reading allowed Sundays: DINOSAURS, A Cheat Sheet

I went to my local toy store (Harbor Freight) and discovered that they have wooden dinosaur puzzles for $1,99 each. I got a couple and put them together right away, ostensibly for my granddaughters . . . well, okay, they saw them when they skyped us on Mothers' Day and they wanted them, so now they are going to my granddaughters' house.

The problem is that with them being adopted by my granddaughters, I'm going to have to know the names of these prehistoric creatures. And, well, I have trouble with names longer than my hand. Once I get past the names, it's "How big were the real dinosaurs, Paw Paw?" So I developed this cheat sheet to help me remember their names and size (in the order of construction):

Styracosaurus

pronunciation: sty-RAK-oh-SOR-us:

etymology: According to DinoChecker, Styracosaurus is derived from the Greek "styrax" (spike on the end of a spear) and "sauros" (lizard), referring to the huge spikes on its frill.

wiki: Styracosaurus

link to size illustration

location: North America (Alberta, Montana)

period: Cretaceous (Campanian stage, 75.5-75 million years ago)

Parasaurolophus

pronunciation: pah-ra-SOR-oh-LO-fus

etymology: According to DinoChecker: Parasaurolophus is derived from the Greek "para" (near), "sauros" (lizard) and "lophos" (crest) because of its once-thought affinity with Saurolophus due to their superficially similar crests. They aren't as closely related as Parks—the coining author—initially thought.

wiki: Parasaurolophus

link to size illustration

location: North America (Alberta, New Mexico, Utah)

period: Late Cretaceous (76.5-74.5 million years ago)

Pleisiosaurus

pronunciation: plē-sē-ə-ˌsȯr, -zē-

etymology: According to Online Etymology Dictionary. 1825, from Modern Latin Pleisiosaurus (1821), coined by English paleontologist William Daniel Conybeare (1787-1857) from Greek plesios "near," related to pelas, + -saurus.

wiki: Plesiosaurus (Loch Ness Monster a descendant?)

link to size illustration

location: Lias of England

period: Early Jurassic

Spinosaurus

pronunciation: SPIEN-oh-SOR-us

etymology: According to DinoChecker: Spinosaurus is derived from the Latin "spina" (spine) and the Greek "sauros" (lizard) because of the large paddle-like spines raised along its back.)

Wiki Spinosaurus

link to size illustration

location: North Africa

period: Cretaceous (Lower Albian to lower Cenomanian stages)

Dimetrodon

pronunciation: dīˈme‧trəˌdän\

etymology: According to Google: modern Latin, from di- ‘twice’ + Greek metron ‘measure’ + odous, odont- ‘tooth’ (taken in the sense ‘two long teeth’

wiki Dimetrodon

link to size illustration

location: southwestern USA and Germany

period: Early Permian (Cisuralian epoch, 295-272 million years ago)

Mammoth

pronunciation: M AE M - uh th

etymology: According to Oxford English Dictionary: All of the earliest quotations indicate that English-speakers first encountered the word as a result of the discovery of mammoth bones in Siberia. If ‘read’ carefully, this information can tell us a lot about the emergence and development of the word mammoth.

wiki: Mammoth

link to size illustration

location: Africa, Europe, Asia, North America

period: Pliocene epoch to Holocene epoch (from 5 million years ago to 4,500 years ago)

Pteranodon

pronunciation: tə-ˈra-nə-ˌdän, -ˈrä-\

etymology: According to Google: modern Latin, from Greek pteron ‘wing’ + an- ‘without’ + odous, odont- ‘tooth.’

wiki: Pteranodon (a pterosaur, not a dinosaur!)

link to size illustration

location: North America (Kansas, Alabama, Nebraska, Wyoming, South Dakota)

period:late Cretaceous

Stegosaurus

pronunication: STEG-uh-SAWR-us

etymology: Dictionary.com: from Modern Latin order name Stegosauria (O.C. Marsh, 1877), from comb. form of Greek stegos "roof" (from stege "covering," stegein "to cover," from PIE root *(s)teg- "cover," especially "cover with a roof" (cf. Sanskrit sthag- "cover, conceal, hide;" Latin tegere "to cover;" Lithuanian stegti "roof;" Old Norse þekja, Old English þeccan "thatch;" Dutch dekken, German decken "to cover, put under roof;" Irish tuigiur "cover," tech "house;" Welsh toi "thatch, roof," ty "house") + -saurus. The back-armor plates in the fossilized remains look like roof tiles.

wiki: Stegosaurus

link to size illustration

location: western USA and Portugal

period: late Jurassic (from Kimmeridigan to Tithonian ages: 155 - 150 million years ago)

Tyrannosaurus

pronunication: tye-RAN-uh-SAWR-us

etymology: DinoChecker: Tyrannosaurus is derived from the Greek "tyrannos" (tyrant) and "sauros" (lizard).

wiki: Tyrannosaurus