The 15 Most Magnificent Dinosaur Discoveries Of 2014

The 15 Most Magnificent Dinosaur Discoveries Of 2014

From unearthing one of the largest creatures to ever walk the planet to a teeny tiny microraptor, paleontologists have made some incredible dinosaur discoveries this year.

Just scroll down for a look back at 15 dynamic dinos that were featured on HuffPost Science in 2014. Enjoy!

BRIAN ENGH/RAYMOND M. ALF MUSEUM OF PALEONTOLOGY
Say hello to North America's oldest-known horned dinosaur: Aquilops americanus. Though the dinosaur's skull was unearthed in 2007, paleontologists identified it as belonging to a new species this December.
SERGEY KRASOVSKIY VIA GETTY IMAGES
Paleontologists said in November that a tiny dinosaur about the size of a house cat was discovered in South Korea, and it may be a microraptor (pictured).
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ever since the dinosaur Deinocheirus mirificus was first identified in 1965, paleontologists have been trying to figure out what the animal looked like. This year, paleontologists unearthed a nearly complete skeleton of the dinosaur, which revealed Deinocheirus was "much weirder than anyone could have imagined." Research describing the skeleton was published in October.
Maurílio Oliveira via Max Langer
Scientists call this guy the "Thief of Tachira." The feisty little dinosaur, Tachiraptor admirabilis, was discovered in Venezuela when researchers unearthed two leg bone fossils of the new species in the Andes Mountains. A paper describing the discovery was published in October.
Julius T. Csotonyi/NC State University
This newly identified dinosaur Rhinorex condrupus had quite a large nose. Though the dinosaur was originally excavated from Utah’s Neslen formation in the 1990s, researchers just recently reconstructed the skull fully, at which point they realized they'd found a new dino species. An article describing the new research was published in September.
Davide Bonadonna
Of the hundreds of types of dinosaurs that have been discovered, none has ever been shown to have been adapted for life in the water. But an international team of scientists say a species called Spinosaurus aegyptiacus was the first truly semiaquatic dinosaur--and pretty bizarre. A paper describing the dinosaur was published in September.
Mark Witton, University of Portsmouth
A new "titanosaur" species was discovered in Africa, and research describing the finding was published in September. The enormous herbivore, called Rukwatitan bisepultus, is estimated to have weighed as much as several elephants and likely stretched 30 feet from head to tail.
Jennifer Hall, Carnigie Museum of Natural History
Meet one of the most giant creatures to have ever walked the planet. In September, scientists announced they had discovered Dreadnoughtus schrani, a dinosaur so formidable that it was named after the iconic 20th Century battleship.
MARK WITTON
In August, scientists announced they had discovered the fossil of Laquintasaura venezuelae, a new two-legged, fox-sized dinosaur dating back about 200 million years.
S. Abramowicz, Dinosaur Institute, NHM
Changyuraptor yangi, the largest "four-winged" dinosaur ever known, was identified in July. Its 125-million-year-old fossil was unearthed in 2012 in Liaoning province in northeastern China.
Mark Klinger, Carnegie Museum of Natural History
In March, paleontologists working in the Dakotas announced they'd discovered a new dinosaur species, Anzu wyliei, also known as the "chicken from hell." Named after Anzu, a birdlike demon from ancient mythology, the feathered dinosaur roamed North and South Dakota 66 million years ago.
Chuang Zhao
Not all tyrannosaurs had short, brutish faces like that of Tyrannosaurus rex. Paleontologists in China unearthed the remains of a slender, long-snouted tyrannosaur—and nicknamed it 'Pinocchio rex' for its impressive nose. The discovery was published in a report in May.
Courtesy Danielle Dufault
Who knew dinosaurs could be so frilly? Researchers identified a new species of horned dinosaur with a large frill on its skull--Mercuriceratops gemini--in a study in June.
AP
Scientists unearthed the remains of Argentinosaurus, a newfound prehistoric giant, in southern Argentina's province of Chubut, and they were quite surprised by the size of the fossils. Just take a look at one of the research scientists next to the sauropod dinosaur's femur! Photos of the discovery were released in May.
Chritophe Hendrickx
A new massive, meat-eating dinosaur that roamed a Jurassic-era coastline was unearthed in Portugal. The big-clawed, sharp-toothed species, dubbed Torvosaurus gurneyi, may be the largest land predator from the period ever found in Europe. The discovery was published in a paper in March.

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