Dinosaurs. They may be prehistoric. But they’re a big part of science fiction too. In 1993, Jurassic Park made dinosaurs sci-fi stars. But Crichton & Spielberg weren’t the first to place dinosaurs into science fiction stories. As far back as 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle published his science fiction novel The Lost World, starring dinosaurs. These giant animals have battled King Kong, rampaged across Tokyo, and left deep footprints across the genre.

Everyone knows the famous dinosaurs. T-Rex. Triceratops. Brontosaurus. Show pictures of them to a kindergartener, and odds are he or she can name them. But what about the lesser-known dinosaurs? The obscure ones? The weirdos?

Here are the ten dinosaurs we believe deserve more love. They’re not as famous as the big names. But they’re just as fascinating. Take a trip with us back in time…

Achillobator

Could these be the most underrated predators in prehistory? Achillobator (meaning "Achilles hero") lived in the Late Cretaceous period 96 million to 89 million years ago. It was a feathered, bipedal carnivore, roughly the size of a horse. Think the raptors from Jurassic Park but bulkier, heavier, and covered with feathers. Like the raptors, Achillobator was armed with a powerful sickle claw on each second toe.

Chasmosaurus

Imagine a Triceratops. Punch two huge holes into its bony frill. And you have a Chasmosaurus. Its name means "opening lizard" due to these two openings in the frill. Skin likely covered these holes, perhaps brightly colored. Some scientists believed Chasmosaurus used its enormous frill to attract mates.

Magyarosaurus

A dwarf sauropod? Could it be true? Was Dino from the Flintstones real? Normally, we think of sauropods – thundering herbivores with long necks – as enormous dinosaurs. And most of them were truly colossal, rivaling whales in size. But not Magyarosaurus. This dwarf sauropod was only about the size of a horse. Tiny. They also sported armored plates on their backs. Scientist believe the Magys were so small because they evolved on an island, isolated from larger dinosaurs – an example of insular dwarfism.

Megaraptor

Imagine the Velociraptors from Jurassic Park. Now imagine them bigger. Much bigger. Twice the size of a polar bear, today’s largest land predator. And you got the Megaraptor. Their claws were a foot long, curved, and sharp, perfect for slashing into the flesh of their prey. They lived in Argentina during the Late Cretaceous.

Quetzalcoatlus

Meet the tyrant of prehistoric flyers. If T-Rex ruled the land, and the mighty Mosasaur ruled the sea, surely Quetzalcoatlus ruled the sky. This was an enormous animal (technically a pterosaur, not a dinosaur, but we love it so much we’ll still include it here). On land, it stood as tall as a giraffe, impressive enough. But when it unfurled its wings, Quetzalcoatlus revealed its true size. Its wingspan was nearly forty feet wide. This flying reptile was the size of a small airplane.

Like what you're reading?

If you're enjoying this list of weird dinosaurs, why not join the DSF community for more awesome content? You'll get to be notified whenever a top 10 list or any other articles of interest go up on our site. It's free to sign up and you'll also get recommendations for new releases and discounted ebooks from our expert editorial team, from bestsellers to hidden gems.

Sinraptor

Few dinosaurs of the Jurassic era inspired as much terror as the Sinraptor. Ten feet tall. Thirty feet long. Curved teeth designed to inflict maximum damage. Think a T-Rex, just a tad smaller and from China. The Sinraptors must have terrorized their environment, feeding on herbivores like Stegosaurus.

Supersaurus

Behold the Supersaurus! The largest dinosaur to ever roam the world! Well, maybe. There is an ongoing debate about who the biggest dino was. Do we measure by height? Length? Weight? What about dinos with incomplete skeletons, whose size we can only estimate? Well, one thing is certain. Supersaurus was a true behemoth, worthy of its name. It was a type of sauropod (long-necked dino) who lived in North America. It reached over a hundred feet in length—that’s longer than a blue whale. And it weighed as much as ten to twenty elephants. That’s big. So big it could stomp on a T-Rex without breaking a sweat. In fact, Supersaurus was so enormous it was probably predator-proof. To grow so big, it ate a lot. To conserve energy, Supersaurus might have planted its feet firmly on the ground, then moved its neck from side to side like a vacuum cleaner, hoovering up vegetation.

Therizinosaurus

The Edward Scissorhands of dinosaurs? Therizinosaurus sported the longest claws nature ever produced. They grew 3-4 feet long, a world record. Truly the fingernails from hell. But despite essentially growing swords from its hands, Therizinosaurus was not a predator. Paleontologists believe it used its claws for grabbing vegetation. Possibly, the claws were also used for self-defence against predators.

Titanoboa

While technically not a dinosaur, the Titanoboa was a true terror of prehistory. These enormous snakes lived in South America, dwarfing even the mightiest python alive today. A Titanoboa was so large it could swallow alligators for breakfast. A human would be just a snack. The Titanoboa was so enormous it could possibly defeat even a T-Rex (we’ll never know, since these two giants lived during different eras).

Tupandactylus imperator

The imperator was arguably the showiest animal until the peacock. A type of pterosaur, the imperator sported an enormous crest. It looked like a sail on its head. These gaudy crests were likely colorful, used to attract mates and signal to other imperators. With a wingspan of thirteen feet, Tupandactylus imperator was a big flyer, able to glide for enormous distances, even crossing oceans.

We hope you enjoyed meeting these dinos. Know any other weird or obscure dinos? Post about them in the comments!

Ten Weird Dinosaurs