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Where they lived : Dinosaur fossils have been find on every continent , include Antarctica .
What they ate : Some ate plants , while others feed fauna , including other dinosaur .
Paleontologists believe that some dinosaur species had feathers.
How big they were : The smallest dinosaurs were the same size as hummingbird at only2 inches(5 centimeter ) long , while the longsighted reachedover 120 invertebrate foot ( 37 meters ) in length .
Dinosaurs are the nonextant relation of birds that roamed the lands and seas of ancient Earth . They first appear around240 million to 230 million age agoin the Triassic Period , and went extinct around66 million years ago , at the oddment of the Cretaceous Period , when a massive asteroid bang into Earth .
During the Triassic Period , when dinosaurs first germinate , all the continents we know today were clumped together in a single land mass calledPangaea . Over tenner of millions of years , Pangaea split aside , finally coming to resemble the function of the world we be intimate today . Dinosaur fogey have been establish on every continent around the globe , including Antarctica .
Paleontologists believe that some dinosaur species had feathers.
Some of the most famous types of dinosaurs includeTyrannosaurus rex , Triceratops , StegosaurusandVelociraptor , many of which were featured in the pop " Jurassic Park " movies . Most of these dinosaurs lived tens of million of year aside from each other .
Dinosaurs belong to a group of animals bonk as archosaurs , which also includes New - day animalssuch as birds and crocodiles .
5 fast facts about dinosaurs
Everything you need to know about dinosuars
Did dinosaurs have feathers?
Dinosaurs were once thought to look like New lizards , covered in green weighing machine . However , some dinosaur coinage were actuallycovered in feathers , just like birds today .
We know this because some dodo from creatures such as Archaeopteryx and Sinosauropteryx — both theropod dinosaur — have uphold feather imprint . And someVelociraptorfossils havetiny bumps on their sleeve boneswhere plumage were attached , just like in advanced birds .
At first , fossilist thought only theropod dinosaurs had feathers . However , scientist have foundtraces of sericeous featherson fossil of a industrial plant - eating dinosaur , suggesting that plume may have been more common in dinosaur than we think .
Most dinosaurs went extinct after an asteroid hit Earth.
Some dinosaurs may have used feathers to ride out warm , court mates or even wing . For instance , paleontologists retrieve a tiny chicken - size dinosaur namedMicroraptorhad feathers on all four limbs to helpit sailing or even fly .
Feathers may have been very coloured in some coinage . Fossils ofSinosauropteryxeven had preserve pigment structures named melanosomes , which take into account scientists to visualise out it had anorange and livid stripy tail . These hopeful color could have been used for mating displays , or intimidation of others , just like how modern birds use their colorful plume today .
Why were dinosaurs so big?
Many species of dinosaurs were enormous . The largest radical of all the dinosaur were the titanosaurs , which includedArgentinosaurusandPatagotitan .
Patagotitanis one contender for the longest dinosaur happen upon so far , measuring 37.5 meters 123 feet ( 37.5 m ) long , librate ( 62 tons ) 57 metric lashings , andstanding 8 metre ( 26 feet ) tall . Argentinosaurusmay have been clayey though ; it reach length of 115 feet ( 35 m ) and weight of up to 110 tons ( 100 metric tons).Some other dinosaur , such asSupersaurusandGiraffatitan , may have spring up even longer or tall than these species .
It ’s not clear-cut why some dinosaur were so big , though scientist believe that their good stance , extensive hips , light pearl and unique pes social organisation may havemade it easierto grow so orotund .
(Image credit: DavidHCoder via Getty Images)
dinosaur also probably had very effective breathing thanks to air sacs within their loose bones . These sacs helped them take up atomic number 8 duringboth inhalation and breathing out . This may have contributed to their ontogenesis to such mammoth sizing .
And the foresightful necks of titanosaurs allowed them to browse on food correctly on the tops of Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree where no others could reach , intend they couldconsume set of foodwithout proceed much and cauterise much vigour .
How did the dinosaurs go extinct?
Most dinosaurs suddenly work nonextant about 66 million years ago after an asteroid fall Earth . you could see grounds of this impact at the Chicxulub crater on the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico , which measures about 110 miles ( 180 km ) across .
The asteroid was potential between 6.2 and 9.3 miles ( 10 and 15 kilometre ) wide , and its collision with Earth touch off vivid wildfires , tsunamis , and monolithic earthquakes around the world . The shock also threw Brobdingnagian amounts of dust and debris into the standard atmosphere , blocking sunshine for years . With less sun , temperatures miss , plants croak , and food chain collapse . Additionally , sulfur in the atmosphere from the asteroid impact thenfell as acid rain , kill off tiny plants that drift in the ocean known as plankton , which many animals relied on for food . These effects wiped out75 % of animalson Earth in a brusque menses of clock time .
While a lot ofvolcanoes were also eruptingaround the same time , most scientists think the asteroid caused the mass extinction .
(Image credit: James L. Amos via Getty Images)
Only small theropod dinosaur pull through the extinction ; the ascendent ofmodern - twenty-four hours birds . Our small mammal ancestors probably survived extinction because they could burrow and eat a wide range of foods .
Do dinosaurs still exist?
dinosaur still exist today — as birds . Modern bird evolved from the lowly , feathered theropod dinosaur that survived the mass extermination effect 66 million old age ago .
Unlike giant dinosaur , most other birds were small-scale , which meant they required less nutrient to survive . After the asteroid impact , food became scarce , but pocket-sized birds couldsurvive on seeds and insects . And unlike ground - dwelling dinosaurs , wench could vanish to new areas to come up food and shelter , giving them a vast endurance advantage when ecosystem collapsed .
With all the larger non - avian dinosaurs dead , the early skirt rapidly evolved , and today there areabout 11,000 bird species . Modern birds apportion many trait with dinosaur , including empty castanets and wishbone .
(Image credit: xijian via Getty Images)
Early birds were also advantageously able tosurvive the cold conditionsafter the asteroid strike than many reptilian . This is because like mammalian , shuttle are also warm - full-blood , meaning they can regulate their body temperature during extreme mood changes .
Some animals around today are not considered dinosaurs , but stayed quite standardized since the age of the dinosaur . Both crocodiles and dinosaur belong to to a group called archosaur and deal a common ascendant that lived around 250 million years ago . However , crocodile have changed very little in the last 200 million class or so , making them one of the close thing we have to prehistoric reptiles .
Dinosaur pictures
AT . rexskull . T. rexused their long , serrated tooth to rive apart the flesh of their prey .
A fogey ofArchaeopteryx , the oldest known bird .
A photo of fossilized testicle from aHadrosaur .
(Image credit: Richard T. Nowitz via Getty Images)
AProtoceratopsskeleton at Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh .
An illustration of a pair ofBrachiosaurus . These herbivorous dinosaur used their prospicient necks to eat parting from marvellous trees .
Discover more about dinosaurs
— A abbreviated chronicle of dinosaurs
— Mesozoic earned run average : Age of the dinosaurs
— What if a giant asteroid had not wiped out the dinosaur ?
(Image credit: MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY via Getty Images)
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