Dinosaurs. How dinosaurs appeared: history and interesting facts How the first dinosaur appeared on earth
Background under the question mark (LP) Gabovich Evgeniy Yakovlevich
When did dinosaurs live?
When did dinosaurs live?
Spain's Casares Cave, also dating from the Ice Age, features a group of three monstrous dinosaur-like creatures. Two of these animals are large, possibly adults, and the third animal is small, most likely a baby. All three have long necks, massive but ill-defined torsos, and strange reptilian heads. They look menacing.
As in other cases, the logic of the caves themselves suggests that these are creatures that the artists actually saw outside the walls of their homes.
Baigent, Michael. Forbidden archaeology. Sensations and hoaxes of ancient and early history. Page 102
This question seems to have nothing to do with the problem of correct dating of the life of primitive people, but, nevertheless, its consideration demonstrates on what shaky foundation the entire edifice of prehistoric chronology is built. The fact is that the finds of dinosaur bones, which allegedly completely disappeared from the face of the Earth 60 million years ago or even went extinct for tens of millions of years before the corresponding global cosmic catastrophe that destroyed the last of them, amaze archaeologists with their freshness and excellent preservation.
As the newspaper Die Welt reported in its scientific section on October 9, 2006, in September 2005, American and Mongolian paleontologists found 67 skeletons of small dinosaurs in the Gobi Desert in two days. Apparently they didn't have to dig too deep! Moreover, a year before, Jack Horner, who led the search for dinosaurs, had already excavated 30 such skeletons.
In the Gobi Desert, dinosaur skeletons often lie right on the surface, but by some miracle they are perfectly preserved in an area where sandstorms demolish archaeologists’ tents well anchored in the rock many times a year. And grains of sand flying at great speed during such storms treat the surface of skeletons no worse than high-quality sandpaper. However, as Heinsohn writes, such finds are often difficult to external signs considered older than the skeletons of animals that clearly died in very recent times.
When reading the reports of the corresponding expeditions of paleontologists, one often gets the impression that scientists who find well-preserved dinosaur skeletons understand perfectly well that these dinosaurs lived very recently, but do not dare to come up with heretical short dates, fearing the revenge of their academic colleagues from the quiet of their offices, in which there are no sandstorms and in which dinosaurs clearly have not lived for a long time ..
Even worse, the dinosaur bones that scientists so easily find are not always completely fossilized: they often contain preserved genetic material. For example, the genetic material of tyrannosaurs that were completely unfossilized and at least 80 million years old was found (it is believed that these cute little animals went extinct 20 million years before the bulk of the more peaceful dinosaurs, which they ate without using the services of fire for cooking) . Until recently, scientists were confident that undergoing gradual mineralization organic matter cannot preserve DNA for more than two million years (also, of course, fantastic long term!), so this discovery would mean that dinosaurs lived simultaneously with the first hominids, which supposedly roam our planet for at least four million years.
But the idea of the simultaneous existence of humans and dinosaurs is one of the axiomatic taboos accepted by science. Otherwise, we can even agree that numerous legends about dragons carry the existence of dinosaurs side by side with humans into the late stone Age, if not even in early historical times!
In order to at least for some time free themselves from the need to seriously deal with this paradox, colleagues simply suspect the authors of the finds of careless handling of dinosaur bones found close to the surface (for example, in Utah in the USA), during which, they say, the finds were contaminated with human genetic material. It would be interesting to know whether geneticists have learned last years distinguish between human and dinosaur DNA. Or, indeed, the DNA of dinosaurs differed so little from that of our ancestors that we, too, may have descended not from ugly monkeys, but from cute dinosaurs.
Heinsohn cites other examples of dinosaur remains that have not decayed and yet are not completely fossilized (for example, dinosaur eggs), which make even less justifiable hundreds of thousands of years for which no evidence has been preserved or for which, despite the energetic efforts of scientists, there is no evidence yet. no remains of human skeletons were found. He believes that here too we are talking about the need to radically shorten the chronology of prehistory.
It is interesting that a supporter of a radical reduction in the chronology of prehistory is also one of the most active critics of the New Chronology of Fomenko and Nosovsky, Ustin Valeryevich Chashchikhin (who characterizes himself as a “graduate of Moscow State University and MEPhI”). This is what he writes on his website on the Internet in the section http://www.cnt.ru/users/chas/dinosaur.htm, in an article entitled “When did dinosaurs live?”
...dating on a geochronological scale is incorrect; it is based on outdated ideas. In addition, there is a logical error in “dating” on a geochronological scale - a vicious circle […]. Therefore, the claim that dinosaurs supposedly lived 100 million years ago has no evidence, and the geological layers were formed quickly as a result of a tectonic catastrophe, a rapid split. (The author refers to the split of the ancient continent, as a result of which Europe and Africa on the one hand and both Americas on the other quickly, within days, and not millions of years, diverged over a gigantic distance - E.G.) When did dinosaurs live? Dinosaur experts point out […] that usually most original dinosaur bones have not yet undergone fossilization […] and fossilization can be very rapid, depending on the concentration of minerals in the solution. This indicates that dinosaurs became extinct relatively recently. At the beginning of the 20th century, American alligators with a length of 6.5 m were found […]. According to National Geographic magazine […], 500 years ago on the island of Madagascar there lived a bird-dinosaur, Aepiornis, 3 meters long and weighing 500 kg.
The author then exclaims: “PEOPLE have seen dinosaurs!” And then he quotes the Bible, in the book of Job of which, in chapter 40 (verses 10-19), a huge creature is described with “a tail like a cedar” (Job 40:12) and “legs like copper pipes” (Job 40:13) . He gives a long quotation from the book of Job and analyzes it, after which he formulates the following conclusions:
This description only applies to dinosaurs (diplodocus, sauropod). Thus, the “hippopotamus” described in Job 40 is simply a dinosaur! Consequently, dinosaurs and humans coexisted. The writing of the Book of Job dates back to about 4,000 years ago. (Here the critic of the new chronology played a little at the favorite game of historians of stretching time intervals - E.G.)
In addition, in the Bible, in the book of the prophet Isaiah, chapter 30, art. 6, along with such living animals as lions, donkeys and camels, a flying serpent is also described. Is this a pterodactyl?
Noting that in other cultures there are also descriptions of lizards and dragons (Chinese dragons, the Celtic epic Beowulf), which could be chronicle evidence of dinosaurs, and mentioning the Russian epic about “Ivan Tsarevich and the Serpent Gorynych,” Chashikhin comes to the following conclusion: “ From all this it is obvious that dinosaurs lived recently - several centuries ago and were described by many peoples (Chinese, etc.) as dragons, and as "behemoth" in the Bible, Job 40:10-19. And they died out, accordingly, recently, several centuries ago due to cooling and the ice age.” As we see, the radical reduction of prehistory finds allies on both sides of the barricade that separates supporters of historical analytics from fans of TI.
Chashchikhin’s point of view is not only accepted, but also actively promoted by the German author Hans-Joachim Zillmer, who devoted several books from the series [Zillmer1-5] to the coexistence of dinosaurs and humans on Earth, as well as criticism of geological dating. for example books:
Darwin's mistake. Antediluvian finds prove that dinosaurs and humans lived together, 1998.
Errors in the history of the Earth. The desert is in place Mediterranean Sea, deep forests in the Sahara and the global dominance of dinosaurs. The deepest antiquity was yesterday, 2001.
Guide to Dinosaurs. Facts, findings, contradictions, 2003.
I note that in the second of the books named here, chapter 5 is entitled “The Fictitious Stone Age?” In it, the author, in particular, refers to Heinsohn’s book discussed here. Sections of Chapter 5 of Zillmer's book, entitled "Fresh Dinosaur Fossils" and "The Phantom Middle Stone Age," are also based on the work of Illig and Heinsohn.
From the book Forbidden Archeology by Baigent MichaelChapter 4. Living Dinosaurs On February 19, 1980, Professor Roy McKell of the University of Chicago, a biologist with a long passion for cryptozoology, was making his way through the virtually unexplored Liquali Swamp, in the jungles of the north. African republic Congo. Suffocating
From the book Forbidden Archeology by Baigent MichaelAfrican dinosaurs There is no doubt that the natives, who have lived for centuries in the area of the Liqual swamps, have always known about this monster and have seen no reason to feel anything other than a great sacred fear of it. Among some of the tribes living in this region,
From the book Good Old England by Coty KatherineDinosaurs in Victorian style I wonder what Jurassic Park would have looked like if it had been created back in the 19th century? You can easily find an answer to this question, especially since it was then that dinomania arose - a craze for dinosaurs - the fruits of which we are still reaping today.
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From the book The Picts and Their Ale author Fedorchuk Alexey ViktorovichHow many mysteries are hidden in the ancient The World History. Dinosaurs are one of them. They reigned on Earth for more than 160 million years, from the Triassic period (approximately 225 million years ago) until the end of the Cretaceous (about 65 million years ago). Today, scientists can recreate the appearance of these animals, their lifestyle and habits, but many questions have not yet been answered. How did dinosaurs appear? Why did they disappear? Although these dinosaurs disappeared from the face of our planet almost 65 million years ago, the history of dinosaurs, their emergence, life and sudden death is of undoubted interest to researchers. Let's look at the main stages of reptile development.
origin of name
Dinosaurs are the name given to the only group of reptiles. This name applies only to those of them who lived in the Mesozoic era. Translated from Greek, the term “dinosaur” means “terrifying” or “terrible lizard.” The name was introduced by British explorer Richard Owen in 1842. This is how he proposed to name the first discovered fossilized remains of ancient lizards in order to emphasize their unprecedented size and grandeur.
Beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs
As you know, the entire history of the planet is traditionally divided into successive eras. The time in which dinosaurs lived is usually referred to as the Mesozoic. It, in turn, includes three periods: Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous. began about 225 million years ago, and it ended about 70 million years ago. The history of dinosaurs begins during the first period - the Triassic. However, they became most widespread in the Cretaceous.
Long before the emergence of dinosaurs, reptiles lived on the planet. They looked like the usual ones to modern man lizards in that their paws were on the sides of their bodies. But when global warming began (300 million years ago), an evolutionary explosion occurred among them. All groups of reptiles began to actively develop. This is how the archosaur appeared - it differed from its predecessors in that its paws were already located under the body. Presumably, the emergence of dinosaurs dates back to this chronological period.
Dinosaurs of the Triassic period
Already at the very beginning of the Triassic period, many new species of lizards appeared. It is believed that they already walked on two legs because their front legs were shorter and much less developed than their hind legs. This made them different from their predecessors. The history of dinosaurs says that one of the first species was the Staurikosaurus. He lived approximately 230 million years ago in what is now Brazil.
At the early evolutionary stages, there were other reptiles: aetosaurs, cynodonts, ornithosuchids and others. Therefore, dinosaurs had to endure a long rivalry before finding their niche and flourishing. It is generally accepted that they acquired a dominant position over all other inhabitants of the planet at the end of the Triassic period. This is associated with the large-scale extinction of animals that inhabited the Earth at that time.
Dinosaurs of the Jurassic period
By the beginning they became the absolute masters of the planet. They settled across the entire surface of the Earth: in the mountains and plains, swamps and lakes. The history of dinosaurs of this period is marked by the appearance and spread of numerous new species. Examples include Allosaurus, Diplodocus, and Stegosaurus.
Moreover, these lizards were very radically different from each other. So, they could be completely different sizes and have different lifestyles. Some of the dinosaurs were predators, others were completely harmless herbivores. It is interesting that it was during the Jurassic period that winged lizards - pterosaurs - flourished. Majestic reptiles reigned not only on land and in the sky, but also in the depths of the sea.
Dinosaurs of the Cretaceous period
During the Cretaceous period, the number and diversity of dinosaurs reached its maximum level. On the other hand, some scientists do not share the view of the sudden and significant increase in the number of reptiles. In their opinion, representatives of the Triassic and Jurassic periods are much less studied than the inhabitants of the Cretaceous.
At this time there were a lot of herbivorous reptiles. This is due to the appearance of a large number of new plant species on the planet. However, there were also plenty of predators. The emergence of such a famous species as the tyrannosaurus dates back to the Cretaceous period. By the way, he turned out to be perhaps one of the most famous dinosaurs. The most massive of all carnivorous reptiles, it weighed up to eight tons, and its height could reach 12 meters. Also dating back to the Cretaceous period is the appearance of such famous species as Iguanodon and Triceratops.
Mysterious death of dinosaurs
Dinosaurs disappeared approximately 65 million years ago. This event happened at the very end. Today there are many different theories about how and why this happened. At the same time, scientists still cannot come to a consensus.
In particular, questions arise about the reasons for their death, as well as whether it was slow or fast. What is known for certain is that it became one of the parts of the “great extinction” of that time. Then not only dinosaurs disappeared from the face of the Earth, but also other reptiles, as well as mollusks and some algae. According to one point of view, the “great extinction” was triggered by
After this, gigantic clouds of dust rose into the air, blocking the sun for months, which caused the death of all living things. Some scientists are of the opinion that a star exploded not far from the Earth, as a result of which the entire planet was covered with radiation fatal to its inhabitants. Another common point of view is that dinosaurs became extinct as a result of cooling that began at the end of the Cretaceous period. One way or another, the era of reptiles is over. How this happened, science has yet to find out.
History of dinosaur studies
The history of dinosaurs began to interest people relatively recently. Their study began only at the beginning of the 19th century. This is largely due to the fact that people did not perceive the bones found in the Earth as dinosaur tracks. Interestingly, in antiquity they believed that these were the remains of heroes from the Trojan War.
In the Middle Ages and until the 19th century - giants who died in Only in 1824 were they first identified as the remains of giant lizards. In 1842, the British scientist Richard Owen, drawing attention to the main features these reptiles, brought them into a separate suborder and gave them the name “dinosaurs”. Since then, there has been a constant accumulation of knowledge about them, and new species have been discovered. The life history of dinosaurs was becoming more and more complete. Now the study of these reptiles continues with even greater diligence. Modern researchers count almost a thousand species of dinosaurs.
Dinosaurs in popular culture
World art has given people a huge number of books and films dedicated to these lizards. For example, they appear in Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World, which was subsequently filmed several times. Based on his creativity, the famous film “Jurassic Park” was filmed. The history of dinosaurs for children is presented through numerous animated films and colorful illustrated books. From them, a child can get acquainted with these amazing and majestic animals.
Despite the fact that so much time has passed since the last dinosaurs disappeared from the surface of the Earth, the history of the origin of these majestic lizards, their life and the mystery of their disappearance still excites the hearts and minds of people. However, most of their mysteries will most likely remain unanswered.
lutionated from a population of archosaurs (Archosauria), which shared the planet with many other reptiles, including the bestial reptiles - therapsids (Therapsida) and pelycosaurs (Pelycosauria). As a distinct group, dinosaurs have been identified by a set of (mostly obscure) anatomical features, but the main thing that makes them easier to identify and distinguishes them from archosaurs is bipedal or quadrupedal walking, as evidenced by the shape and arrangement of the femur and tibia bones. See also: " " and " "As with all such evolutionary transitions, it is impossible to determine the exact moment when the first dinosaur appeared on Earth. For example, the bipedal archosaur Marasuchus (Marasuchus) was perfect for the role of an early dinosaur, and Saltopus lived with the dinosaurs (S. elginensis) and procompsognathus (P. triassicus) during the transition between these two forms of life.
Newly discovered genus of archosaurs - Asilisaurus (Asilisaurus), can move roots family tree dinosaurs until 240 million years ago. There are also controversial tracks of the first dinosaurs in Europe, dating back 250 million years!
It is important to keep in mind that archosaurs did not “disappear” from the face of the Earth after becoming dinosaurs. They continued to live side by side with their eventual descendants for the remainder of the Triassic period. And just to confuse us completely, around the same time, other populations of archosaurs began to evolve into the first pterosaurs (Pterosauria) and prehistoric crocodiles. For 20 million years, during the Late Triassic, landscapes South America abounded in similar-looking archosaurs, pterosaurs, ancient crocodiles and early dinosaurs.
South America - Land of the First Dinosaurs
The earliest dinosaurs lived in the region of the supercontinent Pangea, corresponding to the territory of modern South America. Until recently, the most famous of these creatures were the relatively large Herrerasaurus (about 200 kg) and the medium-sized Staurikosaurus (about 35 kg), which lived about 230 million years ago. But now, some of the attention has shifted to Eoraptor (Eoraptor lunensis), discovered in 1991, a small (about 10 kg) dinosaur.
A recent discovery could revolutionize our understanding of the South American origins of the first dinosaurs. In December 2012, paleontologists announced the discovery of Nyasasaurus (Nyasasaurus), who lived in the Pangea region corresponding to modern-day Tanzania, Africa. Amazing! Fossil remains of this dinosaur are 243 million years old, which is approximately 10 million years earlier than the first South American dinosaurs. However, it is possible that Nyasasaurus and its relatives represented a short-lived offshoot from the family tree of early dinosaurs, or were technically archosaurs rather than dinosaurs.
These early dinosaurs gave rise to a hardy group of reptiles that quickly (at least in evolutionary terms) spread to other continents. The first dinosaurs quickly migrated to the regions of Pangea, corresponding to North America (a striking example is Coelophysis (Coelophysis), thousands of fossil remains of which were discovered in Phantom Ranch, New Mexico, USA, as well as the recently discovered tawa (Tawa), which are cited as evidence of the South American origin of dinosaurs. Small to medium-sized carnivorous dinosaurs, e.g. , soon made their way to the eastern part North America, and then further to Africa and Eurasia.
Specialization of early dinosaurs
The first dinosaurs coexisted on equal terms with archosaurs, crocodiles and pterosaurs. If you were to travel back in time to the end of the Triassic period, you would never guess that these reptiles were superior to all others. Everything changed with the mysterious Triassic-Jurassic, which wiped out most archosaurs and therapsids. No one knows exactly why dinosaurs survived, but it may have something to do with walking upright or having a more complex lung structure.
By the beginning of the Jurassic period, dinosaurs began to diversify the ecological niches left behind by their extinct counterparts. Split between lizards mi (Saurischia) and ornithischians (Ornithischia) dinosaurs occurred at the end of the Triassic period. Most of the earliest dinosaurs were saurischians, such as sauropodomorphs (Sauropodomorpha) that evolved into bipedal herbivorous prosauropods (Prosauropoda) in the Early Jurassic period, as well as larger sauropods (Sauropoda) and titanosaurs (Titanosaurus).
As far as we can tell, ornithischian dinosaurs, including ornithopods, hadrosaurs, ankylosaurs, and ceratopsians, evolved from eocursor (Eocursor)- a genus of small, bipedal dinosaurs from the Late Triassic South Africa. Eocursor most likely descended from an equally small South American dinosaur (possibly Eoraptor), which lived 20 million years earlier ( clear example, how such a huge variety of dinosaurs could have arisen from such a humble progenitor).
List of first dinosaurs
| Name (genus or species) | Short description | Image |
| a genus of lizard-hipped dinosaurs related to herrerasaurs (Herrerasaurus). | ||
| Coelophysis (Coelophysis) | a genus of small dinosaurs that lived in North America. |  |
| a genus of small dinosaurs, a close relative of Compsognathus (Compsognathus). |  |
|
| Compsognathus (Compsognathus) | a genus of dinosaurs the size of large chickens that lived in the late Jurassic period. |  |
| Demonosaurus (Daemonosaurus) | predatory reptiles from the suborder theropods (Theropoda). |  |
| Elaphrosaurus (Elaphrosaurus) | a genus of carnivorous dinosaurs from the late Jurassic period. |  |
| Eodromaeus (Eodromaeus murphi) | a species of ancient carnivorous dinosaur from South America. |  |
| Eoraptor (Eoraptor lunensis) | a species of small dinosaur, one of the first of its kind. |  |
| a genus of early dinosaurs named after Godzilla. |  |
|
| Herrerasaurus (Herrerasaurus) | a genus of the first predatory dinosaurs from the vastness of South America. |  |
| Lilienstern | genus of the largest carnivorous dinosaurs of the Triassic period. |  |
| Megapnosaurus (Megapnosaurus) | Translated from Greek, the genus name means "big dead lizard." |  |
| Pampadromaeus barberenai | an ancient species of herbivorous reptiles and the ancestor of sauropods. |  |
| a genus of one of the earliest dinosaurs in North America. |  |
|
| Procompsognathus (Procompsognathus) | a genus of prehistoric reptiles that may have been related to archosaurs. |  |
| Saltopus | as in the previous case, it is not known exactly whether Saltopus belonged to dinosaurs or archosaurs. |  |
| Sanhuansaurus (Sanjuansaurus) | a genus of early dinosaurs from South America. |  |
| a genus of carnivorous dinosaurs from the wider England of the Early Jurassic period |  |
|
| a genus of small reptiles from the suborder of theropods that lived in North America during the Jurassic period. |  |
|
| Staurikosaurus | primitive carnivorous dinosaur of the Late Triassic period. |  |
| Tawa (Tawa) | a genus of lizard-hipped carnivorous dinosaurs found in southern North America. |  |
| Zupaisaurus (Zupaysaurus) | a representative of early theropods discovered on the territory of modern Argentina. |  |
Life on Earth arose about 3000 million years ago. It started with tiny single-celled creatures. Then other life forms began to appear. But dinosaurs populated the planet only 200-230 million years ago. Scientists to this day put forward various theories regarding how dinosaurs appeared, and it is not known which of them is correct.
Ancient world
Different types Dinosaurs lived on Earth at different times: some species died out, others appeared. In general, the era of these creatures lasted more than 150 million years. If we compare the time of human existence with this period, we live only 200,000 years. According to the official version, people and dinosaurs lived in different eras, but rock paintings and various archaeological finds cast doubt on this version.
The word "dinosaur" itself means a terrible or terrible lizard. These creatures were cold-blooded and needed large quantities sunlight. The official version of how dinosaurs came to be says that these creatures evolved from reptiles that lived on the planet before them. The ancestors of dinosaurs lived both on land and in water. They are called archosaurs - ancient lizards. They looked like amphibians and ate plant foods. Ancient lizards had lungs and laid eggs on land. Gradually, reptiles became larger, although the first dinosaurs were small, the size of a chicken. Some species remained this way throughout their existence. Other species became large, they increased in size and became stronger. This is how dinosaurs appeared, which changed and improved over millions of years, populating the Earth.
Ancestors of dinosaurs
So how did dinosaurs come about, who did they come from? It is generally accepted that all dinosaurs descended from thecodonts. These creatures were of various sizes: small, large, medium. They walked on four legs, and some walked on two. It was from them that the first dinosaurs came.
A distinctive feature of thecodonts is that they had a special skeletal structure: the joint of the hip and pelvis was such that this type of reptile could move on two legs.
World domination
After dinosaurs appeared, they began to evolve. Gradually, these creatures took over the Earth, becoming the real rulers of the land. Their success in survival lay in the fact that they had a unique evolutionary flexibility and could also eat a wide variety of foods. Dinosaurs could also walk on two legs, which allowed them to cover vast distances. As soon as new living conditions were formed, dinosaurs immediately adapted to them. Because of this feature, new species began to appear: herbivores, carnivores, omnivores. There were giants and there were small individuals. Some creatures grew wings and began to fly.
Secrets of the Age of Dinosaurs
Where dinosaurs came from remains a mystery, as does their demise. Another mystery - did these creatures live in the same era as people or did they become extinct before the advent of humanity? According to scientists, the eras of people and giants differed, although archaeological finds in the form of rock paintings indicate the opposite. Fairy tales and legends of the peoples of the world that talk about ancient lizards and people remain doubtful.
In the sixties of the twentieth century, burials of the pre-Inian period were found in Peru. The stones depicted people and dinosaurs living closely together. This discovery contradicts the official theory of evolution. The stones found depicted a sauropod with spines. Scientists only learned that this creature has spines in the nineties. In addition to the found drawings on stones, the Bible speaks about the existence of humans and dinosaurs in the same era, albeit indirectly. Scientists also found human traces next to dinosaur tracks. And all this remains a mystery, since according to the accepted version, people and dinosaurs lived millions of years apart, but judging by the finds, this is not so.
Dinosaurs are someone's ancestors
If giants evolved from ancient reptiles, then who descended from dinosaurs, what are the inhabitants of the planet?
Modern animals have some similarities with the ancient inhabitants of the Earth, but only a small part are considered their descendants. During the Jurassic period, Archeopteryx lived, which became the ancestor of birds. Scientists have found many similarities between birds and this type of dinosaur: the presence of scales, the structure of the limbs, and the method of reproduction. The direct ancestors of birds are considered to be Deinonychus, Compsognathus and Struthiomimus, although appearance this cannot be said.
Mammal Ancestors
After the dinosaurs disappeared, mammals began to develop. Initially, they were nocturnal, settled, and constantly developed. Modern mammals evolved from them. For example, once upon a time didelphodons lived on Earth, which had bags. They are similar to modern opossums. The ancient Erythrotherium had the ability to climb trees. This creature is considered the ancestor of monkeys.
Types of dinosaurs
All known species dinosaurs are divided into two large squad: ornithischians and lizards. These units have their own classifications. Thus, there are groups of aquatic, flying, herbivorous, carnivorous dinosaurs and some others. Where did dinosaurs come from and why were they divided into groups?
Since scientists began to find the remains of aquatic representatives, the question has arisen: how are dinosaurs of this group born? Those that move on land, fly, usually lay eggs, and aquatic reproduction occurs either by the creature coming onto land to lay eggs, as modern turtles do, or there were other methods of reproduction.
Among aquatic inhabitants, the most unusual are:
- Pliosaur. It is considered a predator and ate everything it saw. This creature had no enemies, which is why it attacked first.
- Ichthyosaur. The first remains of these creatures were found in Russia, but most of the finds were in Germany. These lizards lived in packs, so they could easily repel enemies, and it was easier for them to get food.
- Mosasaurus. The remains of these saurs have been found all over the planet, even in cold Antarctica. It is believed that monitor lizards originated from this species. The mosasaurus lived in water and moved like a snake, like sea eels.
- Elasmosaurus. It is considered an unusual predator that could hunt from any distance. This dinosaur easily caught any prey, even the fastest.
- Shonisaurus. Among aquatic reptiles, this creature is considered the largest. It ate squid, shellfish, and some types of octopus.
These are not all representatives water world who inhabited the planet millions of years ago.
Flying species include pterosaur, archeopteryx, pterodactyl, and ornithocheirus. Some of them reached the size of a small airplane.
Most popular predatory dinosaurs are Tyrannosaurus, Megalosaurus, Spinosaurus, Tarbosaurus, Giganotosaurus, Velociraptor.
Representatives of herbivores are Stegosaurus, Brachiosaurus, Diplodocus, Brontosaurus, Triceratops, Iguanodon.
Why did they become extinct?
Scientists still can't say for sure where dinosaurs came from, but an even bigger mystery is why they went extinct. This happened about 60 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period. At the same time as the giants, marine reptiles, flying representatives, some species of mollusks, and algae became extinct. Scientists estimate that during that period, about 20% of land vertebrates and about 15% sea creatures. The most common theory for this phenomenon is that a meteorite fell in the Yucatan region of the Mexican peninsula.
There are other versions of the reason for the extinction of dinosaurs, including high volcanic activity. About 6 million years ago there was a strong eruption with a gigantic outpouring of magma.
Other scientists suggest that the extinction was caused by the destruction of clutches of eggs and young by the first predatory mammals. The possibility of extinction due to a sharp drop in the level of the World Ocean, changes in magnetic field Earth.
Scientists from the University of Reading have put forward a different theory, according to which dinosaurs were already dying out even before the meteorite fell. In their opinion, the extinction caused the emergence of other species. Scientists have assessed the extinction of several thousand dinosaur species. As a result of the work, it was possible to find out that the rate of appearance of new species and the rate of disappearance of old ones are interrelated. And about 80 million years ago, some of the giant species died out, and in their place new creatures appeared inhabiting the planet.
Hello, dear friends! We are glad to welcome you to our children's page. You've probably heard about them, and maybe even seen them in movies and cartoons. We will tell you a lot of interesting things about dinosaurs. Chances are you have a lot of questions about these wonderful animals. We will try to answer them.
How long did dinosaurs live?
It has not yet been possible to answer the question at what age dinosaurs died. But they don’t give up trying to do it. Scientists are trying to estimate the lifespan of dinosaurs by the growth rate of fossil bones. This does not seem to be the case for determining the age of trees by tree rings.
Is it true that a dinosaur's lifespan depended on its size?
Scientists suggest that large dinosaurs lived longer than small ones. The little dinosaur developed and grew faster and lived life more intensely.
Which dinosaur was the largest?
The largest dinosaur was Seismosaurus. Part of his skeleton was found in the USA, but the excavations are not over yet. Scientists suggest that this dinosaur weighed more than 50 tons and was about 36 m long
Did dinosaurs live in the sea?
Dinosaurs did not live in the sea, as do whales or dolphins, for example. Dinosaurs could enter the water to hunt fish or swim across a river to save them from a predator. But no dinosaur spends its entire life in the sea. Dinosaurs should not be confused with such sea inhabitants Mesozoic era like pliosaurs or plesiosaurs
Could dinosaurs fly?
Dinosaurs could neither fly nor glide. All dinosaurs were wingless land animals. But at the same time, reptiles lived with dinosaurs, which were relatives of dinosaurs, but could fly. They are called pterosaurs. Also, in the Jurassic period there was an animal called Archeopteryx. Archeopteryx was not a dinosaur. Scientists are still arguing about whether Archeopteryx is classified as a bird or a reptile. Outwardly, he looked like a bird, but the claws and teeth were like those of a reptile
Which dinosaur had the biggest teeth?
One of the largest dinosaur teeth ever discovered belonged to a Tyrannosaurus rex. This tooth was located in the side of the jaw, not far from the front teeth. The length from root to apex was about 30 cm. And the tooth did not rise above the gum of the tyrannosaurus 18 cm.
Which dinosaur had the longest neck?
Of all the dinosaurs known to paleontologists this moment, Mamenchisaurus is considered the longest-necked one. Mamenchisaurus lived about 150 million years ago. on the territory of modern China. The neck of Mamenchisaurus was about 14 m long. Mamenchisaurus could easily peer through the roof of a three-story building. Perhaps, when the complete skeleton of Seismosaurus is dug up, it will turn out to be the longest-necked dinosaur.
Which dinosaur ran the fastest?
Scientists suggest that the fastest dinosaurs were ornithomemmosaurs - ostrich-like dinosaurs. This group includes such dinosaurs as: galimmymus, ornithomimus, pelicanim , struthiomeme. Scientists suggest that these dinosaurs reached speeds of up to 50 km/h.
Did dinosaurs hibernate?
During the Triassic and Jurassic periods, the climate on earth was warmer and wetter than it is now. Moreover, all the land was not very far from the equator. Therefore, there was no need for dinosaurs to hibernate. Later, in the Cretaceous period, the continents began to diverge further and further. Antarctica began to shift towards the south pole. At the end of the Cretaceous period, the climate on earth began to change, and the differences in temperatures between summer and winter became increasingly stronger. The winter of the Cretaceous period was not as severe as it is now, but still, the temperature could drop to 0 °C. At this temperature, cold-blooded reptiles such as dinosaurs became very cold. Therefore, it is very likely that they hibernated to avoid freezing.
How big were dinosaur eggs?
Dinosaur eggs vary in size. Eggs only 2-3 cm long were found near the Mussaurus skeleton. Large dinosaurs from the sauropod group had much larger eggs. But still, even the largest dinosaur egg found was no larger than a soccer ball.
Did dinosaurs have ears?
Dinosaurs had small bones in their skulls that transmitted sound from the eardrum to the parts of the brain responsible for hearing. In the general sense, dinosaurs did not have ears. The dinosaur's "ears" were small holes on the sides of its head. The ears of modern lizards look the same.
Which dinosaur had the most teeth?
Hadrosaurs, duck-billed dinosaurs, had the most teeth. On the bottom and upper jaws hadrosaurs had 480 teeth. That is, a total of 980 teeth. Considering that dinosaurs' teeth were restored, it can be assumed that hadrosaurs replaced about 10,000 teeth throughout their lives.
Did dinosaurs have fur?
So far, no evidence has been found that dinosaurs had fur. However, we are unlikely to ever be able to find out for sure. Fur is a soft and delicate material and it could not survive for many millions of years. However, none of the modern reptiles have fur. Therefore, most likely dinosaurs also did not have fur.
Did dinosaurs know how to climb trees?
It is possible that some small dinosaurs were agile and agile enough that they could easily climb trees and jump on branches. Most dinosaurs were too large and heavy to climb trees. Giant herbivorous dinosaurs could simply knock down a tree to get to the luscious foliage.
Did dinosaurs have a developed sense of smell?
Some dinosaurs breathed through rather large nostrils. The part of the dinosaur's brain responsible for smell was also large. Therefore, most likely, dinosaurs’ sense of smell was well developed.
Is it true that dinosaurs swallowed rocks?
Yes, some dinosaurs swallowed rocks. These stones are also called gastroliths. They served to grind hard leaves and shoots directly in the dinosaur's stomach. Similarly, modern chickens swallow small pebbles to help them digest grain.
Was there a brontosaurus?
A few years ago, a set of postage stamps with dinosaurs was released in the United States. This caused confusion. The dinosaur depicted on one of the stamps was mistakenly called a brontosaurus. This name, meaning “thunder lizard,” was coined by paleontologist O.K. March in 1879 But two years earlier, the dinosaur with such a skeleton was named Appatosaurus. Therefore, there is no dinosaur called Brontosaurus. This dinosaur should be called Appatosaurus.
Why did dinosaurs need claws?
Dinosaurs used their claws for a variety of purposes. The claws of predators, sharp and thin as daggers, were used to tear the meat of the victim. Wide and flat claws replaced hooves and served as support when walking. There were also other types of claws adapted for digging the ground, scratching, and protecting from enemies.
Did dinosaurs form herds?
Scientists have found much evidence that some species of dinosaurs led a gregarious lifestyle. During excavations, thousands of bones belonging to one type of dinosaur were discovered collected in one place. Presumably the piles of bones are the remains of herds that died as a result of a sudden natural disaster.
Did dinosaurs migrate?
Dinosaurs could migrate over vast distances in search of food or nesting sites. The remains of dinosaurs discovered by paleontologists indicate that some species of dinosaurs crossed entire continents during such migrations. Nowadays, some birds, flying to warmer regions, cover no less impressive distances.
Has man ever met dinosaurs?
The last dinosaurs disappeared around 65 million years ago. at the end of the Cretaceous period. The first people, according to scientists, appeared about 150 thousand years ago. This means humans appeared more than 64 million years after the extinction of the dinosaurs. It is unlikely that any people could meet a living dinosaur.
Did dinosaurs use camouflage?
Like many modern animals, some dinosaurs needed to be invisible. This is necessary either to hide or to sneak up unnoticed. Perhaps the color of dinosaurs allowed them to hide well in the area where they lived.
How do paleontologists distinguish the tracks of different dinosaurs from each other?
Only a specialist can determine which dinosaur left this or that trace. First, paleontologists study the shape of both the feet and fingers. They then study the age of the rock in which the fossilized dinosaur footprint was found. After this, the found prints are correlated with the appearance of those dinosaurs that lived during the era of the formation of the rock.
Did dinosaurs see well?
As far as we can tell, most dinosaurs had very good eyesight. The eye sockets of the dinosaurs found are large, therefore the eyes were large. The areas of the brain responsible for vision are also well developed.
What color were dinosaurs?
No one knows what color dinosaurs were. The fact is that dinosaur skin is a very rare find. However, no coloring pigments were preserved in the fossils found. Experts believe that the color of dinosaurs corresponded to their habitat. And it was adapted for camouflage. But some dinosaurs did not need camouflage coloring, since due to their large size they did not have enemies. In this case, scientists can only speculate.
How can fossils be protected from damage during transport to the laboratory?
The fossilized remains of dinosaurs are removed from the earth with the greatest care. Each bone is wrapped in tissue paper and then cast in plaster. The plaster hardens and protects the bones from damage during transportation.
Did dinosaurs eat eggs?
Some dinosaurs ate the eggs of other animals. One of these dinosaurs was Oviraptor. Oviraptor means "egg stealer", precisely because it robbed the nests of other dinosaurs. In the oviraptor's mouth there were special growths with which it cracked eggs.
How do scientists determine the age of fossils?
Fossils are found in rocks made of sedimentary rocks. Over millions of years, the rocks have changed under the influence of wind, sunlight, rain and temperature changes. The age of a fossil is determined by the layer of rock in which it is found. In addition, radioactive elements help determine the age of dinosaur remains. Scientists measure the level of radioactivity in fossilized bones and use these measurements to determine the approximate age of the dinosaur.
Which dinosaur had the biggest eyes?
Dromiceomimus had huge eyes. His name means "emu-like". Judging by the fossil skulls of this lizard, its eye sockets were larger than those of any other known dinosaur. Therefore, Dromiceomimus is considered the largest-eyed dinosaur. The eyes of Dromiceomimus were located on the sides of the head, which provided excellent visibility and an advantage over predators.
Did dinosaurs sweat?
Dinosaurs couldn't sweat. The dinosaur's skin was scaly and had no pores through which sweat could escape.
Which dinosaur came first?
Two lizards compete for the title of being the first dinosaur in the history of the earth. These are Herrerosaurus and Eoraptor. Both of them were bipedal predators and lived around 230-225 million years ago. The search for fossils continues and it is possible that even more ancient dinosaurs will be discovered.
How do dinosaurs get their names?
Since the 1820s, paleontologists have been inventing dinosaur names. Having discovered the remains of a new species of dinosaur, scientists describe the discovery in a special diary. In the future, in order to distinguish this species from others, a special name is chosen for it, which has never been used before. Often the name contains the name of the area in which the dinosaur was found.
Could dinosaurs smell?
Many dinosaurs had an excellent sense of smell. This helped them from afar to smell a predator, prey or a potential mate. It is also likely that dinosaurs could emit special signal odors, like many animals.
Did dinosaurs build their own houses?
Most dinosaurs were too large to build homes for themselves. However, some dinosaurs built nests for themselves to lay eggs.
Is there a place on earth where dinosaurs did not live?
The remains of dinosaurs have been found on all continents of the Earth. Until recently, it was believed that there were no dinosaurs in Antarctica. Over the past few years, fossil remains of an armored dinosaur and a small herbivorous dinosaur have been found on the rocky coasts of this icy continent.
Why are so many fossils found in Alberta, Canada?
During the time of the dinosaurs, the area that is now called the Alberta Wastes was literally teeming with dinosaurs. This was the intersection of the routes along which dinosaurs migrated from south to north and from north to south. In Alberta national park dinosaurs, hundreds of skeletons of prehistoric lizards have been found. A large burial was discovered, from which the bones of more than 50 dinosaurs were extracted.
Did dinosaurs sleep?
All animals, including humans, need sleep and rest. And dinosaurs are no exception. Modern reptiles spend most of their lives sleeping. And there is no reason to believe that dinosaurs could survive without sleep.
Were all dinosaurs bloodthirsty?
Most dinosaurs were peaceful herbivores. Most of the time they grazed. There were much fewer predators.
Did dinosaurs maintain mating relationships throughout their lives?
Experts are inclined to believe that dinosaurs did not create stable mating pairs. But some dinosaurs nested together and looked after their offspring. However, it is unlikely that the male and female remained together for a long time after mating.
How long did it take for baby dinosaurs to develop in eggs?
To date, it is not known how long dinosaurs developed in eggs. One can only speculate on this matter. It is only known that some dinosaurs, for example Maiasaurs, led a nomadic lifestyle, but came to the same place to lay eggs.
Which dinosaur had the most a long tail?
Diplodocus had the longest tail. The length of the diplodocus tail reached 11 meters. Diplodocus used it as a whip to drive away predators.
Did dinosaurs live in caves?
Most dinosaurs were too big. They wouldn't fit in the cave. Some paleontologists believe that small dinosaurs may have hidden in caves during dry periods. But this is just a guess.
How did dinosaurs sleep?
How dinosaurs slept remains a mystery. Perhaps large herbivorous dinosaurs slept standing up. As for predators, for example, the Tyrannosaurus rex had large curved bones in the lower part of the pelvis, and an additional row of bones located under the ribs. This allowed the tyrannosaurus to lie on the ground without fear, and protected it internal organs from overload.
Did dinosaurs eat fruit?
Some dinosaurs, such as ornithomimides, had toothless jaws, like modern ostriches. They belong to the group of omnivorous dinosaurs. Their diet included insects, small animals, roots and possibly fruit. It is also impossible that other dinosaurs could eat fruit.
How much meat could a Tyrannosaurus rex eat in a day?
Given its size, a hungry tyrannosaurus could eat 120-150 kg of meat at one time. After such a lunch, the dinosaur could go without food for several days.
Did all other reptiles go extinct along with the dinosaurs?
No. Many reptiles were able to survive and even live to this day. These are lizards, snakes, turtles and crocodiles.
Did dinosaurs blink?
Dinosaurs had eyelids, so they could blink. An interesting find was the eyelids of armored dinosaurs ankylosaurs. These dinosaurs had bony eyelids. When the ankylosaur lowered its eyelids, its eyes were reliably protected.
Were there viviparous dinosaurs?
Scientists do not yet know of any evidence that viviparous dinosaurs existed. All dinosaurs found laid eggs. Reptiles that lived in the sea adapted to viviparity, but they were not dinosaurs.
Did dinosaurs shed their skin like lizards do?
Dinosaurs are not closely related to lizards. Their skin has a different structure. The outer layers of skin were not completely shed, but in small fragments, like those of crocodiles.
How did dinosaurs keep themselves clean?
Dinosaurs had no fur or wool, so their skin did not need to be cleaned. The dirt that stuck to the skin of dinosaurs either dried up and fell off, or was shed along with old skin scales, like modern reptiles. Dinosaur skin was constantly renewed.
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