How It Works-Book Of Dinosaurs

THE PREHISTORIC WORLD

The terrible lizard

Dinosaurs dominated the Earth for

over 160 million years, often as the

apex predators of their particular

environments. Although fossilised dinosaur

remains have been discovered throughout

human histor y (early discoveries probably

being the origins of my thical creatures such as

dragons and hydras), dinosaurs were only

described scientifi cally in the early nineteenth

centur y. It was British palaeontologist Sir

Richard Owen who coined the taxon

Dinosauria in 1842. The word dinosaur means

“terrible lizard”, but the term is somewhat

misleading, as dinosaurs are not lizards but are

part of a separate group of reptiles altogether.

Dinosaurs are a diverse group that began life

on the super-continent of Pangaea. As

continental shift progressed and Pangaea

broke up into smaller landmasses, dinosaurs

became strongly diversifi ed. It’s a wonder that

Triceratops and T-rex share a common ancestor.

Dinosaurs were a reptile that fi rst appeared over 230 million years

ago. They lived on Earth longer than any other creature in history

What was a dinosaur?

Defence

Thick skin and hard armour shells

made these dinosaurs tough as nails

Protection

Massive horns were ideal to

protect against predators

Most plant-eating dinosaurs had hip bones similar

to the birds of today. They walked on four legs

and evolved to protect themselves against

predators. Some had huge horns for defence.

Four-legged dinosaurs