When a new dinosaur is discovered, it can be named in one of the following ways:

Dinosaurs can be named after a person. Leallynasaura was named after Leallyn Rich, the daughter of the palaeontologists Tom Rich and Patricia Vickers who found the skull. Some dinosaurs are named after the place where their bones were discovered. Muttaburrasaurus was found near the town of Muttaburra, Australia.

Other dinosaurs get their names from a certain physical characteristic. Iguanodon has teeth like an iguana while Dienonychus has a terrible claw. Many dinosaurs names seem long and difficult to pronounce and often contain Greek or Latin words. Many words come from these two languages, and they are recognised by the world-wide scientific community.