Dinosauria Translation and Pronunciation Guide U

Ben Creisler

Udanoceratops Kurzanov 1992 "Udan Sayr (Mongolia) horned face"

oo-DAHN-o-SER-a-tops (Udan (for Mongolian udaan "long, slow") + Gr. kerat- (keras) "horn" + Gr. ops "face") (m) named for the Udan-Sayr fossil locality, Djadokhta Formation, Mongolia; an extremely large form compared to other protoceratopids. Ceratopsia Protoceratopidae. L. Cret. Mongolia

Ugrosaurus CoBabe & Fastovsky 1987 "ugly lizard"

OOG-ro-SAWR-us (Scandinavian ugro "ugly" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for the rough appearance of a fragmentary ceratopsian snout from an old and possibly diseased individual. [= Triceratops]

Uintasaurus Holland 1919 "Uinta County lizard"

yoo-IN-ta-SAWR-us (Uinta + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for Uinta County, Utah, where the fossil was found [= Camarasaurus]

Ultrasauros Jensen in Olshevsky 1991 "ultra lizard"

UHL-tra-SAWR-os (Lat. ultra "beyond" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) to replace preoccupied Ultrasaurus Jensen, with a single-letter spelling change suggested by Jensen. The "ultra" dinosaur conceived by Jensen as bigger than Brachiosaurus now appears to be a misconception. Recent research indicates that the holotype dorsal vertebra designated by Jensen belongs to a huge diplodocid, not a brachiosaurid, and can be referred to Supersaurus, whose partial remains are found in the same site at Dry Mesa Dinosaur Quarry in Colorado. The scapulocoracoid that originally inspired the name "ultra lizard," and which Jensen referred to Ultrasauros, belongs to a big Brachiosaurus, comparable in size to the largest known brachiosaur fossils from Africa, and does not justify the super-giant imagined by some. [= Supersaurus (and, in part, Brachiosaurus)]

Ultrasaurus Kim 1983. "ultra lizard"

UHL-tra-SAWR-us (Lat. ultra "beyond" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for its supposed huge size, based on a partial humerus misidentified as an ulna. The animal was therefore smaller than Kim first thought. Sauropoda E. Cret. Korea. [nomen dubium]

Ultrasaurus Jensen 1985 "ultra lizard"

UHL-tra-SAWR-us (Lat. ultra "beyond" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named to indicate that the genus was larger than the "Supersaurus" Jensen had discovered earlier, based on the huge size of its shoulder blade. The name "Ultrasaurus" was used informally for the specimen in both popular and technical literature as early as 1979, but remained a nomen nudum until 1985, when Jensen finally published a formal description. By then, however, the official name Ultrasaurus had been used by Kim for a Korean dinosaur, and Jensen's proposed name was preoccupied. (Preoccupied by Ultrasaurus Kim. See Ultrasauros.)

Unenlagia Novas & Puerta 1997 "half bird"

oon-en-LAHG-ee-a (Mapuche uñen "half" + lag "bird" + -ia) (f) named to indicate a very birdlike dinosaur found in northwest Patagonia, Neuquén Province, Argentina, a region where the Mapuche Indians have lived and which they called Comahue. The partial skeleton found in the Río Neuquén Formation has a pelvis and hindlimbs nearly identical to those of Archaeopteryx and a shoulder socket that faces down and back as in birds, thus permitting the forelimbs to extend in a flapping position, or to tuck against the chest. Such features strengthen the case for a ground-up origin for bird-flight and indicate that Archaeopteryx and Unenlagia share a common ancestor, although the new dinosaur is dated to 90 million years ago, long after the appearance of Archaeopteryx. The skull is missing, as well as bones from the feet, hands and tail. The animal was probably over 7 feet long (2.2 m.) and nearly 4 ft. (1.2) tall at the hips. It was too big to fly, and there is currently no evidence that it had feathers. Conceivably though, its unusual short winglike forelimbs might have been extended for balance while running or even flapped to aid air-borne hops or leaping attacks if the arms supported a patagium or feather-like structures. Theropoda Coelurosauria Maniraptora L. Cret. SA.

Unquillosaurus Powell 1979 "Unquillo River (Argentina) lizard"

oong-KEE-yo-SAWR-us (Unquillo + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for the Unquillo River, whose tributaries drain the area where the fossil was found in the Candaleria region of Salta Province, Argentina. Theropoda i.s. L. Cret. SA.

Utahraptor Kirkland, Burge & Gaston 1993 "Utah's predator"*

YOO-tah-RAP-tor (Utah + Lat. raptor "robber, plunderer" [used in theropod names]) (m) named for the state of Utah; an unusually large dromaeosaur (twice as large as Deinonychus) found in the Cedar Mountain Formation of central Utah. Theropoda Dromaeosauridae E. Cret. NA.