Glossary BEE - BOR
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BEELEMODON
Beelemodon (meaning: " tooth") was a wolf-sized theropod dinosaur
(a tetanurid). It was a bipedal meat-eater with long legs. It lived during
the late Jurassic Period, about 125 million years ago. It is only known
from teeth and some bones found in Como Bluff, Wyoming, USA. Beelemodon
was named by paleontologist Bakker in 1997 (it is a nomen nudum.
BEIPIAOSAURUS
(pronounced bay-pyow-SAWR-us) Beipiaosaurus (meaning: "Beipiao [China]
lizard") was a plant-eating theropod dinosaur with primitive feathers
(filamentous integumentary structures up to 70 mm long). This biped lived
in what is now Beipiao, China during the mid-cretaceous period, about
124 million years ago. It was named in 1998 by paleontologist Xu, Tang
Zhilu and Wang Xiaolin.
Belemnite
A soft bodied, squid-like carnivore that lived in the sea. It caught small
fish and marine organisms with its tentacles and ate them with its beak-like
mouth. It had had hooks on its tentacles instead of suckers. Common in
the waters of the Jurassic period, it is now extinct.
BELLUSAURUS
(pronounced BEL-uh-SAWR-us) Bellusaurus (meaning: "beautiful lizard")
was a sauropod dinosaur about 16 feet (5 m) long, weighing roughly 756
kg. It was a quadrupedal plant-eater with spoon-shaped teeth and nostrils
on the sides of its head. It lived in what is now China during the mid-Jurassic
Period, about 188-163 million years ago. It was named by paleontologist
Zhiming Dong in 1988.
Bennettite
The name for a group of ancient plants with a bare central trunk topped
by a crown of leaves. Similar in appearance to the cycad, these plants
thrived on the plains in the Triassic and Jurassic periods and became
extinct at the end of the Cretaceous period.
BENNETTITALEANS
Bennettitaleans, also called cycadeoids, are primitive plants (gymnosperms)
that resemble cycads (but they are not cycads), but have different methods
of reproduction. Bennettitaleans lived throughout the Mesozoic Era. Examples
of bennettitaleans include Williamsonia (Jurassic through end Cretaceous),
Williamsoniella (Jurassic through end Cretaceous), and Zamites (Triassic).
BESANOSAURUS
Besanosaurus (meaning: "Besano [Lombardy, N. Italy] lizard")
was a large ichthyosaur (a marine reptile, not a dinosaur) from the middle
Triassic period. This carnivore ate fish, cephalopods, and marine reptiles.
Besanosaurus was an early member of the Family Shastasauridae. Besanosaurus
named by Dal Sasso and Pinna in 1996. The type species is B. leptrhynchus.
BETASUCHUS
(pronounced BAIT-oh-SOOK-us) Betasuchus (meaning: "second crocodile")
was a theropod dinosaur (a Lambeosaurine hadrosaur) about 10-13 feet (3-4
m) long. It was a bipedal meat-eater that lived in what is now the Netherlands
during the late Cretaceous Period, about 70-65 million years ago. The
type species is B. sicinskii. It was named by paleontologist von Huene
in 1932, but was originally described by H. Seeley and thought to be Megalosaurus.
This is a doubtful genus since it is so poorly known (only a single femur,
thigh bone, was found and it was in poor condition).
BIENOSAURUS
Bienosaurus was an armored, plant-eating dinosaur. This ankylosaur (family
Scelidosauridae) was found in the Lufeng Basin, China. The type species
is B. lefengensis; it was named by paleontologist Dong Zhiming in 2001.
BIHARIOSAURUS
(pronounced bi-HAHR-ee-oh-SAWR-us) Bihariosaurus (meaning: "Bihor
(Romania) lizard") was an iguanodontid dinosaur about 10 feet (3
m) long. This ornithopod was a bulky plant-eater and is known only from
fossil teeth and bone fragments. It lived in what is now the Romania during
the late Jurassic Period, about 150-138 million years ago. The type species
is B. bauxiticus. It was named by paleontologist Marinescu in 1989.
BINOMIAL NOMENCLATURE
Binomial nomenclature is a system developed by Linnaeus for giving organisms
scientific names in which each organism has a genus name (always capitalized)
and a species name (not capitalized). For example, people are Homo sapiens.
Dinosaurs are the only animals that are commonly known by their scientific
name, e.g., Tyrannosaurus rex.
BIOMASS
A biomass is the total amount of living material in an area. It is calculated
by adding up the weights of all of the individuals.
Bipedal
An habitually two-footed creature.
Bird
Birds are feathered, egg-laying animals with a high metabolism which enables
most species to fly. The first birds appear in the Jurassic period. The
group of reptiles that the birds evolved from is still a matter for debate
among palaeontologists.
Bird-hipped
Bird-hipped dinosaurs, or Ornithschia are one of the two main sub divisions
of the dinosaurs. They were all herbivores. They evolved in Triassic period
and the group died out with the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous
period.The name derives from the distinctive arrangement of the pelvis.
BLASTOID
Blastoids were a class of echinoderms that were very common during the
Mississippian period (about 360 to 325 million years ago). These extinct,
nut-shaped animals had spiny skin and radial symmetry. They had a stem
which held the calyx (cup), which was topped with bristle-like arms.
BLIKANASAURUS
(pronounced bli-KAHN-ah-SAWR-us ) Blikanasaurus (meaning: "Blikana
lizard") was a prosauropod dinosaur about 10-16 feet (3-5 m) long,
weighing roughly 560 kg. This quadrupedal plant-eater and is known only
from a partial hindlimb. It lived in what is now South Africa during the
late Triassic Period, about 225-215 million years ago. The type species
is B. cromptoni. It was named by paleontologists Galton and van Heerden
in 1985.
BOLIDE
A bolide is a meteor, asteroid, or comet that hits the Earth and explodes.
BOREOGOMPHODON
Boreogomphodon was a common tetrapod that lived during the Triassic Period.
It was an herbivore gomphodont cynodont, a relatively advanced synapsid
that led to the true mammals. This amniote was not a dinosaur. Fossils
have been found in Virginia, USA.
BOROGOVIA
(pronounced bor-oh-GOH-vee-a ) Borogovia (named for the borogoves, creatures
in Lewis Carroll "Jabberwocky" poem in "Through the Looking
Glass" - "All mimsy were the borogoves..." ) was a troödontid
theropod dinosaur about 6.5 feet (2 m) long, weighing roughly 13 kg. It
was a bipedal, meat-eater known only from partial leg fossils. It lived
in what is now Mongolia during the late Cretaceous Period, about 80-70
million years ago. It was described by paleontologist Osmolska in 1987.