Dinosaurs are a group of reptiles that first appeared during the Triassic period (around 225 million years ago) and were extinct in the Cretaceous period (about 65 million years ago). Dinosaur are a diverse species ranging in different shapes and sizes and were able to survive in a variety of ecosystems (Australian Museum, 2016) (Natural History Museum, 2017) (Dinosaur Jungle, 2015).
The fundamental physical features of a dinosaur are:
Diapsid (animal with two holes in skull behind eye socket)
Vertebrates (animal with a spinal cord surrounded by cartilage or bone)
A hole in the skull between the eye socket and nostril
Ankle that bends in single plane
A secondary palate that allows dinosaurs to eat and breathe at the same time
A large hole in the hip socket
Limbs held directly under the body
Three or more sacral vertebrae
Part B: Dinosaurs Example
Australovenator
The Australovenator is the most completed skeleton of any Cretaceous carnivorous dinosaur ever found in Australia with approximately 25% of the bones recovered and prepared. The skeleton consists of two nearly complete forelimbs and hind limbs, along with isolated ribs, gastralia and both dentaries. The fossils were discovered at the bottom of a Billabong near the town of Winton, Queensland. The Australovenator was a 5-6m swift predator that stood about 1.6m high and unlike most theropod dinosaurs, the Australovenator had massive arms and hands with two of its three hand claws being razor sharp weapons (Age
How did the dinosaurs really die? Located in the Bible have been verses that describe creatures that resemble what we might call dinosaurs. According to the Bible, dinosaurs were created by God, and existed over 6,000 years ago (Ham; Dinosaurs), and thanks to the evidence of the tissue found in the T-Rex bone (NBC News). This tissue couldn’t have lasted so long if it were any older. Many Evolutionists and Secularists state that the dinosaurs didn’t exist while the humans did, but state that they became extinct before the humans were even alive and say that they existed millions of years before humans (Ham; Dinosaurs). Dinosaurs couldn’t have died before the existence of humans because death was a result of Adam and Eve’s sin (Ham; Dinosaurs). All of the different species of the dinosaurs did broad Noah’s Ark, but those creatures that couldn’t board the cataclysmic event died and became the fossils that have been discovered by the many scientists of the world (Ham; Dinosaurs). After the Genesis Flood the earth was greatly changed because the sin of humans, death had entered the world. The teterous climate, lack of food, man’s sinful actions, and disease, were all results from the fall, and these results also became the results for the extinction of many creatures such as dinosaurs (Ham;
The Jurassic Period is a time period were new dinosaurs were being discovered and found. It was about 199.6 to 145.5 million years ago. Some of the species that were found in the Jurassic Period are the Stegosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Brachiosaurus, and Allosaurus. Each dinosaur had their own characteristics for survival.
While the author of the article believes that Brachiosaurus were aquatic animals, the professor disagrees with this statement. The professor points out that in spite of the fact that some species of dinosaur would spend a great deal of time in water, there was no possible that Brachiosaurus were aquatic ones. To strengthen her point, the professor provides sufficient evidence respectively to the points made in the article.
Since the beginning of time our Earth has experienced many changes, these changes affected Australian biota whether it be in a positive or negative way. The study of Australian fossils contributes to the development of understanding the evolution of species in Australia in many different ways, such as seeing changes in physical appearance of species, and possible reasons why the species evolved into what they did, when and why a certain species may have become extinct and evidence/proof of theories such as natural selection. Each of these goes hand in hand and helps us find out what our Earth would have been like millions of years ago.
In a study published in Cretaceous Research and conducted in October 2012 by Anthony R. Fiorillo, Thomas L. Adams and Yoshitsugu Kobayashi, evidence of dinosaurs was based on the finding of an unnamed nonmarine sedimentary package of rocks. Found in the Wrangellia Terrane and considered to be Cretaceous age, the rocks are light colored with medium grey shales and indicate a bounty of horsetails, ferns and gymnosperm wood.
Abstract: This paper deals with the Shantungosaurus Giganteus and its discovery, fossil information, its phylogeny and reconstructed life habit. The features of the Shantungosaurus include flat beaks, large jaws, and large holes near their nostrils. They prefers high ground and lived in warm weather with ample precipitation. Theses herbivores behavior includes being social or companionable as well as terrestrial. These dinosaurs would travel in herds due to the ongoing treat of predators attacking. The Shantungosaurus did have the ability to defend itself but also knew when to flee if a predator bigger than them came along. These dinosaurs survived until the Late Cretaceous period until one of the greatest mass extinctions happened which ended
According to a new study by researchers at the University of Queensland, “giant killer lizards” used to stomp around Australian land roughly 50,000 years ago. The discovery came as a surprise to the team of scientists, who now believe that Australia’s first human inhabitants might have lived at the same time as the giant predator.
The first dinosaurs were small, meat-eating animals that first arose over 200 million years ago. From such small beginnings evolved thousands of different species, including the largest animals ever to walk on Earth. At the Smithsonian, some of the most important dinosaurs known to science stand in our exhibit halls, from the ferocious Allosarus to eighty-foot Diplodocus. Learn more about our famous dinosaurs
Stegosaurus is a genus of armored dinosaur. Their fossilized bones have been found in rocks dating to the late Jurassic period, between 155 and 150 million years ago, in the western United States and Portugal. Colorado is when the very first Stegosaurus fossil was found in 1876. Stegosaurus was designated the official state fossil of Colorado in 1982. Colorado is where the the very first stegosaurus fossil was found in
Some may argue that the T-Rex’s unusual anatomy was detrimental to its survival during the Cretaceous era but it actually quite the opposite. One thing the T-Rex is known for its massive disproportionate head, which seems useless but in reality, it helped it become a successful predator and scavenger. “From its thick, heavy skull to its 4-foot-long
Every so often a discovery is made that attempts to shake up pre-conceived notions of how the dinosaurs actually lived or how they came to be. On June 22, 2000, in Oregon, scientists announced the discovery of the oldest known animal to have feathers. Though no records indicate how the age of the animal was determined, the
When, where and how did dinosaurs live? Dinosaurs arose around 200 million years ago and lived and evolved for about 185 million years. There were 5 eras in which dinosaurs were alive; the Archezoic Era, Proterozoic Era, Palezoic Era, Mesozoic Era and the Cenozoic Era (“Dinosaurs”). Dinosaurs roamed the entire Earth when all continents were
Dinosaur extinction: An analysis of events and theories that possibly led to the dinosaurs' demise.
Jurassic is a period of time with Dinosaurs, rodents and birds. There were also island seas consisting of sharks, sea monsters and blood-red planktons. The existing plants in that period were cycads, ferns and conifers. The Mesozoic era was about 245 million years ago to 65 years ago, so it almost lasted about 180 years in total. The Mesozoic era is divided into three periods of Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous. Mesozoic era means middle animals and it is the era, which the word’s fauna has changed from what is in the Paleozoic era and the most famous organisms of this era are dinosaurs. In the Mesozoic era, the extinction of more than 90 percent of species in the earth was observed and the reason behind it was mostly volcanic eruptions and climate changes. On the other hand, this era had massive changes that represented ecological niches and rise to new creatures such as rodent-size mammals and first dinosaurs. In Triassic, which was the first period of Mesozoic, the mammals and first dinosaurs existed. Later than that, the second period was Jurassic, which giant shaped dinosaurs and other kinds of dinosaurs were developed. Besides that the first flowering plants and primitive birds, with long teeth appeared in that era as well.
The biggest mystery surrounding the dinosaur is how did they die? For over 130 million years dinosaurs ruled the earth. Then 65 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period, they died out.