Glossary CAE - CAR
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CAE - CAR - CEN - CHA - CHI - CLI - COM - CRA - CTE
CAENAGNATHUS
(pronounced SEE-nag-NAY-thus) Caenagnathus (meaning: "recent jaw")
was a light-weight, bipedal, meat-eating theropod dinosaur. This coelurosaur
dates from the late Cretaceous, about 75 million years ago. This predator
was about 6.5 ft (2 m) long and weighed roughly 35 kg. Only a fossilized
lower jaw was found in western North America. This genus was named by
paleontologist R. Sternberg in 1940. The type species is C. collinsi.
It was originally thought to be a bird.
CALAMOSPONDYLUS
(pronounced KAL-uh-moe-SPON-dill-us) Calamospondylus (meaning: "reed
vertebra") was a bipedal, meat-eating theropod dinosaur with large
hand claws. This coelurosaur dates from the early Cretaceous, about 125
million years ago. This predator was about 6.5 ft (2 m) long, weighing
about 65 pounds (30 kg). It is known from fossils found in England. This
(dubious) genus was named by paleontologist Lydekker in 1889. The type
species is C. foxi.
CALIFORNOSAURUS
Californosaurus, meaning: "California lizard" was an Ichthyosaur,
an extinct water-dwelling reptile that lived during the time of the dinosars.
Californosaurus (also called Toretocnemus, Delphinosaurus) was 10 feet
(3 m) long. It had four paddle-shaped flippers and sharp teeth in long,
pointed jaws (looking a bit like a dolphin). This fish-eater lived during
the Late Triassic Period in seas that covered what is now California.
Californosaurus was named by Kuhn in 1934. It was not a dinosaur, but
another type of extinct reptile.
CALLOVOSAURUS
Callovosaurus (meaning: "Callovian [the name of a mid-Jurassic period]
lizard") was an iguanodontid, an ornithischian (bird-hipped) dinosaur
dating from the middle Jurassic Period, about 166 million years ago. This
plant-eater was about 11.5 ft (3.5 m) long, weighing about 550 pounds
(250 kg). Callovosaurus is known from fragmentary fossils found in Oxford,
England. This (dubious) genus was named by paleontologist Galton in 1980.
The type species is C. leedsi.
Camarasaurus
(pronounced KAM-ah-rah-SAWR-us) Camarasaurus (meaning: "chamber vertebra")
was a large, long-necked plant-eating dinosaur that lived during the late
Jurassic Period, about 156-145 million years ago. This sauropod was about
60 ft (18 m) long and weighed roughly 28000 kg. The type species is C.
supremus.
Cambrian
The Cambrian is a period of geological time between 540 and 505 million
years ago at the beginning of the Palaeozoic era. It is separated into
three epochs - the Early Cambrian (570 to 540 MYA), the Middle Cambrian
(540 to 523 MYA) and the Late Cambrian (523 to 505 MYA).
CAMPANIAN AGE
The Campanian Age was the last part of the Cretaceous Period, about 83
to 71 million years ago, towards the end of the Mesozoic Era (and just
after the Santonian Age and just before the Maastrichtian Age).
CAMELOTIA
(pronounced kam-eh-LOH-tee-ah) Camelotia (named for legendary Camelot)
was a prosauropod dinosaur. This plant-eater had a small head, a bulky
body, and dates from the late Triassic Period, about 219-213 million years
ago. Camelotia was about 30 ft (9 m) long and weighed roughly 3270 kg.
Its femur (thigh bone) was 95 cm long. A partial fossil was found in England.
This genus was named by paleontologist Galton in 1985. The type species
is C. borealis.
CAMPTONOTUS
(pronounced KAMP-toe-NOTE-us) Camptonotus (meaning: "flexible back")
is an invalid name for Camptosaurus. It was named by Marsh in 1879.
CAMPTOSAURUS
(pronounced KAMP-toe-SAWR-us) Camptosaurus (meaning: "bent lizard")
was a plant-eater from the late Jurassic Period (about 156 to 145 million
years ago) that looked a lot like Iguanodon. It was a heavy ornithischian
dinosaur that was about 16-23 feet (5-7 m) long, weighing roughly 1000
kg. It had a long snout, hundreds of teeth and a horny beak, and longer
legs than arms. It could walk on two or four legs. The type species is
C. dispar. Camptosaurus was named by Marsh in 1885.
CAMPYLODONISCUS
(pronounced cam-PIL-o-do-NIS-kus) Campylodoniscus (meaning: "little
bent tooth") was a long-necked, quadrupedal, sauropod dinosaur. This
plant-eating titanosaur dates from the late Cretaceous, about 70 million
years ago. Campylodoniscus was about 65 ft (20 m) long and weighed about
15,000 kg. It is known from scanty fossils found in Argentina, South America.
Campylodoniscus was named by paleontologist Kuhn in 1961 (and replaces
von Huene's Campylodon). The type species is C. ameghinoi.
CAMPYLOGNATHOIDES
Campylognathoides was a pterosaur, a flying reptile, from the early Jurassic
Period. This carnivore was not a dinosaur, but was a closely related reptile.
Campylognathoides had a wingspan of 20 feet (6 m). It had a long tail
with a diamond-shaped flap at the end and long jaws with many sharp teeth.
Campylognathoides was named by Strand in 1928. Fossils have been found
in Germany and India. (Classification: Order Pterosauria, Suborder Phamphorhynchoidea)
Canine teeth
In mammals and mammal-like animals, the sharp pointed teeth on either
side of the upper or lower jaws between the incisors and molars.
Cannibal
An animal that eats other animals of its own kind.
Cantabria
The only island where Ornithocheirus would breed each year. This enormous
flying reptile would often migrate thousands of kilometres to reach the
island. It was one of the few areas in western Europe not to have flooded
in the Mesozoic. It now forms bedrock of parts of Spain and Portugal
CAPTORHINIDS
Captorhinids (or Cotylosaurs) are "stem reptiles," primitive
anapsids that led to the reptiles (including dinosaurs and turtles), birds,
and mammals. They evolved from amphibians during the Early Carboniferous
period, about 340 million years ago and went extinct at the end of the
Triassic Period, about 250 million years ago. They had four sprawling
legs and a long tail. Class Sauropsida, subclass Anapsida, Infraclass
Captorhinida.
CARCHARODON MEGALODON
Carcharodon/Carcharocles megalodon was an ancient shark, living between
5-1.6 million years ago; it is extinct. It may have been up to 40 feet
(12 m) long.
CARCHARODONTOSAURUS
(pronounced kahr-KAR-o-DONT-o-SAWR-us) Carcharodontosaurus (meaning: "shark-tooth
lizard") was a huge meat eater (45 feet or 14 m long, weighing roughly
4000 kg) from the Cretaceous Period, 110-90 million years ago. This African
carnosaur was larger than Tyrannosaurus rex. The type species is C. saharicus.
CARDIOCEPHALUS
(pronounced CAR-dee-oh-CEFF-ah-lus) Cardiocephalus (meaning: "heart
head") was an early lesospondyl amphibian from the middle Permian
period. This microsaur had a heart-shaped head, four short legs, a long
tail, a long body, and a lizard-like appearance.