Glossary DEI - DIA
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DAC - DEI - DIC - DIN - DOR - DRY
DEINOS
Deinos is Greek for "fearfully great or terrible."
Deinosuchus
This huge, four legged carnivore was a type of giant terrestrial crocodile
which lived in the Late Cretaceous period. It was approximately 15 metres
long and weighed two tonnes.
DELTADROMEUS
(pronounced DEL-ta-DROME-ee-us) Deltadromeus (meaning: "delta runner"
) was a speedy, bipedal, meat-eating dinosaur (an early coelurosaur).
This theropod was about 26 feet (8 m) long and dates from the late Cretaceous
Period. A partial skeleton was found in the Kem Kem region of Morocco,
North Africa, by Gabrielle Lyon in 1995. It was named by paleontologists
Sereno, Duthiel, Iarochene, Larsson, Lyon, Magwene, Sidor, Varicchio,
and Wilson in 1996. The type species is Deltadromeus agilis.
DELTASAURUS
(pronounced DEL-tah-SAWR-us) Deltasaurus (meaning: "river delta lizard")
was an early amphibian (NOT a dinosaur). This extinct quadrupedal carnivore
had very good hearing in the air. Deltasaurus was named by Cosgriff in
1965. Fossils have been found in Australia. Classification: Order Temnospondyli,
Superfamily Rhytidosteoidea, Family Rhytidosteidae.
DELTATHERIDIUM
(pronounced DEL-tah-ther-ID-ee-um) Deltatheridium was an early mammal
from the late Cretaceous Period, about 80 million years ago. This opossum-like
quadruped was about 6 inches (15 cm) long and had a long tail. Its had
sharp canine teeth and its cheek teeth were wide with triangular crowns.
Deltatheridium was an insectivore that may have also eaten small reptiles
and perhaps scavenged. Deltatheridium had characteristics of a very early
marsupial (pouched mammal), and was a possible kangaroo ancestor. Fossils
have been found in Mongolia
DENTARY
The dentary is the main bone of the lower jaw; it holds the lower teeth.
DENTICLES
Denticles are small, pointed projections on the teeth of some dinosaurs.
DENVERSAURUS
(pronounced DEN-ver-SAWR-us) Denversaurus (meaning: "Denver lizard")
is a doubtful genus; this plated, quadrupedal plant-eater (an ankylosaur)
is probably probably Edmontonia. Denver refers to the Denver Museum of
Natural History, where the fossil specimen was stored before it was identified.
It was named by Robert Bakker in 1988.
DEPOSIT
A deposit is a natural accumulation of something, like minerals or fossils.
Derived characters
Features of an organism that have changed from their ancestral state.
Biologists establish patterns of ancestry on the basis of shared derived
characters - the more derived characters two organisms share, the more
closely related they are likely to be. For example, humans and other apes
have all lost the prehensile primate tail, and are considered more closely
related to one another than to monkeys.
DERMAL BONE
A dermal bone is a bone that forms within an organism's skin. These bones
function as protective armor.
DERMODACTYLUS
(pronounced DER-mo-DAK-til-us) Dermodactylus (meaning: "skin finger")
was a pterodactyloid pterosaur, a flying reptile from the late Jurassic
period, about 153 to 144 million years ago. Dermodactylus was about 3
feet ( 1m) long. Dermodactylus was named by Othniel Marsh in 1881; the
type species is D. montanus. Dermodactylus is a dubious genus. Fragmentary
fossils, only wing metacarpal (finger) fragments, have been found in Wyoming,
USA.
DESMATOSUCHUS
(pronounced des-mat-oh-SUE-kus) Desmatosuchus (meaning: "link crocodile")
was a ancient armored aetosaur (it was a reptile but not a dinosaur) that
had spines running along its body. The spines were up to 18 inches (45
cm) long (the longest spines were on the shoulders). It superficially
resembled a crocodile with spikes, but had a much shorter, beak-like snout.
It was about 16 feet (5 meters) long. This armadillo-like animal had a
bulky body, four short legs, a long tail, and bony armor on its back,
tail, and part of its belly. It was an herbivore (plant-eater) that had
weak, peg-shaped teeth. Desmatosuchus lived during the late Triassic Period
(roughly 230 million years ago). Fossils have been found in Texas, USA.
Desmatosuchus was named by Case in 1920. Classification: class Reptilia
(reptiles), infraclass Archosauromorpha, family Stagenolepididae, genus
Desmatosuchus, type species D. haploceros.
DEUTEROSAUROPODOPUS
(pronounced DOOT-er-oh-sawr-oh-POD-oh-pus) Deuterosauropodopus (meaning:
"Second sauropod foot") was a sauropod dinosaur from the early
Jurassic Period known only from fossilized footprints. It was a long-necked,
long-tailed plant-eater. It had nail-like claws on its feet and and an
enlarged claw on each big toe. The fossil footprints were found near Lesotho,
South Africa may belong to the sauropod Vulcanodon.
Devonian
The Devonian period runs between 406 and 360 million years ago in the
middle of the Paleozoic era. It is separated into three epochs - the Early
Devonian period (406 to 387 MYA), the Middle Devonian period (387 to 374
MYA) and the Late Devonian period(374 to 360 MYA).
DEWCLAW
A dewclaw is a functionless claw that doesn't hit the ground. Some dinosaurs
had dewclaws.
DIADECTES
Diadectes is a genus of land-dwelling, quadrupedal, plant-eaters that
lived during the Permian period, about 280-250 million year ago. This
stegocephalian had a reptilian body, but an amphibian-like skull (similar
to the skull of Seymoria). (Diadectomorphs)
DIANCHUNGOSAURUS
(pronounced DYE-en-JUNG-oh-SAWR-us ) Dianchungosaurus (meaning: "Dianchung,
China lizard") was an early ornithischian dinosaur. It was an herbivore
with no teeth in the front of the mouth, widely spaced rounded teeth on
the sides of the mouth, and three large canine teeth. This lightly-built
plant-eater had large nostils. Dianchungosaurus lived during the early
Jurassic Period, about 208-188 million years ago. Very incomplete fossils
have been found in China. The type species is D. elegans. Dianchungosaurus
was named by Young in 1982. Due to sparse fossils remains, this is a dubious
species.
DIAPSID
Diapsids include all the reptiles (except turtles) and birds. They are
distinguished by having two holes in the rear upper part of their skulls
and two holes behind the eyes (anorbital fenestra).
DIATRYMA
Diatryma were human-sized, heavily-built, flightless extinct birds that
date from the Tertiary to the early Eocene (38 million to 2 million years
ago). They were about 7 feet (2.1 m) tall, had thick legs with clawed
feet, tiny wings, and huge, powerful, hooked beaks on a big head. They
were probably carnivores (although there is some controversy about this)
and perhaps the top predators in what is now western Europe and North
America, in an environment that was a tree-covered plain. They nested
on the ground. The small, fast, carnivorous mammal Cladosictis may have
driven it to extinction by eating its eggs and chicks. Diatryma gigantea
was named by paleontologist E.D. Cope in 1876 from a New Mexico fossil.
(Subclass Neornithes, Order Gruiformes)