9949 Brontosaurus
This minor planet was named after Brontosaurus, a gigantic quadruped sauropod dinosaurs, which walked on all four legs and lived in the Upper Jurassic. Adult individuals measured up to 20 meters and had a weight of up to 20 tons. Many Fossils have been found in the United States. Brontosaurus is one of the best-known dinosaurs. The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 20 November 2002 ().
Ceratosaurus
"Ceratosaurus" followed the body plan typical for large theropod dinosaurs. A biped, it moved on powerful hind legs, while its arms were reduced in size. Specimen USNM 4735, the first discovered skeleton and holotype of "Ceratosaurus nasicornis", was an individual or in length according to separate sources. Whether this animal was fully grown is not clear. Othniel Charles Marsh, in 1884, suggested that this specimen weighed about half as much as the contemporary "Allosaurus". In more recent accounts, this was revised to , , or . Three additional skeletons discovered in the latter half of the 20th century were substantially larger. The first of these, UMNH VP 5278, was informally estimated by James Madsen to have been around long, but was later estimated at in length. Its weight was calculated at , , and in separate works. The second skeleton, MWC 1, was somewhat smaller than UMNH VP 5278 and might have been in weight. The third, yet undescribed, specimen BYUVP 12893 was claimed to be the largest yet discovered, although estimates have not been published. Another specimen (ML 352), discovered in Portugal in 2000, was estimated at in length and in weight.
The exact number of vertebrae is unknown due to several gaps in the spine of the "Ceratosaurus nasicornis" holotype. At least 20 vertebrae formed the neck and back in front of the sacrum. In the middle portion of the neck, the (bodies) of the vertebrae were as long as they were tall, while in the front and rear portions of the neck, the centra were shorter than their height. The upwards projecting were comparatively large, and in the dorsal (back) vertebrae, were as tall as the vertebral centra were long. The sacrum, consisting of six fused , was arched upwards, with its vertebral centra strongly reduced in height in its middle portion, as is the case in some other ceratosaurians. The tail comprised around 50 and was about half of the animal's total length; in the holotype, it was estimated at . The tail was deep from top to bottom due to its high neural spines and elongated chevrons, bones located below the vertebral centra. As in other dinosaurs, it counterbalanced the body and contained the massive caudofemoralis muscle, which was responsible for forward thrust during locomotion, pulling the upper thigh backwards when contracted.
The scapula (shoulder blade) was fused with the coracoid, forming a single bone without any visible demarcation between the two original elements. The "C. nasicornis" holotype was found with an articulated left fore limb including an incomplete (hand). Although during preparation, a cast had been made of the fossil beforehand to document the original relative positions of the bones. Carpal bones were not known from any specimen, leading some authors to suggest that they were lost in the genus. In a 2016 paper, Matthew Carrano and Jonah Choiniere suggested that one or more cartilaginous (not bony) carpals were probably present, as indicated by a gap present between the forearm bones and the metacarpals, as well as by the surface texture within this gap seen in the cast. In contrast to most more-derived theropods, which showed only three digits on each manus (digits I–III), "Ceratosaurus" retained four digits, with digit IV reduced in size. The first and fourth metacarpals were short, while the second was slightly longer than the third. The metacarpus and especially the first phalanges were proportionally very short, unlike in most other basal theropods. Only the first phalanges of digits II, III, and IV are preserved in the holotype; the total number of phalanges and unguals (claw bones) is unknown. The anatomy of metacarpal I indicates that phalanges had originally been present on this digit, as well. The pes (foot) consisted of three weight-bearing digits, numbered II–IV. Digit I, which in theropods is usually reduced to a dewclaw that does not touch the ground, is not preserved in the holotype. Marsh, in his original 1884 description, assumed that this digit was lost in "Ceratosaurus", but Charles Gilmore, in his 1920 monograph, noted an attachment area on the second metatarsal demonstrating the presence of this digit.