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CARDIODON
(pronounced CAR-dee-oh-don) Cardiodon (meaning: "heart tooth") is doubtful genus if dinosaur known from a single, heart-shaped tooth found in England. The tooth dates from the middle Jurassic Period, about 170 million years ago. Cardiodon, a large plant eater, was a cetiosaurid sauropod, was named by paleontologist Richard Owen in 1841. The type species is C. rugulosus. Cardiodon may be the same as Cetiosaurus.

CARMELOPODUS
Carmelopodus is a theropod dinosaur known only from its fossilized trackways. This bipedal, meat-eating ichnogenus lived in during the middle Jurassic Period in what is now the Carmel formation in eastern Utah, USA and England (supporting the theory of continental drift).

Carboniferous
The Carboniferous is a period of geological time between 360 and 286 million years ago towards the end of the Paleozoic era. It is separated into two epochs - the Early Carboniferous (360 to 320 MYA) and the Late Carboniferous (320 to 286 MYA).

Carnivore
An animal that eats other animals.

CARNOSAUR
(pronounced KAR-no-SAWR) Carnosaurs (meaning: "flesh lizards") were large theropods (meat-eating dinosaurs) that lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. Allosaurus and Sinraptor were carnosaurs. These saurischians are a groups of dinosaurs thatare part of the group tetanurae, defined as closer to allosaur than to birds.

CARNOSAURUS
(pronounced KAR-no-SAWR-us) Carnosaurus (meaning: "flesh lizard") is a misspelling of Carnotaurus. Carnosaurus was named by paleontologist von Huene in 1929, from fragmentary fossil remains of a large theropod dinosaur. Carnosaurus is a nomen nudum (published without a proper or complete description); Carnosaurus is not a recognized dinosaur genus.

CARNOTAURUS
(pronounced KAR-no-TAWR-us) Carnotaurus (meaning: "flesh-eating bull") was an unusual-looking theropod dinosaur that was about 25 feet (7.5 m) long, weighing about 1 ton (1000 kg). This meat-eater had brow-horns (hence its name), extremely tiny arms (even smaller than those of Tyrannosaurids), and a long, thin tail. It may have had partial binocular vision (unlike most other dinosaurs) since the eyes were set facing slightly forwards. Carnotaurus lived during the Cretaceous Period, about 113 to 91 million years ago. Its almost complete fossilized skeleton, together with skin impressions (that reveal rows of bumps on rough skin), have been found in Patagonia, South America. It was named by paleontologist J. Bonaparte in 1985. The type species is C. sastrei.

CARPENTER, KENNETH
Kenneth Carpenter (1949 - ) is a paleontologist who works at the Denver Museum of Natural History (in Denver, Colorado, USA). Carpenter, Bryan Small, and Tim Seeber found the most complete Stegosaurus yet found in 1992, near Canon City, Colorado, USA. Carpenter named the dinosaurs Animantarx (Carpenter, Kirkland, Burge, and Bird, 1999), Cedarosaurus (Tidwell, Carpenter and Brooks, 1999), Gargoyleosaurus (Carpenter, Miles, and Cloward, 1998), Gojirasaurus (Carpenter, 1997), Maleevosaurus (Carpenter, 1992), Mymoorapelta (Kirkland and Carpenter, 1994), Niobrarasaurus (Carpenter, Dilkes, and Weishampel, 1995), Pectinodon (Carpenter, 1982). Carpenter has written many books on dinosaurs, including "Dinosaur Systematics," "Dinosaur Eggs and Babies," "The Dinosaurs of Marsh and Cope," and "The Morrison Formation - an Interdisciplinary Study."

Carrion
Bodies or parts of bodies of dead animals used as food by many scavenging animals.

Cartilage
A dense plastic like material which is strong but more flexible than bone.. It forms the majority of the skeleton of many primitive animals including the sharks. In humans, the nose and ears contain cartilage to stiffen them.

CASEA
Casea was a small, sail-less pelycosaur that lived during the early Permian period. It looked like a fat lizard; it had 4 short, sprawling legs, a long tail, a small head, a bulky body, a huge rib cage, and a large gut (needed to digest its food). This plant-eater ate tough plants, like horsetails and ferns. It had no teeth in its lower jaw, but had thick, peg-like teeth in the upper jaw. It also had small teeth on the palate itself (the roof of the mouth). Casea was about 4 feet (1.2 m) and may have weighed over 1,300 pounds (600 kg). Fossils of this synapsid have been found in France and the USA (Texas).

CASINERIA
Casineria kiddi, (meaning: "Cheese Bay" named for the Scotish Bay where the fossil was found) a newly found reptile from Scotland, may be the oldest reptile. This 8 inch (20.5 cm) long quadruped dates from about 340 million years ago. Most of its length was in its 5 inch (13 cm) long tail. This tiny reptile had five fingers on each hand.

CATHETOSAURUS
(pronounced ca-THEE-toh-SAWR-us) Cathetosaurus (meaning: "upright lizard") was a large, long-necked, quadrupedal, plant-eating dinosaur. This sauropod dates from the late Jurassic Period, about 156-145 million years ago. Its pelvic structure perhaps indicates that it could rear on its hind legs to eat leaves high in the trees (hence its name). This pelvis also has huge teeth marks in it (probably a theropod dinosaur that scavenged the carcass). Cathetosaurus is known only from scanty fossils found in Colorado, USA. It was named by paleontologist Jensen in 1988. The type species is C. lewisi. Cathetosaurus is a doubtful genus and may be the same as Camarasaurus.

CAUDAL
Caudal means of, near, or from the tail.

CAUDAL VERTEBRAE
Caudal vertebrae are the vertebrae in the tail - the tail bones.

CAUDIPTERYX zoui
(pronounced caw-DIP-ter-iks) Caudipteryx (meaning: "tail feather") was a 3 feet (1 m) tall, feathered theropod dinosaur found in the sediment of an ancient lake bed in China's Liaoning Province. It lived during the late Jurassic to early Cretaceous Periods (about 120 to 136 million years ago) and had asymmetrical feathers, indicating that it did not fly. The feathers were probably for insulation. Caudipteryx did not have a long tail like other theropod dinosaurs, but did have a generous tail fan of feathers up to 6 to 8 inches (15-20 cm) long. Caudipteryx may be the closest-known ancestor of birds.

CAVE LION
The cave lion (Panthera leo spelaea) was probably the biggest lion that ever lived. It was 25 percent bigger than lions today and was up to about 11.5 ft (3.5 m) long. This subspecies of lion lived in Europe (as far north as Denmark) until historical times; the last of these huge mammals lived until about 2,000 years ago in the Balkans (southeastern Europe). There are cave drawing of this huge feline. It probably hunted in a manner similar to that of today's lions.

CEARADACTYLUS
Cearadactylus was a pterosaur with a 13 feet (4 m) wide wingspan with protruding, interlocking teeth. It was not a dinosaur, but type of extinct, flying reptile from Brazil during the early Cretaceous period.

CEDAROSAURUS
(pronounced SEED-er-oh-SAWR-us) Cedarosaurus (meaning: "Cedar Mountain Formation lizard") was a sauropod dinosaur that lived during the early Late Cretaceous Period. It had a long neck, a long tail, and a small head. Fossils were found in Utah, USA. It was named by paleontologist Tidwell, Carpenter and Brooks in 1999. The type species is Cedarosaurus weiskopfae.

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