Fun Facts
Dinosaurs
What is a dinosaur?

 

Dinosaurs
What is a dinosaur?		 Velociraptor

Over 65 million years ago dinosaurs roamed the earth.   Dinosaurs inhabited earth long before man existed.   From the early dinosaurs, Archosaurs, to the massive Sauropods and carnivorous Tyrannosaurids, dinosaurs have inspired the research of scientists and captured the imagination of many, young and old.

Much of what is known about dinosaurs can be attributed to the hard work and dedication of the early dinosaur hunters and today's .    Through their work, studying fossilized remains, we can learn about dinosaur behavior, lifestyle and appearance.

Dinosaurs ruled the world during the Mesozoic Era, which is divided into three Periods.  

Paleontologists study the different kinds of dinosaurs to find their relationships to other dinosaurs and to find the ancestors of the dinosaurs.   This can tell scientists much about evolution.   It can also tell them some things about the world the dinosaurs lived in.   Dinosaurs that could migrate were similar, but those dinosaurs that were isolated evolved differently from their relatives on other continents.

In order to study dinosaurs, scientists use a system of classification called .    This groups related animals into species, genera, families, infraorders, suborders, orders, classes, phyla, and kingdoms.   Animals are grouped together because of common traits that they inherited from common ancestors.

Because scientists have incomplete information for dinosaurs, groupings may change when new information is found.   So each new dinosaur fossil that is discovered could be a key that unlocks some of the information about dinosaur evolution and ancestry.

 

Dino World Home Page
More 3D Animated Dinosaurs        top