The Denver Gem and Mineral Show Part 6: Dinosaurs and Their Ancient Relatives

At last: here we go on the sixth post of our Denver Gem and Mineral Show series!  Even though I went with my friend Masaki Kleinkopf a few months ago, I still have a large number of picture that I am eager to share with you.  If you are interested in reading about the other posts in this series, feel free to check out the Homebase for the series HERE, with links to all of the other posts in the series that have been created thus far!  Today we will be looking at the dinosaurs, as well as an ancient relative!  Fasten your seat belts, everyone!

Here we have the skull of Allosaurus!  We have discussed Allosaurus extensively, especially in our 23-Fact Tuesday post, so click HERE to learn more about this fascinating creature!

A dinosaur who needs no introduction, but, as you can see, I am introducing him anyways: Tyrannosaurus rex!  I believe the second picture is of the foot of Tyrannosaurus, but I am not one hundred percent positive.

Psittacosaurus, one of the most primitive ceratopsian dinosaurs known to science.  It doesn't even have a frill or horns!  So how do we know that it is a ceratopsian dinosaur?  It has an extra bone on its upper jaw called the rostral.  It is this bone that distinguishes the ceratopsians from the other groups of dinosaurs.

Another dinosaur foot, this one belonging to Diplodocus, a large sauropod from the Late Jurassic Period, whose remains are found in the Morrison Formation. 

 Some fossil footprints that I am guessing belong to a theropod dinosaur, but I don't actually know.

Some fossil bones of a hadrosaur known as Edmontosaurus.  Here is what the card says: "Edmontosaurus sp.  Cervical vertebrae and bone.  Lance Formation.  Maastrichtian.  Late Cretaceous.  Niobrara County, Wyoming."

Some teeth belonging to the massive carnivorous dinosaur Carcharodontosaurus.  Up at the top of the picture, you can see a few from Spinosaurus, as well. 

Various teeth and claws from the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center (RMDRC) booth.

This last guy, Desmatosuchus, is not actually a dinosaur, but a type of archosaur.  Although it looks quite fierce, Desmatosuchus belongs to an order of Late Triassic herbivores called the aetosaurs.  Desmatosuchus in particular has been found in Texas, and was around 15 or 16 feet in length. 

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