Fun fact about me: I had a major dinosaur phase (used loosely) when I was eight. I don’t just mean looking at the occasional dinosaur book or watching Jurassic Park, I mean full out examination of encyclopedias, begging my parents to take me to museums, and managing to work dinosaurs into just about every school assignment and project I did. If a dinosaur species had been discovered by 2011? I knew it. When they lived? Where? What their name meant? You got it—I was essentially a walking encyclopedia related only to dinosaurs in the body of an eight-year-old girl.
Now, another fun fact… it seems my dinosaur phase never really went away as much as it went dormant. Like bird and mammal life after the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event, it has come back in full force, and possibly even stronger, at 20. I’m not sure if it was finally getting over the weird sense of shame I had at being interested in things, or watching the first three Jurassic Park movies in the span of 24 hours with my girlfriend… but it is back. With hopefully the same gusto eight-year-old me would have, I thus present, my top 10 favorite dinosaurs:
(Now, a small disclaimer for any other dinosaur nerds out there. Yes, I am very aware of the differences between dinosaurs and pterosaurs, but with respect to both, their very close relation and the fact that both eight- and 20-year-old me adore the Pteranodon, I will be including both on this list.)
Starting from 10 and moving to my all time favorite….
10. Eoraptor: They may be ancient even among dinosaurs, and they may not be as big or strong as later theropods, but come on… they were the origin! Eoraptor walked so T. Rex and Velociraptor could run! Hailing from Argentina in the late Triassic, they were tiny—not much bigger than cats—and certainly more primitive than their later relatives. But without them, who’s to say those later dinosaurs ever would have existed? We give Eoraptor their due in this house.
9. Quetzalcoatlus: These are just so cool—and how could I not include the largest flying animal to ever exist on this list as a self proclaimed pterosaur nerd? I couldn’t… it would be criminal! Found in modern North America in the late Cretaceous period, these giant fliers may have soared much like modern albatrosses. Oh, and they just look so cool.
8. Dilophosaurus: No, these almost definitely did not spit venom à la Jurassic Park, but that doesn’t mean they are any less cool! Having two crests on its skull, it was remarkably adept and large for its time, the Early Jurassic, where it roamed North America. They are also the state dinosaur of Connecticut!
7. Oryctodromeus: Dinosaurs that dig holes? Come on, you can’t get much cooler than that! These guys lived in modern-day Montana and Idaho and made their homes in burrows. Though they don’t look overly fierce or impressive (and were in fact a small herbivore), who can argue with the impressiveness of digging?
6. Compsognathus: Another species Jurassic Park got wrong, it was unlikely these little guys hunted in packs or brought down much larger animals, but they are still super interesting! So small that it was originally mistaken for a lizard upon discovery, it is interesting to think about how these guys managed to make it in a world of very large relatives. They did, though, make their way through Europe and Asia in the late Jurassic period. Also, though I never actually would if they existed today… I want to pet one.
5. Corythosaurus: Crested dinosaurs that may have made noise? Yes please. While it had a less pronounced crest than the more well-known Parasaurolophus, I actually like these more! These were likely quite fast for their relatively large size, and I love the idea of dinosaur calls. Hailing from Alberta, these guys lived in the Late Cretaceous, coexisting with many similar hadrosaurs.
4. Spinosaurus: Get whatever image of Spinosaurus that Jurassic Park gave you out of your head. Bury it. While it would be cool if they fought T. Rex and behaved as fiercely as they do in the movies, the truth was that these Late Cretaceous theropods lived about 20 million years before T. Rex and spent their time mainly in the water, feeding on fish and thriving in Northern Africa. Still, they just look so cool!
3. Argentinosaurus: The (likely) largest land animal to ever exist? How could it not go on this list? Though a full skeleton has yet to be discovered, the fragments that have been suggest that this thing was absolutely massive. Originating in, you guessed it, Argentina, and living during the Late Cretaceous, these are hard not to like!
2. Stegosaurus: A classic. What more do I need to say? Living in the Late Jurassic in some parts of North America and Europe, these just look so cool. And no, they probably weren’t dumb, despite the tiny head!1.Pteranodon: These are my all time, hands down, no contest favorite Mesozoic animal. From the crests, to the flight, to the fishing behavior, they are just amazing! Living in the Late Cretaceous in what is now the midwestern United States, they are one of the most well-documented pterosaur species in existence and likely flew similarly to an albatross. I love these so much.
1. Pteranodon: These are my all-time, hands down, no contest favorite Mesozoic animal. From the crests, to the flight, to the fishing behavior, they are just amazing! Living in the Late Cretaceous in what is now the midwestern United States, they are one of the most well-documented pterosaur species in existence and likely flew similarly to an albatross. I love these so much.