If you asked the average person what types of dinosaurs existed, then they would probably name some of the more well known dinosaurs. For instance, they might say that they know about the Tyrannosaurus Rex, the Triceratops or the Stegosaurus. If you only went with this list, then that would leave a many different kinds of dinosaurs out of the conversation.
In fact, that leaves a whole lot of dinosaurs out of the conversation. Currently, there are approximately 700 different dinosaur types that have been named. These can be classified into about 300 different dinosaur genera. Some of the lesser known genera that exists include Agnosphitys, Agilisaurus, Brohisaurus, Datousaurus, Echinodon, Ruehleia and Scelidosaurus.
Over time, many more different types of dinosaurs may eventually become lost to the public because new dinosaurs are always being discovered. Scientists estimate that there are between 600 to 900 dinosaurs that are yet to be discovered. And these discoveries may supersede ones from the past.
Most people are familiar with Tyrannosaurus, but not familiar with the genus from which it belongs. The T- Rex, as it’s affectionately known, belongs to the Tyrannosaurus genus with other types of dinosaurs that might be lesser known such as Gorgosaurus libratus, Tarbosaurus bataar and Daspletosaurus torosus. And that is only scraping the tip of the proverbial iceberg. There are more than 50 different species in this one genus alone.
A big reason for the obscurity of some of these dinosaur species is because many people tend to think of the classification system as something that is very confusing. Therefore, they don’t dig down into them and find out about some of the fascinating animals that exists in them. However, that doesn’t have to be the case.
Two sets of classification were established in the late 19th century by a man named Harry Seely. He proposed two different types of categories for the dinosaurs. These categories were Ornithischia—a word which means “bird-hip” and Saurischia—a word which means “lizard hip.” Bird hip dinosaurs include Thyreophora such as Ankylosaurus and Stegosaurus, and Cerapods which include Parasaurolophus and Triceratops. Lizard hip, or Saurischia, can be broken down into Therapods—which include T-Rex, Allosaurus and Spinosaurus; and Sauropods—which include Brachiosaurus and Brontosaurus (now known as Apatosaurus). While these can be further sub-classified into the many different species of dinosaurs, it’s a basic framework to get to know some of the less well known dinosaurs out there.
As you can see, this presents a great opportunity to relearn about some of the different kinds of dinosaurs. And this unearthing of animals that have fallen out of the public’s attention requires a lot less work than finding them in the earth and having to dig them up.
