Cretaceous Park Trivia Quiz

Answer: Antarctosaurus

Antarctosaurus belonged to a group of dinosaurs called the sauropods. Members of this group can easily be distinguished from other dinosaurs due to their long necks and huge bodies.

Two Antarctosaurus femurs (thigh bones) are on display at the La Plata Museum in Argentina.

Answer: Triceratops

Triceratops is one of the most easily recognised prehistoric animals. It had a long horn above each eye and a smaller one on its nose. There was also a wide bony frill covering the neck.

Recently, some scientists have suggested that Triceratops was actually a juvenile form of another horned dinosaur, Torosaurus.

Answer: Psittacosaurus

The first fossils of Psittacosaurus were found in Mongolia in 1922. Since then, more than four hundred species have been discovered.

Skeletons of this creature are on display at The American Museum of Natural History, The Palaeontological Museum in Russia, The Academy of Science in Mongolia and the Department of Mineral Resources in Thailand.

Answer: Lambeosaurus

Lambeosaurus was named after Canadian palaeontologist, Lawrence Lambe. It belonged to the hadrosaur family, most of which had hollow crests on their heads. These crests came in a variety of different shapes and sizes and are believed to have been used for many different things such as attracting a mate, improving the sense of smell and increasing the volume of their roars.

Answer: Tyrannosaurus Rex

Probably the most famous dinosaur, Tyrannosaurus Rex was first discovered by Dr. Barnum Brown and named by Professor Henry Fairfield Osborn.

In 1990, the world's largest and most complete T-Rex skeleton was discovered on a farming ranch in South Dakota, USA. It was nicknamed "Sue" after the palaeontologist who found it. After a huge legal battle to decide who owned her, "Sue" was finally sold to the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History for $7.6 million and is now on display in the Great Hall.


The scientific names for the other dinosaurs listed are: Albertosaurus sarcophagus, Daspletosaurus torosus and Tarbosaurus bataar.

Answer: Velociraptor

In 1971 palaeontologists in Mongolia discovered a remarkable fossil: a Velociraptor tangled up with a Protoceratops. They had both died at exactly the same time.

Answer: Silvisaurus

Silvisaurus was one of the smaller ankylosaurs and didn't sport the impressive armour or tail-clubs of its larger relatives, Ankylosaurus and Euoplocephalus.

Instead, the armour consisted of flat, round plates on the back and spikes on the sides of its tail and above the front legs.

Answer: Maiasaura

The first Maiasaura nests were found in Montana in 1978. Many of them contained eggs and the skeletons of babies. When palaeontologists studied the fossils more closely, they discovered that the teeth of the youngsters were worn down, indicating that their parents had collected food and brought it back to the nest to feed them.

Answer: Ornithomimus

The first fossils of Ornithomimus were discovered in Colorado, USA, in 1889. It was similar in size to an ostrich with a small head and long slender legs, indicating that it was a fast runner, possibly capable of speeds close to fourty-three miles per hour.

Gallimimus = 'Hen Mimic'
Struthiomimus = 'Ostrich Mimic'
Dromiceiomimus = 'Emu Mimic'

Answer: Oviraptor

When the first Oviraptor skeleton was found, it was lying on top of a nestful of eggs. At first, palaeontologists thought the eggs belonged to another Asian dinosaur, Protoceratops.

However, it seems Oviraptor was named for a crime it never committed as recent studies had revealed that the eggs it was sitting on were actually its own.

Answer: Hypsilophodon

It was once thought that Hypsilophodon lived in trees but this now seems unlikely as it would not have been able to grasp the branches.

Answer: Carcharodontosaurus

Carcharodontosaurus lived alongside the sail-backed Spinosaurus, though its remains are only partial. They include teeth as well as parts of the skull, legs and spine.

Answer: Styracosaurus

The most remarkable feature of Styracosaurus was the spiky neck frill, each spike measuring approximately sixty centimetres long.

Scientists are unsure exactly what these spikes were used for, but many believe the spikes were probably some type of display device, being used to frighten predators and rivals, but also as a way of attracting a mate.

Answer: Deinonychus

This was one dinosaur you would NOT want to mess with! Deinonychus was fast and intelligent.

Deinonychus was discovered in Montana in 1964 by Dr. John Ostrom. The evidence for pack-hunting behaviour stems from the fact that this particular fossil consists of four nearly-complete Deinonychus skeletons together with the skeleton of the twenty-foot-long herbivore, Tenontosaurus.

Answer: Minmi

Minmi was discovered in southern Queensland in 1964. It is one of only a handful of dinosaurs to be discovered in Australia and holds the record for having the shortest name. It was a herbivore, feeding on small low bushes.