Who doesn’t love dinosaurs? Whether or not it’s visiting a museum to study extra about fossils or heading to the movie show for a Jurassic-themed blockbuster, youngsters (and grown-ups) can’t get sufficient. However what do we actually find out about dinosaurs? We’ve put collectively this record of unbelievable dinosaur details to share along with your college students. You gained’t consider a few of these tidbits!
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Unimaginable Dinosaur Info for Children
1. The phrase “dinosaur” is Greek for “horrible lizard.”
Coined by English paleontologist Richard Owen in 1842, the phrase dinosaur means “horrible lizard,” however it’s not as a result of they’re scary—it refers to their huge dimension!
2. Dinosaurs roamed the Earth for about 165 million years.
So regardless of becoming extinct on the finish of the Cretaceous interval, dinosaurs should be thought-about a hit to have survived that lengthy!
3. Dinosaurs grew to become extinct about 65.5 million years in the past.
This is without doubt one of the most well-known dinosaur details for youths. Nobody is strictly positive why the dinosaurs died out almost 66 million years ago. Some consider the local weather grew to become too scorching or chilly for them to exist. Others say that a large asteroid collided with Earth—if this was true, why did some species, together with the ancestors of frogs, turtles, and even birds, survive? It’s a thriller! Watch this video to discover a number of the theories.
4. Child tyrannosaurs have been in all probability cute.
The ferocious grownup T-Rex was the king of dinosaurs, however re-creations of their tiny hatchlings by the American Museum of Pure Historical past are surprisingly cute!
5. The biggest land-based dinosaur was the Argentinosaurus huinculensis.
Extremely, this huge dinosaur might attain as much as 130 ft in size! Watch this video concerning the biggest dino ever!
6. The primary dinosaur to be named was the Megalosaurus.
The Megalosaurus was found by William Buckland, a professor of geology on the College of Oxford. Take a look at this video concerning the discovery of the first dinosaur in 1824.
7. The oldest dinosaur is the Eoraptor.
We’re nonetheless studying about dinosaurs, however the oldest one known to us right now is the Eoraptor, an omnivore that roamed the Earth round 230 million years in the past.
8. Paleontologists research dinosaurs.
Paleontologists discover historic life-forms, from the microscopic to Megalosaurus.
9. Dinosaur fossils have been first found within the early 1800s.
William Buckland shared his fossil findings with the Geological Society of London in 1824, 200 years in the past.
10. Scientists consider that birds descended from dinosaurs.
Over generations and generations, dinosaurs evolved into birds. Paleontologists additionally say that dinosaurs have been cousins of lizards, snakes, and crocodiles! Watch this video from Nationwide Geographic to reply the query: Are Birds Modern-Day Dinosaurs?
11. Many grownup dinosaurs had feathers.
The biggest identified feathered dinosaur was the Yutyrannus huali (watch this to learn more about this super-predator!). This cousin of the T-Rex was 30 ft lengthy and doubtless relied on its feathers to remain heat. A lot of different dinosaurs had feathers and a few dinosaurs used their feathers to fly.
12. Dinosaurs and people didn’t coexist.
Humans didn’t seem on Earth till about 65 million years after dinosaurs grew to become extinct.
13. Not all dinosaurs have been carnivores.
Most of the largest dinosaurs, together with the Brachiosaurus and Apatosaurus, have been herbivores, or plant-eaters. To guard themselves from their carnivorous counterparts, many had pure weapons reminiscent of spikes on their tails or horns as a protect.
14. Dinosaur fossils have been discovered on each continent.
Dinosaurs lived all over the world in various kinds of environments and climates, from dry, sandy deserts to lush tropical forests.
15. We drink the identical water dinosaurs did.
Billions of years in the past, water arrived on Earth, presumably as ice on meteorites that crashed into the brand new planet. These similar water molecules proceed to evaporate, condense into clouds, and precipitate. This implies we’re all drinking the same water the dinosaurs did hundreds of thousands of years in the past!
16. Pterodactyls usually are not dinosaurs.
These flying reptiles had so much in frequent with dinosaurs and their existence overlapped, however they don’t seem to be dinosaurs by definition. They have been, nonetheless, the primary reptiles able to flying!
17. Some dinosaurs have been smaller than a rooster.
The Microraptor weighed simply over 2 kilos (1 kg) and was about 2.5 ft lengthy!
18. Dinosaurs have been colourful.
Whereas scientists have believed that dinosaurs have been grey, inexperienced, or brown, new analysis has revealed that they have been possible more colorful than that! For instance, the Sinosauropteryx was a turkey-size dino that was in all probability orange and white with a striped tail. Paleontologists additionally suppose the Caihong juji was rainbow-colored with shiny, iridescent feathers on its chest and neck!
19. Dinosaurs laid eggs.
Most dinosaurs laid eggs and constructed massive nests to guard their infants and maintain them collectively.
20. Younger dinosaurs grew quick.
Remarkably, dinosaurs reached their full size, or maturity, in nearly seven or eight years!
21. Some dinosaurs lived to 100 years previous.
It’s believed that some massive dinosaurs, like sauropods, might stay for 50 to 100 years.
22. Not all dinosaurs existed on the similar time.
For millions of years, new dinosaur species emerged whereas others went extinct at completely different instances. By the point the T-Rex was alive, the Stegosaurus was already a fossil!
23. Dinosaurs acquired sick.
Think about a sauropod sneezing! There may be proof that non-avian dinosaurs caught respiratory illnesses and developed signs like runny noses and hacking coughs.
24. Dinosaurs liked to snuggle.
Some of the shocking dinosaur details for youths was that these creatures snuggled. Paleontologists found the fossilized skeletons, from round 70 million years in the past, of three younger Oviraptorosaurs who have been huddled collectively. It’s attainable that they have been roosting collectively for cover or to remain heat.
25. We haven’t found all of the dinosaur species but.
Science is all about trying to find solutions to questions after which asking much more questions! New species of dinosaurs are discovered on a regular basis, giving us a clearer glimpse into what life was like for them. It additionally helps us higher perceive the species we’ve already discovered. Isn’t science superb?
26. Dinosaur fossils usually are not precise bones.
Most dinosaur fossils are imprints in rock or rock manufactured from minerals with out the unique bone materials.
27. Dinosaurs are divided into two most important teams.
Scientists have divided dinosaurs into Ornithischia, or bird-hipped dinosaurs, and Saurischia, or lizard-hipped dinosaurs. The classification is predicated on how the dinosaurs’ hip bones have been formed.
28. Ichthyosaurus was not a dinosaur.
Ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs weren’t dinosaurs, they have been marine reptiles.
29. Dinosaurs went extinct in a short time.
Scientists consider it was a catastrophic event, like an asteroid or volcanic eruptions that modified the local weather, that killed the dinosaurs as a result of they disappeared rapidly from the fossil document.
30. Dinosaurs first developed when all of Earth’s land was one massive continent.
Within the Triassic interval, dinosaurs developed when all of the continents have been one massive continent known as Pangaea.
31. Temperatures in the course of the Jurassic interval have been hotter than they’re right this moment.
Temperatures have been hotter and wetter in the course of the Jurassic period, which was when stegosaurus and different massive, plant-eating sauropods walked the Earth.
32. The Tyrannosaurus rex didn’t chew its meals.
T-Rex, a dinosaur identified for its tooth (which have been about 6 inches lengthy and serrated), couldn’t chew so it swallowed food in large chunks.
33. Dinosaurs weren’t cold-blooded.
Scientists have debated this, however since 2014, scientists have typically accepted that dinosaurs have been mesotherms, or someplace between cold- and warm-blooded.
34. Mary Anning was the primary feminine paleontologist.
Mary Anning lived in England within the 1800s and located the fossils of an ichthyosaurus by her home when she was simply 12 years previous. It was the primary of many fossil discoveries, and Anning grew to become well-known by dinosaur collectors.
35. Most dinosaur bones have been present in China and the USA.
Dinosaur species have been present in 51 nations and Antarctica, with essentially the most fossils being present in China and the United States.
36. A lately found dinosaur is called after a Norse god.
A newly found dinosaur, lokiceratops, has an enormous, blade-like horn and was present in Montana in 2019. It was found by two professors and was named for the Norse god Loki.
37. Mammals fought dinosaurs.
When dinosaurs and mammals lived on the similar time, mammals fought back when dinos tried to eat them.
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