sauro-, saur-, -saurus, -saurid, -saur,
-sauria, -saurian +

A “jaw lizard” from Late Jurassic Europe. Named by naturalist Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer in 1833.

A “Gojira lizard” from Late Triassic Revuelto Creek, New Mexico. It was named for the Japanese “Gojira”, the Japanese name for the movie monster called “Godzilla” in English. Named by Kenneth Carpenter (Denver Museum of Natural History) in 1997.

A “Ministry of Public Works lizard” from Late Jurassic China. Named for the “Gong Bu”, popular term for the government Ministry of Public Works in feudal China. The name commemorates Chinese poet Du Fu (712-770 A.D.), a one-time official of the Gong Bu in Shu (Sichuan), China. Named by Chinese paleontologists Zhiming Dong, Shiwu Zhou, and Yihong Zhang in 1983.

This nomenclature (“fierce, terrible, swift-lizard”) was thought to be an invalid name for Albertosaurus, but it is now believed to be a separate genus of tyrannosaurids. Named by Canadian fossil hunter Lawrence M. Lambe in 1914.

This nomenclature (“Gressly’s lizard”) is no longer recognized by scientists because they found that it described an animal that was previously given another name which is Plateosaurus. Named by Rütimeyer in 1857.

This nomenclature (“enigima lizard”) is no longer recognized by scientists because they found that it described an animal that was previously given another name which is Archaeopteryx. Named by A. Wagner in 1861.

This nomenclature (“hook-nosed lizard”) is no longer recognized by scientists because they found that it described an animal that was previously given another name which is Hadrosaurus. Named by Canadian fossil hunter Lawrence M. Lambe in 1914.

This nomenclature (“vulture lizard”) is no longer recognized by scientists because they found that it described an animal that was previously given another name which is Anchisaurus. Named by Robert Broom in 1911.

These “big (bulky) lizards” get the nickname “duckbills” from their broad, toothless beaks; yet, farther back, their jaws were crammed with batteries of grinding teeth - more teeth than any other dinosaurs possessed. Evolving possibly in Late Cretaceous Asia, these harmless browsing bipeds reached Europe and South America, and became among the most abundant dinosaurs of North America.

This family of duckbills had flat heads or skulls with solid bony humps or crests, a long, straight lower jaw, and long, slender limbs.

A “big (heavy or bulky) lizard” from Late Cretaceous New Jersey and New Mexico (USA) and Alberta (Canada). It was discovered by William Parker Foulke (and named in his honor as Hadrosaurus foulkii) and excavated and named by anatomist and paleontologist Joseph Leidy in 1858. This creature was formerly known as Gryposaurus, Kritosaurus, and Ornithotarsus.

A “nimble (leaping) lizard” from Late Triassic period and found in Wuerttemberg, Germany in 1906. Named by German paleontologist Friedrich von Huene in 1908.

A "single-spined (simple-spined) lizard" from Late Jurassic Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah, USA. This creature was formerly known as Haplocanthus. It was found by paleontologist John Bell Hatcher in 1901 and named by him in 1903.

This nomenclature (“Hecate’s lizard” [goddess of magic and enchantment in Greek mythology]) is no longer recognized by scientists because they found that it described an animal that was previously given another name which is Telmatosaurus. Named by paleontologist Barnum Brown (1873-1963) in 1910.

Known as “Black-Mountain lizard” from Late Cretaceous China. Its name comes from Heishan (Black Mountain), a geographical feature of Gansu Province, central China where the fossil was discovered. Named by Anders Birger Bohlin in 1953.