Millions of years ago, dinosaurs ruled the land, sea, and sky. These incredible creatures came in all shapes and sizes – from the towering, plant-eating brachiosaurus to the fierce and speedy velociraptor. With their mysterious extinction and fossilised remains, dinosaurs continue to capture our imagination and curiosity.
Fascinating dinosaur facts
1. Dinosaurs roamed the Earth from approximately 245 to 66 million years ago, during the Mesozoic Era, which is often referred to as the "Age of Dinosaurs." This era is divided into three distinct periods: the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous.
2. The Triassic (252-201 million years ago) marked the emergence of the first dinosaurs (tentatively thought to be the Nyasasaurus, according to the Natural History Museum)
3. It is thought there could be as many as 2,000 different species of dinosaurs. So far around 1,000 non-avian dinosaurs have been identified in the fossil record, but a mathematical model estimates that around 2,000 species of dinosaur existed during the Mesozoic era – around 500 ornithischians, 500 sauropods and 1,000 of the more diverse theropods.
4. The first dinosaur fossil found was Megalosaurus, which was named in 1824 by William Buckland. Megalosaurus means 'great lizard'.
5. Did you know that, in rare cases, dinosaurs can be mummified? A dinosaur fossil complete with fossilised skin found in North Dakota suggests mummification. Open wounds and bite marks found on the skin suggest that the carcass was scavenged long before it became buried under layers of sediment. Its bodily fluids leaked out, enabling the skin to dry, ensuring its preservation during the fossilisation process to create a mummified dinosaur.
6. The smartest dinosaur would be a small theropod hunter similar to a Velociraptor, with an EQ equivalent to a guinea fowl (0.24-0.34). Velociraptor was a dinosaur found in central and eastern Asia during the Late Cretaceous Period. It grew to a length of 1.8m and weighed up to 45kg.
7. All the contenders for biggest dinosaur belong to a subgroup of sauropods called the Titanosaurs. Patagotitan mayorum may have measured 37.2m in length, although some scientists believe this is an overestimate. However, Argentinosaurus may have measured between 37-40m in length.
8. Dinosaur footprints left on the muddy surfaces of lagoons and swamps are able to be preserved if the depressions left behind were quickly filled in with sand or small pebbles, as the footprints could become ‘trace fossils’ (indirect evidence of your existence, rather than preserved remains). Known as ichnites, dinosaur footprints are found in two forms: as shallow depressions on a rock surface or as footprint-shaped blocks known as casts.
9. While both dinosaurs and lizards look similar and belong to the reptile family – and the word dinosaur stems from the Greek for ‘terrible lizard’ – dinosaurs aren’t lizards.
10. It is thought dinosaurs were probably warm-blooded but scientists can't say for certain. ‘Warm-blooded’ really means that the body is maintained at a constant, high temperature and doesn’t rely on the sun for warmth. Most warm-blooded animals are capable of being highly active and in the 1970s palaeontologists realised that dinosaurs weren’t like sluggish giant lizards at all, but active like birds. Dinosaurs had many features linked with warm-bloodedness: they had hollow bones showing signs of really fast growth; a system of air-sacs connected to the lungs; many of them cared for their young in nests; and many of them had feathers.
11. Pterosaurs are widely referred to as flying dinosaurs, but they aren’t dinosaurs – although they both descended from the archosaurs.
12. The Tyrannosaurus rex's estimated bite force is the strongest of any land animal ever (delivering up to six tons of pressure).
13. Therizinosaurus, which lived across Asia roughly 70 million years ago, sported the largest claws of any land animal ever known, measuring more than half-a-metre in length. These formidable claws are what give Therizinosaurus, or ‘Scythe Lizard’, its name. We named it Ione of the world's most deadliest dinosaurs