Glossary CHI - CLA
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CHINDESAURUS
(pronounced CHIN-dee-SAWR-us) Chindesaurus (meaning: "Chinde point
lizard") was a theropod dinosaur about 6.5 feet (2 m) long, weighing
about 65 pounds (30 kg). This fast-moving biped lived in what is now Arizona
and New Mexico, USA, during the late Triassic Period, roughly 220 million
years ago. It was named by Murray and Long in 1985. It is known from a
partial skeleton and teeth. The type species is C. bryansmalli.
CHINGKANKOUSAURUS
Chingkankousaurus (meaning: "Ch'ing-kang-kou [village in Shandong
Province] lizard") was an tetanuran or tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur.
This large meat-eater weighed roughly 5700 kg. It lived during the late
Cretaceous Period, about 88.5-65 million years ago. Only a fossilized
right scapula (shoulder bone) was found in China. The type species is
C. fragilis. Chingkankousaurus was named by paleontologist Young in 1958.
CHIROSTENOTES
(pronounced KIE-roh-STEN-oh-teez) Chirostenotes (meaning: "narrow
hand") was an oviraptorid theropod dinosaur with a parrot-like head,
toothless beak, long legs, and long, narrow fingers. This meat-eater was
5.5-6.5 ft (1.7-2 m) long and weighed roughly 35 kg. It lived during the
late Cretaceous Period. Partial fossils were found in Alberta, Canada.
The type species is C. pergracilis. Chirostenotes was named by paleontologist
Gilmore in 1924.
CHLAMYDOSAURUS
Chlamydosaurus (meaning: "caped lizard") is a rare, modern-day
frilled lizard (not a dinosaur) native to New Guinea and North Australia.
Its frill is 7 - 14 inch (18-34 cm) flap of skin that completely circles
its head. It opens this brightly-colored frill to frighten enemies. Adults
are over 8 inches (20 cm) long. These climbing lizards live in trees in
humid forests and eat cicadas, ants, spiders and smaller lizards. It can
run quadrupedally and bipedally, with the front legs off the ground. Adult
females lay 8 to 14 eggs per clutch in Spring and Summer. Classification:
Class Reptilia, Order: Squamata, Family: Agamidae, Genus Chlamydosaurus,
Species kingii (named by Gray in 1825).
Chitin
Horny substance found in the outer skeletons of insects, crabs and other
arthropods, and the internal structures of some other invertebrates.
CHONDRITIC METEOR
Chondritic meteors are stony meteors with chondrules, tiny glass spheres.
These meteors are unchanged since their formation, shortly after the formation
of the sun. These meteors consist of elements also common in the Earth's
core.
CHONDROSTEOSAURUS
(pronounced kon-DROS-tee-oh-SAWR-us) Chondrosteosaurus (meaning: "cartilage
bone lizard") was a sauropod dinosaur (perhaps a Camarasaurid) with
a long neck, long tail, and bulky body. This plant-eater was perhaps 58
ft (18 m) long and weighed roughly 25000 kg. It lived during the early
Cretaceous Period, 131-119 million years ago. Two neck vertebrae were
found on England's Isle of Wight. The type species is C. gigas. Chondrosteosaurus
was named by paleontologist R. Owen in 1876. Chondrosteosaurus is a dubious
genus.
CHORDATA
Chordates are animals that have a notochord and gill clefts at some point
in their life. They have a hollow nerve cord that ends in a brain. Chordates
include the vertebrates, cephalochordates (e.g. amphioxus), and urochordates
(e.g. sea squirts).
CHUBUTISAURUS
(pronounced shoe-BOO-tee-SAWR-us) Chubutisaurus (meaning: "Chubut
[Province, Argentina] lizard") was an early titanosaurid sauropod
dinosaur with a long neck, long tail, and bulky body with a humped back.
This armored plant-eater was perhaps 75 ft (23 m) long and weighed roughly
39324 kg. It lived during the early Cretaceous Period, 113-97 million
years ago. Two parital skeletons were found in Argentina. The type species
is C. insignis. Chubutisaurus was named by paleontologist del Corro in
1974.
CHUNGKINGOSAURUS
(pronounced chung-KING-oh-SAWR-us) Chungkingosaurus (meaning: "Chingking
[a city in Sichuan Province, China] lizard") was a stegosaurid dinosaur.
This plated, quadrupedal plant-eater was about 12 ft (3.5 m) long and
weighed roughly 100 kg. It lived during the late Jurassic Period, 163-150
million years ago. Partial skeletons were found in China. The type species
is C. jiangbeiensis. Chungkingosaurus was named by paleontologists Dong,
Zhou, and Zhang in 1983.
CIONODON
(pronounced (see-OH-no-don) Cionodon (meaning: "column tooth")
is a dubious genus of duck-billed dinosaur (it is known from fossil teeth
that may actually be examples of other dinosaurs, including Bactrosaurus
and Thespesius). It was a plant-eater, an ornithischian from the late
Cretaceous period, about 97.5 to 65 million years ago. Fossil teeth were
found in Colorado, USA and Alberta, Canada. Cionodon was named by Cope
in 1874; the types species is C. arctatus.
CITIPATI
(pronounded CHITT-i-putt-ee) Citipati (meaning: "lord of the funeral
pyre" in Sanskrit) was an oviraptorid dinosaur that lived during
the late Cretaceous Period. This theropod is known from an almost complete
fossil found in the Djadokhta Formation, Ukhaa Tolgod, Mongolia. Khaan
was named by Clark, James M., Norell, Mark A. and Barsbold, Rinchen in
2001; the type species is C. osmolskae.
CLADE
A clade is a group of all the organisms that share a particular common
ancestor (and therefore have similar features). The members of a clade
are closely related to each other. A clade is monophyletic.
CLADISTICS
Cladistics is a method of classifying organisms based on common ancestry
and the branching of the evolutionary family tree. Organisms that share
common ancestors (and therefore have similar features) are grouped into
taxonomic groups called clades. Cladistics can also be used to predict
properties of yet-to-be discovered organisms.
CLADOGRAM
Cladograms are branching diagrams that depict species divergence from
common ancestors. They show the distribution and origins of shared characteristics.
Cladograms are testable hypotheses of phylogenetic relationships.
CLAOSAURUS
(pronounced CLAY-oh-SAWR-us) Claosaurus (meaning: "broken lizard")
was a primitive hadrosaurid, a duck-billed dinosaur. This plant-eater
was about 12 feet (3.5 m) long, weighing roughly 470 kg. Its femur (thigh
bone) was 69.70 cm long. It lived during the late Cretaceous Period, about
80 to 75 million years ago. Its headless fossilized skeleton was found
in Kansas, USA. Claosaurus was named by paleontologist O. Marsh in 1890.
The type species is C. agilis.
CLASS
In classification, a class is a group of related or similar organisms.
A class contains one or more orders. A group of similar classes forms
a phylum.
CLASSIFICATION
The classification of organisms helps in their study. Cladistics is a
method based on common ancestry; the Linnean system is based on a simple
hierarchical structure.
CLAW
Many dinosaurs were armed with claws on front and/or rear feet. These
claws varied widely in length, shape, placement, and function (defense
and/or offense). When alive, claws were sheathed in a horny, keratinous
material much like our fingernails, making the claw even bigger, longer
and sharper. Dromaeosaurids (Raptors) had a large sickle-like claw on
each rear, second toe.