Dinosauria Translation and Pronunciation Guide T

Ben Creisler

Talarurus Maleev 1952 "wicker tail"*

tal-a-ROOR-us (Gr. talaros "wicker cage, basket" + Gr. oura "tail" + -us) (m) called pletenokhvost "wicker tail" in Russian for the wicker-like appearance of the tail bones in ankylosaurs, with interlocking vertebrae joined one to the other by overlapping bony processes and ossified tendons to form a rigid "poleax" with the bony club at the tip. Ankylosauria Ankylosauridae L. Cret. CAs.

Tangvayosaurus Allain, Taquet, Battail, Dejax, Richir, Veran, Limon-Duparcmeur, Vacant, Mateus, Sayarath, Khenthavong & Phouyavong 1999 "Tang Vay (Laos) lizard"

tahng-VIE-o-SAWR-us (Tang Vay + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named to indicate a dinosaur found near the village of Tang Vay in Savannakhet Province, Laos. Tangvayosaurus is a moderately large (estimated 15 m (50 ft) long) primitive titanosaur, known from two partly articulated partial skeletons lacking skulls (Holotype: TV4-1--TV4-36 (Savannakhet Musee des Dinosaures)), found in the Early Cretaceous Gres superior Formation (Albian-Aptian) of Savannakhet Province, Laos. The posterior dorsal vertebrae have unforked neural spines; caudal vertebrae are amphicoelous; the femur has the proximal one-third of the shaft deflected medially. Tangvayosaurus shows affinities with Phuwiangosaurus from the Late Jurassic(?)- Early Cretaceous of Thailand--both have a pubis significantly longer than the ischium, a synaptomorphy of the clade Titanosauria. Both genera would appear to be the oldest and most primitive (plesiomorphic) titanosaurs known, indicating titanosaurs were present outside Gondwana during the Late Jurassic. The two genera differ from each other in some details of the ischium and pubis.

Type Species: Tangvayosaurus hoffeti [oh-FAY-tie] Allain, Taquet, Battail, Dejax, Richir, Veran, Limon-Duparcmeur, Vacant, Mateus, Sayarath, Khenthavong & Phouyavong 1999: for Josue-Heilmann Hoffet ( -1943), a French geologist, member of the Service geologique de l'Indochine, who discovered the first Australasian dinosaurs in the 1930s. Sauropoda Titanosauria Early Cretaceous (Albian-Aptian) SEAs. [added 12/99]

Tanius Wiman 1929 "for H. C. Tan"

TAHN-ee-us (Tan + -ius) (m) named to honor H. C. Tan [Tan Xi-zhou], noted Chinese geologist who found and collected most of the type specimen in 1923 from the Wangshi Formation at Laiyang, in Shandong Province, China. Ornithopoda Hadrosauridae Hadrosaurinae L. Cret. CAs.

Tanystrosuchus Kuhn 1963 "Tanystropheus-crocodile"

ta-NIS-tro-SOOK-us (from Tanystro(pheus) (Gr. tany- "stretched, elongated" + Gr. stropheus "vertebra, joint") + Gr. soukhos "crocodile") (m) named for a form originally classified as a species of Tanystropheus, a protorosaur. Theropoda i.s. L. Trias. Eur. [nomen dubium]

Tarascosaurus Le Loeuff & Buffetaut 1991 "Tarasque lizard"

tah-RAHKS-ko-SAWR-us (Provencal tarasco, a fabulous animal + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for the Tarasque, a legendary dragon-like monster from the Provence region, that once plagued the town of Tarascon (source of the creature's name), near where the fossil bones were found in southern France. Theropoda ?Abelisauridae L. Cret. Eur. [nomen dubium]

Tarbosaurus Maleev 1955 "terrible lizard"*

TAHR-bo-SAWR-us (Gr. tarbos "fear, terror, dread" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named to indicate a large Tyrannosaurus-like carnivore. Theropoda Tyrannosauridae L. Cret. CAs.

Tarchia Maryanska 1977 "brainy one"

TAHRK-ee-a (Mongolian tarkhi "brain" + -ia) (f) so-named "because of a relatively large braincase." Ankylosauria Ankylosauridae L. Cret. CAs.

Tatisaurus Simmons 1965 "Dadi (China) lizard"

DAH-DEE-SAWR-us (Tati [= Dadi (Chin. da "big" + Chin. di "earth)] + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for Dadi, a village in Lufeng Basin, where the fossil was found in Yunnan Province, China. Thyreophora ?Scelidosauridae E. Jur. China

Taveirosaurus Telles Antunes & Sigogneau-Russell 1991 "Taveiro lizard"

tah-VAY-roo-SAWR-us (Taveiro + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for Taveiro, a village in Portugal, near where the fossil was found. Pachycephalosauria Homalocephalidae L. Cret. Eur.

Tawasaurus Young 1982 "Dawa (China) lizard"

DAH-WAH-SAWR-us (Tawa [= Dawa (Chin. da "big" + Chin. wa "hollow")] + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for Dawa ("Big Hollow"), a village, near where the fossil was found in Yunnan Province, China; originally classified as an ornithischian[/predentatan], it is in fact a juvenile prosauropod and lacks a predentary bone. [= Lufengosaurus]

Technosaurus Chatterjee 1984 "Texas Tech lizard"

TEK-no-SAWR-us (Gr. tekhne "craft, skill" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) alluding to Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, which sponsored the dig. The holotype apparently includes some prosauropod hatchling material. Ornithischia[/Predentata] i.s. L. Trias. NA.

Tecovasaurus Hunt & Lucas 1994 "Tecovas (Texas) lizard"

te-KOH-va-SAWR-us (m) named for the Tecovas Formation, Texas and Arizona, which yielded the holotype species; based on teeth. Ornithischia[/Predentata] i. s. L. Trias. NA.

Tehuelchesaurus Rich, Vickers-Rich, Gimenez, Cuneo, Puerta & Vacca 1999 "Tehuelche (people) lizard"

tay-WAYL-chay-SAWR-us (Tehuelche (a Native American people of Argentina) + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named "in honor of the Tehuelche Indians, who long inhabited the area where this dinosaur was found"; to indicate a moderately large (?15 m long) cetiosaur-like sauropod found in the Middle Jurassic (?Callovian) Canadon Asfalto Formation at Fernandez Estancia, Chubut Province, Patagonia, Argentina; known from a 50% complete skeleton (Holotype: MPEF-PV 1125 (Museo Paleontologico Egidio Fergulio)), lacking a skull, but including dorsal, sacral and caudal vertebrae, parts of the forelimbs and hindlimbs, parts of the shoulder girdle and pelvis, some rib fragments, and skin impressions. Tehuelchesaurus is most similar to Omeisaurus from the Middle Jurassic of China, but is distinguished by the shape of the coracoid, the stouter radius and ulna, and the shapes of the pubis and ischium; all the dorsal vertebrae have pseudopleurocoels (deep depressions in the centra but without internal chambers) and opisthocoelous centra, unlike in Barapasaurus and Patagosaurus. The length of the entire neck and tail are not known, but based on other proportions (humerus 1.14 m long; femur 1.53 m long; scapula 1.75 m long; ischium 1.01 m long; ilium 1.12 m; pubis .943 m. long), Tehuelchesaurus was probably about 15 m (50 ft) long.

Type Species: Tehuelchesaurus benitezii [bay-nee-TAY-see-ie] Rich, Vickers-Rich, Gimenez, Cuneo, Puerta & Vacca: for Aldino Benitez, who discovered the holotype. Sauropoda (Cetiosauridae) Middle Jurassic (?Callovian) SA. [added 12/99]

Teinurosaurus Nopcsa 1928 "stretched tail lizard"

tie-NOOR-o-SAWR-us (Gr. teino "stretch" + Gr. oura "tail" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for the elongated appearance of a tail vertebra; for "Iguanodon" prestiwichi Sauvage. Theropoda L. Jur. Eur. [nomen dubium]

Telmatosaurus Nopcsa 1903 "swamp lizard"

TEL-ma-to-SAWR-us (c.u.: tel-MAT-o-SAWR-us) (Gr. telmat- (telma) "swamp, marsh" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) alluding to the supposed swamp-dwelling habits of hadrosaurs. (To replace preoccupied Limnosaurus Nopsca). Ornithopoda Hadrosauridae Hadrosaurinae L. Cret. Eur.

Tendaguria Bonaparte, Heinrich & Wild 2000 "for Tendaguru"

TEN-dah-GOO-ree-uh (Tendaguru + -ia) (f) named to indicate a large sauropod from the Tendaguru fossil locality in Tanzania; based on two anterior dorsal vertebrae (Holotype: MB.R.2092.1 (NB4) and MB.R.2092.2 (NB5) (Museum fuer Naturkunde, Berlin)) from Nambango, 15 km southeast of Tendaguru Hill, Tanzania, probably in the Upper Saurian Bed, Tendaguru Series, Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian). The vertebrae are opisthocoelous (hollow behind) and differ from other known sauropods in their very low, almost nonexistent neural spines, which are not distinct bodies of bone, do not rise above the surrounding area of the neural arch and are continuous with transverse processes. Tendaguria is a highly derived sauropod-- the axial musculature probably shifted to the dorsal surface of the transverse processes; its relationship to other sauropods is not clear but a cervical vertebra attributed to Tendaguria shows some similarities to Camarasaurus. Estimated at about 20 m (66 ft) long.

Type species: Tendaguria tanzaniensis [tan-ZAY-nee-EN-sis] Bonaparte, Heinrich & Wild 2000 "after Tanzania, the country where the holotype was collected" Sauropoda Tendaguriidae Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) Africa [added 12-2000]

Tenontosaurus Ostrom 1970 "tendon lizard"*

te-NON-to-SAWR-us (Gr. tenontos (tenon) "sinew, tendon" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named "in reference to the ossified tendons along the vertebral column" that helped keep the backbone and long tail relatively rigid. Ornithopoda Iguanodontidae E. Cret. NA.

Tetanurae Gauthier 1986 "stiff tails"

TET-a-NOOR-ee (Gr. tetanos "stiff" + Gr. oura "tail" + -ae) (f) The Tetanurae are distinguished from the Ceratosauria by the "stiffer" construction of their tails: the transition from flexible vertebrae near the body-end to more rigid interlocking vertebrae toward the tip occurs closer to the base of the tail than in the Ceratosauria. [clade]

Tetragonosaurus Parks 1931 "square (head) lizard"

tet-ra-GOHN-o-SAWR-us (Gr. tetragonos "four-cornered, rectangular" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) "the premaxillary region [of the skull] descends abruptly, making the snout relatively short and giving a squarish outline to the lateral aspect of the head." [= Lambeosaurus & Corythosaurus]

Texasetes Coombs 1995 "Texas dweller"

tek-sa-SEE-teez (Texas + Greek suffix -etes "dweller")* (m) referring to Texas, where the fragmentary fossil was found. Ankylosauria Nodosauridae E. Cret. NA.

Thecocoelurus von Huene 1923 "sheath-coelurid"

THEEK-o-see-LOOR-us (Gr. theke "socket, sheath" (from Thecospondylus) + Coelurus) (m) named for a neck vertebra resembling that of Coelurus and earlier identified as a species of Thecospondylus by Seeley. [= Thecospondylus]

Thecodontosaurus Riley & Stutchbury 1836 "socket-toothed lizard"

THEEK-o-DON-to-SAWR-us (Gr. theke "sheath, socket" + Gr. odont- (odous) "tooth" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for teeth described as resembling those of monitor lizards, but embedded in distinct sockets. Prosauropoda Thecodontosauridae L. Trias. Eur.

Thecospondylus Seeley 1882 "sheath vertebrae"

THEEK-o-SPON-di-lus (Gr. theke "sheath, socket" + Gr. spondylos "vertebra") (m) named for the "extremely thin" bone forming the vertebrae as indicated by a cast of the neural canal of the sacral region. Theropoda E. Cret. Eur. [nomen dubium]

Therizinosaurus Maleev 1954 "reaping lizard"*

THER-i-ZIN-o-SAWR-us (irr. from Gr. therizo "mow, reap" + ?Gr. -inos "relating to" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) referring to the huge scythe-like claws on its large forelimbs. Originally identified from isolated limb material as a possibly aquatic sprawling "turtle-like" reptile unrelated to dinosaurs, as indicated by the type species name T. cheloniformis ke-LOHN-i-FOR-mis "turtle-form." Current research indicates the animal was a large bipedal herbivorous theropod or "segnosaur," resembling a giant ground sloth or a chalicotheriid. Theropoda Therizinosauroidea Therizinosauridae L. Cret. CAs.

Theropoda Marsh 1881 "beast feet"

thee-ROP-o-da (Gr. ther "beast of prey, wild beast" + Gr. pod- (pous) "foot" + -a) (n) The word ther meant "beast of prey" or "wild beast" in ancient Greek (the meaning "mammal" is a modern scientific usage), and, despite an obvious pattern implied by the names Sauropoda "lizard feet" and Ornithopoda "bird feet," Marsh clearly did not interpret Theropoda as "mammal feet." His first characterizations of the Theropoda suggest that he chose ther after the ancient Greek meaning "beast of prey" to refer to the sharp prehensile claws found on the digits of the hind feet, a somewhat exaggerated idea based on Cope's mistaken restoration of Dryptosaurus (Laelaps) with sharp hooked claws on its toes rather than its hands, a mix-up later corrected by Marsh (1884) after studying the manus of Allosaurus. Such toe-claws indicated predatory habits in the group, in contrast to the blunt hoofed toes typical of the plant-eating groups Sauropoda, Ornithopoda, and Stegosauria. Nowhere in his published works does Marsh discuss any mammal-like characters in the feet of carnivorous dinosaurs. On the contrary, he cites the strikingly bird-like construction of the feet in Ceratosaurus, a genus he describes as typical of the group. [taxon]

Therosaurus Fitzinger 1843 "beast lizard"

THEER-o-SAWR-us (Gr. ther "wild beast [mammal]" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) proposed replacement name for Iguanodon, probably for its mammal-like limbs. [= Iguanodon]

Thescelosaurus Gilmore 1913 "surprising lizard"

THES-kel-o-SAWR-us (Gr. theskelos "wonderful, astonishing, surprising" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) Gilmore says: "It was in the nature of a surprise upon first examination to discover that [this specimen] represented an undescribed form"; for "an articulated skeleton of a small Orthopodous dinosaur" unearthed in 1891, but left in its packing boxes until 1913, thus the Latin type species name neglectus (ne-GLEK-tus) "neglected". Ornithopoda Thescelosauridae L. Cret. NA.

Thespesius Leidy 1856 "wondrous one"

thes-PEES-ee-us (Gr. thespesios literally "uttered by a diety, divine," but often used in ancient Greek to indicate something "wonderful, mighty, immense, etc. ") (m) alluding to the great size of the remains Leidy attributed to "some huge animal, which I suspect to be a Dinosaurian, though they may have belonged to a mammalian." The date of the "Nebraska Territory" deposit (Mesozoic or Tertiary) was not determined at the time. Frederick Lucas of the Smithsonian referred Marsh's Claosaurus annectens (now Edmontosaurus annectens) to Leidy's old genus Thespesius in 1900, the specimens supposedly having come from the same general area and formation. Lucas' usage was rather common in some older literature. However, the type material for Thespesius is now considered inadequate to permit a genus level diagnosis. Ornithopoda Hadrosauridae L. Cret. NA. [nomen dubium]

Thyreophora Nopsca 1915 "shield bearers"

THIHR-ee-OF-o-ra (Gr. thyreos "shield" + Gr. -phoros "bearing, bearer" + -a) (n) Redefined by Sereno 1986 to include armored ornithischians[/predentatans] (Stegosauria, Ankylosauria, Scutellosaurus, Scelidosaurus), but excluding the Ceratopsia originally included by Nopsca. [clade]

Tianchiasaurus Dong 1993 "Heavenly Pool (China) lizard"

TYEN-CHUHR-a-SAWR-us (Chin. tian "heaven" + Chin. chi "pool, lake" + Gr. sauros "lizard")* (m) referring to Tian Chi "Heavenly Pool," a famous lake near where the fossils were found in the Tian Shan Mountains, Fukang County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. The specimen was informally referred to as "Jurassosaurus" in honor of the motion picture "Jurassic Park," and the type species name nedegoapeferima (ne-DEG-oh-a-PEF-e-REE-ma) is formed from the family names of the film's main stars (Neil, Dern, Goldblum, Attenborough, Peck, Ferraro, Richards, Mazello). Steven Spielberg, director of "Jurassic Park," donated money for Chinese dinosaur research, and was allowed to propose a name. (Dong later emended the spelling to Tianchisaurus, but changes such as correcting connecting vowels are not authorized by the ICZN.) Ankylosauria Ankylosauridae M. Jura. China

Tianzhenosaurus Pang & Cheng 1998 "Tianzhen (county) lizard"

TYEN-juhn-o-SAWR-us (Tianzhen + Gr. sauros "lizard")(m) named to indicate an ankylosaurid found in Tianzhen County, in Sichuan Province, China, in the Late Cretaceous Huiquanpu Formation at Kangdailiang near Zhaojiagou Village. Tianzhenosaurus is known from a nearly complete skull (the holotype HBV-10001), a right mandible and a nearly complete postcranial skeleton. Similar to many ankylosaurids, the skull is low and flat, triangular in shape, with two blunt "horns" that project outwards and backward from the roof at the back. Large, irregular dermal knobs cover the top. Tianzhenosaurus differs from Saichania and Pinacosaurus in the length of its snout and the shape of its nostril openings, occipital region and other details of the skull. The slightly larger ankylosaurid Shanxia, known from less complete material, comes from the same region and geological horizon, and may be a synonym. An adult animal was probably around 3 meters (10 feet) in length.

Type species: Tianzhensaurus youngi [YUHNG-ie] Pang & Cheng 1998, for Chung Chien Young [Yang Zhongqian] (1897-1979), "the founder of Vertebrate Paleontology in China, for memorial of the 100th birthday."

Ankylosauria Ankylosauridae Late Cretaceous China. [entry added 11-98]

Tichosteus Cope 1877 "wall bone"

tie-KOS-tee-us (Gr. teikhos "protective wall" + Gr. osteon "bone" + -us) (m) probably because the centra of the vertebrae are hollow "but do not communicate with the external median by a lateral foramen [opening], as in Camarasaurus," according to Cope. Ornithopoda L. Jur. NA. [nomen dubium]

Tienshanosaurus Young 1937 "Heavenly Mountains (China) lizard"

TYEN-SHAHN-o-SAWR-us (Chin. tian "heaven" + Chin. shan "mountain" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for the Tian Shan (Heavenly Mountains), geographical feature of the region where the fossil was found, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwestern China. Sauropoda Camarasauridae L. Jur. China

Timimus Rich & Rich 1994 "Tim's ornithomimid"

ti-MIEM-us (from "Tim" + Gr. mimos "mimic" (suffix used in ornithomimid names), "combined ...for alliteration") (m) named to honor Timothy Rich (the discoverers' son) and Timothy Flannery, as associate; for a single slender femur. Theropoda Ornithomimosauria Ornithomimidae E. Cret. Aus.

Titanosaurus Lydekker 1877 "Titan lizard"

tie-TAN-o-SAWR-us (Gr. Titan, a mythical giant + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for the large size of two vertebrae from India. Sauropoda Titanosauridae L. Cret. As. Eur. (? SA.)

Titanosaurus Marsh 1877 "Titan lizard"

tie-TAN-o-SAWR-us (Gr. Titan, a mythical giant + Gr. sauros "lizard")* (m) named to indicate "an enormous Dinosaur, which surpassed in magnitude any land animal hitherto discovered." Marsh originally thought it resembled Hadrosaurus and "was some fifty or sixty feet in length, and, when erect, at least thirty feet in height." The long neck of sauropods was not recognized until Cope described Camarasaurus. (Preoccupied by Titanosaurus Lydekker 1877. See Atlantosaurus.)

Tomodon Leidy 1865 "cutting tooth"

TOM-o-don (Gr. tomo "cut" + Gr. odon "tooth") (m) named for "the tooth of a gigantic carnivorous Reptile" (Preoccupied by Tomodon Dumeril 1853. See Diplotomodon.)

Tochisaurus Kurzanov & Osmolska 1991 "ostrich (foot) lizard"

TOHK-i-SAWR-us (Mongolian tokhi "ostrich" + Gr. sauros "lizard")* (m) named for the "general similarity to the metatarsus of the ostrich...expressed in the reduction of the second pedal digit. In this respect, [Tochisaurus] is the most progressive troodontid so far known". Theropoda Coelurosauria Troodontidae L. Cret. Mongolia

Tornieria Sternfeld 1911 "for G. Tornier"

tor-NEER-ee-a (Tornier + -ia) (f) named to honor Gustav Tornier (1859-1938), German paleontologist known for his "crawling" restoration of Diplodocus; to replace preoccupied Gigantosaurus E. Fraas 1908. Sauropoda Diplodocidae. L. Jur. CAfr.

Torosaurus Marsh 1891 "perforated (frill) lizard"

TOR-o-SAWR-us (from Gr. toreo "pierce, perforate" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) alluding to "the posterior crest," which "is perforated by a pair of large openings." Marsh explains: "The open perforations in the parietal, which have suggested the name Torosaurus, readily separate this genus from all the gigantic species hitherto known in the Ceratopsidae." The name was probably meant to contrast with Marsh's Sterrholophus "solid crest," another ceratopsian named a few months earlier in 1891. Marsh's explanation of the name provides no basis for interpreting Torosaurus as "piercing lizard" for its horns nor as "bulging lizard" from Latin torus "a bulge." The non-classical Spanish word toro "bull" is not the correct derivation of the name, though Marsh might possibly have used the similar spelling as a pun for a horned dinosaur. Ceratopsia Ceratopidae Chasmosaurinae L. Cret. NA.

Torvosaurus Galton & Jensen 1979 "savage lizard"

TOR-vo-SAWR-us (Lat. torvus "savage, cruel, wild" + Gr. sauros "lizard")* (m) named for its carnivorous nature and large size. Theropoda Carnosauria Megalosauridae L. Jur. NA.

Trachodon Leidy 1856 "rough tooth"

TRAK-o-don (Gr. trakhys "rough" + Gr. odon "tooth") (m) Leidy proposed the name for one of the first dinosaurs recognized in North American, based a number of isolated teeth, some belonging to a ceratopsian. The name refers in particular to a tooth on which "the inner surface" was "quite roughened with irregular granulations." A similar rough texture has not been found on other known hadrosaur teeth, and the precise reason for this unusual feature is still not clear. Although the genus was based only on isolated teeth no longer considered diagnostic at a generic level, the name "Trachodon" was once widely used for specimens of flat-headed duckbill dinosaurs. J. B. Hatcher, reviewed the complex history of Trachodon, Thespesius, Hadrosaurus, Diclonius and Claosaurus, and concluded in 1902 that the valid generic name for all was Trachodon--Claosaurus annectens was a species of Trachodon, while Claosaurus agilis was different enough to remain a distinct genus. His analysis was not accepted by all authorities, and Oliver Hay's Bibliography and Catalogue of North American Fossil Vertebrates (1902) divided various proposed species between Trachodon (which included Hadrosaurus and Diclonius) and Thespesius (which included both Claosaurus agilis and annectens). Hatcher's views prevailed for the most part, however, and the name Trachodon passed into popular usage for many years as the emblematic "duckbilled dinosaur," includings forms now identified as the distinct genera Hadrosaurus, Edmontosaurus and Anatotitan. Ornithopoda Hadrosauridae L. Cret. NA. [nomen dubium]

Triceratops Marsh 1889 "three horned face"

trie-SER-a-tops (Gr. treis "three" + Gr. kerat- (keras) "horn" + Gr. ops "face")* (m) Based on his initial examination of the type specimen early in 1889, Marsh announced the find as a new species (Ceratops horridus) of his 1888 genus Ceratops, a supposed Cretaceous stegosaur. According to Marsh, the new form had large, laterally projecting horns on its skull, and rough-textured bones that distinguished it from the smoother boned Jurassic stegosaurs. Though the Latin species name horridus [HOR-i-dus] is often explained as meaning "horrid" or "terrible," Marsh clearly had the more common Latin definition "rough" in mind, as a reference to the "peculiar rugosity" of the bones, which he noted "is very conspicuous and marks almost every known part of the skeleton" (probably indicating an old individual). After he correctly restored the skull later in 1889, he redescribed the animal as a new genus with two forward pointing brow horns, a nose horn (thus the name Triceratops "three-horned face"), powerful beaked jaws and a large bony frill, features indicating a previously unrecognized group of dinosaurs distinct from stegosaurs. However, he later mistakenly identified spikes from the skull of a pachycephalosaur and scutes from an ankylosaur as "dermal armor" belonging to Triceratops, (a fictitious feature depicted in Knight's famous painting of Agathaumas), perhaps because of the presumed affinity of ceratopsians to stegosaurs. Ceratopsia Ceratopidae Chasmosaurinae L. Cret. NA.

Trimucrodon Thulborn 1973 "triple-point tooth"

trie-MOO-kro-don (Lat. tri- "three" + Lat. mucro "sharp point + Gr. odon "tooth") (m) named for the shape of a tooth. Ornithopoda L. Jur. Eur. [nomen dubium]

Tripriodon Marsh 1889 "three saw-tooth"

trie-PRIE-o-don (Gr. treis "three" + Gr. prion "saw" + Gr. odon "tooth") (m) for teeth originally described as mammalian; now identified as belonging to a troodontid. Theropoda Coelurosauria Troodontidae L. Cret. NA. [nomen dubium]

Troodon Leidy 1856 "wounding tooth"

TROH-o-don (Gr. troo "wound, injure, pierce" + Gr. odon "tooth") (m) named for the supposed "tooth of a large monitor" that "bears much resemblance to one of the lateral denticles of the great extinct shark, Carcharodon angustidens..." Nopsca (1901) and Hay (1902) reclassified Leidy's "lacertian" genus as a "megalosaurid" dinosaur. Gilmore (1924), however, interpreted the premaxillary teeth of the pachycephalosaur Stegoceras as generically indistinguishable from Leidy's type tooth, and claimed Troodon was the valid name for the dome-headed ornithopod. C.M. Sternberg (1945) rejected Gilmore's proposed synonymy and showed that Troodon teeth had characters "typical of the maxillary and dentary teeth of carnivorous dinosaurs." The name Troodon is now applied to a small, remarkably birdlike theropod with a large brain, stereoscopic vision and distinctive teeth. Theropoda Coelurosauria Troodontidae L. Cret. NA.

Tsagantegia Tumanova 1993 "for Tsagan Teg"

tsah-gahn-TAY-gee-a (Mongolian tsagan "white" + teeg "mountain" + -ia) (f) named for the Tsagan Teg ("White Mountain") locality, near the town of Dzun-Bayan, southeastern Gobi, Mongolia, where the type skull was found in the Bayn Shireh Formation; a long-snouted ankylosaur with a prominent dermal ring around the orbit. Ankylosauria Ankylosauridae. L. Cret. Mongolia

Tsintaosaurus Young 1958 "Qingdao (China) lizard" [Qingdaolong]

CHING-DOW-SAWR-us ("Tsintao" for Tsingtao [= Qingdao (Chin. qing "green" + Chin. dao "island")] + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for the city of Qingdao [Tsingtao, Ch'ing-tao], near where the fossil was found in the Wangshi Formation at Jingangkou, Liayang County, on the west coast of Shandong Province, China. Some researcher recently had interpreted the unusual hollow, tall cranial spine as an artifact of preservation rather than a real feature of the living animal, and have suggested that Tsintaosaurus is a junior synonym of the flat-headed hadrosaurine Tanius, the type specimen supposedly being a chimaera that mixed remains of Tanius with the skeleton of a lambeosaurine. However, E. Buffetaut (1993) found evidence that such a hollow cranial spine exists in another specimen, confirming the reality of the feature, and indicating that Tsintaosaurus is a taxonomically definable lambeosaur. Iguanodontia Hadrosauridae Lambeosaurinae L. Cret. China

Tugulusaurus Dong 1973 "Tugulu lizard"

too-GOO-loo-SAWR-us (Tugulu + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for the Tugulu Group of Early Cretaceous sediments, Urhe area, Junggar Basin, Xinjiang Uygur Autonmous Region, northwestern China. Theropoda E. Cret. China [nomen dubium]

Tuojiangosaurus Dong, Li, Zhou & Zhang 1977 "Tuo River (China) lizard"

TWAW-JYAHNG-o-SAWR-us (Chin. tuo "bay (on a river)" + Chin. jiang "river" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for the Tuo Jiang (River), tributary of the Chang Jiang [Yangzte] River, Sichuan Basin, China; found in Sichuan Province, near Zigong City. Stegosauria L. Jur. China

Turanoceratops Nessov & Kaznyshkina 1989 "Turanian horned face"

too-RAHN-o-SER-a-tops (Turan, a Persian name for the Turkistan region of Central Asia + Gr. kerat- (keras) "horn" + Gr. ops "face") (m) referring to the Turanian platform, major geological feature of Uzbekistan, where the fossil was discovered in the central Kyzylkum desert at Dzharakuduk. Ceratopsia ?Ceratopidae. L. Cret. CAs.

Tylocephale Maryanska & Osmolska 1974 "swelling head"

TIE-lo-SEF-a-lee (Gr. tyle "swelling, knob" + Gr. kephale "head") (f) named "because of the thickening of the skull" found in pachycephalosaurs. Pachycephalosauria L. Cret. CAs.

Tylosteus Leidy 1872 "knob-bone"

tie-LOS-tee-us (Gr. tyle "swelling, knob" + Gr. osteon "bone" + -us) (m) named to indicate a specimen which "looks as if it had formed part of the dermal armor of some huge saurian or perhaps of an armadillo-like animal." Donald Baird (1979) identified the specimen as a skull fragment from Pachycephalosaurus. [name suppressed for purposes of priority but not homonymy by ICZN Opinion #1371] [= Pachycephalosaurus]

Tyrannosaurus Osborn 1905 "tyrant lizard"

ti-RAN-o-SAWR-us (Gr. tyrannos "king, tyrant, despot" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named "in reference to its size, which greatly exceeds that of any carnivorous land animal hitherto described." Theropoda Coelurosauria Tyrannosauridae L. Cret. NA., CAs.