Euparkeria

Euparkeria (/juːˌpɑːrkəˈriːə/; meaning "Parker's good animal", named in honor of W.K. Parker) is an extinct genus of archosauriform from the Middle Triassic of South Africa. It was a small reptile that lived between 245-230 million years ago, and was close to the ancestry of Archosauria, the group that includes dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and modern birds and crocodilians. Euparkeria had hind limbs that were slightly longer than its forelimbs, which has been taken as evidence that it may have been able to rear up on its hind legs as a facultative biped. Although Euparkeria is close to the ancestry of fully bipedal archosaurs such as early dinosaurs, it probably developed bipedalism independently. Euparkeria was not as well adapted to bipedal locomotion as dinosaurs and its normal movement was probably more analogous to a crocodilian high walk.

Palaeobiology

Locomotion

Dinosaur (Dungeons & Dragons)

In numerous campaign settings of the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game, dinosaurs, based upon the actual-life extinct reptiles of prehistoric ages, are present. Some of the dinosaurs used in D&D, such as Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus rex, and Ankylosaurus, are real ones which used to exist on earth. Others, such as the Bloodstriker, Fleshraker and Swindlespitter from the Monster Manual III, though labeled as dinosaurs, are made up, and as such are likely better regarded as monsters. Most D&D settings have a location where dinosaurs are known to dwell, and seeing as they coexist with intelligent races, they are sometimes depicted as tamed, with armored T. rexes being used in battle and Velociraptors used as mounts.

Publication history

Dinosaurs have existed in each edition of the Monster Manual, and have played a significant role in D&D since nearly the very beginning. In 1981, dinosaurs were a major antagonist in the module The Isle of Dread (which was exceptionally widely distributed as it was included with the Dungeons & Dragons Expert Set). Also in The Bane of Llywelyn, an early first edition D&D's module featured amazons on Pterosaur-like dinosaurs.