Dinosauria Translation and Pronunciation Guide H

Ben Creisler

Hadrosaurus Leidy 1858 "bulky lizard"

HAD-ro-SAWR-us (Gr. hadros "bulky, stout, strong, powerful" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named to indicate "a huge herbivorous saurian...allied to the great extinct Iguanodon." Leidy (1868) characterized Hadrosaurus as a "bulky vegetable feeder," noting that the name "would appear more appropriate for these powerful dinosaurs" than his earlier proposed name Trachodon, which he thought might have priority for the genus. The incomplete type specimen poses problems for establishing a useful taxonomic definition for this historically important name. Ornithopoda Hadrosauridae Hadrosaurinae L. Cret. NA.

Halticosaurus von Huene 1908 "nimble lizard"

HAL-tik-o-SAWR-us (Gr. haltikos "good at leaping, nimble" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) probably named for the exceptional length and slenderness of the metatarsals associated with the remains. Theropoda Halticosauridae L. Trias. Eur. [nomen dubium]

Haplocanthosaurus Hatcher 1903 "simple-spined lizard"

hap-lo-KAN-tho-SAWR-us (Gr. haplos "single, simple" + Gr. akantha "spine" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for "neural spines of the posterior cervicals and anterior dorsals absolutely simple instead of deeply bifurcated as in all other known genera of sauropoda." Most classifications identify Haplocanthosaurus as a cetiosaurid, based on the unbifurcated vertebrae that are the source of the name. However, Upchurch (1995) has proposed that the genus is related instead to Camarasaurus (which had bifurcated vertebrae), a classification rejected by a number of scholars (pers. corres. Ken Carpenter). (Replacement name proposed for supposedly preoccupied Haplocanthus Hatcher (because of Haplacanthus Agassiz 1845); conserved by ICZN Opinion #1633.) Sauropoda Cetiosauridae (?or Camarasauridae) L. Jur. NA.

Haplocanthus Hatcher 1903 "simple spine"

HAP-lo-KAN-thus (Gr. haplos "single, simple" + Gr. akantha "spine" + -us) (m) referring to "neural spines of the posterior cervicals and anterior dorsals absolutely simple instead of deeply bifurcated as in all other known genera of sauropoda." [= Haplocanthosaurus]

Harpymimus Barsbold & Perle 1984 "Harpy mimic"

HAR-pi-MIEM-us (Gr. harpyiai "the Harpies" (mythical birdlike monsters) + Gr. mimos "mimic") (m) named to indicate a birdlike ornithomimid with teeth. Theropoda Ornithomimosauria L. Cret. Mongolia

Hecatasaurus Brown 1910 "Hecate's lizard"

HEK-a-ta-SAWR-us (Hekata, goddess of magic and enchantment in classical mythology + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) proposed replacement name for preoccupied Limnosaurus Nopsca. [= Telmatosaurus]

Heishansaurus Bohlin 1953 "Black Mountain (China) lizard"

HAY-SHAHN-SAWR-us (Chin. hei "black" + Chin. shan "mountain" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for Heishan "Black Mountain," geographical feature of Gansu Province, central China, where the fossil was found. Ankylosauria Anklyosauridae L. Cret. China [nomen dubium]

Helopus Wiman 1929 "marsh foot"

HEL-o-pus (Gr. helos "marsh" + Gr. pous "foot") (m) alluding to its broad-soled hind feet (resembling round Scandinavian snowshoes, also used in summer to walk on boggy ground), supposedly an indication of a swamp-living, aquatic life-style for giant sauropods. Wiman depicted the genus as feeding while completely submerged in deep water, now known to be a physiological impossibility. (Preoccupied by Helopus Wagler 1832. See Euhelopus.) [= Euhelopus]

Heptasteornis Harrison & Walker 1975 "seven-towns bird"

hep-TAS-tee-ORN-is (Gr. hepta "seven" + Gr. asteos (asty) "town" + Gr. ornis "bird") (m) named for Szentpeterfalva ("seven towns"), Hatszeg, Transylvania, Romania, where found. Originally identified as a large owl. Theropoda Coelurosauria Troodontidae L. Cret. Eur. [nomen dubium]

Herrerasaurus Reig 1963 "Herrera's lizard"

he-RER-a-SAWR-us (Herrera + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named to honor Don Victorino Herrera, rancher and guide in the Ishigualasto region, San Juan Province, northwest Argentina, who led paleontologist to the site where the first specimen was found. Theropoda Herrerasauria Herrerasauridae L. Trias. SA

Heterodontosaurus Crompton & Charig 1962 "different toothed lizard"

HET-e-ro-DON-to-SAWR-us (Gr. heteros "other, different" + Gr. odont- (odous) "tooth" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named "in reference to the differentiated dentition, unexpected in an ornithischian[/predentatan]...for incisor-like, canine-like and post-canine-like teeth." Ornithopoda Heterodontosauridae E. Jur. SAfr.

Heterosaurus Cornuel 1850 "different lizard"

HET-e-ro-SAWR-us (Gr. heteros "other, different" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) because its teeth indicated it was neither Megalosaurus nor Iguanodon, and the necessary material to give a clear generic characterization was lacking; some of the type specimen is crocodilian. [= Iguanodon]

Hierosaurus Wieland 1909 "sacred lizard"

HIE-er-o-SAWR-us (Gr. hieros "sacred" (or hieron "temple") + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) The fragmentary specimen from the Niobrara of western Kansas had "dermal plates characterized by deep and broad horn shield sulci," supposedly paralleling turtle armor. The reason for the name "sacred lizard" is unclear, however. Ankylosauria Nodosauridae L. Cret. NA. [nomen dubium]

Histriasaurus Dalla Vecchia 1998 "Istria lizard"

HIS-tree-uh-SAWR-us (Lat. Histria, old name for Istria + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named to indicate a dinosaur from the Istrian peninsula region of northwest Croatia, on the Adriatic Coast, found in the Early Cretaceous (Late Hauterivian/Early Barremian) lower section of marine limestone outcrops at the village of Bale. Based on a nearly complete posterior dorsal vertebra (not yet officially numbered for the collection of the Museum of the Municipality of Bale, Croatia) with a neural arch that is three times the height of the centrum and relatively narrow in lateral view; the vertebra also has a complex suprapostzygopophysial laminer pattern and a hyposphene-hypantrum complex. Histriasaurus can be identified as a diplodocimorph probably related to Rebacchisaurus, but more primitive "because of the presence of the hyposphene-hypantrum in dorsal vertebrae."

Type Species: Histriasaurus boscarollii [bos-kah- ROL-ee-ie] Dalla Vecchia 1998: for Dario Boscarolli, who discovered the site where the fossil was found. Sauropoda Diplodocimorpha Early Cretaceous (Hauterivian/Barremian) Eur. [added 10/99]

Homalocephale Maryanska & Osmolska 1974 "level head"

HOM-a-lo-SEF-a-lee (Gr. homalos "level, even, plane" + Gr. kephale "head") (f) named for the flat skull roof. Pachycephalosauria Homalocephalidae L. Cret. CAs.

Hoplitosaurus Lucas 1902 "shield-carrier lizard"

ho-PLIET-o-SAWR-us (Gr. hoplites "armed foot-soldier, shield (hoplon) carrier" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for its armor. Ankylosauria Nodosauridae L. Cret. NA. [= ?Polacanthus]

Hoplosaurus Seeley 1881 "armored lizard"

HOP-lo-SAWR-us (Gr. hoplon "weapon, shield" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for its dermal armor. Ankylosauria Nodosauridae L. Cret. Eur. [nomen dubium]

Hortalotarsus Seeley 1894 "young-bird tarsus"

HOR-ta-lo-TAR-sus (Gr. hortalis "young fowl" + Gr. tarsos "tarsus") (m) named for "the preservation of the intermedium [in the tarsus] as a separate ossification not yet blended with the astragalus," just as in embryonic birds. According to Broom (1911), "Originally most of the skeleton was in the rock, and it was regarded by the farmers as the skeleton of a Bushman, but it is said to have been destroyed through fear that a Bushman skeleton in the rock might tend to weaken the religious belief of the rising generation." [= Massospondylus]

Huabeisaurus Pang & Cheng 2000 "North China lizard"

hwah-bay-SAWR-us (Chin. Huabei "North China" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named to indicate a dinosaur found in North China (Huabei), an administrative mega-region of China. Huabeisaurus is a very large advanced sauropod (around 20 m (67 ft) long), known from 2 teeth and a nearly complete postcranial skeleton (Holotype: HBV-20001 (Shijiazhuang University of Economics, Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China)), found in the Late Cretaceous (?Campanian) Huiquanpu Formation, Kangdailiang, Zhaojiagou Town, Tianzhen County, Shanxi Province northern China. The cervical vertebrae are opisthocoelous (hollow behind) with a wide, flat ventral flute, pleurocoels are wide and deep, neural spines bifurcated; dorsal vertebrae are opisthocoelous with high, unbifurcated neural spines; caudal vertebrae are amphicoelous (concave at both ends, but deeper behind than in front) with unbifurcated neural spines and Y-shaped chevrons; humerus/femur ratio: .78/1; radius/humerus ratio: .77/1; tibia/femur ration: 75/1. The teeth are peg-like, with a 3 to 1 ratio between tooth crown and tooth root. Comparison with other Asian sauropods indicates that Huabeisaurus represents not only a new genus, but a new family.

Type species: Huabeisaurus allocotus [a-LOK-o-tuhs]Pang & Cheng 2000: "unusual" to indicate that "the new species has special significance for its characteristics and geological horizon." Sauropoda Huabeisauridae Late Cretaceous (Campanian) Asia [added 12-2000]

Huayangosaurus Dong, Tang & Zhou 1982 "Sichuan lizard"

HWAH-YAHNG-o-SAWR-us (Huayang + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for Huayang, old name for Sichuan Province, where the fossil was found; name inspired by Jin Dynasty (265--317 AD) book Hua Yang Guo Zhi. Stegosauria Huayangosauridae M. Jur. China

Hudiesaurus Dong 1996 "butterfly (vertebra) lizard"

HOO-dyeh-SAWR-us (Chin. hudie "butterfly" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for "the wing-like process on the neural spine of the anterior dorsal vertebra." A gigantic sauropod known from a nearly complete anterior dorsal vertebra (76 cm. high) with a neural spine that is transversely wide, plate-like in outline and divided into a U-shaped cleft on the top. The name-sake wing-like process arises between the base of the postzygapophysis and the lateral margin of the neural spine. Unique among sauropods is a short sword-like process projecting forward from the front of the neural spine. Attributed to Hudiesaurus are a complete right forelimb (2.4 m. tall) with many of the foot bones preserved, including a large, well developed "thumb" claw, and four serrated spatulate teeth, similar to those of Mamenchisaurus sinocanadorum. Assuming the dinosaur resembled Mamenchisaurus in other details, the living animal may have been from 29-30 meters (96-100 ft.) long, making it the largest sauropod known from Asia. Discovered in the Late Jurassic upper Kalazha Formation of the Qiketia area, Turpan Basin, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwestern China. Type species: Hudiesaurus sinojapanorum [SIE-noh-JAP-a-NOR-um] Latin for "of the Chinese and Japanese" for the nationalities of the members of the expedition that found the specimen. The Chinese-Japanese character form of the species name can also mean "central part in character" and refers as well to the Chunichi-Shinbun (Central Part Newspaper Company of Japan), the Japanese company that supported the expedition. Sauropoda Mamenchisauridae L. Jur. China

Hulsanpes Osmolska 1982 "Khulsan (Mongolia) foot"*

HOOL-sahn-pees (Khulsan + Lat. pes "foot") (m) named to indicate a fossil theropod foot from Khulsan, Mongolia. Theropoda Dromaeosauridae. L. Cret. Mongolia

Hylaeosaurus Mantell 1833 "Wealden lizard"*

hie-LEE-o-SAWR-us (Gr. hylaios "belonging to the forest [Wealden]" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for the lower Cretaceous Wealden deposit at Tilgate Forest. In an 1832 presentation before the Geological Society, Mantell originally explained the name as "forest lizard," alluding to Tilgate Forest where the first specimen was unearthed. However, in later published works he gave the meaning as "Wealden lizard," establishing the use of hylaeo- as a kind of pun in 19th century paleontology for the geological term "Wealden" (Hylaeochampsa Owen "Wealden crocodile," Hylaeochelys Lydekker "Wealden turtle," etc.). (The British geologist Peter Martin invented the name "Wealden" in 1828 for the Early Cretaceous sands and clays found in the once-forested Weald ("wood") region of southern England.) Ankylosauria Nodosauridae E. Cret. Eur.

Hypacrosaurus Brown 1913 "near-topmost lizard"

hi-PAK-ro-SAWR-us (t.L.m.: HIP-a-kro-SAWR-us) (Gr. hypakros "nearly the highest (in rank, ability), placed near the top, close to first" + Gr. sauros "lizard")* (m) Brown described Hypacrosaurus as "the largest of all known Trachodonts, approaching in size the great carnivorous dinosaur Tyrannosaurus." The new genus was therefore nearly equal to the "tyrannt king" of dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus, a comparison apparently expressed in the proposed generic name, explained by Brown as "nearly the highest" lizard. (Greek hypakros was used in the sense of rank.) The Latin type species name altispinus al-ti-SPIEN-us "high-spined" refers to the dorsal vertebrae, which were "characterized by extremely high, massive spines," the tallest in any known hadrosaur. Ornithopoda Hadrosauridae Lambeosaurinae L. Cret. NA.

Hypselosaurus Matheron 1869 "high lizard"

HIP-sel-o-SAWR-us (Gr. hypselos "high, lofty" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) Matheron explains: "Because of the tall stature this animal must have had [based on its long limb bones], I give it the name Hypselosaurus...probably an aquatic animal of the large crocodilian family. The absence of the medullary canal in the long bones does not allow one to think of it as terrestrial as was the Iguanodon." Sauropoda Titanosauridae L. Cret. Eur. [?nomen dubium]

Hypsibema Cope 1869 "high step"

hip-si-BEEM-a (Gr. hypsi "high" + Gr. bema "step") (n) named for the metatarsals in the foot, which supposedly indicated, according to Cope, that "the Hypsibemas walked more directly on the toes than did the Hadrosauri." Ornithopoda Hadrosauridae Hadrosaurinae L. Cret. NA [nomen dubium (?Hadrosaurus)]

Hypsilophodon Huxley 1869 "Hypsilophus tooth"

hip-si-LOF-o-don (Hypsilophus [old name for a type of iguana with a high (hypsi) crest (lophos) along its back] + Gr. odon "tooth") (m) Huxley (1870) explains: "Hypsilophus is a name proposed by Fitzinger for certain Iguanas." (Proceedings of the Geological Society of London 26:7) The name Hypsilophodon ("Hypsilophus tooth") was apparently patterned after Iguanodon ("Iguana tooth") to show that Huxley's animal was closely related to Mantell's well-known genus--Owen and others thought the Hypsilophodon specimens were juvenile or dwarf Iguanodons. Confusingly, and contrary to many modern sources, Huxley apparently did not intend the literal descriptive meaning "high-crested tooth" or "high-ridged tooth." Huxley distinguishes Hypsilophodon teeth from Iguanodon teeth by the lack of a serrations along the crown in the former, the very feature that might be called a "high crest." Although he does note prominent enamel ridges on the lateral faces of the teeth, the Greek term hypsilophos meant "high-crested, lofty, having an elevated summit, ridge or top," a term not properly used for a feature on the side of an object. The iguana Hypsilophus was named for a "high crest" along its back. Ornithopoda Hypsilophodontidae E. Cret. Eur.

Hypsirophus Cope 1878 "high-roofed (vertebrae)"

hip-SIHR-o-fus (Gr. hypsi "high" + Gr. orophe "roof, ridgepole [dorsal vertebrae]" + -us) (m) named for the "extreme elevation" of the zygopophyses on the dorsal vertebrae. Originally misclassified as a "Laelaps-like carnivore," based on stray allosaur teeth found with the specimen. [= Stegosaurus]