List of Appalachian dinosaurs facts for kids
North America was a very different place during the Late Cretaceous period. A huge body of water, called the Western Interior Seaway, split the continent into two big landmasses. The western part was named Laramidia, and the eastern part was called Appalachia. Because these two lands were separated, the dinosaurs living on them evolved in different ways.
For example, a type of armored dinosaur called nodosaurs were quite common in Appalachia. But in Laramidia, they were very rare. Only special kinds, like Edmontonia and Panoplosaurus, lived there. This shows how animals in isolated places can develop unique features over time. This article lists the dinosaurs whose remains have been found in Appalachia.
Dinosaurs of Ancient Appalachia
| Name | Time Period | Diet | Fun Facts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acrocanthosaurus | Lower Cretaceous | Carnivore | This huge meat-eater was a type of carcharodontosaur. Its main fossils are from Texas and Oklahoma, but possible teeth have been found in Maryland. |
| Ampelognathus | Upper Cretaceous | Herbivore | A small plant-eating dinosaur known from Texas. It was an ornithopod. |
| Appalachiosaurus | Upper Cretaceous | Carnivore | A large tyrannosauroid (a group that includes T. rex) found in Alabama. |
| Arkansaurus | Lower Cretaceous | Omnivore | An early ornithomimid (a "bird-mimic" dinosaur) from Arkansas. It likely ate both plants and meat. |
| Astrodon | Lower Cretaceous | Herbivore | A very large plant-eating sauropod (long-necked dinosaur) found in Maryland. |
| Astrophocaudia | Lower Cretaceous | Herbivore | Another big plant-eating sauropod, this one found in Texas. |
| Cedarosaurus | Lower Cretaceous | Herbivore | A large plant-eating sauropod from Texas. |
| Claosaurus | Upper Cretaceous | Herbivore | This early hadrosauromorph (a group related to duck-billed dinosaurs) was found near the Appalachia side of the ancient sea. |
| "Coelosaurus" | Upper Cretaceous | Omnivore | This dinosaur's remains were found in New Jersey. Some scientists think it might be the same as Ornithomimus. |
| Convolosaurus | Lower Cretaceous | Herbivore | A small ornithopod that lived only in Texas. |
| Deinonychus | Lower Cretaceous | Carnivore | A fierce dromaeosaur (a type of raptor) from Oklahoma. Possible teeth have also been found in Maryland. |
| Diplotomodon | Upper Cretaceous | Carnivore | This name is uncertain for a tyrannosauroid from New Jersey. It might be Dryptosaurus or a new type of dinosaur. |
| Dryptosaurus | Upper Cretaceous | Carnivore | A medium-sized tyrannosauroid from New Jersey. It was the first meat-eating dinosaur found in North America! |
| Eotrachodon | Upper Cretaceous | Herbivore | A hadrosaur (duck-billed dinosaur) from Alabama. Scientists found a nearly complete skeleton of this dinosaur. |
| Hadrosaurus | Upper Cretaceous | Herbivore | The first non-bird dinosaur skeleton ever found in the United States! It was discovered in 1858 in New Jersey. |
| Hierosaurus | Upper Cretaceous | Herbivore | An armored nodosaur from Kansas. Its name is not fully certain. |
| Hypsibema | Upper Cretaceous | Herbivore | A hadrosaur first found in North Carolina in 1869. Better fossils of a second species were found in Missouri. |
| Lophorhothon | Upper Cretaceous | Herbivore | A hadrosauromorph from Alabama. Skull pieces were found, and in 2021, a more complete skeleton was discovered. |
| Niobrarasaurus | Upper Cretaceous | Herbivore | Another armored nodosaur dinosaur from Kansas. |
| Ornithotarsus | Upper Cretaceous | Herbivore | This name is now considered to be the same dinosaur as Hadrosaurus. |
| Parrosaurus | Upper Cretaceous | Herbivore | A hadrosaur from Missouri. It might be the same as Hypsibema missouriensis. This dinosaur is the state dinosaur of Missouri! |
| Pawpawsaurus | Lower Cretaceous | Herbivore | An armored nodosaur found in Texas. |
| Priconodon | Lower Cretaceous | Herbivore | A nodosaur from Maryland, known only from fossilized teeth. |
| Protohadros | Lower Cretaceous | Herbivore | A hadrosaur from eastern Texas. This area was part of Appalachia when the Western Interior Seaway formed. |
| Propanoplosaurus | Lower Cretaceous | Herbivore | An armored nodosaur dinosaur from Maryland. |
| Silvisaurus | Upper Cretaceous | Herbivore | A plant-eating nodosaur from Kansas. Like Claosaurus, its fossil likely washed into the ancient sea from Appalachia. |
| Saurornitholestes | Upper Cretaceous | Carnivore | A dromaeosaur that mostly lived in Laramidia. It might have traveled to Appalachia by "island hopping." Possible teeth have been found in Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina. |
| Sauroposeidon | Lower Cretaceous | Herbivore | A truly massive sauropod! Its remains have been found in Texas and Oklahoma. |
| Teihivenator | Upper Cretaceous | Carnivore | An uncertain type of tyrannosaur found in New Jersey. |
| Texasetes | Lower Cretaceous | Herbivore | Another armored nodosaur from Texas. |
| Tenontosaurus | Lower Cretaceous | Herbivore | An iguanodontid (a group of large plant-eaters) found in Texas, Oklahoma, and Maryland. |
| Zephyrosaurus | Lower Cretaceous | Herbivore | A small ornithopod that usually lived in Laramidia. Possible tracks (footprints) have been found in Maryland and Virginia, suggesting it might have visited Appalachia. |
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List of Appalachian dinosaurs Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.