Baron Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás was a Hungarian aristocrat, adventurer, scholar, geologist, paleontologist and albanologist. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of paleobiology, and first described the theory of insular dwarfism. He was also a specialist on Albanian studies and completed the first geological map of northern Albania.
Camptosaurus is a genus of plant-eating, beaked ornithischian dinosaurs of the Late Jurassic period of western North America and possibly also Europe. The name means 'flexible lizard'.
Magyarosaurus is a genus of dwarf sauropod dinosaur from late Cretaceous Period in Romania. It is one of the smallest-known adult sauropods, measuring only 6 m (20 ft) in length and 750–1,000 kg (1,650–2,200 lb) in body mass. The type and only certain species is Magyarosaurus dacus. It has been found to be a close relative of Rapetosaurus in the family Saltasauridae in the sauropod clade Titanosauria in a 2005 study.
Rhabdodon is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur that lived in Europe approximately 70-66 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous. It is similar in build to a very robust "hypsilophodont", though all modern phylogenetic analyses find this to be an unnatural grouping, and Rhabdodon to be a basal member of Iguanodontia. It was large amongst its relatives, measuring 4 m (13 ft) long and weighing 250 kg (550 lb), with some specimens possibly reaching up to 6 m (20 ft) long.
The dinosaurs of Romania are mostly Cretaceous in age, though a series of footprints referred to Parabrontopodus mcintoshi was described from the Early Jurassic of Anina, southwestern Romania. Lowermost Cretaceous dinosaurs come from a bauxite mine in the Bihor County that has yielded thousands of disarticulated bones. Uppermost Cretaceous dinosaurs have been known from the Hațeg Basin since the end of the 19th century, mostly as bone concentrations ; more recently, nests with dinosaur eggs, including hatchlings, have been found in Hațeg. Although separated by a gap of approximately 60 million years, the two dinosaur faunas from Romania share some common features: predominance of ornithopods, absence of large theropods, and, in general, the small size of the individuals.
Elopteryx is a genus of paravian theropod dinosaur based on fragmentary fossils found in Late Cretaceous rocks of Romania. The single species, Elopteryx nopcsai, was known only from very incomplete material until new specimens were reported in the 21st century. Balaur bondoc might represent a junior synonym of this taxon.
Telmatosaurus is a genus of basal hadrosauromorph dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Romania. It was a relatively small hadrosaur, measuring approximately 5 m (16 ft) in length and 600 kg (1,300 lb) in body mass, which has been explained as an instance of insular dwarfism.
Mochlodon is a genus of rhabdodontid dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous of Austria and Hungary. It lived during the Late Cretaceous and two species are known: M. suessi and M. vorosi.
Heptasteornis is the name given to a dubious genus of alvarezsaurid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous. The type species is Heptasteornis andrewsi, described as a presumed gigantic prehistoric owl in 1975. It was previously included in Elopteryx nopcsai and indeed the holotypes of both were believed to be from the same individual as they were discovered, and initially were assigned the same specimen number. This appears to be in error however.
Rhadinosaurus is a genus of nodosaurid ankylosaur first described in 1881 by Harry Govier Seeley, based on remains uncovered in Austria sometime between 1859 and 1870 by Edward Suess and Pawlowitsch. It was a herbivore that lived around 84.9 to 70.6 million years ago. The type species is R. alcimus.
Neuquensaurus is a genus of saltasaurid sauropod dinosaur that lived in the Late Cretaceous, about 80 million years ago in Argentina in South America. Its fossils were recovered from outcrops of the Anacleto Formation around Cinco Saltos, near the Neuquén river from which its name is derived.
Hațeg Island was a large offshore island in the Tethys Sea which existed during the Late Cretaceous period, probably from the Cenomanian to the Maastrichtian ages. It was situated in an area corresponding to the region around modern-day Hațeg, Hunedoara County, Romania. Maastrichtian fossils of small-sized dinosaurs have been found in the island's rocks. It was formed mainly by tectonic uplift during the early Alpine orogeny, caused by the collision of the African Plate and Eurasian Plate towards the end of the Cretaceous. There is no real present-day analog, but overall, the island of Hainan is perhaps closest as regards climate, geology and topography, though still not a particularly good match. The vegetation, for example, was of course entirely distinct from today, as was the fauna.
Hatzegopteryx is a genus of azhdarchid pterosaur found in the late Maastrichtian deposits of the Densuş Ciula Formation, an outcropping in Transylvania, Romania. It is known only from the type species, Hatzegopteryx thambema, named by Buffetaut et al. in 2002 based on parts of the skull and humerus. Additional specimens, including a neck vertebra, were later placed in the genus, representing a range of sizes. The largest of these remains indicate it was among the biggest pterosaurs, with an estimated wingspan of 10 to 12 metres.
Rhabdodontidae is a family of herbivorous iguanodontian ornithopod dinosaurs whose earliest stem members appeared in the middle of the Lower Cretaceous. The oldest dated fossils of these stem members were found in the Barremian Castrillo de la Reina Formation of Spain, dating to approximately 129.4 to 125.0 million years ago. With their deep skulls and jaws, Rhabdodontids were similar to large, robust iguanodonts. The family was first proposed by David B. Weishampel and colleagues in 2003. Rhabdodontid fossils have been mainly found in Europe in formations dating to the Late Cretaceous.
Gargantuavis is an extinct genus of large, primitive bird containing the single species Gargantuavis philoinos. It is the only member of the monotypic family Gargantuaviidae. Its fossils were discovered in several formations dating to 73.5 and 71.5 million years ago in what is now northern Spain, Southern France, and Romania. Gargantuavis is the largest known bird of the Mesozoic, a size ranging between the cassowary and the ostrich, and a mass of 141 kg (311 lb) like modern ostriches, exemplifying the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs wasn't a necessary condition for the emergence of giant terrestrial birds. It was once thought to be closely related to modern birds, but the 2019 discovery of a pelvis identified as cf. Elopteryx nopcsai from what was Hateg Island shows several primitive features.
Paludititan is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur which lived in the area of present Romania during the Late Cretaceous. It existed in the island ecosystem known as Hațeg Island.
Matheronodon is a genus of rhabdodontid ornithopod dinosaur from the late Cretaceous Period of the Grès à Reptiles Formation in France. The genus contains a single species, M. provincialis, which is known from a single maxilla and associated teeth. It was named by Pascal Godefroit and colleagues in 2017. The teeth of Matheronodon are large but few in number. The teeth are also in an unusual arrangement, emerging alternatingly from one of a pair of fused tooth sockets in its mouth. In life, the teeth would have functioned like a pair of scissors, allowing Matheronodon to feed on the tough leaves of monocot plants.
Pareisactus is a genus of rhabdodontid ornithopod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Conquès Member of the Tremp Formation in the Southern Pyrenees of Spain. The type and only species is P. evrostos, known only from a single scapula.
Aprosuchus is a genus of small-bodied Maastrichtian atoposaurid Eusuchian from the Hateg Basin, Romania.
Transylvanosaurus is an extinct genus of rhabdodontid ornithopod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Hateg Basin of Romania. The type species is Transylvanosaurus platycephalus, known from a fragmentary skull.
