Fun Fact 1: Dinosaur is the name given the variety of extinct animals that roamed the world during the Mesozoic era
Fun Fact 2: The Mesozoic era (also know as the age of dinosaurs), covered three geological periods of time; the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods; dinosaurs existed approximately 65 million - 230 million years ago
Fun Fact 3: The name Dinosaur dates back to 1842. The word has Greek origins, Dino derives 'deinos' which translates as terrible or powerful, Saur derives from 'sauros' which translates to lizard, and the name was selected by English Palaeontologist Richard Owen
Fun Fact 4: Dinosaurs lived in every continent on Earth; more than 700 different species have been discovered worldwide
Fun Fact 5: What did Dinosaurs eat? Most Dinosaurs were herbivores, they had a diet consisting of different plant life, others were carnivores and either hunted for meat or scavenged for dead animals
Fun Fact 6: The most ferocious of dinosaurs on the planet was the Tyrannosaurus rex, the bite of a T-rex could easily crush through bone and was eight times more powerful than a lions bite!
Fun Fact 7: A Tyrannosaurus rex, or T-rex, had a lifespan of 25-28 years; the weight of an adult was approximately 7 tonnes or 15,430 lbs that's about the weight of 200 ten year old children!
Fun Fact 8: The longest dinosaur was the Amphicoelias, based on fossils it is estimated that this Sauropod measured over 58 metres (190 ft) long.
Fun Fact 9: The Quetzalocoatlus had a wingspan that measured around 13 metres (over 42 ft) across, it is often called the largest flying dinosaur which is incorrect as dinosaurs did not fly; it was a type of pterosaur - a flying reptile
Fun Fact 10: A Diplodocus was one of the most well know giant dinosaurs, measuring approximately 27 meters (90ft) long. The neck of a Diplodocus measured 8 metres (26ft) and the tail measured around 14 metres (45ft) long. The Diplodocus was an herbivore; an adult could weigh 18 tonne or 39,680 lbs, can you imagine how many plants it would need to eat to survive?
Fun Fact 11: Other types of dinosaurs include; Albertosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Diplodocus, Stegosaurs, Triceratops
Fun Fact 12: We rely on dinosaur fossils to teach us about the history of these incredible creatures so we cannot be sure of their colors, however it is suggested that many small dinosaurs were colored brightly; and larger ones where similar to modern day elephants and rhinos
Fun Fact 13: Palaeontologists generally agree that the birds on our planet today are descendants of Theropod (meaning beast-footed) dinosaurs
Fun Fact 14: Dinosaurs dominated the world for nearly 150 million years, there is evidence that a meteorite impact a partial cause for their extinction, however there were survivors; species of turtle, lizard, snake, bird and crocodile can all be traced back to the Mesozoic era; they have evolved to survive on our planet today
Fun Fact 15: Man evolved around 65 million year after dinosaurs became extinct. Today, research and fossils continues to fascinate and educate us about the era of the dinosaur - full dinosaur skeletons are extremely rare to find, however shin bones measuring 1.5 metres (5ft) long and back bone vertebrae measured nearly 1.3 metres (4ft) thick have been found in Argentina, researchers named the dinosaur the Argentinosaurus |
