Filling the Gap Between Dinosaur Timelines

Scientists are frequently looking to fill in gaps in the historical record, especially the record of ancient history. Since the Internet wasn't around back then, they have had to guess a lot of the time.

Such is the case with a new discovery of a "gap-filling" dinosaur-like creature the fossil of which has been found in a New Mexico dig site knowingly named Ghost Ranch. Scientists have discovered other dinosaur fossils there, so they probably weren't surprised to find Daemonosaurus chauliodus, a creature the size of a tall dog that had slanting front teeth underneath a short snout and some neck features that are strongly reminiscent of dinosaurs.

The name certainly suggests a dinosaur: Daimon means "evil spirit," and sauros means, of course, "lizard." Those big teeth help with the second name because chauliodus comes from a Greek word meaning "buck-toothed."

It's all Greek to me, but the sense of it, I think, is that this was a feared lizard capable of rending great gaps in the hide of prey. The fossils found suggest a super-predator, which probably explains why the name begins with the Greek equivalent of "demon."

The snout is a little less pronounced than archaeologists would like it to be, which is probably why they haven't called this thing a full-blown dinosaur. Still, it is something more than earlier dinosaurs and something less than T-Rex and its Triassic ilk, so there's something. And the wide open spaces of the area have been lovingly represented in more than one George O'Keefe landscape.

You can read more about Daemonosaurus chauliodus and the fine folks who discovered its skull and neck here.