Short story about dinosaurs

It is inexplicable but true: many children love dinosaurs. Perhaps because these are semi-fabulous giant creatures and they no longer frighten at all, since they have long since died out. What is known about dinosaurs: what were they like, when and how long did they live, what did they eat and why did they disappear from the face of the Earth? So, in order.

Who are dinosaurs and what did they look like?

"Dinosaur" is translated from Greek as "terrible lizard". These are scaly creatures that walked on two or four legs and laid eggs. Dinosaurs lived on the planet for 160 million years. They lived everywhere: from Asia to Antarctica. The remains of dinosaurs were also found in Russia - in the Urals, in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, in Yakutia.

Before them, more than 4 billion years ago, the Earth was inhabited by more primitive organisms: algae, mollusks, later - fish.

In total, scientists have studied more than a thousand species of dinosaurs. They were very different from each other: some - with sharp claws and spikes on the body, others - with horns.

Many people mistakenly think that all dinosaurs were huge. Indeed, some reached the size of a five-story building, but there were also tiny ones - the size of a chicken. It is customary to depict dinosaurs as gray or green, but in fact, scientists do not know exactly what color these creatures were. This is because dinosaur skin is extremely rare. It is believed that their color merged with the colors of the environment - so it would be easier for dinosaurs to hide from enemies.

Dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago. The fact that they once existed, it became known only in the 17th century. Dinosaur bones were first discovered by English scientist Robert Plot in 1677.

Why did dinosaurs become extinct?

Science does not know. There are several versions. The most common: the climate is no longer suitable for dinosaurs (became too cold or hot) or volcanic eruptions have poisoned the atmosphere.

What did dinosaurs eat?

Despite their formidable appearance, many of them were not predators - they ate ferns, leaves, cones, flowers and fruits from trees. In those days, the Earth was humid and hot and favorable conditions were created for the growth of numerous plants, so that herbivores did not have to starve.

But there were also carnivorous dinosaurs, who hunted animals and ate their eggs. Some of them could not chew and swallowed stones so that the food itself was ground in the stomach.

The main task of dinosaurs was to get food and at the same time protect themselves from predators. Herbivores defended themselves with horns and spikes, carnivores had teeth and claws.

How long did dinosaurs live?

There is no exact answer to this question either. Scientists think that large dinosaurs lived for a relatively long time - up to 300 years, and small ones - up to about 20.

In any case, even long-lived dinosaurs did not catch the appearance of man on the planet: people began to inhabit the Earth only 64 million years after their extinction.

Who studies dinosaurs and how?

This is done by paleontologists - people who specialize in studying the remains of extinct organisms. They work both in excavations - in places where fossils were found - and in laboratories. These scientists search, extract from the ground, and then carefully study the bones of ancient animals.

In laboratories, paleontologists find out how the creatures that own the found bones lived and hunted, and determine their age. Sometimes conclusions have to be drawn with only a couple of bones, or even one at all.

In addition, specialists make copies of bones, from which skeletons are then assembled and exhibited in museums.

Paleontologists also study fossilized footprints left by dinosaurs. To understand what kind of animal left the footprint, scientists find out the “age” of the rock where they found this print, and compare the shape of the fingers and feet with the appearance of the dinosaurs that lived in that era.

Paleontologists give names to dinosaur species, often based on the name of the area where the bones were found.

What types of dinosaurs are there?

As already noted, there are more than a thousand species. Let's take a closer look at the most famous ones.

Tyrannosaurus Rex

One of the largest predators of all time. He walked on two legs with two clawed toes on each, had a large skull and a long heavy tail, teeth the size of bananas.

Some scientists believe that the Tyrannosaurus rex could not run and was clumsy, so it did not hunt, but ate only dead animals. However, the more common view is that these dinosaurs were both predators and scavengers, stealing prey from others whenever possible. Tyrannosaurus was able to eat up to 150 kilograms of meat in one sitting, but then starve for several days.

The skeleton of the largest tyrannosaurus rex was found in 1991 in the province of Canada. The length of the skeleton reached 13 meters, weight - almost 9 tons.

Ichthyosaurus

These are aquatic dinosaurs that look like dolphins: head fused with the body, very large eyes, fins. There are many teeth in the mouth. Ichthyosaurs weighed mainly up to 2 tons, reached several meters in length. Although species are known, the length of which reached 24 meters, and body weight - 40 tons.

The first ichthyosaur was found in Russia in 1821, while the largest accumulation of dinosaur bones of this species was found in Germany.

Ichthyosaurs were carnivorous - they ate fish and shellfish and hunted in packs. The cubs were born in the water and immediately knew how to swim. Ichthyosaurs did not go to land.

Stegosaurus

Distinctive feature - bone plates and spikes on the back and tail (to protect against attacks). These dinosaurs walked on four legs. They ate only tender leaves, because they had poorly developed jaws. Stegosaurus teeth were almost unsuitable for chewing. In order to assimilate even delicate plant food, the stegosaurus was forced to swallow stones - they frayed the plants in its stomach.

Stegosaurus reached 9 meters in length and weighed up to 9 tons - about the size of an elephant. The bones of these dinosaurs were first found in the United States in 1877.

Triceratops

Distinctive feature - three horns (one at the tip of the nose, two - above the eyes), bone "collars" on the head and a beak on the muzzle. "Collars" served to protect the head and shoulders, males scared off enemies with their horns and fought, including for females in the mating season, and cut branches of shrubs and ferns with their beaks.

Outwardly, Triceratops are similar to rhinos, only larger - up to 3 meters in height and 9 in length, with an average weight of about 12 tons. Only the head reached a length of 2 meters. These dinosaurs had several hundred teeth in their mouths.

They ate plants, moved on four thick legs, lived in small groups.

Triceratops are one of the last dinosaurs on Earth. And their bones were first found in the United States in 1899.

Diplodocus

The most tailed dinosaur - with its 11-meter thin tail it drove away predators. And he also had a long neck, a small head with big eyes and long teeth, four paws. In length reached 30 meters.

Diplodocus ate plant foods. To cut off tall trees, they stood on their hind legs. And they also swallowed stones.

Diplodocus were herd animals, swam well and preferred to live in swamps - they came out on land only to eat and lay eggs.

Diplodocus lived on the territory of modern North America. Fossilized dinosaur vertebrae of this species were first found in the USA (Colorado) in 1877.

Velociraptor

These tiny, turkey-like creatures, by dinosaur standards, were about 1. 80 centimeters long and weighed just 20 kilograms like a child. Velociraptor bones were first found in the Gobi Desert (Mongolia) at 1924 year.

It is not known exactly what these dinosaurs looked like: they were previously depicted as lizard-like, with green scaly skin, now it is believed that they had plumage like birds. Some even suggest that the feathers were multicolored. Surely scientists know that the Velociraptor had three fingers with sharp claws on the front limbs and four on the back.

Despite their modest size, velociraptors were dangerous and agile predators. They jumped on the victim, grabbed with their teeth and stuck their claws into it, inflicting mortal wounds.

Velociraptors became "trendy" after the 1993 Jurassic Park movie. By the way, there they look huge and hunt in packs. Both are inventions.

Pterodactyl

Many consider pterodactyls to be dinosaurs, and they are wrong. Pterodactyls are pterosaurs, or winged lizards, relatives of dinosaurs. Unlike dinosaurs, pterodactyls could fly. Of modern animals, they were similar in appearance and habits to birds and bats.

The forelimbs of pterodactyls turned into wings (span reached 8 meters), the body was covered with fur. Some had a tail, not all had teeth. Pterodactyls were distinguished by long clawed limbs.

These pangolins lived like modern birds: in flocks, they flew during the day and looked for food, at night they slept upside down, clinging to tree branches.

The method of subsistence depended on the size of the pterodactyl. Small ones, the size of a crow, ate insects, larger ones - fish and lizards. Some pterodactyls were two meters long and one and a half meters high and weighed more than 75 kilograms.

It is believed that pterodactyls had a good brain and had excellent eyesight. They lived in the territories of the USA, East Africa, Western Europe, Australia, Russia. Their bones were first found in Bavaria (Germany) in 1784.

Other "prominent" dinosaurs

Largest : seismosaurus. It weighed over 50 tons and reached 36 meters in length. Found in what is now the United States.

The heaviest : titanosaur (up to 80 tons!)

The smallest : compsognathus. Its average length was only 60–100 cm, and its weight was about 2 kilograms, but this baby had more than 60 sharp teeth. Found in what is now Germany.

The very first : of those currently explored, either Herrerosaurus or Eoraptor. Both bipeds lived approximately 230-225 million years ago.

The longest necked : according to modern data, this is a Mamenchisaurus. Its neck reached 14 meters in length.

The fastest : Ornithomemmosaurus. He ran at speeds up to 50 kilometers per hour.

The most big-eyed : Dromiceiomyom. His eyes were on the sides of his head. Thus, this dinosaur created an excellent overview - and an advantage over enemies.

The most toothy : Hadrosaurus. He had 980 teeth!

The "longest-named" : micropachycephalosaurus (meaning "small fat-headed lizard"). Most often, his bones are found in China.

Possibly the smartest : troodon. His brain was the size of a bird—comparatively large. Most dinosaurs had small brains, about the size of a walnut.

Interesting facts about dinosaurs

1. The closest living relative of dinosaurs is the crocodile. Birds are direct descendants of dinosaurs.
2. The first dinosaurs were small. Larger ones appeared much later. In addition, the first dinosaurs were predators.
3. Dinosaurs are believed to have excellent eyesight and a good sense of smell. They had large eye sockets and nostrils and large areas of the brain responsible for sight and smell.
4. Some dinosaurs built nests. But not for life, of course, but for laying eggs. Scientists do not rule out that small dinosaurs could sometimes hide in caves.
5. Experts still don't understand how dinosaurs slept. Perhaps herbivores are standing, and predators, which the structure of the skeleton allows, are lying down.
6. Dinosaurs lived in an era when there were about 22 hours in a day. As you know, the rotation of the Earth is gradually slowing down.
7. Dinosaurs were unknown in ancient China. And their bones were considered the bones of dragons and used in medicine! One of the Indian tribes thought that these were the remains of the larger ancestors of the buffalo, and the British did not even rule out that these were the bones of giant people. Or, well, elephants.
8. Dinosaurs did not have to wash themselves: the dried mud fell off the scales by itself or was thrown off along with them.
9. Dinosaurs in search of food and places to live could migrate great distances - to entire continents.
10. Huge dinosaur bones weren't as heavy as we think. Because most of them were hollow inside, like modern birds.
11. Many dinosaurs went hunting at night.
12. The largest dinosaur eggs were the size of a basketball. At a time, a dinosaur could lay from one to four dozen eggs.
13. The very name "dinosaur" was born in the 19th century. In 1824, the president of the Royal Geological Society mentioned huge bones discovered in 1815 in Great Britain. In the future, experts found other huge animal bones, and in 1842, biologist Richard Owen identified a suborder of "terrible lizards" (dinosaurs).
14. A relatively new species of dinosaur was discovered in 2015. Because of the short horns above the eyes, this species was called "hellboy" (as a comic book hero).
15. Most likely, the dinosaur is not the largest creature on Earth. The weight of a blue whale can reach 170 tons - this is more than the weight of even the largest dinosaur.
16. In the state of Colorado (USA) there is a City of Dinosaurs. The streets there are named after different types of these ancient creatures.

What dinosaurs didn't do:

• didn't fly;
• did not live at sea;
• did not hibernate;
• did not sweat;
• did not have a couple for life;
• did not drop their tail like lizards;
• were not viviparous (at least, scientists do not know anything about this).

On the other hand, scientists continue to excavate and research. It is possible that we still have a lot to learn about dinosaurs.

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Message about dinosaurs - Kratkoe.com

Animals

Written by J.G. To read 3 min Updated by February 5, 2022

Everything about dinosaurs for children is information about animals that inhabited our planet millions of years ago.

Contents

1. Report on dinosaurs
2. When did the first dinosaurs appear?
3. When did the dinosaurs become extinct?

Dinosaurs are considered lizards, they, like no other animal species, are of particular interest to adults and children. These are the most amazing creatures that have ever lived on the planet. Their fossilized remains were first discovered in the 30s of the nineteenth century. But then scientists did not pay due attention to the discovery. After some time, only when the finds were repeated, it became clear that the remains belong to prehistoric creatures. It became a real sensation. In 1854, Benjamin Hawkins (sculptor), using Dr. Owen's model, created the world's first real-size dinosaur sculpture.

Thus began the development of a new science - paleontology. The English zoologist Owen coined the term "dinosaur", which means "terrible lizard".

Dinosaurs first appeared on the planet about 230 million years ago, during the Triassic period. All the dinosaurs of the world at that time were exclusively predators and belonged to the theropod group. Later in the process of evolution, herbivorous animals appeared - prosuaropods.

Dinosaurs, all species

At the end of the Triassic period, the species diversity of dinosaurs increased significantly. Carnivorous and herbivorous animals walked the earth, pterosaurs soared in the air, and giant ichthyosaurs dominated the depths of the sea. By the Jurassic, they occupied ecological niches, becoming the dominant species.

In the Cretaceous period, the diversity of animal species reached its maximum: ankylosaurus, therizinosaurus, triceratops, tyrannosaurus, tarbosaurus.

The most famous dinosaurs are:

• Tyrannosaurus . This is the largest land predatory dinosaur with powerful jaws.
• Allosaurus . It is considered the most famous and studied predatory dinosaur of the Jurassic period, as well as the most ferocious and dangerous animal of the Mesozoic era. He ate only the meat of other dinosaurs.
• Diplodocus . It is the longest and most studied herbivorous dinosaur. Because of his giant plants, he had no enemies.
• Stegosaurus . Representative of the species of ornithischian dinosaurs. A distinctive feature of the animal is diamond-shaped plates, located along the tail and back in 2 rows in a checkerboard pattern.
• Triceratops . The largest horned dinosaur. It looks like a rhinoceros from afar. There were 3 horns on his head - two long ones on his forehead and one more near his mouth.
• Pterodactyl . It is an omnivorous reptile that has adapted to flight.

Dinosaurs dominated the planet for about 130 million years, which is 100 times longer than humans exist. But 65 million years ago they died out along with most of the marine life and flying reptiles.

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