37 Unimaginable Dinosaur Details for Children
Who doesn’t love dinosaurs? Whether or not it’s visiting a museum to be taught 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 learn about dinosaurs? We’ve put collectively this listing of unbelievable dinosaur info to share along with your college students. You gained’t consider a few of these tidbits!
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Unimaginable Dinosaur Details 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 monumental measurement!
2. Dinosaurs roamed the Earth for about 165 million years.
So regardless of changing into extinct on the finish of the Cretaceous interval, dinosaurs have to be thought of a hit to have survived that lengthy!
3. Dinosaurs grew to become extinct about 65.5 million years in the past.
This is among the most well-known dinosaur info for teenagers. Nobody is precisely certain why the dinosaurs died out virtually 66 million years in the past. Some consider the local weather grew to become too sizzling or chilly for them to exist. Others say that an enormous 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 had been most likely 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 toes in size! Watch this video concerning the greatest 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 primary dinosaur in 1824.
7. The oldest dinosaur is the Eoraptor.
We’re nonetheless studying about dinosaurs, however the oldest one recognized to us proper now is the Eoraptor, an omnivore that roamed the Earth round 230 million years in the past.
8. Paleontologists examine dinosaurs.
Paleontologists discover historic life-forms, from the microscopic to Megalosaurus.
9. Dinosaur fossils had 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 developed into birds. Paleontologists additionally say that dinosaurs had been cousins of lizards, snakes, and crocodiles! Watch this video from Nationwide Geographic to reply the query: Are Birds Fashionable-Day Dinosaurs?
11. Many grownup dinosaurs had feathers.
The biggest recognized feathered dinosaur was the Yutyrannus huali (watch this to be taught extra about this super-predator!). This cousin of the T-Rex was 30 toes 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.
People didn’t seem on Earth till about 65 million years after dinosaurs grew to become extinct.
13. Not all dinosaurs had been carnivores.
Lots of the greatest dinosaurs, together with the Brachiosaurus and Apatosaurus, had been herbivores, or plant-eaters. To guard themselves from their carnivorous counterparts, many had pure weapons comparable to spikes on their tails or horns as a defend.
14. Dinosaur fossils have been discovered on each continent.
Dinosaurs lived everywhere in the world in several types 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 consuming the identical water the dinosaurs did thousands and thousands of years in the past!
16. Pterodactyls aren’t dinosaurs.
These flying reptiles had lots in frequent with dinosaurs and their existence overlapped, however they don’t seem to be dinosaurs by definition. They had been, nonetheless, the primary reptiles able to flying!
17. Some dinosaurs had been smaller than a hen.
The Microraptor weighed simply over 2 kilos (1 kg) and was about 2.5 toes lengthy!
18. Dinosaurs had been colourful.
Whereas scientists have believed that dinosaurs had been grey, inexperienced, or brown, new analysis has revealed that they had been doubtless extra colourful than that! For instance, the Sinosauropteryx was a turkey-size dino that was most likely orange and white with a striped tail. Paleontologists additionally assume 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 giant nests to guard their infants and hold them collectively.
20. Younger dinosaurs grew quick.
Remarkably, dinosaurs reached their full measurement, or maturity, in nearly seven or eight years!
21. Some dinosaurs lived to 100 years outdated.
It’s believed that some giant dinosaurs, like sauropods, might dwell for 50 to 100 years.
22. Not all dinosaurs existed on the similar time.
For thousands and thousands of years, new dinosaur species emerged whereas others went extinct at completely different occasions. By the point the T-Rex was alive, the Stegosaurus was already a fossil!
23. Dinosaurs received sick.
Think about a sauropod sneezing! There’s proof that non-avian dinosaurs caught respiratory sicknesses and developed signs like runny noses and hacking coughs.
24. Dinosaurs beloved to snuggle.
One of the crucial stunning dinosaur info for teenagers was that these creatures snuggled. Paleontologists found the fossilized skeletons, from round 70 million years in the past, of three younger Oviraptorosaurs who had been huddled collectively. It’s potential that they had 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 wonderful?
26. Dinosaur fossils aren’t precise bones.
Most dinosaur fossils are imprints in rock or rock made from minerals with out the unique bone materials.
27. Dinosaurs are divided into two major 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 had been formed.
28. Ichthyosaurus was not a dinosaur.
Ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs weren’t dinosaurs, they had been marine reptiles.
29. Dinosaurs went extinct in a short time.
Scientists consider it was a catastrophic occasion, like an asteroid or volcanic eruptions that modified the local weather, that killed the dinosaurs as a result of they disappeared shortly from the fossil report.
30. Dinosaurs first developed when all of Earth’s land was one giant continent.
Within the Triassic interval, dinosaurs developed when all of the continents had been one giant continent known as Pangaea.
31. Temperatures in the course of the Jurassic interval had been hotter than they’re right now.
Temperatures had been hotter and wetter in the course of the Jurassic interval, which was when stegosaurus and different giant, plant-eating sauropods walked the Earth.
32. The Tyrannosaurus rex didn’t chew its meals.
T-Rex, a dinosaur recognized for its enamel (which had been about 6 inches lengthy and serrated), couldn’t chew so it swallowed meals in giant chunks.
33. Dinosaurs weren’t cold-blooded.
Scientists have debated this, however since 2014, scientists have typically accepted that dinosaurs had 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 outdated. 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 US.
Dinosaur species have been present in 51 nations and Antarctica, with essentially the most fossils being present in China and the US.
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 again when dinos tried to eat them.
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