Glossary CHA - CHI
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CAE - CAR - CEN - CHA - CHI - CLI - COM - CRA - CTE
CHALK
Chalk is a soft, white type of limestone (a sedimentary rock). It consists
mostly of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) from ancient, microscopic, single-celled
marine invertebrate shells. This type of rock is very porous, soft (a
hardness of 3 on the Mohs scale), and crumbly. The chalk used to draw
with is actually gypsum (calcium sulfate, CaSO4-2H2O)
CHAMPSOSAUR
(pronounced CHAMP-so-SAWRS) Champsosaurs were early lizard-like reptiles
that lived in water. (Subclass Diapsida, Order Choristodera)
CHAMPSOSAURUS
(pronounced CHAMP-so-SAWR-us) Champsosaurus was a long-jawed early reptile,
a champsosaur that lived during the late Cretaceous period through the
Eocene period. This fish-eater was about 5 feet (1.5 m) long, and lived
in rivers and swamps. It had powerful jaws in a very long, thin, toothed
snout, four short legs, and a long tail which it used to propel itself
in the water. Fossils have been found in Europe and North America. It
was not a dinosaur. (Subclass Diapsida, Order Choristodera)
CHANGTUSAURUS
Changtusaurus (also called Changdusaurus, Chendusaurus, and Chengdusaurus)
was a stegosaurid dinosaur that lived during the late Jurassic period.
This plant-eater walked on four columnar legs. It had plates running along
its back, spikes on its tail and no tail club. Fossils were found in the
Changdu basin in China. The type species is C. laminaplacodus. Changtusaurus
was named by Zhao in 1983 Very little is known about this genus.
CHANARESUCHUS
Chanaresuchus (meaning: "Chañares [the formation in Argentina in
which it was found] crocodile") was a small archosaur that lived
during the mid Triassic Period, toughly 225 million years ago. This quadruped
diapsid was about 3.5 feet (1 m) long, had teeth set into sockets, a pointed
snout, and a very long tail. Chanaresuchus was not a dinosaur, but another
type of archosaur.
CHARONOSAURUS
(pronounced shar-OWN-oh-SAWR-us) Charonosaurus was a long-crested, duck-billed
dinosaur that lived during the very late Cretaceous Period. This beaked
plant-eater is known only from a partial skull found in the Yuliangze
Formation in China.. The type species is P. jiayinensis; it was named
by Godefroit, Zan and Jin in 2000. Charonosaurus means"Charon's lizard"
Charon was the person in Greek mythology who ferried people over the river
Styx on their way to hell.
CHASMATOSAURUS
(pronounced kas-MAT-oh-SAWR-us) Chasmatosaurus (formerly known as Proterosuchus)
is the earliest-known Proteroschian, a very primitive thecodont that lived
during the early Triassic Period, about 250 million years ago. This socket-toothed,
carnivorous reptile had a low-slung body, long jaws with backwards-facing
teeth, a sprawling gait, four short legs with five toes on each foot,
and a long tail. Its upper jaw turned down at the tip. It had teeth on
its palate (a primitive feature). It was about 6.5 ft (2 m) long. This
archosaur was an ancestor of the dinosaurs. Chasmatosaurus may have hunted
herbivore Dicynodonts like Lystrosaurus on land but may have also hunted
fish in the water. Fossils have been found in China and South Africa.
Classification: Suborder Archosauria, Order Thecodontia, Suborder Proterosuchia,
Genus Chasmatosaurus
CHASMOSAURUS
(pronounced KAS-mo-SAWR-us) Chasmosaurus was a rhinoceros-like dinosaur
that was 16-26 feet (5-8 m) long and weighed about 3.5 tons (3220 kg).
Its femur (thigh bone) was 75 cm long. It was a three horned, plant-eating,
frilled ceratopsian dinosaur that lived late in the late Cretaceous Period,
about 76 to 70 million years ago. The type species is C. belli.
Cheirolepidiaceae
A conifer family which appeared in the Late Triassic, becoming an important
feature of Mesozoic floras, and died out by the end of the Cretaceous.
They were widespread in tropical and subtropical environments and inhabited
many different niches occupied by angiosperms today, from large trees
to small succulents.
CHELONIA
(pronounced chee-LOW-nee-an) Chelonians (order Testudines) include the
turtles, tortoises, and terrapins. These reptiles have a shell that encloses
the body and a solid-roofed skull. The earliest chelonians date from the
late Triassic Period, over 200 million years ago. Classification:
Kingdom Animalia (animals)
Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Vertebrata (vertebrates)
Superclass Tetrapods (four limbs)
Class Reptilia (reptiles)
Subclass Anapsida
Order Testudines (=chelonia: turtles, tortoises, and terrapins).
CHICXULUB CRATER
The Chicxulub crater at the tip of the Yucatán Peninsula is an impact
crater that dates from 65 million years ago. It is 120 miles wide and
1 mile deep. It is probably the site of the K-T meteorite impact that
caused the extinction of the dinosaurs and other groups of organisms.
CHIALINGOSAURUS
(pronounced CHEE-ah-LING-ah-SAWR-us) Chialingosaurus (meaning: "Chialing
[a river in China] lizard") was a dinosaur with a narrow skull. It
was a stegosaurid that had plates and spikes on its back. This plant-eater
lived during the middle Jurassic Period, about 163-150 million years ago.
It may have been up to 13 feet (4 m) long, weighing perhaps 150 kg. Its
femur (thigh bone) was 69 cm long. Very incomplete fossils of this quadrupedal
were found in China. It was named by paleontologist Hu in 1964. The type
species is C. kuani.
CHIAPPE, LUIS
Luis M. Chiappe is a vertebrate paleontologist, Chairman of the Department
of Vertebrae and Paleontology, and Associate Curator of the Natural History
Museum of Los Angeles County. Chiappe has studied dinosaurs and the origins
of birds. In 1997, Chiappe discovered a cache of thousands of 80-million-year-old
fossilized titanosaur eggs at Auca Mahuevot in Patagonia, Argentina (titanosaurs
are huge, long-necked, plant-eating dinosaurs). Many of the eggs contained
fossilized dinosaur embryos. Chiappe wrote the books, "Tiniest Giants"
(2001) and "SuperCroc" (2001).
CHILANTAISAURUS
(pronounced chee-LAWN-ti-SAWR-us) Chilantaisaurus was a large theropod
(probably an Allosaurid) dinosaur from the early Cretaceous Period, about
113 to 97 million years ago. It may have been up to 10 feet (3 m) long,
weighing perhaps up to 4 tons. It had enormous arms and very large claws;
the first finger had a huge, upwards-curving, killer claw. The upper leg
bone was longer than the lower leg bone and the toes were short (with
unfused toe bones); these features indicate that Chilantaisaurus was not
that fast a runner. Incomplete fossils of this bipedal meat-eater were
found in Inner Mongolia, China and Siberia, Russia. It was named by paleontologist
Hu in 1964; it was named after lake Chilantai in Mongolia). The type species
is C. tashuikouensis.
CHIN, KAREN
Karen Chin is a paleontologist and ichnologist (studying trace fossils
- coprolites in particular). In 1998, Dr. Chin studied the first fossilized
Tyrannosaurus rex dung (coprolites) that contained bits of Triceratops
frill. She has also found traces of dung beetle tunnels in another dinosaur
coprolite. Chin received her Masters Degree from Montana State University
(working with Jack Horner), and her Ph.D. from University of California,
Santa Barbara (in 1996).
CHIMERA
(pronounced ki-MEER-eh) A chimera is a fossil that is composed of more
than one species. Chimeras were named for a mythological, fire-breathing
monster that had a lions' head, a goat's body, and a snake's tail.