spécimen

Fossil specimen, CM 11422, of Nyctosaurus gracilis

Archaeopteryx lithographica, specimen displayed at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin. (This image shows the original fossil - not a cast.)

Holotype specimen of Hylaeosaurus armatus Mantell, 1833 (NMH R3775) from the Grinstead Clay Formation (late Valanginian) of Tilgate Forest, Sussex, southern England.

Holotype specimen of Hylaeosaurus armatus Mantell, 1833 (NMH R3775) from the Grinstead Clay Formation (late Valanginian) of Tilgate Forest, Sussex, southern England.

The nodosaurid dinosaur, Glyptodontopelta is mostly known from isolated osteoderms ("armor plates"). The specimen SMP VP-1580 (State Museum of Pennysylvania) is however, the most complete known specimen, comprising parts of the skull, hundreds of osteoderms and fragments. This specimen was discovered in 2003 by Warwick Fowler, in the Naashoibito Member of the Ojo Alamo Formation (Maatrichtian, Late Cretaceous) of the San Juan Basin, New Mexico, during an expedition led by Dr. Robert Sullivan.

Ornithocheirus simus. A–D holotype CAMSM B54428 (Albian, Cambridge Greensand), anterior part of the rostrum A left lateral view B respective line drawing C ventral view D respective line drawing E–H referred specimen CAMSM B54552 (Albian, Cambridge Greensand), anterior part of the rostrum E anterior view F respective line drawing G left lateral view H respective line drawing. Abbreviations: m – maxillae, pm – premaxillae. Arrows and numbers indicate alveoli or teeth and their respective position. Scale bar = 10 mm.

Photograph of Museo civico di scienze naturali di Bergamo (MCSNB) 2888, the holotype specimen of Eudimorphodon ranzii ZAMBELLI 1973, a basal pterosaur from the Norian (middle Upper Triassic) of the Italian Alps.[1] ↑ see fig. 8A in Silvio Renesto (2006): A reappraisal of the diversity and biogeographic significance of the Norian (Late Triassic) reptiles from the Calcare di Zorzino. In: Jerry D. Harris, Spencer G. Lucas, Justin A. Spielmann, Martin G. Lockley, Andrew R.C. Milner, James I. Kirkland (eds.): The Triassic-Jurassic Terrestrial Transition. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 37:445–456 (online)

Holotype specimen of Pterodactylus antiquus, BSP AS I 739. Original photograph by Steven U. Vidovic, David M. Martill in http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0110646 Modified by Matthew Martyniuk: Cropped, color adjusted. Top central portion of non-fossil-bearing slab digitally altered to remove portion of ruler.

Holotype specimen of Pterodactylus antiquus, BSP AS I 739. Original photograph by Steven U. Vidovic, David M. Martill in http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0110646 Modified by Matthew Martyniuk: Cropped, color adjusted. Top central portion of non-fossil-bearing slab digitally altered to remove portion of ruler.

Mounted skeleton of Acrocanthosaurus specimen NCSM 14345 at North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences

The skull of a Chasmosaurus mariscalensis, on display at the Texas Memorial Museum. Chasmosaurus was a Cretaceous ceratopsian of North America. This specimen was discovered in Brewster County, Texas.

An Ankylosaurus head (cast of specimen AMNH 5214), on display at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana. This is from a specimen collected in Custer County, Montana. The Ankylosauria were armored dinosaurs that lived from 122 million years ago to 66 million years ago in western North America, Europe, and East Asia. There were two subgroups: The Nodosauridae and Ankylosauridae. The Ankylosauridae contained six species, and a single subfamily -- the Ankylosaurinae. There 18 genus within the subfamily, of which Ankylosaurus is the best known. Ankylosaurus as the last of these, and lived 65.5 to 66.5 million years ago. Ankylosaurus was about 20.5 feet long, 5 feet wide, and 5.5 feet tall at the hip. It walked on all fours, with the rear legs longer than the front ones. They ripped vegetation, and swallowed it whole. Their defining feature was their armor. They body was covered in thick, heavy bony plates, and most of the plates were fused together to make them even stronger. Embedded in the skin were more knobs of bone, and the outer skin above these knobs covered in keratin (the same stuff fingernails are made of). Ankylosaurus had a tail club, which consisted of several large osteoderms fused to the last few tail vertebrae. Ankylosaurus was discovered in 1908.

PLATE II(IX). Fig. 1. Anchisaurus colurus MARSH. All extant specimens in approximately 1/5 nat. size. Connecticut red sandstone (Upper Triassic). Manchester, Conn., USA. MARSH's original specimen, preserved at the Yale Museum, New Haven, Conn. Scale bar: 11 cm. Skull: see Pl. I [VIII], forefoot: see Pl. III [X], scapula, hindleg, and pubis: see figures in the text.

PLATE II(IX). Fig. 1. Anchisaurus colurus MARSH. All extant specimens in approximately 1/5 nat. size. Connecticut red sandstone (Upper Triassic). Manchester, Conn., USA. MARSH's original specimen, preserved at the Yale Museum, New Haven, Conn. Scale bar: 11 cm. Skull: see Pl. I [VIII], forefoot: see Pl. III [X], scapula, hindleg, and pubis: see figures in the text.

PLATE II(IX). Fig. 1. Anchisaurus colurus MARSH. All extant specimens in approximately 1/5 nat. size. Connecticut red sandstone (Upper Triassic). Manchester, Conn., USA. MARSH's original specimen, preserved at the Yale Museum, New Haven, Conn. Scale bar: 11 cm. Skull: see Pl. I [VIII], forefoot: see Pl. III [X], scapula, hindleg, and pubis: see figures in the text.

The official postcard (of the American Museum of Natural History) says this is a Barosaurus, and that "this unique freestanding mount is the only Barosaurus on view in the world". This was true until the installation of another Barosaurus specimen at the Royal Ontario Museum. The adult specimen pictured is AMNH 6341, classified as Barosaurus lentus. The juvenile specimen (AMNH 7530), originally classified as a juvenile Barosaurus, has since been reclassified as a specimen of Kaatedocus siberi.