Funniest Dinosaur Names: The Most Ridiculous Prehistoric Names
Have you ever seen a dinosaur name and burst out laughing? Some of these creatures ended up with names that sound like a sneeze, a spell, or something a toddler made up â but they're completely real animals with real scientific names.
Dracorex hogwartsia was named after Hogwarts. Irritator was named because the scientists who found it were genuinely annoyed. Gasosaurus sounds exactly like what you're thinking. These aren't jokes â they're in the official scientific record and everything.
Let's dig into the dinosaurs behind the funny names. Because once you find out what these creatures were actually like, the weird names start to make a lot of sense.
Click any name to hear how to say it
The Real Animals Behind These Ridiculous Names
Dracorex hogwartsia was a pachycephalosaur â a thick-skulled dinosaur that probably used its bony head to headbutt rivals. Its skull was covered in spiky knobs and horns, and it genuinely looked like a dragon. When the fossil was put on display at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, kids helped name it. Harry Potter won the vote, and the name stuck forever.
Irritator challengeri was a spinosaurid â a cousin of Spinosaurus â that hunted fish in what is now Brazil during the Cretaceous Period. It had a long crocodile-like snout perfect for snatching fish out of rivers. The "irritator" part came not from the animal but from the fossil dealers who had packed the skull with plaster to make it look more complete before selling it. The scientists who received it were not happy.
Gasosaurus was a medium-sized predator from Jurassic China, about the size of a large dog standing on two legs. It gets its ridiculous name from the Dashanpu Gas Company, which was operating the construction site where the fossil was found. Completely reasonable origin. Endlessly funny result.
Zuul crurivastator is one of the best names on this whole list. Zuul is the name of the demon dog from Ghostbusters â and the scientists named it that because its face genuinely looked like the movie monster. Crurivastator means "destroyer of shins," which refers to the massive spiked tail club it used to swing at predators. This was a real animal that destroyed shins for a living.
Tiny Dinosaurs With Enormous Personalities
Some of the funniest dinosaur names belong to creatures that were actually tiny. Mei long was a small feathered theropod from China â and its name in Mandarin simply means "soundly sleeping dragon." The fossil was found curled up with its head tucked under its arm, exactly like a sleeping bird. It is one of the most peaceful-looking dinosaur fossils ever discovered.
Minmi was a small ankylosaur from Australia, only about 3 meters long. It was named after Minmi Crossing, the creek near where it was found. Scientists also discovered that Minmi had more bones in its body than almost any other dinosaur â tiny extra bones called paravertebrae along its back that may have helped support armor plating.
Mojoceratops was a ceratopsian with an enormous heart-shaped frill on the back of its head. The scientist who named it wanted something that captured how flashy and over-the-top the frill looked. He picked "mojo" from the slang term for charm or charisma. The frill was likely brightly colored and used to attract mates â so mojo is actually a perfect fit.
Aquilops was one of the smallest horned dinosaurs ever found in North America. Its entire skull was smaller than your hand. It lived about 108 million years ago and is an early relative of the giant ceratopsians that came later. The name means "eagle face," which sounds way more majestic than the little creature actually was.