For millions of years, giant lizards roamed the Earth. Now only giant bones are left of the dinosaurs, thanks to which we know about the existence of thousands of species, from the well-known Tyrannosaurus and Diplodocus to bird-like azhdarchids and underwater ophthalmosaurus. At the lecture we will learn how dinosaurs and their life were arranged: we will talk about forms and sizes, food chains and the reasons for their extinction.
Scientists cannot reliably establish what the food of the dinosaurs was. Because no remains of stomach contents have ever been found. In the Late Jurassic, when the earth was inhabited by giant lizards, araucaria grew. There were many different kinds of ferns, cycads, and conifers.
But we can make an assumption, based on the height of the lizard, the number of teeth, body size, and cheek length, that dinosaurs ate. Large reptiles, which had long necks and legs, like Brachiosaurus, could easily reach the food-crown of trees.
Some had to stand on their hind limbs to reach the slightly higher food. The same diplodocus. But food could only come from the leaves of ferns and the bark of trees. Because the shape of its teeth made it impossible to eat anything else. But for a Kamaztosaurus, eating a tree trunk, or rather the core, was no problem.
Chewing food was impossible for the lizards. To facilitate the milling process, the lizards had to swallow small stones.
It was believed that giant lizards, as they were still considered aquatic, lived in the water. And they ate there too. The dinosaurs’ food didn’t come out of their mouths, and the extra water went away. Because the teeth were like gills as well. There are nasal holes, which are located at the highest point of the head. So it turned out that being in the water, lizards, like hippos and crocodiles, lay in the water and breathed comfortably. They came out on land only to lay their eggs. Although it is already proven today that these reptiles ran and got food on land.
It is interesting that, having a small head size and not very comfortable tooth structure, dinosaurs, in general, were large animals. Most likely, they had to chew on something all day long to feed themselves.
Dinosaurs (terrible lizards). No species of animal that has lived or has ever lived on our beautiful planet is as interesting to us as the dinosaurs.
Millions of years ago, long before humans appeared on Earth, dinosaurs ruled the planet.
We think you’ll agree, dinosaurs are the most amazing creatures that ever lived on our planet. Emerged at the end of the Triassic Period, roughly 225 million years before humans appeared, dinosaurs took over and dominated the earth for 160 million years.
The first dinosaur fossils were discovered in the thirties of the 19th century. But this find was not given much attention. Only years later, after the discovery of other fossils, it became clear that these remains belonged to prehistoric animals, and that these findings were the most important archaeological discovery. In 1854, the sculptor Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins modeled by Dr. Richard Owen created the first life-size sculpture of a dinosaur.
After that, paleontology began to develop as a science. In the middle of the nineteenth century, the English zoologist R. Owen, after examining stone finds, introduced the concept of “Dinosaur,” which means “Terrible Lizard.”
Appearance of Dinosaurs
The first dinosaurs appeared in the Triassic period around 230 million BP as a result of evolutionary changes. The first dinosaurs were predators and belonged to the theropod group. Plant-eating reptiles then mutated to form the first group of plant-eating dinosaurs, the Prosauropods.
Dinosaur species diversity
Gradually, by the end of the Triassic period, the number of dinosaur species had increased, but there were still ancient forms of animals. Plant-eating and carnivorous dinosaurs roamed the land in search of food. New species also appeared in the sea and air. The first pterosaurs soared into the air, and the sea depths hid giant ichthyosaurs.
During the Jurassic period, dinosaurs became the dominant species. Flying lizards reigned supreme in the sky, while giant pliosaurs terrified the inhabitants of the deep sea.
It was the end of the Jurassic that gave earth such famous dinosaurs as Allosaurus, Diplodocus and Stegosaurus.
During the Cretaceous Period, the diversity of dinosaur species reached its peak. The emergence of new plant species contributed to the increase in the number of plant-eating dinosaurs, which were widespread during the Cretaceous period.
The bizarre shapes of the Cretaceous dinosaurs are amazing. For example, the tank-like armored Ankylosaurus or the giant clawed Therizinosaurs. Widely known three-horned dinosaur – Triceratops. And of course, the Tyrannosaurus and its lesser-known, but no less dangerous cousin, Tarbosaurus, which inspired terror in all living creatures of that time.
The most famous dinosaurs
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Tyrannosaurus
Tyrannosaurus was one of the largest land-based predatory dinosaurs that ever existed on our planet. Tyrannosaurus is a member of the Tyrannosauridae family. Among the predators of its time, Tyrannosaurus was the largest. The hallmark of this dinosaur is the power of its jaws. Tyrannosaurus was not the largest of the theropods of the Mesozoic era, but it had no equal in bite power.
Thanks to numerous films, Tyrannosaurus became very well known. Tyrannosaurus is probably the most famous of the dinosaurs. Its image can be seen on advertisements of some companies or products. For many people, Tyrannosaurus is a symbol of indestructible power.
Allosaurus
Allosaurus is one of the best known and most researched predatory dinosaurs of the Jurassic period.
Allosaurus was the largest land predator lizard of its time and one of the most ferocious and dangerous dinosaurs of the entire Mesozoic era. Allosaurus is also called the “lions” of the Jurassic period.
Allosaurus was a carnivorous, predatory dinosaur. Its diet consisted exclusively of meat from other dinosaurs. Given the structure of the lizard, it is safe to assume that it was an excellent hunter.
Diplodocus
Diplodocus was truly gigantic in size and is known as one of the longest dinosaurs. It could compete with Seismosaurus, which reached a length of 50 meters. Diplodocus is also one of the best known and most studied plant-eating dinosaurs. Once they reached a certain size, Diplodocus had no enemies left. And they could devote themselves to eating succulent greens and breeding.
At the end of the Jurassic, Diplodocus was the dominant plant-eating dinosaur species.
Stegosaurus
Stegosaurus is a representative of the bird-eating dinosaurs, the thyreophora. Stegosaurus is the largest representative of the Stegosaurus group. This group of dinosaurs is named after him.
Stegosaurus can be unmistakably identified among all the dinosaurs. It is characterized by diamond-shaped plates of different sizes. The plates are arranged in two rows along the back and tail in a staggered pattern.
The height of the plates was up to 1 m. The tail of the stegosaurus had four powerful pointed bone spines. According to various sources, the length of the spines ranged from 60 cm to 1 m.
Triceratops
Triceratops was the largest member of the family Ceratops (horned dinosaurs). Not every predatory dinosaur dared to attack an adult Triceratops, and even the formidable Tyrannosaurus did not always attack a herd of Triceratops. This dinosaur, in its structure, resembles modern rhinoceroses, only larger. Triceratops had three horns on its head: two long ones in the area of the forehead of the dinosaur and one closer to the beak.
In addition to the horns, Triceratops was characterized by a large bone collar that protected the dinosaur’s head and shoulders. Because of its size, strength and protective gear, Triceratops is called one of the “tanks of the Mesozoic era”. Triceratops existed until the end of the Mesozoic era and was one of the last dinosaurs on earth.
Pterodactyl
To say that the pterodactyl was a dinosaur would not be accurate. A pterodactyl was a Jurassic pterosaur. Pterosaurs were reptiles that had adapted to fly. Pterodactyls had light and hollow skeletal bones, which greatly reduced their mass. The webbed wing of the pterodactyl stretched from the back of the forelimb to the sides of the torso all the way to the legs.
Pterodactyls lived in large colonies and were omnivores. Their diet consisted mainly of fish and carrion. Smaller pterodactyls, on the other hand, fed on insects.
The end of the dinosaur age The extinction of the dinosaurs marked the end of the Cretaceous and the entire Mesozoic era. Although there are several hypotheses as to why the dinosaurs went extinct, so far the exact cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs has not been determined.
160 million years! Such a time span is hard to imagine. How big is it, for example, compared to the period of our civilization, which is only a few thousand years old. And man exists on Earth no more than 2 million years.
The reasons for this interest in dinosaurs are their huge size, bizarre shapes and sudden disappearance at a time when the diversity of species seemed to flourish. But most likely the main reason is the gigantic span of time that separates man and dinosaur. And man, the dominant species of today, wants to know more about the dinosaur, a species that dominated the earth and disappeared millions of years ago.
And how much do we know about dinosaurs? About what the planet was like in their era. How did dinosaurs come to be? What were they like? What were their habits, how and when were the first dinosaur remains found? How many species of dinosaurs are known today and what caused their extinction.
We will try to answer these and other questions. On the pages of our dinosaur encyclopedia we have tried to collect and present to your attention the most complete and interesting information about these amazing creatures and the world around them.
Dinosaurs as we see them:
- For modern man, the dinosaur has already become an everyday occurrence. We see dinosaurs in movies, in cartoons, in popular science programs, in commercials, etc. More than 150 years have passed since the concept of “dinosaur” was introduced. Although we will never be able to see living dinosaurs, we can recreate models of them. Thanks to continuous scientific and technological progress, the quality of dinosaur models is increasing every year.
- The first attempts to show a dinosaur on the screen were made in the early 20th century. One of the first films which showed a dinosaur was made in the United States in 1914 and was called “Dinosaur Gertie”. Although now the level of performance of the dinosaur model would seem ridiculous (the dinosaur was a cartoon), it was very cool for those days. Since then, dozens of dinosaur movies have been made. Probably the most famous of the nicknames were “Godzilla,” “The Lost World.” And of course “Jurassic Park”.
- There is no doubt that films about dinosaurs will still be made. And the quality of dinosaur models will improve. And maybe someday, thanks to advances in science, the plot of a “Jurassic Park” dinosaur movie won’t be so fabulous.
If you are looking for information about a dinosaur and know its name, you can use our database by clicking on Dinosaurs from A to Z.
All dinosaurs in our database are listed under “all dinosaurs” and you can find a description of the dinosaur you are interested in.