古生物: 2008年2月アーカイブ

Styracosaurus

 

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和名:スティラコサウルス
世界共通発音:スタイラッコソーラス sty-rack-oh-saw-rus
命名意味:Spiked Lizard
分類所属:Ornithischia / Genaria / Cerapoda / Marginocephalia / Ceratopsoidea /
Family: Ceratopsidae /
FIRST DESCRIBED 1913 /  FOUND North America: Canada, USA /
LENGTH 5.5 m / WEIGHT 3 t / FOOD: Plants / YOUNG: Eggs /
LIVED: Late Cretaceous 80-66 million years ago

恐竜説明:
This spectacular horned dinosaur stood 2 m tall. It was like a giant rhinoceros except that the bony frill at the back of the skull was adorned with six long spines. In addition it had a tall, straight nasal horn and two bony spikes just below and to the sides of the eyes. Together, these gave Shlracosaurus a lot of protection from attack by a giant predator. The tallest spines grew on either side of a central dip in the frill and they would have made even giants the size of Albertosaurus or T. rex thinks twice about attacking them. Styracosaurus lived in the western area of North America, including Montana, and in Alberta, Canada.
From the various skeletons discovered in Alberta, scientists have suggested that the heads of juveniles were very similar to those of adults although the spines and horns got larger as they got older. It was the biggest males that had the most spectacular head shields.

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Struthiomimus

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和名:ストルティオミムス

世界共通発音:ストゥルーシオミメス stroo thee oh mime us
命名意味:Ostrich Mimic
分類所属:Saurischia / Theropoda / Tetanurae / Ornithomimosauria /
Family: Ornithomimidae
FIRST DISCOVERED: 1902 / FOUND: North America: Canada /
LENGTH: 4 m / WEIGHT: 350 kg / FOOD: Meat, plants / YOUNG: Eggs /
LIVED: Late Cretaceous 80 72 million years ago

恐竜説明:
Struthiomimus was a smaller version of Gailimimus and, again, resembles a featherless ostrich. It had a small head with a toothless beak. The neck and tail were very long. The skull was lightly built, with huge openings for the eyes. Struthiomimus had very good eyesight and was in all likelihood quite intelligent. It fed on insects, small reptiles and probably plants.
Struthiomimus's large eyes may have given it stereoscopic vision, so that it had a three dimensional view of the world. This would have allowed the 'Ostrich Mimic' to judge distances accurately and to hunt at dusk or even during the night.
Like many other dinosaurs, Struthiomimus had small stones in its gizzard (the part of a bird's stomach which grinds food   in this case, tough plant material). It is known  from Alberta in western Canada and, along with 30 or so other dinosaurs, is part of one of the world's best exhibitions at the Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller.

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Stegosaurus

 

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和名:ステゴサウルス
世界共通発音:ステゴソーラス steg oh saw rus
命名意味:Roofed Lizard
分類所属:Ornithischia / Genasauria / Thyreophoroidea / Eurypoda / Stegosauria /
Family: Stegosauridae /
FIRST DESCRIBED: 1877 / FOUND: North America: USA; Africa: Madagascar / LENGTH: 9 m
/ WEIGHT 2.5 t / FOOD: Plants / YOUNG: Eggs
/ LIVED: Late Jurassic 154 146 million years ago

恐竜説明:
If there was a prize for the most famous dinosaur, then Stegosaurus and Tyrannosaurus (see page 64) would be the two main contenders. They are totally different animals but both have excited our imaginations. Stegosaurus was a placid plant eater with an exceptionally small brain. It had a long, flattened head with a beaked mouth. The jaw teeth were small and probably rubbed against one another like grindstones as the animal chewed its food before swallowing.
Stegosaurus was the largest of the stegosaur dinosaurs. It is easily recognized by the two rows of vertical plates along its back and the four huge spikes on its tail. What could Stegosaurus's plates have been for? They are slightly off set and inside there are recognizable channels that probably filled with  blood. They may have acted like radiators. Alternatively, they may have been used for display between males and females. They would not have been much use for protecting the animal during an attack. For this, Stegosaurus relied on its four spiked tail. Each spike was about 1 m long, and could have inflicted terrible wounds on the legs and underbelly of its tormentor.

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ステゴセラス Stegoceras

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Stegoceras

 

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和名:ステゴセラス
世界共通発音:ステゴセラス steg o ser as
命名意味:Roof Horn
分類所属:
Ornithischia / Genaria / Cerapoda / Marginocephalia / Pachycephalosauria /
Family: Pachycephalosauridae /
FIRST DESCRIBED: 1902 / FOUND: North America: Canada /
LENGTH: 2.5 m / WEIGHT: 70 kg /
FOOD: Plants / YOUNG: Eggs / LIVED: Late Cretaceous 76 68 million years ago

恐竜説明:
Stegoceras is a member of the same family as Pachycephalosaurus, the 'Thick headed Lizard', but it was only one third the size of its giant cousin. One of the main family characteristics was the greatly thickened roof of the skull. Scientists have debated why the skull was thickened, and most think that males fought one another over territory.
The larger the male and the thicker his skull, the stronger and more mature he was. Numerous skulls of Stegoceras have been discovered and they show a range of ages, the older animals having the thickest skull roofs. Modern day mountain sheep and goats have a similar skull thickening. It is likely that Stegoceras lived in upland areas.
Only one poorly preserved skele¬ton has been discovered, and the evidence suggests that Stegoceras was quite lightly built, with short arms and strong legs. Compared to some theropods, the hands and feet of Stegoceras were quite primitive. The hands have five fingers, whereas the feet have three moderately long toes and an inner toe that is reduced to just a spur.

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Scelidosaurus

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和名:スケリドサウルス
世界共通発音:スケリッドソーラス ske lid oh saw rus
命名意味:Limb Lizard
分類所属:
Ornithischia / Genasauria / Thyreophoroidea / Family: uncertain /
FIRST DISCOVERED: 1859 / FOUND: Europe: England; North America: USA /
Length: 4 m / WEIGHT: 500 kg / Food: Plants / YOUNG: Eggs /
Lived: Early Jurassic 196 183 million years ago

恐竜説明:
Scelidosaurus is a problem! It was originally thought to be the first  known ornithischian (bird hipped) dinosaur. In 1861, the famous English anatomist and palaeontologist Sir Richard Owen described skeletal remains discovered in Dorset, in the south west of England. Strangely, Owen made a big mistake  the material he described was a mixture of bones from a new dinosaur and from the giant meat eater Megalosaurus.  
Better material became available in1893 and, in 1985, a new skeleton was discovered in Charmouth, also in Dorset. Together, these remains have provided scientists with sufficient evidence to show that Scelidosaurus was most probably a distant relative of the armoured dinosaurs or ankylosaurs. Scelidosaurus may also be related to the stegosaurs.  
Recent reconstructions show that it had a small head and its mouth contained many small, leaf shaped teeth. Its body was long and robust and the front legs were shorter than the back. Scelidosaurus had rather rounded feet with short toes. It was a plant eater. Remains of the animal have been found in rocks containing sea creatures. It is very unlikely that Scelidosourus ever ventured too close to the sea. the best explanation is that it slipped into a fast flowing river while feeding or during a violent storm.

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サウロペルタ Sauropelta

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Sauropelta

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和名:サウロペルタ
世界共通発音:ソーロペルタ saw roe pel ta
命名意味:Lizard Shield

分類所属:
Ornithischia / Genasauria / Thyreophoroidea / Eurypoda / Ankylosauria /
Family: Nodosauridae /
FIRST DESCRIBED: 1970 / FOUND: North America: USA / Length: 8 m / WEIGHT 3.5 t /
FOOD: Plants / YOUNG: Eggs /
LIVID: Early Cretaceous 125 100 million years ago

恐竜説明:
Sauropelta lived in the western area of North America during the Early Cretaceous period. At that time, the climate was rather similar to today, with ice and snow present in the polar regions. A large inland sea covered a huge area east of the Rocky Mountains, and coal forming swamps bordered forested areas.
Flowering plants were becoming common and the region supported great herds of bird hipped dinosaurs. Like many other armoured dinosaurs, Sauropelta found these conditions ideal.
It was a truly massive creature which walked on all fours with its belly close to the ground. The back legs were quite a lot longer than the front limbs, and the tail was roughly the same length as the body. As the name suggests, 'Lizard Shield' had a full cover of armour over its back and tail, and the plates that protected the neck were especially spiny. 
Weighing in at roughly the same weight as a major predator a fully grown Sauropelta would have been a very difficult target for even the most aggressive meat eater.
 
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