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Baryonyx
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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.
CLASSIFICATION:
  • Kingdom Animalia (animals)
  • Phylum Chordata (having a hollow nerve chord ending in a brain)
  • Class Archosauria (diapsids with socket-set teeth, etc.)
  • Order Saurischia - lizard-hipped dinosaurs
  • Suborder Theropoda - bipedal carnivores
  • Tetanura - advanced theropods with three fingers
  • Family Spinosauria
  • Genus Baryonyx
  • Species B. walkeri (type species named by Angela C. Milner and Alan J. Charig, 1987)
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.
LINKS: A detailed page on Baryonyx.

A Baryonyx Printout

10 questions about Baryonyx - A Find It! Quiz


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