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

Naashoibitosaurus

Taxon: Hadrosaurinae

Name means: “Naashoibito lizard”

Pronounced: nah-ah-sho-ee-BEE-to SAW-rus

Length: 33 ft (10 m)

Time: Late Cretaceous, c. 65 mya

Place: New Mexico

Although paleontologist Jack Horner assigned this dinosaur to the genus Kritosaurus in 1992, Hunt and Lucas believe that the fossil skull came from a different kind of duckbill. Because of its unusual nasal arch, they argue that Naashoibitosaurus, as they named the hadrosaur in 1993, is a new and distinct genus.

Nanosaurus

Taxon: Unknown

Name means: “pygmy lizard”

Pronounced: NAN-uh-SAW-rus

Length: about 2 – 4 ft (60 cm – 1.2 m)

Time: Late Jurassic

Place: Utah, Colorado

This small but apparently fully-grown plant-eating dinosaur was described and named based on the discovery of an incomplete jaw bone in a sandstone slab. Fossil evidence for Nanosaurus is so limited that it is difficult to draw any more precise comclusions about the species. Named by Marsh in 1877, this is one of the smallest-known adult dinosaurs.

Nanotyrannus

Taxon: Tyrannosauridae

Name means: “pygmy tyrant”

Pronounced: NAN-uh-tye-RAN-us

Length: Relatively small

Time: Late Cretaceous, 68 – 65 mya

Place: Montana

The controversial Nanotyrannus was described as a small but fully-grown new tyrannosaur genus by Bakker, Williams and Currie in 1988. Other paleontologists disagree, claiming that the minute meat-eater is actually a juvenile member of a different, previously-described species of tyrannosaur. Although the skull on which the reconstruction is based was excavated in Montana in 1942, it was not until decades later that it was rediscovered in the basement of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

Nanshiungosaurus

Taxon: Theropoda Segnosauria

Name means: “Nanxiong lizard”

Pronounced: NAN-shee-UNG-guh-SAW-rus

Length: 13 ft (4 m)

Time: Late Cretaceous, 75 mya

Place: China

This bizarre-looking bipedal segnosaur was discovered in the Guangdong Province of China and named in 1979. Originally thought to be a small sauropod, Nanshiungosaurus is now recognized as a “lizard-hipped” dinosaur with a horny beak and toothless front jaw. Like other segnosaurs, this mysterious theropod combines the claws of a seeming meat-eater with the skull of an apparent herbivore.

Nedcolbertia

Taxon: Coelurosauria

Name means: “for Ned Colbert,” after paleontologist Dr. Edwin Harris Colbert

Pronounced: ned-kohl-BERT-tee-a

Length: about 10 ft (3 m)

Time: Early Cretaceous, 127 – 121 mya

Place: Colorado, Utah

Named in 1998 for one of the foremost small-theropod experts of the century, the coelurosaur called Nedcolbertia was described based on three partial skeletons excavated in the Cedar Mountain Formation. Lacking skulls and other key anatomy, these skeletons of a juvenile and two adults were too incomplete to provide conclusive comparison with better-known small theropods. Nedcolbertia may have resembled Ornitholestes, a Late Jurassic species, although the claws on this dinosaur’s slender hands are more robust than those of Ornitholestes, and their feet differ as well. Clearly a swift, bipedal runner, Nedcolbertia lacked the slashing toe-claw of dromaeosaurids and troodontids.

Nemegtosaurus

Taxon: Sauropoda

Name means: “Nemegt lizard,” after Mongolia’s Nemegt Basin

Pronounced: ni-MEG-tuh-SAW-rus

Length: about 39 ft (12 m)

Time: Late Cretaceous, c. 75 – 70 mya

Place: Mongolia, Late Cretaceous

Named in 1971, this plant-eater from China’s Gobi Desert may have been a member of the whip-tailed diplodocid branch of the giant, long-necked sauropod dinosaurs. Perhaps best known for having the only nearly complete skull ever found for a Late Cretaceous sauropod, Nemegtosaurus had large eyes, a light lower jaw and lance-shaped teeth.

Neosaurus

Name means: “unique lizard”

Pronounced: NEE-uh-SAW-rus

This dinosaur is now known as PARROSAURUS.

Neosodon

Taxon: Unknown

Name means: “new hunter” or “new kind of tooth”

Pronounced: NEE-oh-suh-don

Length: about 25 ft (7.5 m)

Time: Late Jurassic, 127 – 112 mya

Place: France

Neosodon has been suggested as an omnivorous dinosaur, with teeth similar to those of both the meat-eater Megalosaurus and the plant-eating Iguanodon. Many scientists insist that the unusual fossil tooth’s closest match can be found in the brachiosaurid branch of the long-necked sauropod browsers. The tooth in question was more than two inches tall and smooth and flat like the head of a spear. Neosodon was named in 1885.

Neovenator

Taxon: Theropoda, probably Allosauridae

Name means: “new hunter”

Pronounced: NEE-oh-ven-AYE-tor

Length: 25 ft (7.5 m)

Time: Middle Cretaceous, 127 – 112 mya

Place: England

Found on England’s Isle of Wight, the remains of this new theropod were fairly complete and demonstrate similarities to Allosaurus and Sinraptor. Named in 1996 by Hutt, Martill and Barker, Neovenator is the first undisputed allosaurid known from Europe.

Neuquensaurus

Taxon: Sauropoda Titanosauridae

Name means: “Neuquén lizard”

Pronounced; NAY-ken-SORE-us

Length: 33 – 49 ft (10 – 15 m)

Time: Late Cretaceous, c. 97.5 – 65 mya

Place: Argentina

Date: 1992

Discovered in the Neuquen Province of Argentina, this large titanosaur was an armored member of the long-necked, plant-eating sauropods, its skin bearing rounded protective plates and irregularly-shaped bony bumps to defend against the teeth and claws of predatory dinosaurs. This fossilized armor led scientists to initially mistake Neuquensaurus for an ankylosaur. Subsequent discoveries of similar armored titanosaurids suggest that the bony plates were common to the group. Neuquensaurus was formally named in 1992.

Ngexisaurus

Taxon: Theropoda, Coelurosauria

Pronounced: nuh-GEK-ei-SAW-rus

Length: Small

Time: Jurassic

Place: China

This small, three-toed theropod was probably a swift runner. Because Ngexisaurus has never been scientifically described, additional details about this dinosaur are as yet unknown.

Nigersaurus

Taxon: Sauropoda Diplodocoidea

Name means: “Niger lizard”

Pronounced: nee-ZHAYR-SAW-rus or NIE-juhr-SAW-rus

Length: 49 ft (15 m)

Time: Early Cretaceous, c. 144 – 127 mya

Place: Niger, Africa

This relatively primitive sauropod, first described in 1999, was found in the West African Republique of Niger. Because the skeleton was particularly well-articulated when it was discovered, the placement of the partial skull, neck, shoulder, forelimbs and hindlimbs was already mapped out for the paleontologists who studied and hoped to reconstruct the skeleton of the four-legged plant-eater. Nigersaurus had a wide, squared-off snout similar to that of South America’s Antarctosaurus. Its teeth form a straight, comb-like row across the upper and lower jaws. About 140 of these pencil-shaped teeth are exposed along the front edge of the jaw, but replacement teeth are arranged behind them, in rows up to seven teeth deep, for a total of nearly 600 teeth in the entire fossilized mouth. Some scientists say that the many replacement teeth indicate that Nigersaurus browsed on rough, course, low-lying vegetation which would quickly wear down a normal set of teeth.

Niobrarasaurus

Taxon: probably Anklyosauria Nodosauridae

Name means: “Niobrara lizard”

Pronounced: Nye-o-BRAH-ra-SAW-rus

Length: 16.5 ft (5 m)

Time: Late Cretaceous, 84 – 71 mya

Place: Kansas

Few details are known about this armored, four-legged plant-eater. Named in 1995 by Carpenter, Dilkes and Weishampel for the Niobrara Chalk Formation in Kansas where it was found, Niobrarasaurus appears to have been a nodosaurian ankylosaur.

Nipponosaurus

Taxon: Ornithopoda Hadrosauridae Lambeosaurinae

Name means: “Japanese lizard”

Pronounced: ni-PON-uh-SAW-rus

Length: Moderate

Time: Late Cretaceous, 88 – 86 mya

Place: Sakhalin Island

This poorly-known hollow-crested duckbill was named in 1936 based on the incomplete skeleton of a juvenile. The individual’s youth may explain the crest’s relatively modest size, as lambeosaur crests appear to have grown significantly as the dinosaur aged to adulthood. Nipponosaurus was one of a few very rare dinosaur discoveries on the Asian islands, although Sakhalin Island itself came under Soviet authority after the end of World War II.

Noasaurus

Taxon: Theropoda Coelurosauria

Name means: “Northwestern Argentina lizard”

Pronounced: NOH-uh-SAW-rus

Length: 6 ft (1.8 m)

Time: Late Cretaceous, c. 75 – 65 mya

Place: Argentina

This small carnivorous theropod stands out, in part, because of its “killer claw.” The second toe of the Noasaurus hindfoot had a sickle-claw adapted for slashing and tearing, but this appears to have evolved separately from the similar switchblade talon seen in the dromaeosaurs and troodontids. The structure of this dinosaur’s teeth and hind feet suggests that it may have preyed on smaller animals, such as birds or young sauropods, rather than large plant-eaters. Named in 1980, Noasaurus was the first coelurosaur ever found in South America.

Nodocephalosaurus

Taxon: Ankylosauria Ankylosauridae

Name means: “knob-headed lizard”

Pronounced: NOH-do-SEF-a-lo-SAW-rus

Length: Moderate

Time: Late Cretaceous, c. 71 mya

Place: New Mexico

Named for the many bulbous outcroppings on the specimen’s incomplete skull, this medium-sized ankylosaurid bore distinctive symmetrical skull ornamentation. Discovered in the Kirtland Formation of New Mexico, Nodocephalosaurus seems to have been a relatively primitive armored dinosaur, perhaps similar to the Asian Saichania. Nodocephalosaurus was named in 1999, and additional details will undoubtedly become known with further study.

Nodosaurus

Taxon: Ankylosauria Nodosauridae

Name means: “knob lizard”

Pronounced: NOH-duh-SAW-rus

Length: 20 ft (6 m)

Time: Middle Cretaceous, 113 – 98.5 mya

Place: Wyoming, Kansas

The first of the nodosaurids to be identified as part of that group, Nodosaurus was described by Marsh in 1889. Although similarly armor-plated for defense against predators, nodosaurids lacked the rigid vertebrae and tail-clubs of their ankylosaurid relatives. Bony armor plates covered this dinosaur’s sides and were arranged in a series of rows with interwoven patterns. A bulky dinosaur, Nodosaurus walked on four strong legs ending in powerful, five-toed clawed feet.

Notoceratops

Taxon: probably Ceratopsia

Name means: “southern horned face”

Pronounced: NOH-toh-SER-uh-tops

Length: less than 12 in (30 cm)

Time: Late Cretaceous

Place: Chubut Province, Argentina

Apparently a very small plant-eating ceratopsian, Notoceratops is thought to be the only horned dinosaur ever found in South America. It has been speculated that this species may actually have been a duckbilled hadrosaurid, but with only the fragment of a left-side jaw bone to study, very little about this tiny animal can be stated for certain.

Notohypsilophodon

Taxon: Ornithopoda Hypsilophodontidae

Name means: “southern hypsilophodont”

Pronounced: NOT-o-hip-si-LOF-o-don

Length: Small (probably juvenile)

Time: Late Cretaceous, c. 93.5 – 90 mya

Place: Argentina

Perhaps the first ornithopod dinosaur ever discovered in South America, Notohypsilophodon is known only from a partial, headless skeleton which may represent a small juvenile. All that can really be said about this dinosaur, based on early studies, is that it appears to lack iguanodont features. Excavated in the Bajo Barreal Formation of Patagonia, Notohypsilophodon was named by Martinez in 1998.