Book Creator | Everything to know about Dinosaurs

Understanding The Words

Theropod - a carnivorous dinosaur of a group whose members were typically bipedal and ranged from small and delicately built to very large.

Cycads - a palm like plant of tropical and subtropical regions, bearing large male or female cones. Cycads were abundant during the Triassic and Jurassic eras, but have since been in decline.

Theory - a system of ideas intended to explain something, especially one based on general principles independent of the thing to be explained.

Predatory - preying naturally on others.

Paleontologist - A paleontologist is a scientist who studies fossils.

Herbivores - an animal that feeds on plants.

Carnivores - an animal that feeds on other animals.

Sauropods - a very large quadrupedal herbivorous dinosaur with a long neck and tail, small head, and massive limbs.

Did you Know Learning and understanding about dinosaurs is my favorite thing to do. I am 8 years old and have learnt so much, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I have enjoy making it, When I grow up, I am going to be a Paleontologist. I still have a lot to learn though.

TRICERATOPS
(Try-SEH-ruh-tops)

The Triceratops Skull was about a quarter of its total body length. It was around 2m long (6.6ft). The horns and neck frill were mainly for display, showing off to possible mates and scaring other dinosaurs. The dinosaur also had to used his horns to defend against predatory tyrannosaurs.

Did you Know triceratops had up to 800 cheek teeth. Cycads and palms quickly wore them down, but the were constantly being replaced.

The triceratops was alive in the Cretaceous period. This was around 67 million years ago. It is possible that triceratops lived in groups, just as African elephants do. LIke them, triceratops was a plant-eater or herbivores.

Did you Know some fossils of the Triceratops, have Tyrannosaurus bite marks on there skulls

Mosasaurus
(MOH-suh-SAWR-us)

The mosasaurus were the apex marine predators in the late cretaceous period. The smallest were less than 1m long (3.3ft). They had lizard shaped bodies and long, broad tails. Another family characteristic was giving birth to live young, rather than coming ashore to lay eggs.

The skull was 1.7m long (5.6ft), About the length of a family car. The scales on the skin were tiny. making Mosasaurus smooth and streamlined. Mosasaurus's paddle like limbs each had five digits.

In the 1760s, near Maastricht, in the Netherlands, it is said that the first known fragments of the Mosasaurus skull was found. It was mistaken for a toothed whale, and not identified as a reptile until 1799. The animal was finally named in 1822 as Mosasaurus which means "Mass River Lizard". referring to the river that flows through the city of Masstricht.

Did you Know that a mosasaurus had a double hinged jaw, just like a snake's. It could open wide to swallow prey whole.

Plesiosaurus
(Plee-zee-oh-SAWR-us)

Plesiosaurus lived in shallow waters, close to the coast. It's possible it came ashore to lay its eggs, like a turtle would today. When on land it would have moved slowly, because it only had flippers and not legs. The plesiosaurus was a group of long-necked swimming reptiles, that first appeared in the late Triassic period, 185 million years ago. They all died out at the end of the cretaceous period.

Even though the Plesiosaurus was 3.5m longs (11.4ft), they only had a small head. They had small, sharp teeth for gripping slippery prey, such as squid.

Did you Know the 19th century fossil collector Mary Anning found the first Plesiosaurus in Southern England in 1821.It was an almost complete skeleton.

Spinosaurus
(SPY-nuh-SAWR-us)

Spinosaurus is one of the largest and longest carnivorous dinosaurs. They lived in North Africa during the Cretaceous period, around 105 million years ago. Its pointed snout was similar to a crocodiles and perfectly shaped for snapping up fish. This theropod also fed on dinosaurs and other land animals.

Did you Know the tallest of the neural spines along Spinosaurus's back were at least 1.65m long (5.4ft).

Most paleontologist believe that the spin along the Spinosaurus's back held up a large sail of skin. Others have a different theory. That the spines support a fatty hump, like a camels back. Either of these structures could have helped to regulate its temperature, and either could have been used for display.

Spinosaurus's narrow skull was up to 1.75m long (5.7ft). The position of its nostrils suggest that they probably spent a lot of time under water.

Brachiosaurus
(BRACK-ee-uh-SAWR-us)

When it was discovered in 1903, Brachiosaurus was the largest known dinosaur. Paleontologist did not believe that such an enormous animal could have supported its own weight on land and thought that it must have lived in water.

In early reconstructions, the nostrils were located on a bump between its eyes. That way they could be used to breath even when the rest of the head was submerged in water. Today they now know that the Brachiosaurus were land animals and position the nostrils further down the snout.

Unlike other sauropods, the Brachiosaurus had longer front legs than back legs. Its back sloped down towards the tail. There huge bulk helped it to conserve its body heat.

Brachiosaurus's lived in North America, during the late Jurassic period, around 152 million years ago.

Did you Know Brachiosaurus means "arm lizard". The name comes from it having longer front legs, or arms.

Pteranodon
(Ter-AN-oh-don)

Pteranodon had a toothless beak. A powerful flier, Pteranodon could have fed by diving head first into the water like a gannet, by dipping for food as it flew low over the sea.

Did you Know more fossils have been found or Pteranodon than of any other Pterosaur. At least 1,200 at the last count

The first Pterosaur to be discovered outside of Europe, was a Pteranodon. In Kanas City in 1870, its wing bones were found. Over the years, many different species were identified.