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2011 was a year of tremendous insight in the world of paleontology: From the discovery of a dog-sized mini-carnivore, to new insights into how dinosaurs saw and smelled, to a proposal that Archaeopteryx was not an early bird but, instead, a non-avian dinosaur related more-distantly-than-we-thought to the first birds.
It was also a year in which we were reminded just how weird some of these ancient creatures would appear today. For your consideration, here are our top 5:
Thrinaxodon
Not quite a dinosaur, not quite one of the mammals that would rule in their wake: This probably-warm-blooded reptile looked like a badger, had fur, and a wet nose. And yet it lived alongside many of the dinosaurs we know of today. (A more famous mammal-like reptile often mistaken for a dinosaur is the sail-backed, lizard-like dimetrodon.)
Cryolophosaurus
Known informally as “Elvisaurus”, this crested dino’s bonry “headband” looks like the hair of a perfectly-coiffed 50’s-era rock & roll crooner. Could Cryolophosaurus belt out a few lines of “Love Me Tender”? No word yet from the research community…or Graceland.
Suchomimus
OK, technically, this very dino-looking creature isn’t a dinosaur either. Like dimetrodon, Suchomimus came from an earlier type of animal group called the archosaurs, which both dinosaurs and crocodiles descended from. What’s weird about Suchomimus is that it looks to be equal parts dino and croc.
Carnotaurus
If you’ve ever giggled at T.rex’s puny arms, you will absolutely bowl yourself over with laughter at the pansy pipes this otherwise-menacing carnivore looked to have been sporting. To date, only one specimen of this poorly-armed meat-eater has been found (perhaps the other dinosaurs laughed this poor character out of the tree of life.) All kidding aside, new insights reveal that Carnotaurus had an unusually straight tail and could probably chase down prey at a pretty good clip. Lately, Carnotaurus has been featured as an alternative baddie to T.rex in Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs and the new Stephen Speilberg TV series Terra Nova.
Stygimoloch
Hands-down winner for weirdest (and coolest) name-meaning, this “horned demon from the river of hell” had the largest AND boniest-known head of all the pachycephalosaurs (“thick-headed lizards”.) Fights between “rutting” males probably made that head-butting-sheep Hinterlands Who’s Who video look like an episode of The Care Bears by comparison.
posted by Peter McMahon
Award-winning science journalist Peter McMahon has been on dino digs in the Alberta Badlands and has written extensively about new discoveries in the world of paleontology for Discovery Channel and CTV.
