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| More Dinosaur Fact Sheets | EnchantedLearning.com Baryonyx Fact Sheet |
Dinosaur/Paleontology Dictionary |
| NAME: | Meaning - Baryonyx means "heavy claw" Pronounced - BAR-ee-ON-iks Named By - Angela C. Milner and Alan J. Charig When Named - 1987 |
| DIET: | Carnivore (meat-eater) A fossilized Baryonyx was found with a fossilized meal in its stomach; this stomach contained fish scales, fish bones, and some partially digested bones of a young Iguanodon. So far, Baryonyx is the only known dinosaur that ate fish. It may have waded in rivers and shallow seas to catch fish (just as some modern-day bears do). |
| SIZE: | Length - 32 feet (9.5 m) long Height - 8 ft (2.5 m) tall at the hips Weight - 1.5-2 tons |
| WHEN IT LIVED: | Early to middle Cretaceous period, about 125 million years ago |
| WHERE IT LIVED: | Fossils have been found in England, Europe. |
| FOSSILS: | Baryonyx was found in 1983 in a clay pit in Surrey, England, by the British amateur fossil hunter William Walker. It was the first carnivorous (meat-eating) dinosaur found in England. About 70% of this dinosaur's skeleton was found. Baryonyx was found 30 miles south of London, England, in 1983. |
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| INTERESTING FACTS: |
Baryonyx had huge 1-foot (30.5-cm) long claws on its hands (hence its name). It had long, narrow, crocodile-like jaws with 96 small, serrated teeth (this is 1.5 times the number of teeth that most other theropods had). It had a small crest on its snout. Baryonyx had a long, straight neck (unlike other theropods, who had s-shaped necks) and a long tail. Its low-slung body was supported by 2 large rear legs and 2 slightly smaller arms. |
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