Weirdosaurus Rex Trivia Quiz

Answer: Medusaceratops

Medusaceratops is of many ceratopsids (Triceratops-like dinosaurs) that lived in what is now western North America during the Cretaceous period. It was originally mistaken for the similar-looking Albertaceratops. The realization that it was a different dinosaur caused the creation of the "Medusaceratops" genus.

The holotype is classified as Medusaceratops lokii ("Loki's horned-faced Medusa"). It's a reference to the snakelike horns along its frill as well as the fact that it stymied scientists when first discovered.

Answer: Geminiraptor

Celina and Marina Suarez are twins you say? That'd explain why the dinosaur they discovered in Utah in 2010 was named Geminiraptor. Only a part of the jaw was discovered. It was enough to classify the dinosaur as a troodontid (kind of like Velociraptor but smaller and sleeker), but not enough to give a clear idea of where it belonged on the troodontid lineage tree. Geminiraptor is the first dinosaur of its kind known to have lived during the Cretaceous period in North America.

Answer: Saturnalia

Yep, Saturnalia is a dinosaur that was named after Saturnalia. The reason for this is that it was discovered during carnival time in Brazil, in 1999 (remains were later discovered in Zimbabwe as well). Saturnalia was a small, bipedal dinosaur that lived during the Triassic era.

While characterized as a primitive sauropod (normally large and herbivorous), it also has characteristics of theropods (bipedal amd carnivorous). That, along with minimal skull remains, makes it difficult to classify with certainty.

Answer: Gasosaurus

Which came first, gas or the Gasosaurus? Gasosaurus is so-named because it was discovered by a gas company in Dashanpu, China, but gas companies exist in the first place to take full advantage of the remains of Gasosauruses and other dinosaurs. Gasosaurus is a mid-sized theropod that lived during the Jurassic period.

It is most famous for a 2014 hoax, when the Internet claimed that a Gasosaurus egg had hatched in Berlin.

Answer: Drinker

Drinker is actually named for Edward Drinker Cope, one of the two men who kicked off the notorious and scientifically important Bone Wars. Drinker is a hypsilophodont, a relatively small, bipedal, herbivorous dinosaur. In a fine twist of irony, it is extremely similar to Othnielosaurus, named after Othniel Charles Marsh, Cope's rival in the Bone Wars. Little has been published about Drinker since its discovery, but it is believed to have lived in a swampy environment.

Answer: Panamericansaurus

Businesses are dinosaurs too. Panamericansaurus was discovered by Jorge Orlando Calvo in the Allen Formation, an area of Argentina dating to the late Cretaceous. He named it after Pan American Energy because they provided the funding for the expedition.

The holotype of this dinosaur is quite sparse, consisting of a few vertebrae, humerus, and rib fragments. It is very similar to Aeolosaurus, another titanosaur.

Answer: Opisthocoelicaudia

O-pis-tho-coe-li-cau-di-a. Seriously. Maria Borsuk-Bialynicka came up with that name because its caudal vertebrae are opisthocoelous (convex on their anterior and concave on their back). It is the only titanosaur, but not the only dinosaur, to have this feature. Opisthocoelicaudia was discovered by a joint Polish and Mongolian expedition in 1965. All known Opisthocoelicaudia skeletons have been discovered in the Nemegt Formation in the Gobi Desert.

Answer: Yi

Some dinosaur names, including Stegosaurus and Triceratops, appear in Hasbro's official Scrabble dictionary. The handy two-letter word "Yi" does not. A single specimen of Yi was discovered by a farmer in Hebei, China, and sold to a museum in 2007. Scientists named the species "Yi qi", which means "strange wing" in Mandarin.

It lived in the forests surrounding volcanoes during the Jurassic period, and is similar to a bat in size and appearance.

Answer: Dracorex hogwartsia

JK Rowling has remarked that "The naming of Dracorex hogwartsia is easily the most unexpected honor to have come my way since the publication of the Harry Potter books!" Dracorex hogwartsia ("dragon king of Hogwarts"*) is a North American pachycephalosaur that lived in the late Cretaceous period. Paleontologists Victor Porter and Bob Bakker agreed on the name after the children at their museum said it resembled a dragon. Dracorex hogwartsia has an unusually flat skull for a pachycephalosaur; nonetheless, it has many bumps and horns.

*No, it's not a basilisk.

Answer: Khaan

Khaan is a fairly common Mongolian title, so why shouldn't one of the numerous dinosaurs from Mongolia be a khaan? Khaan is an oviraptorid dinosaur and quite similar to most of them. Of particular note is its rounded head and thick beak. It is believed to have had feathers and is usually portrayed with them.

The anterior chevrons (bones along the underside of the tail) are noticeably different among the specimens, leading to the suspicion that Khaan exhibited sexual dimorphism. As with all known oviraptorid dinosaurs, Khaan lived during the late Cretaceous period in Asia.