Some of Paul Sereno's dinosaur discoveries:
Herrerasaurus "Herrera's reptile," one of the oldest dinosaurs, was named in honor of Victorino Herrera, an Argentinian artisan who led paleontologists to the first bones of this animal in 1958. That discovery was incomplete.
In 1988, paleontologist Paul Sereno found a complete skull
and several partial skeletons in the foothills of the Andes.
These finds allowed him to properly describe the animal and
place it in its larger evolutionary context.
Eoraptor "Dawn raptor." One of the most primitive
dinosaurs ever found, this 228 million-year-old predator has
razor-sharp teeth and long claws. Sereno's team found it in
Argentina in 1991. Because this dinosaur resembled the common
dinosaur ancestors, it helped paleontologists understand
where dinosaurs came from.
Afrovenator "African hunter." Found in Niger in 1993,
this 27-foot-long (8.1-meter-long), 135-million-year-old
predator is the most complete skeleton of a carnivore ever
found in Africa during the Cretaceous period (144 million to
65 million years ago). This discovery affected thinking about
the wanderings of dinosaurs as the supercontinent Pangaea was
breaking up into the present-day continents.
Jobaria "Giant," also found in Niger in 1993. Jobaria
roamed Africa 135 million years ago. The 70-foot (21-meter)
plant-eating sauropod dinosaur, a contemporary of
Afrovenator, was so well-suited for its habitat that its
forebears had the same anatomical shape for millions of
years. Many dinosaurs changed more rapidly, adapting to new
environments.
Carcharodontosaurus "Shark-toothed reptile," discovered
in 1995 in Morocco. This 90-million-year-old dinosaur was
among the largest carnivores to ever walk the earth. Sereno
and his team unearthed the skull in the Moroccan Sahara.
Deltadromeus "Delta runner," a 27-foot (8.2-meter-long)
predator that lived 90 million years ago, was also found in
1995 in the Moroccan Sahara. Its discovery, along with
Carcharodontosaurus and Sereno's finds in Niger, have
provided compelling evidence that Africa's dinosaurs evolved
differently from those elsewhere in the world.
Suchomimus "Crocodile mimic," found in Niger in 1997.
This huge, fish-eating dinosaur dates back 110 million years.
It had a skull like a crocodile's and foot-long
(30-centimeter-long) thumb claws. This find suggested that
dinosaurs were able to cross the seaway between Africa and
other continents later than had been suspected.
Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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