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When considering the largest creatures ever to walk the Earth, dinosaurs are usually near the top of the list. With that being said, some dinosaurs were decidedly strange in appearance or behavior. In fact, many of these creatures could potentially be argued to be even stranger than dinosaurs themselves. There are no doubt numerous other candidates for weird dino pictures out there somewhere, but these ten are my favorites.
Amargasaurus
The first dinosaur fossils were discovered back in 1824. However, it wasn’t until the early twentieth century that paleontologists began to realize just how strange dinosaurs were. The first dinosaur skeleton on display was a huge sauropod called Apatosaurus, which means “deceptive lizard.” This giant beast looked similar to a brontosaurus, but it was actually quite different.
The next dinosaur to receive attention from paleontologists was Amargasaurus. It was a weird herbivore that lived about 145 million years ago. It had a long neck and tail, but its body was short and squat—more like an elephant than any other dinosaur ever discovered.
However, what set Amargasaurus apart from other dinosaurs is that its cervical vertebrae were fused into one long bone. This is a feature that’s not been found in any other dinosaur fossil before or since. It also had two pairs of horns on its skull (one pair above each eye). This might have been used for display or combat with other Amargasauruses (or maybe even predators).
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Concavenator
There’s a lot to say about the late Cretaceous period, which is one of the most exciting times in the history of life on Earth. It was when dinosaurs first appeared and flourished, and it was a time when many new species were being formed.
One of the most bizarre creatures to come out of this era was Concavenator. This dinosaur is often called an abelisaurid, which means it was an early relative of theropods like T-Rex and Velociraptor. Its name comes from its unique shape: it has a concave face like a shovel!
The reason why Concavenator looked so different from other dinosaurs might have had something to do with its diet – it ate fish instead of meat. That could explain why it had such a weird-looking head…maybe it helped it catch prey easier?
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Kosmoceratops
Kosmoceratops means “horned face,” and it looks like someone decided to put horns on its nose for no reason. But there’s more going on here than just a goofy-looking dinosaur. The Kosmoceratops was a herbivore that lived in what is now Canada around 75 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous Period.
It had a large head and small body, with an unusual number of horns and spikes on its skull. The shape of its nasal horn was also unique. It looked like it had been designed by an artist trying to make something look like an alien creature from outer space. The horns might have been used for display purposes or to fight off predators, but they could also have been used as weapons against other Kosmoceratopses or predators.
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Kulindadromeus
The Kulindadromeus is one of the weirdest dinosaurs ever found, not just because it’s a dinosaur discovered in Siberia. The discovery of Kulindadromeus has helped scientists understand how dinosaurs moved around on land, and it’s also shown us that some dinosaurs were pretty good at climbing trees.
Kulindadromeus lived about 165 million years ago. It was an ornithomimid – a group of dinosaurs that included ostrich-like creatures like Gallimimus. They had long arms, which they used to balance themselves while running. They also had long legs, which helped them run quickly through open grasslands and forests.
The first Kulindadromeus fossil was found in 2005 by Russian paleontologists near Lake Baikal in Siberia. A warm ocean once covered this area with small islands where plants grew—an environment that would have been perfect for Kulindadromeus to live in!
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Nothronychus
The first Nothronychus fossil was discovered in the southern part of North America and has been found only in that part of the world. It was a herbivore and lived during the Late Cretaceous period, approximately 80 million years ago.
It had a long neck, which was probably useful for reaching leaves on tall trees. It also had a small head with an unusually large beak and teeth that were serrated on both sides, making them ideal for cutting up tough vegetation. The creature’s skull was also unusual because it had a parietal eye – an eye located above its head.
Nothronychus’s skeleton is thought to have been light enough to allow it to move quickly through dense forests while still being strong enough to support its body weight; however, scientists are not sure exactly how fast this dinosaur could move or whether it could run at all since few fossils exist today.
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Oryctodromeus
Oryctodromeus was one of the weirdest dinosaurs ever found. It was a tiny, rabbit-sized animal with short legs and a long tail, which probably helped it balance while running. It had very short arms and long fingers, so it probably didn’t have claws. Unlike most dinosaurs, it was covered in hair-like bristles and had a very long snout.
Oryctodromeus lived around 170 million years ago during the mid-Jurassic period, when fewer species existed than we see today. This creature’s closest relatives were other small, rodent-like mammals from the Triassic period that went extinct by the end of that era. Scientists think Oryctodromeus likely ate plants and insects like modern rabbits do today.
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Qianzhousaurus
Qianzhousaurus had a long neck, a long tail, and an unusually large head. It was a theropod, an aggressive predator that walked on two legs. It lived in what is now China between 66 million and 100 million years ago.
Paleontologists discovered it in 1998 near the city of Ganzhou, southeastern China. The skeleton they uncovered shows that Qianzhousaurus had a long neck and tail and an unusually large head with sharp teeth. The discovery of Qianzhousaurus has helped scientists understand why some dinosaurs evolved these features. They believe it may have been used for mating displays or to intimidate predators or other members of its species.
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Rhinorex
The Rhinorex was a horned dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period. It was first discovered in Kansas and was named after its large nose horn, which grew to nearly 20 inches long. The Rhinorex had a small head and body, with short arms and stubby legs, making it look like a cross between a duck and a hippo. It was about 33 feet long and weighed 2 tons.
Rhinorex’s nostrils were near the tip of its nose horn, so it could sniff out food without turning its head too much. This is called being “rostral.” The nostrils were also very large, meaning Rhinorex could breathe more easily while running or swimming in water (which it often did).
Like other ceratopsians (horned dinosaurs), Rhinorex had elaborate head ornamentation with horns on top of its skull that may have been used for display or combat during mating season or territorial disputes with other males over resources such as mating rights or food sources/water sources nearby areas where there are plenty of trees nearby but no rivers close by.
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Stygimoloch
Stygimoloch is part of the ankylosaur family, which means it was a herbivore with a bony club-like tail that could swing back and forth to protect itself from predators. But unlike other ankylosaurs, Stygimoloch had large horns that protruded from its face, giving it the appearance of a bulldog. It also had sharp teeth that could chew through tough plants, so it wouldn’t have had trouble getting enough nutrients from its diet.
Paleontologists believe that Stygimoloch lived about 70 million years ago in what is now western North America and eastern Asia. Its remains have been found in Montana, Wyoming, and Alberta, Canada; however, it may also have lived farther south than that area during warm periods when polar ice caps were smaller than they are today.
Yutyrannus
Yutyrannus was one of the weirdest dinosaurs ever found, but scientists are still trying to figure out how it fits into its ecosystem. The dinosaur had a beak similar to that of a parrot and teeth that were shaped like steak knives. It also had feathers on its arms and legs, which is unusual for a meat-eating dinosaur.
Scientists believe that Yutyrannus could fly because it had wings like a bat, but it also had feathers on its arms and legs. This suggests that it may have been able to glide from trees while hunting for prey in the air or on land, said Xu Xing, a professor of paleontology at the China University of Geosciences in Beijing.
However, there is no evidence that Yutyrannus could fly from tree to tree like birds do today. Instead, it likely used its wings for short flights from one branch to another to hunt for food on land or water near rivers or lakes where vegetation grew close together enough for easy access by predators.
Conclusion
The science of paleontology helps us understand more about Earth’s history and how life existed. It provides an exciting way to delve into the past. With these findings, we cannot help but wonder what other weird and wonderful discoveries await in the fossil world. Only time will tell.
