Types and description of dinosaurs. Unusual Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs are cool creatures, that's a fact. They were giant lizards, and that alone speaks for itself. Of course, not every one of them was as cool as a T. rex. Some of them, frankly speaking, were unlucky with their appearance. Below are the ten dinosaurs that suffered the most.

10. Tsintaosaurus

Tsintaosaurus is a dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period that looks as if it is constantly surprised by its incongruous appearance. The beak and horn looked good on other dinosaurs, for example, Hadrosaurus looked pretty good sporting a beak, but Cinthosaurus managed to grow a phallic-shaped horn on its head, as if inviting ridicule from its fellows.

9. Suzhousaurus


Suzhousaurus is a theropod from the Early Cretaceous period. This dinosaur comes from the same suborder that gave birth to Tyrannosaurus, a dinosaur so cool that Chuck Norris himself once punched a hole in time just to pet it. If you're reading this article on a laptop, squint and tilt your monitor to the left - well, doesn't Suzhousaurus look like a rat with two tails? If a dinosaur, which is supposed to be a three-meter terrifying monster, looks like a rat, there is clearly something wrong.

8. Gryposaurus


Gryposaurus is another Late Cretaceous dinosaur that had a beak and could grow up to 9 meters in length, which is quite strange considering it looks like it grew inside a 7.5 meter long box. Just look at his nose, it looks like God punched a Tyrannosaurus in the face. Why are the hind legs worth it? Gryposaurus was probably the first creature in the world that could boast a juicy butt.

7. Liopleurodon


Liopleurodon is a large carnivorous reptile from the Late Jurassic period. Yes, he's not exactly a dinosaur. But this huge reptile, which lived millions of years ago, was featured on the show Walking with Dinosaurs, which is why it was included on this list. Being strictly a marine animal, Liopleurodon probably wasn't bothered by the fact that it had a giant head, but since scientists are adamantly against throwing dinosaur remains into the water, we can only see Liopleurodon on land. And on land, his remains look like someone tried to melt a plastic toy crocodile.

6. Tanystropheus


Tanystropheus is another giant reptile that is also not technically a dinosaur. But just look at him! It looks like someone tried to glue a snake and a gecko together, and the creature couldn't stop screaming in the process. It is believed that this creature had the longest neck that can be, given the laws of physics, but scientists are still puzzling over its purpose. Scientists simply cannot come to terms with the fact that Tanystropheus wanted to have the most beautiful swan neck in the world.

5. Cryolophosaurus

No, this is not a Tyrannosaurus with a leaf on its head. This is a theropod of the early Jurassic period, nature simply decreed that for no apparent reason it received a hefty crest on its head. Sure, Cryolophosaurus could rip your heart out with its tongue, but can you say, hand on heart, that this dinosaur, once informally known as "Elvisosaurus" and looking like a Tyrannosaurus on steroids, actually terrifies you? And it’s clear that no.

4. Microraptor


On this moment the fact that dinosaurs are the early ancestors of modern birds is widely known. So it is quite natural to assume that there was a middle link between Velociraptor and chickens. It turns out that the bell was Microraptors. While most birds have wings where they are supposed to be, Microraptors had wings on their legs because more wings equals more flight. The science!

Can you imagine a fast-evolving Microraptor trying to convince its slow-moving comrades that wings on its legs are a good idea:

“Hey guys, what am I going to tell you now!”
“Oh my god, is it Terry again?” “Yes, it’s him. I wonder what he needs from us today?
“Guys, I have a great idea! Let's develop wings!"
"...we already have wings, Terry"
“Yes, but we don’t have them on our feet! A? How do you like it? Guys, just imagine: wings...on legs!”
"Terry, I hate you"

3. Epidexipteryx

Epidexipteryx is another creature from the Late Jurassic period. He looks like he just finished a manicure and doesn't want anything to touch him. Epidexipteryx is another, very important for scientists, link between birds and dinosaurs. However, it may seem to ordinary people that scientists are specifically trying to make dinosaurs in our minds less dangerous, in case one of the samples they cloned breaks free.

2. Longisquama


This little creature comes from the Triassic period, precisely the period in which there were more creatures wanting to kill you than in the Middle East. Therefore, small size was not an advantage, given that dinosaurs of this size existed during the same period giant size, who could kill him simply by waving their tail. The only advantage of its size was its ability to hide, although this was no easy task given the huge feathers protruding from the creature's back. Although, maybe Longisquama could somehow shoot his feathers. But he probably still wasn’t capable of it. Longisquama seemed to be the creature that God hated the most.

1. Hesperonychus


Ever wondered what would happen if a chicken mated with a crocodile and their baby was thrown against a wall? If you have, then you have mental problems, but at least you won’t have to guess anymore, because Hesperonicus is exactly the creature you dreamed about. And if you look into his eyes, you will have nightmares.

His eyes are cold, dead, filled with the lust to kill. He knows how stupid he looks and is secretly planning to kill you in your sleep for making fun of him.


Edgar Allen Poe would probably have committed suicide immediately if such a creature had threatened him.

As you already know, dinosaurs are divided into two orders depending on their skeletal structure: lizard-hipped and ornithischian. These orders, in turn, are divided into infraorders, in each of which the dinosaurs are similar to each other appearance.

The first lizard-hipped dinosaurs were predators. They ran on strong hind legs, and the front ones were used to grab prey. They are called theropods, which means “beast-footed” in Latin. Theropods are divided into many families and infraorders, which include similar dinosaurs. There are a lot of them, so in our articles, for simplicity, we call all predators only theropods.

Giant herbivorous dinosaurs with long necks evolved from carnivorous theropods. They began to use all four legs to move. Such dinosaurs are called sauropodomorphs. This group of lizards is divided into two infraorders: sauropods, which means “lizard-footed” in Latin, and prosauropods, the ancestors of sauropods.

Suborders of ornithischian dinosaurs

Scientists conventionally divide all ornithischian dinosaurs into two suborders: cerapods and thyreophora. Cerapods include three infraorders: bird-footed ornithopods, horned ceratopsians and thick-headed pachycephalosaurs. Thyreophores include lizards with plates and bone growths that are arranged in longitudinal rows along the body. This suborder includes two infraorders: stegosaurs and ankylosaurs.

The first ornithischian dinosaurs were herbivores. They moved mainly on two legs, which in structure were very similar to birds. That's why they were called so - bird-footed, or ornithopods. Over time, they developed and became larger. As a result, all other groups of ornithischian dinosaurs appeared.

Stegosaurs are easily recognized by the spines on their tail and the plates on their back. Scientists have put forward different assumptions about why dinosaurs needed them, but have not yet been able to answer this question unequivocally. The entire infraorder is named after the most famous representative, the stegosaurus.

The ceratopsian infraorder is easily recognized by its massive heads, short neck, horns and curved beak-like snout. Translated from Latin, their name means “horned face.” Ceratopsians were of different sizes, but most were as tall as a bull or even an elephant. They could weigh several tons, so not every predator risked fighting such a formidable enemy. The most striking representative of this infraorder is Triceratops.

A characteristic feature of pachycephalosaurs is a strong skull with bone growths in the crown area. In the largest dinosaurs it was 20-25 cm thick. The entire infraorder is named after the most well-studied representative - the pachycephalosaur.

Ankylosaurs can be called the armored tanks of their time. Their bodies were covered with hard plates, bone growths and spines. These dinosaurs walked on four strong but short legs. The most famous representative of the infraorder is called the ankylosaur.

Famous monsters like tyrannosaurs and velociraptors most likely did not look like the monsters of our imagination and certainly behaved differently. Many of us have childhood, and I speak for myself absolutely sincerely, there was a difficult period of love for dinosaurs.

And now it turns out that much of what I knew was not true. It turns out that the modern scientific view of these things is one step ahead of the popular image of dinosaurs.

Until the "dinosaur revival" of the late 60s, dinosaurs were always portrayed as sluggish and ruminant. But experts realized that dinosaurs led an active lifestyle and gradually brought this to the general public - including with the help of 1993's Jurassic Park.

Over the past two decades, we've seen another major revolution in our understanding of dinosaurs, thanks to new fossils from China and advances in technology. But most of these findings had no impact on the popular understanding of dinosaurs.

And now I understand how strongly the images of the legendary dinosaurs are ingrained in my memory - since childhood. It's like considering Pluto a planet in the solar system.

But now you may not recognize these dinosaurs.

Velociraptor

Let's start with an idea that many have heard of but few have accepted: some dinosaurs had feathers. Not just a few feathers here and there, but a completely feathered body.


Already in the 1980s, some paleontologists began to suspect that dinosaurs were feathered creatures. Fossils of primitive dromaeosaurids - the family to which Velociraptor belongs - have been increasingly found with fully feathered wings. Nevertheless, depictions of this iconic predator remained quite traditional.

That all changed in 2007, when American scientists discovered feather tubercles on the forearm bone of a fossil velociraptor. These tubercles are where the feather attaches and provide compelling evidence for feathered and bird-like velociraptors.

Those human-sized dinosaurs that were shown in Jurassic Park had nothing in common with their real ancestors.

“If animals like Velociraptor were alive today, we would immediately assume that they looked like unusual birds" says Mark Norell of the American Museum of Natural History. And this is reflected not only in feathers: real velociraptors were the size of turkeys.

Michael Crichton, author of the original Jurassic Park novel, modeled his raptors after the larger Deinonychus. And, apparently, he deliberately named them incorrectly, because he thought that “velociraptor” sounded more dramatic.

Archeopteryx

Archeopteryx is widely considered the "missing link" between dinosaurs and birds. This mysterious status attracted a lot of attention to them, and not only positive.


Accusations of forgery have dogged Archeopteryx fossils for years, usually from people who don't like the clear evidence of evolution.

In fact, new research suggests that Archeopteryx may not be the missing link, but certainly not for the reasons promoted by evolution deniers. Following the discovery of a very similar dinosaur to Archeopteryx in China, scientists have suggested that the famous avian ancestor may actually predate small carnivorous dinosaurs like Velociraptor. This version has since been disputed.

Even if Archeopteryx is considered the first bird, this label is not true. "It's fundamentally impossible to draw a line on the evolutionary tree between dinosaurs and birds," says Steve Brusatte of the University of Edinburgh in the UK, co-author of a 2014 paper examining the evolution of the first birds.

All indications are that there was no missing link between birds and dinosaurs, but only a gradual transition involving many feathered intermediate species.

Triceratops

A perennial foe of the T. rex and a favorite model for plastic action figures, who doesn't love a Triceratops?


So when John Scannella and John Horner published a paper in 2009 suggesting that Triceratops was simply a juvenile version of the larger but lesser-known Torosaurus, they were met with waves of hatred and then disappointment. The hashtag #TriceraFAIL was invented. People decided that their favorite dinosaur was simply made up.

But it wasn't like that. Very soon, commentators began to point out that the Triceratops had been found earlier, so if anyone should be removed, it would be the Torosaurus. But the lesson turned out to be very important. Our knowledge of dinosaurs is often based on scanty fossils, so even known species are undergoing changes.

Brontosaurus

Brontosaurus was named after the archetypal sauropod: huge, lumbering herbivores with long necks. But for hundreds of years, scientists were sure that this dinosaur never existed.


The skeleton, which was first presented as a brontosaurus, remains of an Apatosaurus with a Camarosaurus skull.

However, in 2015, a group of scientists presented an analysis demonstrating significant differences between the original Brontosaurus and the fossil Apatosaurus, suggesting that the Brontosaurus genus should be resurrected.

The key differentiating factor, the team says, is size. In the family of giant reptiles, Apatosaurus was huge.

Tyrannosaurus rex

Some scientists definitely shielded the Tyrannosaurus rex. After decades of excuses that it was a humble grass eater rather than the ferocious predator of the popular image, the lizard is now facing another identity crisis.


As the feathered revolution swept through paleontology, experts began to wonder about the genus Tyrannosaurus. Of course, how could the most charismatic predator of all time be feathered?

Not an ounce of plumage has been found in over 50 T. rex remains throughout the world. North America. But along with the excavations in China, very, very interesting hints emerged.

In 2004, a primitive tyrannosauroid was found with a covering of feathers similar to those of other small animals. predatory dinosaurs. This was followed by the discovery of Yutyrannus in 2012 - meaning "feathered tyrant". This giant predator was closely related to T. rex, and not only in terms of size. It was covered with long feathers.

These findings suggest that the most famous predator of all time needs to be looked at differently. The question is, was the feathered Tyrannosaurus rex less scary than the roaring, lawyer-eating monster we all love?

Stegosaurus

Experts are famous for their ability to come up with wacky explanations for strange dinosaur features; explanations that confidently creep into popular opinion and stay there.


For example, it is a widely accepted "fact" that Stegosaurus had an extra brain in its pelvis to compensate for the tiny brain (cerebellum?) in its small head.

But no, Stegosaurus may not have been the wittiest among its friends, but it didn't need an extra brain. This extra cavity, which gave rise to the myth, most likely housed a "glycogen body": a structure that many birds have that is involved in storing energy.

He also has plates on his back.

For some time, the most popular theory was that the most distinctive feature of the stegosaurus was... "solar panels" that helped it regulate its body temperature. But this has always remained the subject of heated scientific battles. If this is indeed the case, why do other stegosaur decorations look more like spikes than panels?

The variety of Stegosaurus spines played a role in another train of thought. Like the bright and colorful plumage of tropical birds, these plates may have helped dinosaurs tell each other apart and attract mates.

Sex may have been a key factor in the development of many of the extravagant traits seen in dinosaurs. Behind last years everything from the long necks of sauropods to the lush frill of ceratopsians began to be attributed to sexual selection.

Pachycephalosaurus

Although this dinosaur is not included in the first class of legendary lizards, Pachycephalosaurus is well known among dinosaur fans for its armored head.


These dinosaurs were almost exclusively depicted as engaging in battles, butting heads together. Pachycephalosaurs had domed heads with a powerful, reinforced skull. It was believed that the males used these built-in battering rams to fight each other, much like the rams of today.

However, some scientists doubted that pachycephalosaurs were fighters.

"Our research shows that pachycephalosaurs could only butt their heads once, and the subsequent trauma could have killed them," says John Horner from Montana State University in the US, who studied the microstructure of dinosaur cranial tissue.

He suggests that the domes were another way to attract partners (sexual, of course, and not for business).

Ankylosaurus

Covered in thick armor plates from head to tail, the ankylosaur was medieval knight Cretaceous period.


Modern paleontologists use Newest technologies to squeeze out more and more more information from fossils. In 2004, Thorsten Scheyer of the University of Bonn in Germany used polarizing microscopy to reveal remarkable new levels of complexity in the ankylosaur shell.

The bulky-looking armor was found to have a complex microstructure of bone and collagen, similar to that of fiberglass or Kevlar.

“This shell was very strong in all places,” says Scheier. And surprisingly easy. “Modern composite materials, such as those used to make wind farm blades or body armor, are based on the same principle.”

It looks like the ankylosaur was more like a modern super-soldier than a medieval knight.

Spinosaurus

Another dinosaur that became famous thanks to the film “Jurassic Park” is the Spinosaurus: in the film it fought with a Tyrannosaurus rex.


It's easy to understand why the filmmakers chose Spinosaurus. At 15.2 meters long, it is 2.7 meters longer than the Tyrannosaurus rex. It also had a long and scary jaw and a bizarre "sail" protruding from its back.

Spinosaurus has always been a mysterious dinosaur, known only from skeletal fragments discovered in the deserts of North Africa. But in 2014, a team of archaeologists led by Nizar Ibrahim from the University of Chicago in Illinois announced the discovery of new remains. These fossils appear to confirm what has long been suspected: Spinosaurus is the only aquatic dinosaur.

Ibrahim's analysis revealed a creature with small hind limbs that are more suited to swimming than hunting on land. It also had a long crocodile-like snout and a bone microstructure similar to that of other aquatic vertebrates.

“Working on this animal was like studying an alien from outer space,” says Ibrahim. “This dinosaur is like no other.”

Bonus: pterosaurs

This point doesn't quite count, since pterosaurs were not dinosaurs: a fact that is periodically overlooked.


Many of us are familiar with the name "pterodactyl". But hidden under this name are many groups of flying reptiles that are collectively called "pterosaurs." And this group was just huge.

At one end of the spectrum we find Namicolopterus, a tiny pterosaur with a wingspan of 25 centimeters (10 inches). There are also larger creatures: azhdarchids. When they spread their wings, their span was a whopping 10 meters. Judging by this, they were the largest flying animals of all time.

Dinosaurs, which translated from Greek means terrible (terrible) lizards (lizards), are a superorder of above-ground vertebrates that existed and led an active lifestyle throughout Mesozoic era. Dinosaurs are considered the first vertebrates to settle throughout the planet, while their ancestors, amphibians, were forced to live only near bodies of water, to which they were attached due to the specific nature of reproduction. Finds of the first representatives of dinosaurs date back to 225 million BC. e. Over the history of its existence, which lasted for 160 million years, this superorder multiplied enormously, giving rise to a huge number of varieties. Scientists estimate that the number of dinosaur genera at the time of their peak prosperity could reach 3,400, although so far, as of 2006, only 500 of them have been confidently described. Each genus had an indefinite number of species. As of 2008, 1,047 species of these ancient vertebrates had been described. And at the moment, as a result of new archaeological discoveries, this number is increasing.

At the border of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic, a certain global shock occurred, which served mass extinction of dinosaurs, after which only pitiful units remained of the reptiles that had dominated throughout the Mesozoic.

Classification of dinosaurs using the pelvic bone method

Dinosaurs can be classified in different ways. Some are comfortable due to the specifics of their work and literary works sort ancient vertebrates of the Cretaceous period by size, some by habitat, since at that time there were aquatic reptiles, land reptiles and aeronautics. Some people prefer to divide dinosaurs into bipeds and quadrupeds. But the main generally accepted form of classification is dinosaur classification using the pelvic bone method, proposed back in 1887 by the famous English paleontologist G. Seeley.

Rice. 1 - Classification of dinosaurs

Despite the fact that the ancestors of all dinosaurs without exception are considered to be a group of ancient reptiles archosaurs, at the beginning of the Triassic, their development took different paths. It was from this time that it happened division of reptiles based on the structure of the pelvis on the:

• Lizard-pelvic;
• ornithischians.

But this does not mean at all that all lizards originated from lizards, and birds came from ornithischians. These are conventional names, associated only with the fact that in lizards the pubic bones of the pelvis were primarily directed forward, in the manner of modern crocodiles, while in ornithischians they were directed backwards, in the manner of birds.

It would be difficult to determine which group this or that dinosaur belongs to. These groups differ much more clearly in the structure of their jaws. Lizards had jaws with rows of teeth arranged strictly along the edges in one row, reaching to the tip of the muzzle. All teeth had a conical or chisel shape and were each located in its own separate cell. Ornithischians had mandibles, ending in the anterior part with the predentary bone. Often had no teeth in the front part and upper jaw. Often, the front part of ornithischian dinosaurs simply looked like a massive, horny turtle beak.

Lizard-hipped dinosaurs

Lizard-hipped dinosaurs(Fig. 2) were divided into:

• Theropods- appeared at the boundary of the Cretaceous and Jurassic and are the largest representatives of predatory carnivorous reptiles that existed until the end of the Cretaceous period and the worldwide cataclysm that caused the mass extinction of species.
• Sauropodomorphs- also originated in the Late Triassic, some of which were the most gigantic creatures in the entire history of the Earth. All of them were herbivores and were, in turn, divided into two more subgroups, namely, prosauropods who lived in the Late Triassic - Early Jurassic and the later and more developed sauropods that replaced them closer to the middle of the Jurassic.

Rice. 2 - Lizard-hipped dinosaur

Theropods were mostly bipedal predators, but there were also omnivores, such as therizinosaurus or ornithomimids. Some of the theropods, such as Spinosaurus, reached 15 meters in height. These predatory representatives of lizards had three advantages over other dinosaurs, which were:

• extreme agility and speed of movement;
• unusually developed vision;
• freedom of the front legs, since they ran on two unusually developed hind legs, and thus could freely perform any other functions with their front legs.

Giant growth often had detrimental consequences for theropods. For example, a tyrannosaurus, catching up with its prey, had to be very careful when running, since with its impressive dimensions (one of its hind limbs reached a height of 4 meters), any wrong step, any bump or uneven ground could cause a fall, which often led to tangible and sometimes fatal injuries. In its turn, theropods are classified on the:

• coelurosaurs, small and nimble bird-like dinosaurs such as ornithomimes and velociraptors;
• carnosaurs, large predators, examples of which were the aforementioned Tyrannosaurus and Allosaurus.

Sauropodomorphs had a sacral brain that was 20 times larger than the brain. Despite their enormous weight and size, they became frequent victims of predatory dinosaurs. The enormous size of these ancient reptiles was a consequence of the increase in intestinal mass necessary for the digestion of hard-leaved plants. As a result, along with the stomach, the rest of the body was forced to increase in size. Examples of such lizards were camarosaurs, giraffatitans, brachiosaurs, etc.

Let's take a closer look at theropods using the example of one of the most numerous predators of the Middle Jurassic - allosaurus(Fig. 3). On average, these predators reached a height of 3.5 meters at the withers and 8.5 meters in length from muzzle to tail. Their habitat was the North American, Southern European and East African parts of the ancient continent of Pangea.

Rice. 3 - Allosaurus

Allosaurs had a fairly large skull, their jaws were equipped with a huge number of sharp teeth. In order to balance the body when moving, in contrast to the massive head, there was an equally massive tail, with which the animal often knocked its victims off their feet. The massive head was often used for the same purpose. Compared to other large terrapods, allosaurs were relatively small, but this gave them more maneuverability and mobility. There is also evidence that large dinosaurs, such as some representatives of sauropods, like brontosaurus and thyreophora, like stegosaurus, were hunted by herd methods, like modern wolves. Although many scientists are skeptical that these animals could coexist in packs. In their opinion, for this they had too primitive mental development and extremely strong ferocity and aggressiveness.

Ornithischian dinosaurs

Despite their name, scientists have proven that it was not they, but the lizard-hipped dinosaurs that later became the avian ancestors. But, returning precisely to ornithischian dinosaurs(Fig. 4), note that they classified into two main suborders, namely:

• thyrophores;
• cerapods.

Rice. 4 - Ornithischian dinosaur

TO thyreophores include herbivorous dinosaurs such as ankylosaurs and stegosaurs. A distinctive feature of these lizards was that their body was partially covered with shell armor, and there were huge shield-like growths on their backs.

In rank cerapods includes marginalocephals, such as ceratopsians and pachycelosaurs and all ornithopods, the most widespread representative of which was iguanodon(Fig. 5).

Iguanodons had their peak in distribution in the first half of the Cretaceous, and inhabited vast areas of the European, North American, Asian and African parts of Pangea. The 12-meter and 5-ton iguanodons walked on two massive hind legs; in the front of their muzzle they had a massive beak, with which they plucked the plants they needed. Next came rows of teeth, more similar to the teeth of iguanas, only much larger.

Rice. 5 - Iguanodon

The forelimbs of iguanodons were a quarter the size shorter than the hind limbs. Thumbs were equipped with spikes, with the help of which the animal defended itself from predators. The most mobile of the fingers of the forelimbs were the little fingers. It should be noted that iguanodons could not run, their hind limbs were adapted only for leisurely walking, which is why they often became victims of predators such as allosaurs, tyrannosaurs, etc. The hind limbs had three fingers, like modern chickens, and their spine and massive tail were supported by strong tendons.

Problems of classification of dinosaurs in our time

Many scientists insist that a large number of The already described dinosaurs did not previously exist, since some of the described varieties were nothing more than doubles of previously described species. The difference between them was, allegedly, only in the fact that they were either at an earlier or at a more advanced late stage development. Also, a fairly large group of scientists insists that about 50% of all dinosaurs found were classified and named incorrectly.

Thus, current paleontologists are divided into two camps. While some continue to further divide the bulk of the found remains of ancient reptiles into all new species based on those identified, both significant and not so significant distinctive features, others completely doubt the correctness of the species described earlier.

All dinosaurs are unusual in their own way, because for modern man these animals are completely exotic and a curiosity. But among them there are absolutely breathtaking specimens that amaze the imagination with their size, cruelty or rage, and sometimes cause an involuntary smile to appear on the face. It is these creatures that will be discussed below.

This unusual animal existed about 76 million years ago. Parasaurolophus belonged to the order of duck-billed dinosaurs, which were named for their distinctive appearance. The outstanding feature of this creature, distinguishing it from all other relatives, were the modified nasal bones of the skull, which turned into long hollow tubes curving far behind the head. The tube-shaped comb made the parasaurolophus’s face appear non-scary and even funny, which was quite true, given the exclusively plant-based diet of the huge “vegetarian”.

During exhalation, the animal could close the nasal passages with special bridges and pass air through the hollow bone outgrowths. At the same time, a loud trumpet sound sounded, reminiscent of the sound of large wind instruments. Paleontologists suggest that through such unusual “songs” parasaurolophus could communicate with each other, transmitting signals of danger, challenge each other to a duel, or attract partners with “serenades” during mating season. Judging by the anatomy of this chordate, the air circulation inside the tubular nasal bones could serve as a kind of “air conditioner” that cools the giant’s overheated brain in the heat. In addition, the comb protected the head from blows from branches while running in the middle of a dense forest.

This dinosaur holds the title of the largest carnivorous creature that has ever existed on the planet. The weight of the reptile reached almost 20 tons as an adult. Only the outgrowths on the back, forming a kind of crest, rose a couple of meters. It is precisely for the presence of such a ridge that this creepy monster got its name, which translates as “vertebrate lizard”. This dorsal appendage had several functions: it served as a cooling chamber for the spinal cord, intimidated opponents, and was the main decoration of a male looking for a mate for procreation.

Scientists are confident that the body of the Spinosaurus is the ideal body of a killer predator. While most dinosaurs of that period had curved teeth, in Spinosaurus they resembled sharp, even knives, allowing them to catch even the most slippery and nimble prey. After the victim was caught in its teeth, the monster began to sharply turn its head from side to side, releasing life from the captured animal in a few seconds. The victims who fell into this mouth did not have the slightest chance of salvation.

Spinosaurus hunted for food not only on land, it attacked fish in deep-sea rivers and on the sea coast, so both aquatic inhabitants and terrestrial creatures suffered from the insatiable appetite of the huge predator.

For the first time, the hypothesis that birds evolved from dinosaurs was voiced was met with aggression at the time. But many years later, more weighty arguments were found in the form of the skeleton of Epidexipteryx, which was at first mistaken for the remains of a bird. A detailed study baffled paleontologists, since this animal had all the signs of dinosaurs, but, at the same time, it had plumage. An unusual short dinosaur, close in size to a modern pigeon, weighed only 160 g. The name “epidexypteryx” translates as “showing feathers.”

Having carefully studied the structure of the remains, paleontologists came to the conclusion that Epidexipteryx could not fly; most likely, the feathers served the function of protecting the skin from cold and heat. The plumage was unevenly concentrated on different parts body and had a pronounced bright color, which made the animal noticeable in the era of faded green, brown and gray fauna. Particularly notable were four unusual feathers in the tail, which are very different in structure from modern ones, since they consist of thread-like formations without a central axial shaft. The functions of such a tail were to coordinate movements while moving along the branches and attract the opposite sex, greedy for bright plumage.

If the previous representative of dinosaurs, when discovered, could be mistaken for a bird, then this one could easily pass for an insect. It's really hard to imagine that a dinosaur fossil could be 50mm long. Longisquama has unusual appendages on its back that are shaped like hockey sticks. Their length reaches 12 cm, which exceeds the length of the entire body. These dorsal appendages are formed by modified scales covering the back.

The unusual education and its purpose caused a lot of controversy among professionals. Over the years, a version was developed that this creature needed its outgrowths to carry out passive flight. Jumping from a hill or tree, longisquams could slowly glide down, while the predator hunting them remained in the same place, hungry. Perhaps it was thanks to this device that miniature “parachutists” were able to live on Earth for about 11 million years. Despite their tiny size, longisquams were predators, eating more small insects, which they found in abundance on the treetops, where they lived most of their lives.

The unusual appearance of this animal forces directors and producers to make the pteranodon the protagonist of many artistic or documentaries about the prehistoric period and the era of dinosaurs. These animals actually look impressive, but, unlike the aggressive cinematic image, the pteranodon was an extremely peaceful and harmless creature that only ate the fish it caught. There were not even the rudiments of teeth in the beak, so the winged creature simply swallowed unchewed food, which was smoothly digested in the stomach for many hours.

The wingspan of the pteranodon reached 7 meters, and scientists suggest that the flight speed with such parameters was impressive. He had to eat well to provide himself with the energy needed to fly. It is not known whether this creature would be completely safe for people, since scientists note the great force of the wings and the high power of the beak, with which the pteranodon could easily break even a thick sea shell. It is likely that when meeting with a potentially dangerous person the animal could be the first to go on the offensive and kill the enemy with one blow.

The animal that was the first to appreciate all the delights of life in the trees, where predators and enemies cannot get into, is the Epidendrosaurus. Some of it is reminiscent of birds, but its unusual forelimbs are more like claws. This unusual shape appeared for a reason: the third finger lengthened over many centuries until it became so convenient that it could be used to quickly and easily remove larvae and small insects from the deepest and thinnest crevices in the bark of trees.

This representative of prehistoric fauna lived approximately 160 million years ago; its remains were found in China in 2002. Now scientists cannot give a definite answer whether the found bones belonged to a cub or an adult creature. Perhaps the following findings will shed light on this. But for now it is clearly clear that Epidendrosaurus became an important step towards the appearance of the very first birds on earth.

Stegosaurus is one of the most recognizable dinosaurs, thanks to its memorable appearance: on its back and tail there are characteristic plates that make up a huge crest. With such outstanding parameters, he was forced to constantly eat in order to ensure nutrients huge body. Its length reached 9 meters, and the food consisted exclusively of grass, so the supply of calories had to be constantly replenished. For this reason, the main and constant activity of the stegosaurus was searching and grinding grass.

But something else is unusual about him. With such impressive parameters, the brain of this herbivore weighed only 70 g, which was 0.002% of the total weight. If we compare this parameter with a human one, then in humans it is 940 times greater. Because of this, Stegosaurus earned the title of the dumbest dinosaur. Apparently, in the Jurassic period, intelligence was not a very sought-after quality, since the stegosaurus was able to successfully exist for 10 million years, and at the same time lived and reproduced well.

Unlike its stupid brother, Troodon won the title of the smartest dinosaur. The unusual creature grew to average human parameters - 1.5-2 meters, and was also able to move deftly on its hind limbs. Paleontologists believe that when running, Troodons developed a very high speed, at which a person would be far behind them. Judging by the skull, the brain size is comparable to the size of modern primates, which was absolutely incredible in the Jurassic period.

Despite their quite modest size for that time, these animals were dexterous hunters, since they had many things that are important in the hunting process: intelligence, excellent eyesight and long, tenacious fingers on the forelimbs. After the prey was reached, the predator lifted it up and threw it forcefully against a stone.

Troodon's level of intelligence allowed them to hunt in packs, driving prey from one group to another. At the same time, they developed a peculiar way of communication, vaguely reminiscent of the rudiments of speech. In addition, these intelligent animals were able to use tools for hunting, which also indicates high intelligence. Scientists believe that if evolution had not led to the extinction of dinosaurs, Troodon could have evolved to the level of modern humans and even surpassed them. This is why Troodons are considered the smartest dinosaurs to have ever existed.

At the moment, the tallest animal on earth is the giraffe: its height reaches 6 meters. Sauroposeidon could look at this “short one” with contempt, since his height was three times greater. The real giant weighed 60 tons, and the body length from head to tail was 30 meters. To feed himself, he had to eat a ton of grass and leaves every day, so he chewed all the time throughout his life, which lasted about a hundred years, interrupting only to sleep and reproduce. Nature did not provide Sauroposeidon with any mechanisms of defense against enemies, compensating for everything with growth.

It was more difficult for the cubs, since they did not have a size advantage. In one clutch of the female there were about a hundred eggs, but only 3-4 of the hatched cubs survived to adulthood. Education was not included in the list of virtues of sauroposeidons, so the cubs grew up independently, trying to survive and protect themselves from daily dangers, and upon reaching puberty they were accepted into the herd.

This is an unusual and very beautiful animal that looks like a real fashionista among creepy and often unsightly creatures. The horned collar around the head, topped with six symmetrical large spikes, adds charm to its appearance. Styracosaurus was a herbivore, but this did not make his life peaceful and resigned. During a fight or fight with a predator, the collar spines could break off, and this was a significant loss, since the long and sharp projections attracted females. In addition, the larger and more beautiful the collar was, the higher the animal’s position in the herd.

The Styracosaurus had a huge horn on its nose, which gives this creature a resemblance to a rhinoceros. Not only the horn, but also the body parameters are somewhat reminiscent of this contemporary. The bone horn grew up to 60 cm in length and reached a diameter of 15 cm. It came in handy when the peace-loving and calm Styracosaurus was attacked by larger predators.