Glossary N
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NAASHOIBITOSAURUS
(pronounced nah-ah-sho-ee-BEE-to-SAWR-us) Naashoibitosaurus (meaning:
"Naashoibito lizard") was a plant-eating dinosaur that lived
during the late Cretaceous period. This hadrosaur (duck-billed dinosaur)
was about 30 ft (10 m) long. A fossil (only a skull) has been found in
New Mexico, USA. Naashoibitosaurus was named by Hunt and Lucas in 1993.
The type species is N. ostromi. Naashoibitosaurus may be a variant of
Kritosaurus navajovius.
Nanantius
A primitive, carnivorous bird that lived in the Early Cretaceous period.
Nanantius was a scavenger and about the size of a present day black bird
but had a pelvic structure very different from that of modern birds.
NANOFOSSIL
Nanofossils are microscopic fossils that are very abundant, widely distributed,
and time-specific (because of their high evolutionary rates). They are
very useful index fossils.
NANOSAURUS
(pronounced NAN-oh-SAWR-us) Nanosaurus (meaning: "dwarf lizard")
was a small bipedal plant-eater from the Jurassic Period (156-145 million
years ago). It was about 4 feet long (120 cm) and 1.5 feet tall (46 cm).
Nanosaurus is known from a jawbone found in western North America. Nanosaurus
was an ornithischian dinosaur named by paleontologist Othniel C. Marsh
in 1877.
NANOTYRANNUS
(pronounced NAN-oh-tie-RAN-us) Nanotyrannus (meaning: "tiny tyrant")
was a bipedal meat-eater, a theropod from the late Cretaceous Period (68-65
million years ago). It was about 16 feet long (5 m), had a large head,
long legs with three-toed feet, short arms with two-fingered hands, a
short, thick neck, large jaws with sharp teeth, narrow hips, and a slim
tail. Nanotyrannus was a tyrannosaurid dinosaur named by paleontologists
M. Williams, R. Bakker, and P. J. Currie in 1988 from a skull only 22
inches (57.2 cm) long found in Montana, USA in 1942. It may be a juvenile
Tyrannosaurus rex. The only known skull has been CAT-scanned by Bakker.
He thinks that Nanotyrannus is an adult, but many other paleontologists,
like Thomas D. Carr disagree, and think the Nanotyrannus is a juvenile
Tyrannosaurus rex.
NANYANGOSAURUS
Nanyangosaurus is an iguanodontid dinosaur found in the Sangping Formation
of Neixiang, Henan, China. This plant-eating dinosaur lived during the
Cretaceous Period. Nanyangosaurus zhugeii was named by Xu, Zing, Xi-Jin
Zhao, Jun-Chang Lu, Wang-bo Huang, Zhang-Yang Li and Zhi-Ming Dong in
2000, but is unpublished.
NARES
Nares are the openings in the skull for the nostrils. (The singular of
nares is naris.)
NATURAL SELECTION
Natural selection is the process in which some organisms live and reproduce
and others die before reproducing. Some life forms survive and reproduce
because they are better suited to environmental pressures, ensuring that
their genes are perpetuated in the gene pool.
NAUTILOIDS
Nautiloids are primitive, thick-shelled, carnivorous marine invertebrates,
cephalopod. The shell is divided into chambers. The nautiloid head has
well-developed eyes and tentacles that can grasp prey. They swim by jet-propulsion;
they squirt water out from the body cavity. They evolved during the Silurian
and are still around today, but are uncommon (only a single genus survives).
They were most abundant during the Paleozoic Era, roughly 400 million
years ago. Some Nautiloids evolved into Ammonoids.
Nautilus
Cephalopod molluscs that possess a smooth, coiled shell consisting of
about 36 chambers. The animals live in the last chamber. They adjusts
their buoyancy by flooding and expelling water from the chambers and propelled
themselves by squirting water like a squid. They are active predators
catching small fish with their tentacles. The Nautiloids were most abundant
during the Palaeozoic Era - only a single genus survives today, in deep
water in the Pacific.
NEDCOLBERTIA
(pronounced ned-kohl-BERT-ee-ah) Nedcolbertia (named to honor the paleontologist
Edwin 'Ned' Harris Colbert) was a small, meat-eating dinosaur that lived
during the early Cretaceous period, roughly 127 to 121 million years ago.
It was a biped that walked on two long legs. It was about 10 feet (3 m)
long. This coelurosaurid theropod is known from three partial skeletons
(no skulls) found in the Yellow Cat Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation
Utah, USA. Nedcolbertia was found by C. H. Whittle, and named by J. I.
Kirkland, B. B. Britt, Whittle, S. K. Madsen, and D.L. Burge in 1998.
The type species is N. justinhoffmani.
NEMEGTOSAURUS
(pronounced NAY-meg-toe-SAWR-us) Nemegtosaurus was a sauropod dinosaur
from the late Cretaceous Period, about 75-70 million years ago. This quadrupedal
plant eater had a long neck, a long, small head with lance-like teeth,
and a long tail. It was named by Nowinski (in 1971) for the Nemegt Basin
in the Gobi desert of southern Mongolia, where the skull was found. The
type species is N. mongoliensis. Since only the skull has been found,
very little is known about this dinosaur.
NEOCERATOSAURIA
(pronounced NEE-oh-sir-at-oh-SAWR-ee-ah) Neoceratosauria (meaning: "new
horned lizards") was a group of small to medium-sized meat-eating
dinosaurs, most of which had horns on their head. Neoceratosaurs had four
fingers on each hand and a bipedal (two-legged) walk. These theropods
lived during in Gondwana (the southern continent, which included South
America, Africa, India, Australia, and Antarctica) during the early Jurassic
Period through the Cretaceous Period, roughly 180-71 million years ago.
The clade Neoceratosauria was named by paleontologists F. Novas in 1991.
Some Neoceratosaurs include Ceratosaurus (pictured above), Carnotaurus,
Majungatholis, Indosuchus, and many others.
NEOCOMIAN EPOCH
The Neocomian epoch was the early (lower) part of the Cretaceous Period,
about 144 to 127 million years ago.
NEOGENE
The Neogene (24 million to 1.8 million years ago) was the later part of
the Tertiary Period. It is divided into the Miocene Epoch (24 million
to 5 million years ago, when many mammals appeared, including the horses,
dogs, bears, South American monkeys, apes in southern Europe, and Ramapithecus;
also, modern birds appear) and the Pliocene Epoch (5 million to 1.8 million
years ago, when the first hominids (australopithecines) developed, modern
forms of whales appeared, and Megalodon swam the seas).
NEOGNATHAE
The Neognathae (meaning: "new jaw") are birds . They include
most flying birds plus swimming and diving birds like penguins. Neognaths
evolved during the Late Cretaceous Period, about 70 million years ago.
They are grouped together taxonomically based on palate (jaw) structure.
(Compare to Palaeognathae.)
NEORNITHES
Neornithes (meaning: "new bird") is the clade of modern birdsthat
have feathers, a beak covered in horn, and a four-chambered heart. This
clade includes the recent common ancestor of modern-day birds and all
of the descendants.
NEOTENY
Neoteny (meaning: "new stretch") is a method of reproduction
in which the an offspring is produced while an organism is still in, or
maintains many characteristics of, its larval or juvenile stage. Salamanders
exhibit neoteny; they maintain gills and other larval features when they
are reproductively mature. Neoteny is also known as pedogenesis or paedogenesis.
NEOVENATOR
(pronounced NEE-oh-ven-AY-tor) Neovenator (meaning: "new hunter")
salerii, a 24.5-26 ft (7.5-8 m) long early Cretaceous theropod similar
to (but smaller than) Allosaurus was found on the Isle of Wight. It was
named by paleontologists Hutt, Martill and Barker in 1996.
NICHOLLS, ELIZABETH
Elizabeth (Betsy) L. Nicholls is a paleontologist and the Curator of Vertebrates
at the Royal Tyrrell Museum, Alberta, Canada. Dr. Nicholls studies Triassic
period marine reptiles (especially Ichthyosaurs) from North America. Nicholls
received her Ph.D. from the University of Calgary, Canada. Nicholls and
Jack M. Callaway are the editors of the book, "Ancient Marine Reptiles,"
1997. Nicholls has named the ichthyosaur genera Metashastasaurus (Nicholls
and Makoto Manabe, 2001) and Parvinatator (Nicholls and Brinkman, 1995).
NIGERSAURUS
(pronounced nee-ZHAER-SAWR-us) Nigersaurus was a primtive, long-necked,
plant-eating dinosaur from the early Cretaceous Period, about 135 million
years ago. This sauropod was about 49 feet (15 m) long and had 600 teeth
in its wide mouth. Nigersaurus was excavated by a team of paleontologists
led by Paul Sereno. It was named in 1999 by Sereno, Beck, Dutheil, Larsson,
Lyon, Moussa, Sadler, Sidor, Varricchio, G. P. Wilson and J. A. Wilson.
Fossils were found in the Sahara desert in Niger, Africa. The type species
is N. taqueti.
NIPPONOSAURUS
(pronounced ni-PON-oh-SAWR-us) Nipponosaurus (meaning: "Japanese
lizard") was a small, duck-billed dinosaur from the late Cretaceous
Period, about 88-86 million years ago. This bipedal plant eater had a
small, bony head crest, a short neck, a long, a toothless beak, and a
stiff tail. Fossils of this alambeosaurine hadrosaur were found ion Sakhalin
Island. Nipponosaurus was named by Nagao in 1936. The type species is
N. sachalinensis. Nipponosaurus may be tha same as Jaxartosaurus.
NOASAURUS
(pronounced NOH-ah-SAWR-us) Noasaurus (meaning: "N.O.A. [= Northwestern
Argentina] lizard") was a small, meat-eating dinosaur from the late
Cretaceous Period, about 75 to 65 million years ago. This noasaurid theropod
was about 6 ft (1.8 m) long. Noasaurus had a sickle-shaped claw on the
second toe of each foot; this claw had a very wide range of movement,
even wider than that of the dromaeosaurids like Deinonychus. Noasaurus
is the earliest-known coelurosaur. Partial fossils were found in Argentina,
South America and named by paleontologists Bonaparte and Powell in 1980.
The type species is N. leali.
NODOSAURIDS
(pronounced NODE-oh-SAWR-ids) Nodosaurids were one division of the ankylosaurs,
a group of armored, plant-eating, ornithischian dinosaurs with spikes
running along the sides of their bodies, no tail clubs and pear-shaped
heads. Acanthopholis, Hylaeosaurus, Minmi, Nodosaurus, Panoplosaurus,
and Sauropelta were nodosaurids.
Nodosaur
The nodosaurs were a group of four-legged, ornithsichian dinosaurs of
the Cretaceous period. They were armoured with bony plates and spikes
down the back and flanks but lacked the heavy tail clubs of their close
relations the ankylosaurs.
NOMEN DUBIUM
A genus (or species) name is described as a nomen dubium if its classification
is not certain; it does not fulfill the stringent criteria set by the
International Code of Zoological Nomenclature amd mot recognized as as
legal scientific name. Often, this is because there is insufficient fossil
material available. For example, Acanthopholis, Altispinax, and Trachodon
are dinosaur genera, each of which is described as nomen dubium.
NOMEN NUDUM
A genus name is described as a nomen nudum if it has been insufficiently
described or lacks a type species. For example, Arkansaurus, Coelurosaurus,
and Likhoelesaurus are genera, each of which is described as nomen nudum.
NORMAN, DAVID
David B. Norman is a British paleontologist who has extensively studied
ornithischian clades, especially the genus Iguanodon. He noted that Iguanodon's
beak structure would let it eat a wide range of plants, not simply soft
plants as was thought before. He also realized that Iguanodon's tail was
held horizontally, suggesting that it walked on four legs as an adult.
He has also written many books about dinosaurs, including The Illustrated
Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs (1985).
NOTHOSAURS
(pronounced NOTH-oh-sawrs) Nothosaurs were fish-eating reptiles with four
flipper-like limbs. They lived both on land and in the water during the
Triassic Period. These streamlined swimmers were not dinosaurs. Nothosaurs
had webbed feet, and elongated bodies and necks. Nothosaurs (Order Nothosauria)
includes the family Nothosauridae (Nothosaurus, Lariosaurus, and Ceresiosaurus)
and the family Pistosauridae (Pistosaurus - more like a pleasiosaur).
NOTHRONYCHUS
(pronounced noth-RON-e-cus) Nothronychus (meaning: "sloth-like lizard")
was a theropod dinosaur that lived during the late Cretaceous Period (94-90
million years ago). It was about 4.5 to 6 m long and may have weighed
900 kg. Nothronychus was a therizinosaur; it had a long neck and may have
had feathers. Nothronychus is known from roughly half of one fossil skeleton
found in New Mexico, USA, North America (this is the first found that
was not from Asia). Nothronycus was found by a team of paleontologist
led by Doug Wolfe (of the Mesa Southwest Museum in Mesa, Arizona, USA).
NOTHOSAURUS
(pronounced NOTH-oh-SAWR-us) Nothosaurus was a nothosaur, a reptile with
flipper-like limbs that lived both on land and in the water (like a modern-day
seal). It was about 10 feet (3 m) long and had a long, thin, pointed tail
with a fin on its upper portion. This tail must have been used for swimming.
It had five long, webbed toes. The forelimbs were shorter than the rear
limbs. The jaws were long, thin and full of pointed, interlocking teeth
(good fish traps). Nothosaurus lived during the entire Triassic Period.
Fossils have been found in what is now Europe (Germany, the Netherlands,
and Switzerland), North Africa, and Asia (China, Israel, and Russia).
It was not dinosaur, but another type of reptile. Classification: Order
Nothosauria, Family Nothosauridae.
NOTOCERATOPS
(pronounced note-oh-SER-a-tops) Notoceratops ("southern horned face")
was a ceratopsian (a frilled, horned, quadrupedal, herbivore dinosaur
with a beak) known only from a late Cretaceous (83-73 million years old)
jaw bone. It was found in Argentina, South America, and was named by paleontologist
Augusto Tapia in 1918.
NOVAS, FERNANDO E.
Fernando E. Novas is an Argentinian paleontologist from the Museum of
Natural History in Buenos Aires. He named Frenguellisaurus (1986), conamed
Abelisaurus (with J. F.Bonaparte, 1985), and conamed Unenlagia (with Puerta,
1997).
NQWEBASAURUS
Nqwebasaurus was a meat-eating dinosaur that lived during the early Cretaceous
period. This coelurosaurid theropod had a very large claw on the first
digit (finger). Seventy percent of a skeleton (nicknamed 'Kirky') was
found in the Kirkwood Formation in the Algoa Basin, Eastern Cape, South
Africa. Nqwebasaurus was named by paleontologists/geologists Billy J.
de Klerk, Catherine A. Forster, S. Sampson, A. Chinsamy, and Callum F.
Ross in 2000. The type species is N. thwazi. This is the first dinosaur
with a click sound in its name. Nqwebasaurus thwazi (pronounced n-KWE-bah-SAWR-us
TWAH-zee - to pronounce the q, pull your tongue off the roof of your mouth
to produce a click on the 'q'). Nqwebasaurus means 'Nqweba lizard' - Nqweba
is the Xhosa [a language similar to Zulu that is spoken by the Bantu peoples
of Africa] name for the Magisterial District of Kirkwood, where this dinosaur
was found. Thwazi is an old Xhosa word for a fast running messenger (an
almost mythical meaning:, according to Billy de Klerk, who named Nqwebasaurus)
Kirkwood is a small citrus farming village in the Sundays River valley
about 30 miles (50 km) north of the coastal city of Port Elizabeth.
NUROSAURUS
Nurosaurus, also called Nuoerosaurus, was a long-necked, long-tailed plant-eater
(a sauropod) about 85 feet (26 m) long. Nurosaurus was named by paleontologist
Dong in 1992. Fossils were found in China. The type species is N. qaganensis.
This genus is a nomen nudum (it is lacking a formal description).
NUTHETES
Nuthetes destructor was a small meat-eater from the middle Jurassic. Nuthetes
was named by paleontologist Owen in 1854. Fossils were found in Europe.
Owen is a dubious genus; it is probably a small Megalosaurus destructor
(a theropod).