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Helpful Definitions  courtesy of Vera Velociraptor These are official, scientific, Latin terms for dinosaur names. Nobody ever speaks Latin any more except in boring college classes. Those paleontologists sure are weird, aren't they? Official What on earth is an official name? Most of these names are official because they are recognized as being official (makes sense, right?)  But some are just being used until someone on a committee gets around to making them official. You can tell the flowers from the bees by checking DinoGeorge's Genera List. URL is in the links list. The names in BOLD on that list are OFFICIAL. The rest are not. Tsk Tsk. Genus:  A genus is a group of species that look very much alike. It's a Linnean rank that naturalists use for convenience. It has worked ok for about 250 yrs, so it is still used. Genera More than one genus. Why don't they just say Genuses? Holotype or Type The original, one and only fossil which represents a distinct animal manus = hands [ nomen nudum =>  ] = generic name lacking a description and/or a type specimen for its type species; indicated name, if given, is correct name subsequently applied to the material [ nomen rejectum => ] = generic name officially rejected by International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature in favor of indicated name vide = name attributed to the first indicated author(s) by the second /  = name preoccupied by the second indicated author(s); indicated name, if given, is replacement name or senior synonym *  = genus not presently considered to be dinosaurian [followed in brackets by its current identification ]  Type  = Type speciman. This is the exact fossil which paleontologists recognize as the first and most unique example of a new animal. Be careful, this has nothing to do with type-writers.

The Dinosaur Count Up in collaboration with DinoGeorge Olshevsky Every day in every way the list of dinosaurs discovered and named by paleontologists gets longer and longer and longer. In fact, more dinosaurs have been discovered in the last several decades than in all of human history! To make it easier for our awesome readers to follow, D.I.G. has decided to do a Dinosaur Count Up. Unlike Space Shuttle launches which count down to blast off, we are going to count up to the current total number of dinosaurs that we know about. It's helpful to remember that it may be a year or more between discovering and naming a dinosaur. That's because a careful paleontologist will check out all the details to make sure that the new discovery is really new and not just a variation on an old dinosaur. It is rare that an entire, complete dinosaur is ever discovered. Mostly there are a small number of fossilized bones. This makes it a little hard to interpret just what's been found. So paleontologists don't jump to conclusions even if they are excited. The main consultant to this feature is the one, the only, the totally unique George "DinoGeorge" Olshevsky an annual guest on Dinosaur Interplanetary Gazette Dino Dish and author of many dinosaur related books and articles. Most of the text below comes directly from his irregular mailings.  How On Earth Does This Work???? Each new dinosaur genus is described in the following way: Name of Dinosaur, Name(s) of people who named the dinosaur, date of publication This is the way it will appear in the Dinosaur Genera List which is a semi-official listing of the proper generic names of all dinosaurs which have been discovered.  Sometimes it also includes specific species which are usually published separately in a magazine called Mesozoic Meanderings. It is in the form: Name of Dinosaur, Name(s) of people who named the dinosaur, date of publication Sometimes the first word in the animals name is abbreviated to a single letter followed by a period. An example of this is T. rex  T. stands for Tyrannosaurus but it is not written out to save time. The List! 2001 September (  ) | August ( 918 - 920 = 3 new ) | July ( 909 - 917 = 9 new ) | June ( 905 - 908 = 4 new ) | May ( 901 - 904 = 4 new )| August 2001 920 From the latest Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology Xu, Xing, Zhao, Xijin & Clark, James M., 2001. "A new therizinosaur from the Lower Jurassic lower Lufeng Formation of Yunnan, China," Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 21(3): 477–483 [August 22, 2001]. This paper redescribes the enigmatic mandible previously described by Zhao and Xu in Nature 394: 234-235 as an Early Jurassic therizinosaur, but without a formal name. So we add genus #920 to the Dinosaur Genera List: Eshanosaurus Xu, Zhao & Clark, 2001 and its entry in the forthcoming Mesozoic Meanderings #3 second printing  becomes Eshanosaurus Xu, Zhao & Clark, 2001     E. deguchiianus Xu, Zhao & Clark, 2001† The generic name comes from Eshan County, Yunnan, where the specimen was  discovered (lower part of Lower Lufeng Formation, Hettangian, Early Jurassic). The etymology of the species name as given in the paper is to honor "Hikaru Deguchiianus" for his support and encouragement to author Xu Xing, but I think this may be a misspelling, perhaps for Hikaru Deguchi. Am I wrong? A substantial phyletic analysis demonstrates the therizinosauroid nature of the mandible versus prosauropods and basal ornithischians, leaving practically no doubt of its systematic position. 919 Thursday, 31 July 2001 This just in from Masahiro Tanimoto in Japan: "At last I obtained the guidebook Dinosaur Fossils from Chongqing Natural  History Museum.' According to it, the name of the Early Jurassic sauropod is  Yibinosaurus zhoui and its study is being prepared by Ouyang Hui." OK, this means we add genus #919 to the Dinosaur Genera List: Yibinosaurus Ouyang vide [Anonymous: Chongqing Natural History Museum  guidebook] 2001 [nomen nudum] Note that the dinosaur's description is forthcoming, so it is a nomen nudum. 918 Wednesday, 1 August 2001   Mark Hallet Restoration from National Geographic. Link Below. The following appeared in today's New York Times, part of an article on the Madagascar dinosaur expeditions:  "Dr. Krause and his team also did some digging. They found new skull material  from meat- and plant-eating dinosaurs and an 'exquisitely preserved skull' of a large ancient crocodile. "The results of some previous expeditions will be disclosed this week in the journal Nature, due out tomorrow. Dr. Krause will announce the discovery of a fossil tooth from a marsupial mammal that he believes is the earliest found in the Southern Hemisphere. Until now, the earliest known remains of a marsupial in the hemisphere dated back to the Paleocene Epoch, 55 million to 65 million years ago; this find suggests that marsupials were in the Southern Hemisphere during the late Cretaceous period, 65 million to 100 million years ago. This fossil is approximately 70 million years old, he said. "In the same issue, Kristina Curry Rogers, a Stony Brook graduate student, and Catherine Forster, another Stony Brook paleontology professor, announce the discovery of a nearly complete fossil of a new genus and species of sauropod dinosaur, which they named for Dr. Krause: the Rapetosaurus krausei." Accordingly, we add genus #918 to the Dinosaur Genera List: Rapetosaurus Rogers & Forster, 2001     Resources  NY Times story with illustrations of the new sauropod:     http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/01/nyregion/01BONE.html?searchpv=nytToday   National Geographic Magazine: The discovery of Rapetosaurus krausei, with field photos and restorations by Mark Hallett, is available at: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/08/0801_madagascardino.html Illustrated article: Another Sauropod Reveals its Face                         http://illustrissimus.virtualave.net/dim000.htm The first restoration of a newly discovered titanosaur from Madagascar Rapetosaurus krausei drawn by Berislav Krzic July 2001 917 Monday, 31 July 2001 We add genera #917 Ben Creisler writes (slightly edited): "Here's the abstract of a new paper about the first nodosaur from China from  the July issue of Naturwissenschaften. Can't recall seeing this posted in the  Mailing List. "Die Naturwissenshaften: Volume 88 Issue 7 (2001) pp 297-300 short communication: A juvenile ankylosaur from China Xing Xu, Xiao-Lin Wang, Hai-Lu You Received: 10 February 2001 / Accepted in revised form: 21 April 2001 / Published online: 23 June 2001 Abstract. Juvenile ankylosaur specimens are very rare. A new ankylosaur, Liaoningosaurus paradoxus gen. et sp. nov., is described based on a beautifully preserved juvenile ankylosaur specimen from the famous Yixian Formation of Liaoning, China. Liaoningosaurus has a large bony plate (somewhat shell-like) shielding the abdomen. This discovery represents the first record of such a structure among dinosaurs. Although it has a number of distinct features seen in the family Ankylosauridae, a cladistic analysis placed Liaoningosaurus in the sister-family Nodosauridae. The 'intermediate' status of this taxon between the two ankylosaur families further supports the monophyly of Ankylosauria. This finding also documents the smallest known ankylosaur specimen and first complete nodosaurid specimen from Asia." So we add as genus #917: Liaoningosaurus Xu, Wang & You, 2001 and to the Asiatic dinosaur list in the forthcoming Mesozoic Meanderings #3  second printing Liaoningosaurus Xu, Wang & You, 2001     L. paradoxus Xu, Wang & You, 2001 916 / 915 Thursday, 12 July 2001 We add genera #915 and #916 to the Dinosaur Genera List: Citipati Clark, Norell & Barsbold, 2001 Khaan Clark, Norell & Barsbold, 2001 As Tim Wiliams writes (slightly edited): "The two new oviraptorids are Citipati osmolskae and Khaan mckennai.  The generic names are derived from local languages and traditions: "Citipati" means "lord of the funeral pyre" in Tantric Buddhist tradition, and "Khaan" is Mongolian for "lord". Khaan is on par with Minmi as the shortest non-avian dinosaur genus name.  The derivations of the trivial names: Dr. Halszka Osmolska and Dr. Malcolm McKenna. [Both are famous paleontologists] Each is known from a wonderful skeleton, near-complete (IGM 100/978) and complete (IGM 100/1127), respectively, and referred specimens.  The skulls will simply make your jaws drop. The two new species brings the tally of oviraptorid species to six. Oviraptor mongoliensis is retained in the genus Oviraptor.  The Khaan material was hitherto referred to Ingenia, from which it differs in the structure of the manus. Clark et al. (2001) do not seem to favor uniting therizinosauroids and oviraptoroids as Oviraptorosauria.  This will be explored in the soon-to-be-released (hopefully) YPM volume honoring Prof. John Ostrom." And add these two species to the table of Asiatic dinosaurs in the  forthcoming Mesozoic Meanderings #3 second printing: Citipati Clark, Norell & Barsbold, 2001     C. osmolskae  Clark, Norell & Barsbold, 2001† Khaan  Clark, Norell & Barsbold, 2001     K. mckennai  Clark, Norell & Barsbold, 2001† 914 Terrible Lizard: The First Dinosaur Hunters and the Birth of a New Science by Deborah Cadbury. Another "must have" book for dinosaur aficionados, it is meticulously researched and highly detailed, and essentially tells the story  of vertebrate paleontology in Great Britain during the first half of the 19th century. Much information is provided about the rivalries of that era, including the amazing fact that Gideon Mantell's injured spine became a pathological specimen (no. 4808.1) in the Hunterian Museum, after his death on November 11, 1852 of an overdose of painkillers, under the curation of his arch-enemy Richard Owen. It remained available there for some 90 years until destroyed in a raid during the German blitz of London in World War II. This is a terrific book, highly recommended. And on page 273 of this book is name #914 for the Dinosaur Genera List: Colossosaurus Mantell vide Cadbury, 2000 [nomen nudum => Pelorosaurus] During the latter half of 1849 it was Mantell's working name for the sauropod he subsequently (in 1850) named Pelorosaurus, published here, as far as I know, for the first time. (The British edition of this book is copyrighted 2000; the American edition appeared in 2001.) Colossosaurus also becomes part of the extensive synonymy under Pelorosaurus in the forthcoming Mesozoic meanderings #3 second printing. 913 Wednesday, 11 July 2001 Ruehleia Galton, 2001 A new prosauropod genus and species is created by Galton (2001): Ruehleia bedheimensis Galton, 2001 Holotype: MB (Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin), unnumbered (RÃhle von Lilienstern Collection): a reasonably complete skeleton that consists of cervicals 4-10, dorsals 1-14, partial sacrum, about 20 caudals, right scapula-coracoid, both humeri, right radius and ulna, both manus (incomplete), both pelvic girdles, femora, tibiae and right astragalus. Etymology: Latinized names as an allusion to Hugo RÃhle von Lilienstern of Bedheim. Locality: Romhild, 20 Km from Schleusingen, southwest of Hildburghausen (South Thuringia, Germany). Age: Upper Norian (Trossingen Formation = Knollenmergel). Ruehleia bedheimensis is a plateosaur sensu Galton & Upchurch (in prep.) with the following characters: three-vertebrae sacrum includes a dorsosacral; ilium with a very large pubic peduncle and an extremely short anterior process, proximal end of the pubis with length of articular surface for ilium much longer than wide with a very short acetabular part (equals half the width of the iliac surface); manus with three large carpals with complicated proximal articular surfaces. The reference is: Galton, P. M. 2001. Prosauropod dinosaurs from the Upper Triassic of Germany. In Colectivo Arqueologico-Paleontologico de Salas, C.A.S. (Eds.): "Actas de las I Jornadas Internacionales sobre Paleontologia de Dinosaurios y su Entorno (Proceedings of the 1st International Symposium on Paleontology of Dinosaurs and their Environment)," Burgos (Spain), 25-92. The holotype and referred specimens will be described by Galton (in press: The prosauropod dinosaur Plateosaurus Meyer, 1837 (Saurischia: Sauropodomorpha). II. Notes on referred species from the Upper Triassic. Revue de Paleobiologie, Geneve) 912 Dinosaur genus #912 is described in: Dong Zhiming, 2001. "Primitive Armored Dinosaur from the Lufeng Basin, China," article 17 of Tanke & Carpenter, eds., 2001: 237-242. Bienosaurus Dong, 2001 And add the following to the list of Asiatic dinosaurs in MM #3 second printing: Bienosaurus Dong, 2001   B. lufengensis Dong, 2001† Based mainly on a right lower jaw with teeth, this genus is classified in Scelidosauridae, and the family Scelidosauridae is removed from "basal Thyreophora" and referred to the taxon Ankylosauria (i.e., along with Nodosauridae, Ankylosauridae, and Polacanthidae). It is from the Dark Red Beds of the Lower Lufeng Formation. 911 Dinosaur genus #911 is described in: DiCroce, Tony & Carpenter, Kenneth, 2001. "New Ornithopod from the Cedar Mountain Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Eastern Utah," article 13 of Tanke & Carpenter, eds., 2001: 183-196. Planicoxa DiCroce & Carpenter, 2001 And add the following to the list of North American dinosaurs in Mesozoic meanderings #3 second printing: Planicoxa  DiCroce & Carpenter, 2001   P. venenica  DiCroce & Carpenter, 2001† This is a medium-size ?iguanodontid based on a type ilium and numerous referred specimens (girdle and limb elements and vertebrae) found in association in a single quarry ("Tony's Bone Bed"). 910 Dinosaur genus #910 is described in the following article: Tidwell, Virginia, Carpenter, Kenneth & Meyer, Susanne, 2001. "New Titanosauriform (Sauropoda) from the Poison Strip Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation (Lower Cretaceous), Utah," article 11 of Tanke & Carpenter, eds., 2001: 139-165. Venenosaurus Tidwell, Carpenter & Meyer, 2001 And we add the following entry to the North American dinosaurs list in the forthcoming Mesozoic meanderings #3 second printing: Venenosaurus Tidwell, Carpenter & Meyer, 2001   V. dicrocei Tidwell, Carpenter & Meyer, 2001† This is a smallish titanosauriform of uncertain affinities, perhaps a derived brachiosaurid, based on a partial skeleton including mainly limb elements and distinctive caudal vertebrae. A juvenile of this genus may also be known, but is not described in this article. 909 Dinosaur genus #909 comes from the following article in the book: Tanke, Darren H. & Carpenter, Kenneth, eds., 2001. Mesozoic Vertebrate Life: New Research inspired by the Paleontology of Philip J. Currie, Indiana University Press, Bloomington & Indianapolis, Indiana: xviii + 542 pp. Coria, Rodolfo A., 2001. "New Theropod from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia," article 1 of Tanke & Carpenter, eds., 2001: 3-9. Quilmesaurus Coria, 2001 And we add the following entry to the South American dinosaurs list in the forthcoming Mesozoic Meanderings #3 second printing: Quilmesaurus Coria, 2001     Q. curriei Coria, 2001† This is a medium-size theropod of uncertain affinities from the Allen  Formation (Campanian-Maastrichtian) of Argentina, known mainly from distinctive hind limb material. June 2001 908 June 24, 2001 Jinzhousaurus Wang & Xu, 2001 Ben Creisler provided the reference: Wang Xiaolin & Xu Xing, 2001. "A new genus and species of iguanodont from the Yixian Formation in Liaoxi: Yang's Jinzhou dragon [Jinzhousaurus yangi]," Kexue Tongbao 46(5): 419-423 [March 2001]. This also adds the following genus and species to the Asiatic dinosaurs listing in Mesozoic meanderings #3 second printing: Jinzhousaurus  Wang & Xu, 2001   J. yangi  Wang & Xu, 2001(Type) 907 June 20, 2001 Add the name of the new North American therizinosauroid Nothronychus Kirkland & Wolfe vide [Anonymous] 2001 [nomen nudum; in New York Times 6/19/01] This set of notations simply says that the name Nothronychus was attributedto paleontologists Kirkland and Wolfe in an unbylined article in the New York Times for 6/19/01, and that the name has not yet been formally published. (If someone has a byline for this article, I'll change the listing accordingly,but on the Internet it is just listed as Reuters.) ------------------------------ 906 June 6, 2001 Losillasaurus Casanovas, Santafe & Sanz, 2001 and we add to the list of European dinosaurs: Losillasaurus Casanovas, Santafe & Sanz, 2001     L. giganteus  Casanovas, Santafe & Sanz, 2001 (Type) The ref is: Casanovas, M. L., Santafe, J. V. & Sanz, J. L. 2001. _Losillasaurus giganteus_, un nuevo sauropodo del transito Jurasico-Cretacico de la cuenca de "Los Serranos" (Valencia, España). Paleontologia i Evolucio, 32-33: 99-122. The paper is in spanish, and the abstract provided by authors is the following:         "The Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous site of La Cañada (Barranco de Escaiz, Losilla. Aras de Alpuente, valencia) has delivered several pieces of a new Sauropod Dinosaur called Losillasaurus giganteus.The material includes a cranial fragment, several vertebral fragments and complete cervical, dorsal, sacrae, and caudal vertebrae; appendicular skeleton (humerus, ulna, radius, metacarpal); sternal plates; and pelvic elements (ilium, ischium and pubis).         The diagnosis of Losillasaurus giganteus is based on two autapomorphies and singular combination of synapomorphies. The two autapomorphies are: neural spine of the anterior caudal vertebrae with a lateral enarded outline in dorsal view (cutlass-like shape). Moreover, the value of the relationships between the anterior-posterior dimension of the neuroapophyseal base with respect to the total highness is around 0,5" courtesy of Jose Ignacio Ruiz-Omeñaca Area de Paleontologia Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra Universidad de Zaragoza 50009 ZARAGOZA ESPAÑA - Spain 905 June 1, 2001 Paralititan J. B. Smith, Lamanna, Lacovara, Dodson, J. R. Smith, Poole, Giegengack & Attia, 2001 The reference is: Joshua B. Smith, Matthew C. Lamanna, Kenneth J. Lacovara, Peter Dodson, Jennifer R. Smith, Jason C. Poole, Robert Giegengack, & Yousry Attia, 2001.  "A Giant Sauropod Dinosaur from an Upper Cretaceous Mangrove Deposit in Egypt," Science 292(5522): 1704-1706 [June 1, 2001]. Also add to the list of African dinosaurs in the forthcoming Mesozoic Meanderings #3 second printing: Paralititan J. B. Smith, Lamanna, Lacovara, Dodson, J. R. Smith, Poole, Giegengack & Attia, 2001   P. stromeri J. B. Smith, Lamanna, Lacovara, Dodson, J. R. Smith, Poole, Giegengack & Attia, 2001 (Type) It's a big titanosaurid from the Bahariya Formation of Egypt. Material is incomplete but distinctive, including a humerus, shoulder girdle, and caudal centra. Somewhat smaller than Argentinosaurus. This is the beginning of a flood of new dinosaur genera whose descriptions will appear during the summer and fall. Maybe a dozen or more altogether. May 2001 904 May 30, 2001 Sender: Gunter Van Acker. Aucasaurus Chiappe & Dingus, 2001 [nomen nudum] The nomen nudum part will be removed when the formal description appears, presumably later this year. Also added to Mesozoic Meanderings #3 under South American dinosaurs is this genus and species listing: Aucasaurus Chiappe & Dingus, 2001 [nomen nudum]     A. garridoi Chiappe & Dingus, 2001 (Type) By convention in Mesozoic meanderings #3, even a nomen nudum genus can have a "type" species, for example when the species name is also published and is the only species in the genus. 903 May 9, 2001 Thanks to Dan Varner and Tom Holtz, we can add genus #903 to the Dinosaur Genera List: Eotyrannus Hutt, Naish, Martill, Barker & Newberry, 2001 The paper was published at the end of April: Stephen Hutt, Darren Naish, David M. Martill, Michael J. Barker, Penny  Newbery, 2001. "A preliminary account of a new tyrannosauroid theropod from the Wessex Formation (Early Cretaceous) of southern England," Cretaceous Research 22(2): 227-242. We also add the following species to the list of European dinosaurs in Mesozoic Meanderings #3 second printing: Eotyrannus Hutt, Naish, Martill, Barker & Newberry, 2001     E. lengi  Hutt, Naish, Martill, Barker & Newberry, 001(Type) Eotyrannus lengi is described as a basal tyrannosauroid and a news article  about it appeared in the May 9, 2001 New York Times (online edition and  presumably also the published edition). 902 901 May 3, 2001 902 Saltriosaurus Dalla Vecchia, 2001 [nomen nudum] 901 Draconyx Mateus & Antunes, 2001 The former appears in the article Dalla Vecchia, F. M., 2001. "A New Theropod Dinosaur from the Lower Jurassic of Italy," Dino Press 3: 81-87 [illustrated by Berislav Krzic]. It is not formally named or described, but it is nicknamed "Saltriosaurus,"  making that name eligible for inclusion as a nomen nudum in the Dinosaur  Genera List. No type species is named for this genus in the article. The genus is also added to the tables for the second printing of Mesozoic Meanderings #3. The latter appears in the paper Mateus, O. & Antunes, M. T., 2001. "Draconyx loureiroi, a new Camptosauridae (Dinosauria, Ornithopoda) from the Late Jurassic of Lourinha,  Portugal," Annales Paleontol. 87(1): 67-73. Thanks to Christian F. Kammerer for very recently notifying the dinosaur list about this new genus. We also add the following genus and species to the tables for the second printing of Mesozoic Meanderings #3: Draconyx Mateus & Antunes, 2001     D. loureiroi Mateus & Antunes, 2001(Type) This picture below has nothing whatsoever to do with anything, but we think this guy is cute. You can read about him by clicking here if you want to, but you don't have to.

Resources  Links   The complete Dinosaur Genera List is at URL http://members.aol.com/Dinogeorge/dinolist.html What do terms like phylum, order and family mean? FAQ on Linnean Classification A Dinosaur Mailing (DML) Disccussion of Linnean Ranking George Olshevsky BoneZone Biography   DinoGeorge Home Page   Other Genera Lists and Classification Lists. Books   Books By George Olshevsky   Dinosaurs : The Biggest, Baddest, Strangest, Fastest    by Howard Zimmerman, George Olshevsky. Videos References

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Entire Contents (c) 2001  Edward Summer, All Rights Reserved
The following are all registered trademarks of Dinosaur Newss Network, The Dinosaur Interplanetary Gazette: The Dinosaur Interplanetary Gazette, The Dinosaur Intergalactic Gazette, The Dinosaur Times, Dino Bites and News Nibbles, The Bone Zone, T-Bone Wrecks, Gigi Gigaanatosaurus, and all other department names without exception.

created 04/22/201
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