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)
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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. |
LINKS: |
A detailed page on Baryonyx.
A Baryonyx Printout
10 questions about Baryonyx - A Find It! Quiz |
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