Your full information to dinosaurs! Learn on to grow to be an skilled on all elements of dinosaurs and life within the Mesozoic Period!
On this web page, you may discover lists of dinosaurs by interval, plus an enormous quantity of attention-grabbing dino information, together with: What’s a dinosaur? When and the place did dinosaurs stay? How lengthy did dinosaurs stay on Earth? When and why did dinosaurs go extinct?
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Dinosaurs Web page Index
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Uncover Dinosaurs with Lively Wild
Welcome to the Lively Wild Dinosaurs web page, your all-in-one information to the rulers of the Mesozoic Period!
Beneath, you may discover a listing of dinosaurs by interval (Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous). Click on on the hyperlinks to see photos and information in your favourite dino!
Additional down the web page, you may discover a full information to dinosaurs, overlaying: what dinosaurs have been, after they existed, how lengthy they lived for, and why they died out… along with rather more info that gives you an thought of what the world was like in the course of the ‘Age of Reptiles’.
By the point you have completed, you may be a real dinosaur skilled!
Sorts Of Dinosaurs By Interval
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Different Dinosaur Pages On Lively Wild
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Dinosaurs: A Full Information (From Egg to Extinction)
What Does ‘Dinosaur’ Imply?
The phrase ‘dinosaur’ was invented by the English biologist Sir Richard Owen. He first used the time period ‘Dinosauria’ in 1842, when he wanted a phrase for a brand new group of animals that he had just lately recognized.
The phrase dinosaur comes from two Greek phrases: ‘deinos’, which suggests ‘horrible’, and ‘sauros’, which suggests ‘lizard’. Due to this fact ‘dinosaur’ means ‘horrible lizard’.
Strictly talking, dinosaurs aren’t lizards, nevertheless it’s nonetheless a really becoming title!
What Is A Dinosaur?
This will likely shock you, however dinosaurs are nonetheless alive, within the form of birds! You’ll study extra in regards to the relationship between dinosaurs and birds additional down the web page.
On this web page, once we use the phrase dinosaurs, we imply ‘non-avian dinosaurs’. That’s, all the dinosaurs that did not evolve into birds.
Evolution, by the way in which, is how animals change over time. It does not occur in a single day; a hen did not instantly hatch from a T. Rex egg! Evolution can take hundreds–if not tens of millions–of years, with numerous tiny adjustments occurring over these immense timespans.
What Makes a Dinosaur a Dinosaur? Dinosaur Traits
Paleontology (or palaeontology in British English) is the scientific research of prehistoric life, and a paleontologist (or palaeontologist in British English) is a scientist concerned on this department of science.
Dinosaurs have been a tremendously assorted group of animals. Some dinosaurs have been grazers, some have been predators, some lived in herds, some had horns and a few had armour, however regardless of all these variations, there have been issues that every one dinosaurs had in frequent.
Dinosaurs have been reptiles, and all dinosaurs laid eggs.
The legs of dinosaurs projected downwards from the physique. This adaptation gave dinosaurs added mobility and pace, setting them aside from early reptiles and crocodiles, which had “sprawling” gaits, their legs projecting outwards from the physique.
Dinosaurs lived between 250 and 65 million years in the past, from the early Triassic interval to the tip of the Cretaceous interval.
Being reptiles, dinosaurs are associated to the snakes, crocodiles, lizards, and so forth., of at this time. Nonetheless, whereas nearly all of at this time’s reptiles have little or no inside management over physique temperature (i.e. they’re cold-blooded, or ectothermic), there may be proof to recommend that not less than some dinosaurs have been warm-blooded, or endothermic.
Dinosaurs have been land animals (though some are thought to have had semi-aquatic life), and, till they started to evolve into birds, there have been no flying dinosaurs.
Pterosaurs, the well-known “flying dinosaurs”, weren’t truly dinosaurs; neither have been “swimming dinosaurs” reminiscent of plesiosaurs and mosasaurs.
There have been many several types of dinosaur, and so they lived in many various habitats. There have been meat-eating, plant-eating and omnivorous dinosaurs, and lots of advanced to have specialist diets reminiscent of seeds or bugs.
Dinosaurs ranged in measurement from the chicken-sized compsognathus (and a few just lately found species that will have been even smaller) to the enormous sauropods – together with the Titanosaurs, the largest recognized dinosaurs.
Some dinosaurs walked on two legs (i.e., they have been bipedal), some on 4 (i.e., they have been quadrupedal), and a few (reminiscent of Iguanadon) have been capable of stroll on each two and 4 legs.
The very first dinosaurs – the ancestors of all dinosaurs that adopted – have been bipedal.
Traits Of Dinosaurs: Abstract
- Dinosaurs have been reptiles
- Straight legs projecting downwards from the physique.
- Lived on land (with some semi-aquatic exceptions). (Plesiosaurs and mosasaurs weren’t dinosaurs!)
- Couldn’t fly (till they advanced into birds). (Pterosaurs weren’t dinosaurs!)
- Lived in all three durations of the Mesozoic Period (Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous).
- First appeared in the course of the mid-Triassic interval.
- Grew to become extinct on the finish of the Cretaceous interval.
Sorts Of Dinosaurs
- You’ll find out extra in regards to the several types of dinosaurs on this web page: Sorts Of Dinosaurs
We’ve all heard of dinosaurs reminiscent of Tyrannosaurus Rex, Stegosaurus and Allosaurus. Every of those, and all the different well-known dinosaurs, have been one in all both of the 2 fundamental kinds of dinosaur, Ornithischia and Saurischia.
The 2 kinds of dinosaur have been recognized by British paleontologist Harry Seeley.
1. Ornithischia
The title Ornithischia comes from the Greek for “bird-hipped”. The hip bones of those dinosaurs are just like these of present-day birds.
Confusingly, birds are literally descended from the Saurischians, fairly than the Ornithischians.
Ornithischians have been herbivorous (plant-eating) dinosaurs. Early Ornithischians have been small and bipedal (strolling on two legs). Nonetheless, as they advanced, the ornithischians got here to be extra assorted than the saurischians. Most well-known ornithischians walked on 4 legs.
Some examples of ornithischians embody the armoured dinosaurs reminiscent of ankylosaurus and stegosaurus, ornithopods reminiscent of Iguanodon, and ceratopsians reminiscent of triceratops.
2. Saurischia
Saurischian means ‘lizard-hipped’; any such dinosaur’s hip bones resemble these of a lizard. Saurischian dinosaurs may be divided into two fundamental sorts: theropods and sauropods.
Theropods
Theropoda is the group of dinosaurs that features all the well-known carnivorous species you’ve little question seen in movies reminiscent of ‘Jurassic Park’. These dinosaurs walked on two highly effective legs, and had lengthy tails, brief arms, and massive jaws!
Examples of theropods embody Allosaurus, Oviraptor, and Tyrannosaurus.
A bunch of theropod dinosaurs finally advanced into birds; and theropods have been subsequently the one dinosaurs to outlive the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction occasion that befell round 66 million years in the past, by which all different dinosaurs turned extinct.
Sauropods
The opposite fundamental kind of saurischian dinosaurs have been the sauropods. These have been enormous, herbivorous dinosaurs, with small heads, lengthy necks, and 4 stout legs to hold their monumental weight. Nicely-known sauropods embody Apatosaurus, Diplodocus and Brontosaurus.
How Did Dinosaurs Evolve?
Reptile-like animals advanced from four-legged amphibians 350 million years in the past, in the course of the Carboniferous interval. The change from amphibian to reptile-like animal concerned gaining legs, lungs, and eggs that might survive on land.
These variations meant that early reptiles have been now not tied to the water; they may transfer round and reproduce on land.
The primitive reptile-like animals break up into a number of branches. Some would finally grow to be the acquainted reptiles that we all know at this time, reminiscent of snakes, lizards and turtles. Others would grow to be mammals. Different branches, reminiscent of plesiosaurs, wouldn’t survive the assorted extinction occasions that might later befall the world.
One group of early reptiles have been the archosaurs. The phrase ‘archosaurs’ means ‘ruling reptiles’.
An instance of an archosaur is Erythrosuchus, a meat-eating early reptile which was round 5 metres (16 ft.) lengthy.
Archosaurs went on to separate into two fundamental branches. One in every of these was the early crocodilians – the ancestors of at this time’s crocodiles and alligators.
The opposite fundamental kind of archosaur was the Avemetatarsalians. That is the department that might give rise to dinosaurs (and in addition to pterosaurs, the flying reptiles).
When Did Dinosaurs Reside?
Dinosaurs lived within the Mesozoic Period, which is also called the “Age of Reptiles”. The Mesozoic Period started round 252 million years in the past, and ended round 66 million years in the past. It’s subdivided into three smaller durations: the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous durations.
The earliest dinosaurs began appearing between round 231 and 243 million years in the past, in the course of the Triassic interval. They have been small, and walked on two legs.
Round 201.3 million years in the past, a worldwide extinction occasion befell. This marked the tip of the Triassic interval and the start of the Jurassic interval.
The Triassic–Jurassic extinction occasion, as it’s now recognized, worn out over half of the species we all know existed throughout that point. It additionally set the scene for the dinosaurs to take over the world!
Dinosaurs turned the dominant land vertebrates (animals with backbones) after the Triassic–Jurassic extinction occasion. They remained so all through the Jurassic and Cretaceous durations.
Their reign got here to an finish with one other extinction occasion – the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction occasion – which occurred round 66 million years in the past. This prompted all the non-avian dinosaurs to grow to be extinct.
Are Dinosaurs Extinct?
Technically, dinosaurs survived (as birds), however with the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction occasion, the age of the enormous reptiles was over. The reign of the dinosaurs lasted for round 170 million years.
Dinosaurs existed for round 170 million years. Homo sapiens (trendy people) have solely been round for 200,000 years, and Primates (the group that features all apes and monkeys) has been round for 60 to 80 million years. We have a protracted strategy to go to be as profitable as dinosaurs!
Birds Descended From Dinosaurs
Scientists now suppose that every one of at this time’s birds are descended from therapods, which have been Saurischian dinosaurs (see ‘Sorts of Dinosaur’, above). Many therapods are believed to have had feathers – even Tyrannosaurus Rex!
Essentially the most bird-like of the therapods branched off into a gaggle known as Coelurosauria, which comes from the Greek that means ‘hollow-tailed lizards’.
Though outwardly, many Coelurosaurians didn’t precisely resemble birds (Tyrannosaurus Rex was a Coelurosaurian), a department of Coelurosauria known as maniraptorans would grow to be the ancestors of all the birds on this planet at this time.
Birds began appearing within the Jurassic interval, and can be the one dinosaurs to outlive the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction occasion.
The place Did Dinosaurs Reside?
Dinosaur stays have been discovered on each continent. They’ve even been present in Antarctica, the place scientists have discovered fossils of each plant-eating and meat-eating dinosaurs.
This doesn’t imply, nonetheless, that dinosaurs lived in Antarctic situations. Within the Triassic interval – when dinosaurs began appearing – there was just one enormous supercontinent, known as Pangaea, which suggests ‘all Earth’.
The Triassic local weather was dry and heat. Dinosaurs might unfold far and huge throughout the huge landmass. That is why we discover fossils of the identical kind of dinosaurs in several components of the world at this time.
Within the Jurassic interval, Pangaea started to separate into two fundamental landmasses known as Laurasia and Gondwana.
Because the continents pulled aside, oceans flooded into the gaps between them. Dinosaurs have been now not free to roam throughout the entire of the world’s land. The local weather started to chill (though it was nonetheless scorching), and there was extra rain.
All through the Jurassic and Cretaceous durations, the landmasses would proceed to slowly separate into the continents we all know at this time.
Dinosaur Extinction
Dinosaurs have been extraordinarily profitable animals, however finally the ‘Age of Reptiles’ got here to an finish.
Round 66 million years in the past, life on Earth was devastated by a sudden, dramatic prevalence that prompted 75% of all plant and animal species to grow to be extinct.
There are numerous explanations for what’s now often known as the Cretaceous–Paleogene (Ok-Pg) extinction occasion. Theories embody huge worldwide volcanic eruptions and adjustments in world temperatures.
Some individuals even suppose that one other star – known as Nemesis – approaches the Solar each 26 million years, inflicting asteroids to smash into Earth.
Meteorite Idea
Geologists have recognized a slim band of sedimentary rock that runs between rocks shaped within the Cretaceous and Paleogene durations. This band is named the Cretaceous–Paleogene, or Ok–Pg, boundary.
Contained inside this rock is a excessive focus of an in any other case uncommon steel known as iridium. Iridium is discovered primarily on the centre of the Earth, and in asteroids and comets.
This gave rise to one of many likeliest explanations for the Ok-Pg extinction occasion: Earth was struck by a meteorite that was round 6 miles (10 km) throughout.
The impression would have prompted an explosion round 2 million instances better than a nuclear bomb.
The explosion would have despatched up a gasoline cloud sufficiently big to envelop the world and trigger a number of years of darkness. Temperatures would have dropped dramatically. Vegetation would have been unable to develop, and whole meals chains would have been worn out.
The meteorite idea is supported by the invention of the Chicxulub crater in Mexico. This enormous impression crater seems to have been created across the time of the Ok-Pg extinction occasion.
How We Know About Dinosaurs
Paleontology
Scientists who research historical life are often known as paleontologists (palaeontologists in British English). They research fossil stays, utilizing information from different scientific fields reminiscent of biology, chemistry and geology to create an image of how the world used to look.
Fossils
- You’ll find out extra about fossils on this web page: Fossil Information
A lot of our information of dinosaurs is pieced collectively from fossils. Fossils are the preserved traces and stays of dwelling issues.
Fossils have been being found lengthy earlier than man really realised what they have been. They could even have given rise to myths and legends about dragons and different monsters.
It was solely within the 19th century that critical research of fossils started.
Fossils are shaped in a number of methods. One sort of fossil is shaped when the buried stays of an animal are changed by minerals, making a stone fossil.
One other means a fossil is made is when the unique stays dissolve away utterly, leaving an overview of the stays. That is known as a ‘mould fossil’.
Not all fossils are of the animals themselves. Traces of dinosaurs, reminiscent of footprints and even dinosaur droppings may be fossilised.
Scientists can piece collectively a stunning quantity of data from fossils. Not solely can they inform what a dinosaur might have appeared like, but additionally the way it lived and what it ate. From the rock by which the fossil was discovered they’ll inform how previous it’s.
High Ten Dinosaur Information
- The scientific research of historical life is known as paleontology (palaeontology in British English). Due to this fact, in the event you research dinosaurs, you then’re a paleontologist!
- All of our information of dinosaurs comes from fossils – the stays or traces of dwelling issues which have been preserved as rocks.
- The phrase ‘dinosaur’ means ‘horrible lizard’. It was invented by the English biologist Sir Richard Owen.
- Dinosaurs lived throughout a lot of the Mesozoic Period, which occurred from round 252 to round 66 million years in the past.
- Dinosaurs have been the dominant land vertebrates in the course of the Triassic and Cretaceous durations of the Mesozoic Period.
- Most scientists now contemplate birds to be dinosaurs.
- The non-avian dinosaurs (e.g. dinosaurs that weren’t birds) have been worn out within the Cretaceous–Paleogene (Ok-Pg) extinction occasion, which occurred round 66 million years in the past.
- Dinosaurs existed for round 170 million years. Homo sapiens (trendy people), however, have solely existed for a mere 200,000 years.
- Even the fearsome T Rex might have had feathers.
- Dinosaur stays have been present in each continent.
Dinosaurs: Conclusion
Now that you’ve completed the article, attempt to think about what life was actually like within the Jurassic and Cretaceous durations. Image in your thoughts how these enormous reptiles might need appeared strolling, feeding, looking and combating.
Think about seeing the results of the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction occasion, with darkened skies, crops dying, and the final of the non-avian dinosaurs wandering round trying to find meals.
Now replicate on the truth that every thing that we find out about dinosaurs comes from fossils! It is superb how a lot we will piece collectively utilizing many various branches of science, from geology to zoology.
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