Dinosaurs Timeline
Dinosaurs appeared on earth 230 million years ago, in what’s known as the Triassic period.
Just imagine, not even flowers existed and the world was ruled by reptiles. The earliest dinosaurs weren’t as big as you’d think. They made a timid entrance into this geological era and found a place for themselves among the other animals.
In the subsequent Jurassic period, dinosaurs grew to a gigantic size, adapting to their habitats: some grew long necks; others developed claws and spikes. Everything around them tended to be big, and the vegetation was lush.
Meanwhile, the skies were ruled by flying reptiles and the seas by marine ones.
In the Cretaceous period, dinosaurs were the real masters of the planet, and by then plants and flowers had also appeared. The world had become multicolored! But at the end of this era, 65 million years ago, something terrible happened. Some believe that there were many volcanic eruptions; others think that a meteorite crashed into the earth. Whatever happened, the climate turned cold and dinosaurs disappeared! No one knows exactly why.
Are we sure dinosaurs really are extinct? Planet Earth hasn’t been fully explored. There are many places still unvisited by humans: impenetrable forests and faraway, unknown islands. Maybe that’s where the descendants of the prehistoric creatures who survived the great catastrophe are, waiting to show you their fearsome, fascinating traits.
Velociraptor is a warm-blooded animal. This doesn’t mean its blood is boiling hot—it means that velociraptor can control its body temperature without having to go into or out of the sun, like lizards and other reptiles.
Velociraptor’s claw gets in the way when it runs. That’s why velociraptor keeps its claw retracted and flicks it out only to sink it deep into prey.
Velociraptor is regularly depicted in films as having skin like a lizard’s, but it actually has as many feathers as a bird.
Velociraptor
Small but savage. Velociraptor might be small in size, but it’s a mini killing machine, far more deadly than T. rex. It’s unbelievably speedy across the ground and has a number of “weapons” in its arsenal: rotating wrists to capture prey, sickle-shaped retracting claws ready to slash its victim’s gut, and lots of razor-sharp teeth. But there’s another reason velociraptor is said to be so deadly: it’s a shrewd hunter and likes to prowl in a pack to snare much bigger prey.
Deinonychus
Deinonychus looks similar to velociraptor: it has the same deadly switchblade claw on the second toe of each hind foot, similar plumage, a long tail, and powerful legs, and deinonychus is just as nimble and as fast a runner as velociraptor. What sets them apart is their size. Deinonychus is almost double the size of velociraptor, so doubly dangerous.
Another of deinonychus’s favorite hunting strategies is to drop down on its prey from above, lifting itself up with a huge leap and flicking its claw out, ready to do murderous damage.
How long do you think a deinonychus claw is? Six inches (15 cm), which is roughly the same length as an open hand, from thumb to pinky finger.
Does spinosaurus’s snout remind you of any other semiaquatic reptile? Yes, that’s right: spinosaurus has a head similar to a crocodile’s, and like its reptile relative, it eats fish from rivers and other animals living near lagoons.
Spinosaurus
Why does a gigantic, ferocious dinosaur need a sail on its back? It certainly doesn’t use it to go out on the water, or to swat giant and very annoying prehistoric insects. Sails could have something to do with body temperature. When spinosaurus is cold, it fans its sail out, and the sun warms up the blood vessels running through it. When spinosaurus is hot, it folds the sail away to shield it from the sun. It’s like a giant portable solar panel! Don’t be fooled, though—spinosaurus is not as innocent as it looks. It has a long snout packed full of teeth, and meat-ripping talons on its feet, making it as fearsome as the other meat-eaters, if not more fearsome.
Carnotaurus
Carnotaurus looks a little like T. rex, with the same tiny front legs. It has two huge horns above its eyes and bumps running down its back from head to tail, making it anything but pleasant to touch. Carnotaurus doesn’t use the horns to attack— they’re more for attracting females (males with the biggest horns are the most popular). Carnotaurus can’t be bothered to catch fresh meat; it waits for prey to die by other means, then devours it in peace, rather than going on the attack. Quite clever when you think about it!
Compared to its legs, carnotaurus’s arms are so puny you can hardly see them. Luckily, its legs are long and powerful, perfect for knocking down opponents.
Carnotaurus has keen eyesight: its eyes are angled forward, enabling it to pinpoint prey with precision, even from miles away.
Unlike its raptor cousins, microraptor is not as happy on the ground because the long feathers on its legs and wings hinder its movement.
Microraptor is most at home in trees. It loves to live among the branches, which are also ideal spots from which to scan the landscape for any advancing prey without being seen.
Microraptor
Giganotosaurus is one of the largest meat-eaters, outsized only by spinosaurus, while microraptor is in the running for the smallest, coming in at somewhere between 16 and 33 inches (40 and 83 cm) long. Microraptor has many things in common with birds, including wings, long feathers on its tail and legs, and dense plumage across the rest of its body. It can’t fly, but it uses its wings to glide to the ground from its home in the trees. Like some of the bigger raptors, such as velociraptor, microraptor has a hook-like claw on its foot and sharp teeth, which are ideal for a meat-eater.
Ruling the Skies
Watch your head—a eudimorphodon’s about to fly over. Its usual penchant is for fish, but I’d stay out of this flying reptile’s way, just in case. It’s a fierce predator with an array of teeth of different sizes inside its beak. It might not be very big, but those fangs would still hurt! Pterodactylus, on the other hand, has no teeth, but it has a pouch on its throat, a bit like a fishing net, for collecting fish as it flies over the surface of the lagoon using its thin, membranous wings, which are similar to a bat’s. The wings on pteranodon are very impressive, opening to a span of 23 feet (7 m), as are those of quetzalcoatlus, whose wings stretch out to 36 feet (11 m) when fully open. You wouldn’t want this big reptile to relieve itself if it were flying over your head!
Eudimorphodon is no giant, for sure, measuring about the same as a two-year-old toddler—26 inches (70 cm) long—but its wingspan is roughly 6.5 feet (2 m)! That’s huge compared to peteinosaurus, who comes in at about the size of a pigeon.
Pterodactylus flies in much the same way as many seabirds: it exploits hot and cold air currents in order to use as little energy as possible, letting the currents carry it so that it doesn’t have to flap its wings. Clever, eh?
Pteranodon has a crest on its head, which helps it steer when doing complex maneuvers, like veering mid-flight.
Quetzalcoatlus has a truly impressive wingspan that it needs every bit of to carry its weight, which some experts have estimated to be around 440 pounds (200 kg).
Stegosaurus
This dinosaur makes a disconcerting sight with all those plates on its back! But according to scientists, they’re not for warding off opponents—they’re actually filled with blood vessels that the animal uses for temperature regulation, which means to warm itself up or cool down. Think of them as solar panels. To warm up, stegosaurus lays the panels flat to catch as much sun as possible; to cool down, it stands them up straight. Stegosaurus uses its four tail spikes for protection: they are sharp enough to pierce the hide of its enemiesan enemy.
Compared to the rest of its body, stegosaurus has a very small brain, weighing only 2.5 ounces (70 g). If you think about the fact that a human brain weighs around 3.3 pounds (1,500 g) and stegosaurus is as long as five humans, then you’ll understand why it’s not a particularly bright animal!
The bony plates are around 3 feet (1 m) tall and run all the way down stegosaurus’s back, making them quite an amazing sight. Males use them to show off to females.
Kentrosaurus
You can think of this dinosaur as a cross between a stegosaurus and an armored tank. Just like stegosaurus, kentrosaurus has bony plates running down the first half of its back, then long, deadly spikes from its middle to its tail, which it uses to ward off attackers. The long spines jutting from its shoulders serve the same purpose. In other words, wherever a meat-eater tries to attack this dino, deadly spikes get in the way! Kentrosaurus is no genius either: its head is very small compared to its body, and it has a brain the size of a walnut.
Kentrosaurus has a tiny brain but a very large stomach! To get enough energy from its diet of grass and leaves, kentrosaurus has to eat enormous amounts of food, which requires a truly gigantic stomach.
From Hatchling to Dinosaur
Dinosaurs don’t all grow at the same speed. Some can fend for themselves almost as soon as they leave the nest; others need to be cared for much longer. If you decide to raise one, bear in mind how much time you have to devote to it: if you don’t have a lot, pick a dino that doesn’t need much looking after.
Eggs in All Shapes and Sizes
Dinosaur eggs are generally smaller than you’d think: experts believe they’re less than 12 inches (30 cm) in size. Where they differ from species to species is in shape and color. Some dinosaurs lay eggs that look like those from a hen, while other dinosaur eggs are shaped like cylinders or spheres. You should be aware that it won’t be just one egg but a whole brood. A word of advice: don’t take on too much! It’s one thing to look after a stegosaurus, but it’s a whole other thing to care for an entire litter!
Tenderness at First Sight
If you’re the cuddly type, a little maiasaura is the right dinosaur for you. From the minute it hatches, it will only have eyes for you! The only problem is that, as time progresses, you might get tired of having your clingy dino baby with you constantly. A compromise might be a little oviraptor. It also needs lots of love and attention but will gradually go its own way. There could still be a few issues, however: when it begins to teethe, being a carnivore, it will bite everything it sets eyes on!
A baby dinosaur’s cry can be annoying and might attract some complaints from the neighbors. If that happens, given that there are no dinosaur-sized pacifiers, keep some of your pet’s favorite food on hand to quickly shut it up!
Until it’s fully grown, a dinosaur can be a bit moody. One day it may seem quite childish, demanding that you play with it, then the next day it may ignore you or even be horrible to you, perhaps jabbing you with its tail. Don’t take any notice; it’s just a phase and will disappear when you’re least expecting it.
Little Dinosaurs Grow up
When they’re babies, all dinosaurs are easy enough to manage. With carnivores, the only catch is their teeth: even when they’re young, the teeth are sharp and can really hurt! You can give your baby meat-eater a rubber ball to chew on or put a muzzle on it, like you’d do with a dog.
Generally speaking, the problem is that dinosaurs tend to grow very fast, and some end up alarmingly big. You could wake up one morning and find that your mini diplodocus has grown too big for the house, and not long after, too big for the backyard!
So, if you plan on being a dinosaur keeper, you need endless space; otherwise you’ll be able to keep only a small one.
Feeding an Herbivore
If you live in the countryside or on the outskirts of town where there’s a lot of lush greenery around, you’ll have no problem feeding a plant-eating dino. On the other hand, if you live in a city and have to go to the supermarket to get food for your herbivore, I recommend you adopt a little dinosaur.
Vegetarians of Many Types
Even though they are all plant-eaters, not all herbivorous dinosaurs are the same. Some prefer grass, especially fresh grass on the plains, and others stretch their necks up to the trees to bite into the tastiest leaves. Others are gluttons for fruit and go mad for berries and seeds. Some will devour anything at all, branches and roots included, like pigs!
Some herbivores like certain plants more than others because they’ve been around since the time dinosaurs first appeared. If you really want to treat your dinosaur, find some ferns, horsetail weevil, or araucaria: it’ll devour them with gusto!
Digestive Aids
Plants can sometimes be hard to digest, especially when leaves and fruit are mixed up with tree bark, stems, branches, and nuts. This process can be helped along by gastroliths, which are little stones that your dinosaur swallows to improve digestion. When the stomach goes into action, the tiny stones begin to move quickly and mash up the food the dinosaur has eaten.
Meat Supplements
In exceptional circumstances, if your dinosaur seems a little tired and you think it’s because of its diet, try giving it a meat supplement. Not too much, though—your planteater doesn’t have canine teeth for chewing meat, and its stomach won’t be used to this new kind of food. You could also try tiny insects and shellfish—these can be a remedy for your little dinosaur when it’s in need of a pick-me-up.
Be careful which herbivore you choose! The giant brachiosaurus, which weighs around 70 tons, needs to eat a mind-boggling amount of vegetation to fill its enormous stomach!
Things to do with a Dinosaur
Before I leave you to years of good times with your new friend, I’ve got a few suggestions for things you could do together, including a couple of activities that will make some of the more boring jobs in life a little easier.
Ride the Lawn Mower
With an herbivorous dino you can do two things at once: ride your dinosaur and cut the grass. Plant-eating dinosaurs won’t mind trimming the grass at all, leaving your lawn neat and tidy. The only problem is it could take a while. If you get bored plodding along, you can always give your dinosaur a nudge to speed it up to a trot or even a gallop.
A Dinosaur on the Team
Your dino buddy will be useful to have on your side in team games. Just imagine what it would be like to have an enormous baby T. rex in a tug-of-war competition or an equally large stegosaurus take the winning swipe at a piñata. Not only will your pet dinosaur earn you serious brownie points with your friends; team activities will give your dino a chance to exercise every part of its body, from neck to tail, including bony back plates and teeth.
A Dino of all Trades
Some things that are hard work for you will be mere playtime for your dinosaur, especially the bigger ones. You can use your dino to pull up a tree, knock down a wall that needs demolishing, move heavy things around, water the garden, or shovel the snow off the driveway with a single swish of its tail.
After the egg hatches, you’ll discover thousands of exciting adventures you can go on with your superfun, fantastic, and full-of-energy baby dinosaur.