Glossary CLI - COM
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CLIDASTES
Clidastes was a mosasaur, a marine lizard that lived during the late Cretaceous
Period. This carnivore had a long snout full of sharp, backwards-curving
teeth, four paddle-like lilmbs (with webbed feet), and a long tail. Its
long, pointed skull was about 1.5 feet (45 cm)long. It was nor a dinosaur,
but another type of extinct reptile (order squamata, family mosasauridae).
CLUB MOSSES
Club mosses (Lycopsids) are primitive, vascular plants (pteridophytes)
that evolved over 375 million years ago (during the Devonian). Huge club
mosses went extinct during the Permian mass extinction; smaller ones lived
during the time of the dinosaurs. These plants live near moisture (in
order for their spores to germinate). These fast-growing, resilient plants
propagate with rhizomes (underground stems).
Coelacanth
This medium sized carnivorous fish evolved more than 360 million years
ago. They were prevalent in the Triassic period in both fresh water and
marine environments. Surprisingly this ancient fish still survives today
in the depths of the Indian ocean. It is approximately one and a half
metres long and weighs 50 kg.
COELODONTA
(pronounced See-low-DONT-ah) Coelodonta, the woolly rhino, is from the
Pleistocene epoch (which lasted from 1.8-0.1 million years ago) and survived
the last ice age. It belongs to the family Rhinocerotids, which includes
modern-day rhinos. This plant-eater was about 11 feet (3.5 m) long. It
had two horns on its snout, the lower one larger than the one between
its eyes (about 3 feet (1 m) long). It had long hair, small ears, short,
thick legs, and a stocky body. Its fossils have been found in Europe (Britain)
and Asia (eastern Siberia). Its shape is known from prehistoric cave drawings.
Family Rhinocerotidae.
Coelophysis
This small two legged carnivore lived in the Late Triassic period. It
inhabited river valleys and scrubland around the plains, hunting alone
or in small groups. At the end of the dry season Coelophysis formed large
packs to hunt. It was two to three metres long and weighed 35 to 40 kg.
COELUROIDES
(pronounced SEE-luh-OY-deez) Coeluroides (meaning: "hollow form")
is a poorly known dinosaur genus . It was a large, bipedal, meat-eating
dinosaur (a theropod) that lived during the late Cretaceous Period, about
88.5 to 83 million years ago. Fossilized tail vertebrae (the vertebrae
were 3.5-4.25 inches = 9-11 cm long) were found in India. The type species
is C. largus. Coeluroides was named by paleontologist von Huene in 1932.
COELUROSAURAVUS
(pronounced SEEL-oh-ro-SAWR-ah-vus) Coelurosauravus was a gliding reptiles
that lived during the late Permian period, going extinct in the enormous
Permian extinction, 250 million years ago. It is the oldest-known 'flying'
reptile. This extinct, lizard-like reptile was about one foot (30 cm)
long; its tail was about half the length of the body. It had a frill on
its head and four legs. Its hollow bones and two wings enabled it to glide
hundreds of feet from trees. It did not have feathers. Coelurosauravus
was described by Eberhard Frey, Hans-Dieter Sues, and Wolfgang Munk in
1997. Fossils have been found in eastern Germany, in Great Britain, and
in Madagascar. An earlier fossil of Coelurosauravus was found in 1910
by a copper miner, but was misidentified and broken apart by the German
paleontologist Otto Jaekel, who couldn't believe that a reptile from that
time could have wings. The type species is C. jaekeli.
COELUROSAURICHNUS
Coelurosaurichnus is an ichnogenus of dinosaur known only from small,
late Triassic bipedal footprints from the Quarziti Viola Zonate Formation
of Monte Pisano, Pisa, Italy. This meat-eating dinosaur dates from roughly
220 million years ago. Coelurosaurichnus was described by paleontologist
von Huene in 1941. Coelurosaurichnus may be the same ichnogenus as Grallator
(G. Leonardi and M.G. Lockley, 1995: A proposal to abandon the ichnogenus
Coelurosaurichnus Huene, 1941: J.Vert.Paleont. 15(3, Suppl.): 40A).
Coelurosaurs
A group of small to very large theropods, including Oviraptor and the
dromaeosaurs. Birds are thought to have evolved from small coelurosaurs.
At the other extreme, Tyrannosaurus is now thought to be a coelurosaur!
Coelurus
This two legged carnivore lived during the Middle Jurassic period. It
inhabited the forest eating lizards and small mammals. It was two metres
long with grasping hands and a long snout.
COLBERT, EDWIN
Edwin (Ned) Harris Colbert (September 28, 1905-November 15, 2001) was
an American vertebrate paleontologist who named Staurikosaurus (1970)
and Scutellosaurus (1981). Colbert discovered a Lystrosaurus (a dicynodont)
in Antarctica; this cemented the continetal drift theory. He also found
the huge dinosaur bonebeds at the Ghost Ranch in New Mexico in 1947. In
1955, Colbert suggested that Pachycephalosaurus' thick skulls may have
been used as battering rams. Colbert published many papers and books on
paleontology and dinosaurs, including Evolution of the Vertebrates (1955)
and Men and Dinosaurs: The Search in Field and Laboratory (1968) . Colbert
was the curator of the American Museum of Natural History and later, the
Museum of Northern Arizona. The dinosaur Nedcolbertia (1998) was named
to honor Colbert.
COLD BLOODED
Cold blooded (or ectothermic) animals rely upon the temperature and their
behavior (like sunning themselves) to regulate their body temperature.
Many reptiles are ectothermic. Many dinosaurs may have been cold-blooded.
COLORADISAURUS
(pronounced kol-oh-RAHD-uh-SAWR-us) Coloradisaurus (meaning: "lizard
from the Los Colorados formation" in Argentina) was a plateosaurid
dinosaur, a plant eater that lived during the late Triassic Period, about
225-219 million years ago. It was perhaps up to 10 to 13 feet long (3-4
m) as an adult, weighing roughly 290 kg. It had a small head, large eyes,
and a large body. Coloradisaurus may be the adult version of Mussaurus.
A fossil skull was found in Argentina and was named by paleontologist
Lambert in 1983 .
COLUMBOSAURIPUS
(pronounced kol-omb-oh-SAWR-uh-pus) Columbosauripus (meaning: "[British]
Columbia lizard foot") is a dinosaur known only from its footprints
(it is an an ichnogenus). It was a saurischian (lizard-hipped) dinosaur,
a bipedal, meat eater (a coelurosaur). Fossilized footprints of Columbosauripus
ungulatus were found in northeastem British Columbia, Canada (at the Dunvegan
Formation). It was named by J. E. Storer in 1975. Columbosauripus lived
during the late Cretaceous Period, roughly 99-93 million years ago.
Column Pine
A type of conifer that was tall and thin, offering little shade. It belonged
to the araucaria group.
COMET
A comet is a celestial body that orbits around the sun. Its tail of gas
and dust always points away from the sun.
COMMENSALISM
Commensalism is a situation in which two organisms are associated in a
relationship in which one benefits from the relationship and the other
is not affected much. The two animals are called commensals. The shark
and the pilot fish (and remora) are commensals - the pilot fish benefits
much more than the shark. Another example is vermiliads (plants living
on trees in rainforests) and frogs; the frogs get shelter and water from
the vermiliad but the vermiliad is unaffected. Commensalism is a type
of symbiosis.
COMODACTYLUS
(pronounced KO-mo-DAK-ti-lus) Comodactylus (meaning: "Como [Bluff]
finger") was a pterosaur, a flying reptile that lived during the
late Jurassic Period. It was not a dinosaur, but a very closely related
reptile. Comodactylus was named for the area where its fossil was found,
Como Bluff, Wyoming, USA. Very little is known about this pterosaur; it
is known only from a complete metacarpal (finger bone). Comodactylus was
a short animal, indicating that it was probably a rhamphorhynchoid (an
early pterosaur having a long tail, a short neck, and long, narrow wings).
The type species is Comodactylus ostromi. Comodactylus was named by paleontologist
Galton in 1981.