tegosaurus is perhaps the most recognizable of all prehistoric animals; it is nearly impossible to mistake it for another creature. We all knew Stegosaurus as that heavy, small-headed dinosaur with an arched back and a dragging tail, sporting four spikes that pointed upwards. Popular books always brought up the fact that Stegosaurus had a brain the size of a walnut, and that it was probably a very dumb animal that went extinct because it couldn`t compete with the much better armored (and slightly smarter) ankylosaurs. However, Stegosaurus, like many dinosaurs, has changed a lot since. Fossil footprints and detailed studies of its anatomy have proven that Stegosaurus didn`t drag its tail on the mud, but actually walked erect, like an elephant, with its tail held horizontally, parallel to the ground. Its back wasn`t as arched as they had us believe, and the neck was not carried horizontally as usually depicted, but upright, like a bird`s.
Diplodocus (and its close relative Apatosaurus, formerly known as Brontosaurus) are among the best known sauropods, or giant long-necked dinosaurs. Or at least, they used to be well known to the public; today, they look very different from the classic “brontosaurs”we knew. Sauropods were once thought to be huge, clumsy denizens of the swamps, spending most of their time underwater feeding on aquatic plants; their huge weight (up to 50 tons or more) was said to be too much for the creatures to properly move on land.
Velociraptor was practically unknown to the public before Jurassic Park, and has been causing confusion ever since. When most people thinks of Velociraptor, they remember the large, lizard-like, wickedly smart villains from Spielberg`s blockbuster.However, those creatures were not based on the real life Velociraptor, but on a larger North American relative called Deinonychus. The real Velociraptor was a small animal, about the size of a large dog. It also had a more slender body and a longer snout than Deinonychus.
Spinosaurus became famous in 2001, when it was depicted in Jurassic Park III, where it fought and killed a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Many dinosaur fans were outraged at this; most of them accused the filmmakers of exaggerating the Spinosaurus` size, and even some (the least informed) thought that Spinosaurus had been specifically created for the movie, and that it had never actually existed. In reality, Spinosaurus has been known since 1912, when a German paleontologist, Ernst Stromer, found its enormous remains in Egypt. Even then, Stromer was convinced that Spinosaurus had been as large, or even larger, than Tyrannosaurus Rex (known since 1905).
Psittacosaurus was never an extremely famous dinosaur, but it was one of the classics found in almost all popular books on the subject. It was named for its curved beak which resembled that of modern parrots (Psittacidae), but other than that it was always depicted as a rather plain-looking dinosaur. It seems, however, that Psittacosaurus was one of the most successful and abundant dinosaurs of its time; hundreds of specimens have been found, and some of them, found recently in China, were so well preserved that they not only included fossilized bones, but also the outline of the body, and even skin impressions from the creatures.
Most dinosaur books claimed that Compsognathus was the smallest dinosaur. Invariably described as chicken-sized, Compsognathus was depicted as a small, lizard-like creature with two fingers on each hand. Very similar to the man-eating “compys” of the first Jurassic Park sequel. Today, due to new discoveries and studies we know that Compsognathus could actually grow larger than a chicken (although not much larger), and that it didn`t have two, but three clawed fingers on each hand.
Often called “the first bird”, Archaeopteryx is one of those creatures you could find in any book on dinosaurs or evolution. Often considered to be a sort of “missing link” between reptiles and birds, Archaeopteryx has been used as a mascot by both scientists trying to prove evolution, and creationists trying to disprove it (by claiming that Archaeopteryx is simply a bird). However, the fossil evidence shows that both scientists and creationists were wrong. As more and more feathered dinosaurs are found in China, some of them even more similar to birds than Archaeopteryx, it becomes obvious that this creature was not the missing link, and was not a bird either, but one hundred per cent dinosaur. Its anatomy, actually, is very similar to that of the early raptor dinosaurs, the same lineage that would eventually lead to Deinonychus and Velociraptor. It even has the same retractable, sickle-shaped claw on each foot! It now seems likely that raptor dinosaurs were actually the flightless descendants of feathered, flying dinosaurs like Archaeopteryx.
The most classic of all duck-billed dinosaurs, Parasaurolophus was once believed to have been a semi-aquatic creature. Its flat, duck-like bill, and what seemed to be webbing between its toes and fingers led many paleontologists to believe that it fed on soft aquatic vegetation and it ran to water when attacked by its enemies.Even the long, tube-like crest on its head was thought to be a snorkel, or perhaps an oxygen reservoir. However, later studies proved all of this wrong.
We reach now the most famous of all dinosaurs, the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex. Up to 13 meters long and weighing up to 7 tons, this bone-crushing predator has a long story of inaccurate depictions. Shown in old movies and book illustrations as a lizard-like monster with a square, plain-looking skull, a long tail being dragged on the ground and a tripod-like stance, T-Rex would later be found to be much more imposing. In real life, Tyrannosaurus walked in an horizontal stance, with the tail held above the ground. Although this means it was actually shorter than the classic, tripod-Rex version, it also means that it was a much more agile animal, able to run at high speed and quickly capture prey with its massive jaws.
And finally we get to number one, Triceratops, the T-Rex`s stereotypical arch-nemesis, and one of the largest members of the Ceratopsidae, or horned dinosaur family. Just like Stegosaurus, Triceratops is hard to mistake for any other animal. It has become fixed in our mind as this giant rhinoceros-like, parrot-beaked three horned reptile, with skin like an elephant or a rhino and sprawled forelegs. We are also pretty sure that Triceratops was a plant-eater.
