow lagoon.
Sinornithosaurus:
Paleontologists have discovered a new meat-eating dinosaur fossil (a dromaeosaur) in northeast China that may have been covered with a coat of down-like fibers, early proto-feathers. Sinornithosaurus dinosaur dates from about 124 million years ago, during the middle Jurassic period. Although other dinosaurs have already been found with feather-like coats, the previous finds belonged to a more advanced group of dinosaurs. This new dinosaur is a dromaeosaur, an earlier type of meat-eating dinosaur. Other dromaeosaurs include Velociraptor, Utahraptor, and Deinonychus. This new fossil suggests that these dinosaurs may not have had scaly, reptile-like skin, but perhaps had a softer, downy coat. No fossil skin impressions of these dinosaurs had been found previously.
Troodon:
Troodon was a human-sized, fast, long-legged bipedal (walked on two legs) meat eater with serrated teeth and long, slim jaws. It may have been the smartest dinosaur, having the largest brain in proportion to its body weight (as smart as a modern bird). It was a theropod 6.5-11.5 ft (2-3.5 m) long, about 3 ft (1 m) tall at the hips; it may have weighed about 110 pounds (50 kg).This light-weight dinosaur had long hind legs and a stiff tail. Troodon had large eyes and may have had a good sense of hearing. It had a large, sickle-shaped toe claw on its second toe, and smaller ones on the other. It had three long, clawed fingers that were ideal for grasping prey. Troodon lived during the late Cretaceous period, about 76-70 million years ago. Troodon was a carnivore, a meat eater. It probably ate just about anything it could slash and tear apart with its sharp teeth, long clawed fingers and toes.
