Jurassic Parking Lot Trivia Quiz

Answer: Allosaurus

All the meat-eating dinosaurs belonged to a group called the theropods which means "Beast Foot". Allosaurus was one of the largest theropods, measuring twelve metres (thirty-nine feet) long. It was first discovered in North America in the late 1870s and has come to be one of the most well-known dinosaurs.

Anchisaurus was a small plant-eater named in 1885. It belonged to the prosauropod ("Before Lizard Foot") family.

Sarcosaurus was a medium-sized theropod discovered in southern England in the early 1920s while Abrictosaurus was a small herbivore discovered in South Africa in the early 1970s.

Answer: Edmarka

Discovered in Wyoming, USA, Edmarka is known only from parts of a skull, some ribs and a shoulder bone. It was named in 1992 and appears to be a close relative of Megalosaurus and Torvosaurus.

Europasaurus is a dinosaur example of island dwarfism - the evolution of a small body size in response to limited island resources. Elaphrosaurus was a small theropod discovered in Africa in 1920 while Eustreptospondylus was a much larger theropod discovered in southern England in 1871.

Answer: Lufengosaurus

Discovered in China and named in 1941, Lufengosaurus was very similar to its relative, Plateosaurus, only slightly smaller. It fed on the tough leaves of tree ferns and conifers.

Discovered in England and France during the late 1800s, Lexovisaurus was an early stegosaur. It had small, narrow plates and long spikes on its tail and shoulders. Lapparentosaurus was an early sauropod from Madagascar. It 's known only from a small number of reasonably complete juvenile skeletons, so palaeontologists are unsure of its adult size.

Lesothosaurus was a tiny ornithopod, measuring no more than a metre long.

Answer: Stegosaurus

Kentrosaurus and Stegosaurus both belonged to the same dinosaur family, the Stegosauria. At nine metres in length, Stegosaurus was the largest in this group. Its name means "Roofed Lizard" owing to the fact that when it was first discovered in 1877, palaeontologists thought that its plates lay flat on its back like the tiles on a roof. We now know that the plates stood upright in two rows. While no-one can agree on the function of the plates, there's no doubting that the metre-long spikes on the end of its tail were used as weapons.

Saurophaganax is known from only a few bones discovered in Oklahoma, USA, in the 1930s. Scutellosaurus and Scelidosaurus were both small armoured herbivores. Their armour consisted of up to three hundred little bony shields.

Answer: Camarasaurus

Easily recognised by their massive bodies and long necks, the sauropods were the largest land animals that have ever lived. Discovered in the USA in 1877, Camarasaurus means "Chambered Lizard" in reference to the hollow cavities in its backbone, designed to reduce the animal's weight. Unlike other sauropods, Camarasaurus had a relatively short neck.

Cryolophosaurus was a large theropod discovered in Antarctica in 1994. It had a peculiar comb-shaped crest on its head.

Chialingosaurus was an early stegosaur known from a partial skeleton discovered in China. Callovosaurus was an ornithopod, similar to Iguanodon. It was discovered in England in the late 1800s.

Answer: Dilophosaurus

Famous for its appearance in the film 'Jurassic Park', the most distinguishing feature of Dilophosaurus is the delicate v-shaped head crest, which was probably used as a type of signalling or display device. It was first discovered in Arizona, USA, in 1954.

Datousaurus and Diplodocus were both large sauropods, measuring between fifteen and thirty metres in length. They fed on leaves from the tops of tall trees.

Draconyx was a medium-sized ornithopod, closely related to Iguanodon. It was discovered in Portugal in 2001.

Answer: Megalosaurus

Megalosaurus was the first dinosaur to be scientifically named. The original fossil, discovered in Southern England in 1824, consists of nothing more than a jaw bone with a few teeth.

Massospondylus was a South African prosauropod which measured four metres (thirteen feet) in length.

Magnosaurus is known only from its teeth and a handful of bone fragments. It's believed to be related to Megalosaurus.

Discovered in China in 1952, the neck of Mamenchisaurus measured a staggering eleven metres long, making it the longest neck of any known dinosaur.

Answer: Camptosaurus

Camptosaurus was a smaller relative of Iguanodon. Its long arms allowed it to walk on all fours as well as being able to walk upright on two legs.

Compsognathus is the smallest dinosaur known from a complete skeleton, discovered in Germany in 1859. Its body was no larger than a chicken's. This tiny Theropod fed on insects and lizards.

Cetiosaurus was the first sauropod to be discovered (England, 1842). It was named by Sir Richard Owen, who, in 1841, became famous for inventing the word "dinosaur".

The most distinguishing feature of the large theropod Ceratosaurus was the big horn on its nose. It was a smaller relative of Allosaurus.

Answer: Barosaurus

At a height of fifteen metres, the rearing skeleton of Barosaurus displayed in the American Museum of Natural History, is the world's tallest mounted fossil. It couldn't chew its food, so it swallowed stones to help it digest tough vegetation.

Bienosaurus was a small armoured dinosaur discovered in China in 1938. Bellusaurus and Barapasaurus were both Asian sauropods. Barapasaurus is known from three hundred specimens while a Bellusaurus bone-bed discovered in 1954 seems to have been formed when a herd was caught in a flood and the juveniles drowned.

Answer: Brandi Brachiosaurus

The first Brachiosaurus skeleton was discovered in Utah, USA, in 1900. It was given the name "Arm Lizard" because its front legs are longer than its back legs. It measured twenty-two metres (seventy-two feet) long and stood twelve metres (thirty-nine) feet tall.

The other dinosaurs listed are also sauropods. Dicraeosaurus lived in Africa during the late Jurassic.

Bothriospondylus is known from only four vertebrae and a hip bone discovered in France and Madagascar in the 1870s. Amygdalodon is the earliest-known South American sauropod. Its name comes from its almond-shaped teeth.