A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Appendix

Jainosaurus

Taxon: Sauropoda Titanosauridae

Name means: “Jain’s lizard”

Pronounced: JIEN-o-SAW-rus

Size: 59 ft (18 m)

Time: Late Cretaceous, 71 – 65 mya

Place: India

Although it was originally going to be called “Antarctosaurus,” Jainosaurus was ultimately named by Hunt, Lockley, Lucas and Meyer in honor of Indian paleontologist Sohan Lal Jain. It has been suggested that this long-necked sauropod may be a specimen of Titanosaurus.

Janenschia

Taxon: Sauropoda, probably Titanosauridae

Name means: “for Janensch,” after Werner Janensch

Pronounced: yuh-NEN-shee-uh

size: Uncertain, but more than 80 ft (24 m)

Time: Late Jurassic, 156 – 150 mya

Place: Tanzania

Perhaps the earliest known titanosaurid or giant browsing sauropods, this massive quadruped may have stretched as long as 130 feet from snout to tailtip. Its femur or hind leg bone alone was just under 5 feet tall --- as tall as a ten-year-old child. Janenschia was named in honor of German paleontologist Werner Janesch

Jaxartosaurus

Taxon: Ornithopoda Hadrosauridae Lambeosaurinae

Name means: “Jaxartes River lizard,” named for the Jaxartes (or Syr-Daria) River.

Pronounced: jack-SAHR-tuh-SAW-rus

size: 30 ft (9 m)

Time: Late Cretaceous, 91 – 83 mya

Place: Kazakhstan, China

Found near the river Jaxartes, the first specimen of this important duckbill showed no sign of the usual lambeosaur forehead crest. Later discoveries attributed to the Jaxartosaurus genus, however, did have helmet-shaped crests. Like other duckbilled dinosaurs, Jaxartosaurus featured a series of hinges and joints in its skull that may have functioned as a shock-absorber to protect the animal’s brain and to prevent tooth breakage from sharp impacts.

Jenghizkhan

Taxon: Theropoda

Name means: “supreme conqueror”

Pronounced: JEN-gis-kahn

Size: Large

time: Late Cretaceous

Place: Mongolia

Named for the Mongol leader Jenghis (Genghis) Khan, the dinosaur called Jenghizkhan is generally believed to have been a Chinese Mongolian relative of Tyrannosaurus or Tarbosaruus. Like those animals, this huge theropod was a ferocious meat eater with few natural predators. Many scientists consider this animal to actually be the same as Tarbosaurus.

Jiangjunmiaosaurus

Pronounced: JANG-JUN-mee-ou-SAW-rus)

This large, crested meat-eater is now considered to be the same animal as MONOLOPHOSAURUS.

Jingshanosaurus

Taxon: Prosauropoda Plateosauridae

Name means: “Jingshan lizard”

Pronounced: JING-SHAN-o-SAW-rus

Size: about 32 feet (10 m)

Time: Late Triassic, c. 206 – 180 mya

Place: China

Named for the town of Jingshan in Yunnan Province in China, this giant prosauropod is believed to by some experts to be an unusually large specimen of Yunnanosaurus.

Jobaria

Taxon: Sauropoda

Name means: “for Jobar,” a mythical creature

Pronounced: joh-BAH-ree-uh

Size: 60 – 70 ft (18 – 21 m)

Time: Early Cretaceous, 132 – 121 mya

Place: Niger (Africa)

The primitive, relatively short-necked sauropod Jobaria was named in 1999 by a team of 11 paleontologists. Its name comes from Jobar, a mythical creature which the African tribe of Tuaregs associated with the fossil bone beds of their region. A completely articulated adult skeleton and a partial skeleton and skull have allowed paleontologists to reconstruct about 95% of the animal. The rounded skull is smaller than that of Camarasaurus, with a short snout and spoon-shaped teeth.

Jubbulpuria

Taxon: Theropoda Coeluridae

Pronounced: juh-buhl-POOR-ee-a

name means: “for Jabalpur,” a district in eastern India

size: 4 ft (1.25 m)

time: Late Cretaceous

place: India

The small meat-eater belongs to the Coeluridae family of theropods. Only two back vertebrae have ever been found for Jubbulpuria, so details are sketchy.

Jurapteryx

Name means: “Jura wing”

Pronounced: ju-RAP-ter-iks

Probably Archaeopteryx.

“Jurassosaurus”

Originally named for the film Jurassic Park, this ankylosaur is now known as

TIANCHISAURUS.