Dinosaur
History
Dimorphodon ruled the sky during the mid Jurassic period (180 to 154 million years ago).
Ornitholestes was a Jurassic dinosaur known for speed. The group of dinosaurs that ornitholestes came from may have been the fastest dinosaurs ever.
Tyrannosaurus Rex may be the most famous dinosaur of all. He didn't live during the Jurassic period though! T-Rex was from the Late Cretaceous period (99-65 million years ago).
More dinosaur pictures can be found on the dinosaur pictures pages!
Dinosaur History
5 Quick Lessons in dinosaur history
Dinosaur History Lesson 1: The Dinosaurs are Born! A group of reptiles from the late Permian Period (archosaurs) became the best hunters on land. By the Triassic period (around 200 million years ago) these reptiles developed special features in their skulls and had a more upright body with their legs under their body. This made them dinosaurs.
Dinosaur History Lesson 2: The Ages of Dinosaurs, in this order, are: the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous.
Dinosaur History Lesson 3: The Triassic period. The Triassic period was between 248 and 206 million years ago. It was a dangerous time to live! Most of the dinosaurs were meat eaters and preyed on each other. One scary one was cynognathus, a dinosaur that looked like it was half tiger, half lizard. Also at this time, the fastest dinosaur, the coelophysis, appeared. This bird-like dinosaur could hunt down prey quickly and viciously, and may even have eaten its own young!
Dinosaur History Lesson 4: The Jurassic Period, 206 - 144 million years ago. During the Jurassic Period, dinosaurs became the lead creatures on Earth. They survived and thrived because the earth's environment was very nice for them, lots of plants, big trees, lots to eat. Many new dinosaurs first appeared during this time. You've probably heard of the Jurassic period from the famous movie, Jurassic Park. but a lot of dinosaurs in that move would not have lived at the same time! And the velociraptors weren't anything like they were in REAL life. But it was a great movie anyway!
The Jurassic period was still a dangerous time to live! Meat eaters like the Allosaurus ruled the Earth, and dangerous flying dinosaurs like the dimorphodon ruled the sky. Other dinosaurs that lived during Jurassic were the Megalosaurus, Apotosaurus (a huge plant eater), Archaeopteryx (the first known bird), brachiosaurus, compsognathus, ornitholestes, and stegosaurus.
Dinosaur History Lesson 5: the Cretaceous Period Cretaceous lasted from 146 to 127 million years ago: The earth got its first flowers during this period! Plenty of vegetation for dinosaurs such as the Iguanodon. Other dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures that lived during the Cretaceous were the giganotasaurus, baryonyx, deinonychus, kronosaurus, ouranosaurus, spinosaurus, suchomimus, utahraptor, gallimimus, hesperonis, maisaura, mosasaur, oviraptor, protoceratops, pteranodon, quetzacoatlus, saltasaurus, troodon, triceratops, velociraptor, and perhaps the most famous of all, T-Rex.
I hope you enjoyed your dinosaur history lesson! More dinosaur facts can be found on the dinosaur facts page!
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