Dinosaurs roamed this planet over 66 million years ago! Can you imagine how long ago that was?? Thanks to an amazing process called fossilization we are still able to learn so much about them. While this was so long ago, there are still some dino relatives existing today! Do you have any idea what critter that might be? You'll have to read to the end of the blog to find out! But right now, let's learn about some of the most well-known types of dinosaurs.
The most infamous and notorious dino of them all is without a doubt the T-Rex! This giant dinosaur, with two very large hind legs and two very small front arms, was featured in a lot of movies, like “Jurassic Park”, and many TV shows. The name Tyrannosaurus Rex is Greek for "tyrant lizard king"! Did you know the average body length of these dinos was usually around 43 feet long?!
Another famous dinosaur was the easily recognizable Triceratops, famous for its big three horns, large beak/nose area, big lizard-like collar, and its large neck! This big creature was roaming around the Earth during the late Cretaceous period (68-66 million years ago). The adults were SO big—about 26 feet long, 10 feet tall, and 12 tons. Measure 26 feet in your house to see just how big these dinos were!
One of the more scary-looking dinosaurs was the speedy little Velociraptor, with long sickle-shaped claws and fast hind legs. While this dinosaur sounds scary, it was was only 3 feet tall and 6 feet long! They were very fast runners, reaching speeds up to 40 mph. Fossils of the Velociraptor have been found in places like northern China and the Gobi Desert in Mongolia.
Another famous dino is the peaceful, plant-eating Stegosaurus! This elephant-sized creature was small-brained and had distinctive, large spiky plates all along its back and tail. Some scientists believe that these really cool spiky plates were colorful and could move, helping the Stegosaurus ward off predators! If you were a dinosaur, what feature would you like to have?
Another dinosaur made famous by the movie “Jurassic Park” was the long-necked Brachiosaurus, who was huge! This large dino could have had an 82-foot-long body with a 30-foot-long neck and a weight of 62 tons. Fossils of this giraffe-like behemoth were found in Algeria, Portugal, Tanzania, and the United States.
Can you imagine an animal of that size roaming the Earth today?? That is sure hard to imagine! While it seems kind of scary to think about a dinosaur relative still walking around on this planet, they do exist. Any thoughts on who it is?
It's a chicken! Did you know that chickens are actually the closest living relative to dinosaurs and that many dinosaurs even had feathers! Leave a comment if you were surprised!
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