Cretaceous Parking Lot Trivia Quiz

Answer: Anatotitan

Anatotitan means 'Giant Duck'. In addition to its ability to walk upright on its hind legs, it could also walk on all fours. It used its solid mass of tightly interlocked teeth to grind up tough vegetation.

Aralosaurus was an Asian hadrosaur. A peculiar arched area on the nasal region of the skull suggests it may have had a head crest, similar to that of Saurolophus.

Alamosaurus and Aeolosaurus were both American sauropods. While they both lived at the same time, Alamosaurus was North American while Aeolosaurus lived in South America.

Answer: Segnosaurus

Segnosaurus belonged to an unusual dinosaur family called the Therizinosaurids. Though classed as Theropods, the group to which all carnivorous dinosaurs belonged, it's more likely that Therizinosaurs ate plants. Their most remarkable feature were their hand claws, which could measure up to seventy centimetres long.

Shuvuuia is known from two well-preserved skulls found in Mongolia in the late 1990s. It had strange, stubby arms, each with a single large claw. Palaeontologists believe these claws were used for digging into the nests of ants and termites.

Discovered in South America in 1980, Saltasaurus was the first sauropod known to have had armour. The armour consisted of small lumps of bone embedded in the skin. Since this discovery, several other armoured sauropods have been found.

Saurornitholestes was a small theropod discovered in Alberta, Canada, in 1974. Like many of its relatives, it may have had feathers.

Answer: Daspletosaurus

Tyrannosaurus and Daspletosaurus both belonged to the same dinosaur family, the Tyrannosaurids. Unlike most large theropods, Tyrannosaurs had very short arms with only two fingers on their hands. Though we don't know for sure how the arms were used, there are a number of theories, including grasping prey, helping the dinosaur rise from a lying position and grasping a female while mating.

Discovered in Pennsylvania, USA, in 1905, Diceratops was a close relative of the more famous Triceratops.

Deinonychus and Dromaeosaurus were relatively small theropods. They belonged to a family called the Dromaeosaurids (more popularly known as raptors).

Answer: Velociraptor

Since its discovery in Mongolia in the early 1920s, Velociraptor has become one of the most famous dinosaurs. It was made more famous by its appearance in the 'Jurassic Park' movies, though the real-life version was very different to its cinematic version.

Variraptor was the slightly larger relative of Velociraptor and the first Dromaeosaur to be discovered in Europe (France, 1992).

Valdosaurus was a small herbivore known from partial remains discovered in England in the late 1840s.

Vagaceratops was a large long-frilled ceratopsian discovered in Alberta, Canada, in 2001. Its name means 'Wandering Horned Face'.

Answer: Styracosaurus

Styracosaurus was a medium-sized ceratopsian, easily recognised by its spiky neck frill. It was first discovered in Alberta, Canada, in 1913.

Stygimoloch and Stegoceras were small herbivores belonging to the Pachycephalosaurids. They are distinguished by their domed skulls, some of which were up to eight inches thick.

Sinosauropteryx was a small feathered theropod discovered in Liaoning, China, in 1996.

Answer: Pentaceratops

Pentaceratops means 'Five Horned Face' because palaeontologists mistook its pointed cheek bones for horns.

Panoplosaurus and Pawpawsaurus were Nodosaurids. They had simple armour consisting of small spikes and bony knobs. They were early relatives of the more advanced Ankylosaurs, such as Pinacosaurus.

Answer: Nigersaurus

Discovered in Niger, Africa, in 1997, Nigersaurus had peculiar, very wide and flat jaws. This has led palaeontologists to suggest that there was a change in the vegetation and, therefore, the dinosaur's jaws evolved to take advantage of the new kinds of plants that were beginning to appear.

Noasaurus was a small theropod discovered in Argentina in 1980.

Neimongosaurus is a Therizinosaur known from two partial skeletons discovered in China in 1999 while Nomingia was a bird-like Oviraptorid discovered in Mongolia in 1994.

Answer: Giganotosaurus

For a century, palaeontologists believed Tyrannosaurus was the largest theropod. All that changed with the discovery of Giganotosaurus in Neuquén Province, Argentina, South America, in 1993, which proved to be at least three metres longer than the largest known T-Rex. Some palaeontologists now believe that another theropod, the sail-backed Spinosaurus, may, in fact, have been the largest.

Gasparinasaura was a tiny ornithopod also discovered in Neuquén Province, Argentina (1996).

Gondwanatitan was a sauropod, known from a single, partial skeleton discovered in Brazil in the mid 1980s.

Discovered in Mongolia in 1963, Gallimimus was similar to an ostrich in size and appearance. With its long, powerful legs, Gallimimus may have been able to run at up to seventy kilometres an hour.

Answer: Ankylosaurus

Discovered in Montana, USA, in 1906, Ankylosaurus was like a walking military tank. Its head, back and tail were covered with thick, bony shields. Even its eyelids were armoured. The only unarmoured areas were the legs and stomach. On the end of the tail was the main weapon: a huge lump of solid bone. When swung with great force, this club could easily shatter the legs of even the largest predators.

Known from a partial skeleton discovered in Argentina in 1991, Andesaurus was one of the largest sauropods. It's believed to have grown to around forty metres long.

Achelousaurus and Anchiceratops were both large North American ceratopsians, however, while Anchiceratops had long horns, Achelousaurus had a large bony lump on its nose and a pair of smaller lumps above the eyes.

Answer: Paris Parasaurolophus

Discovered in Canada and the USA in the early 1920s, Parasaurolophus was one of the most spectacular of the crested hadrosaurs. On the head of a male, the hollow tube-shaped crest could reach a length of up to one metre. The female's crest was smaller and more curved.

Discovered in China, Charonosaurus was one of the largest hadrosaurs, and closely resembled Parasaurolophus. It was named after Charon, who, in Greek mythology, took the souls of the dead across the River Styx to the Underworld.

Corythosaurus had a crest shaped like a dinner plate that was cut in half. Like other crested hadrosaurs, the size and shape of its crest depended on age and gender.

At a length of fifteen metres, Lambeosaurus was the largest crested hadrosaur. It had a hollow axe-shaped crest with a solid spike pointing backwards.