Who Were the Dinosaurs?

Dinosaurs are well-known and well-loved by childrenbecause many of them ran on hind legs. Some
of all ages, but the name still means different thingsdinosaurs even climbed trees. Other dinosaurs floated
to different people. While that is true that dinosaursin swamps and others viciously attacked live animals.
were real and live animals that lived in most regionsThe name "dinosauria" was given in 1841 by Richard
of the world yet died out 65 million years ago, thereOwen, a British anatomist. He said that he made the
is still a lot of doubt surrounding their nature and theirname up from the Greek words that meant "fearfully
ways of life since no man has ever seen a livinggreat lizards". Modern science has proven that many
dinosaur. There is also little proof that dinosaurs livedof the dinosaurs were not as fearfully large as we
with or were tamed by our prehistoric ancestors,once imagined and that most of them were actually
contrary to what is shown in some TV shows andquite small. So the word "dinosauria" is technically out
comic strips. We only know of their existence byof date, but it is continued to be used in the
their remains, usually documented in bones, eithercommon form as the word "dinosaur".
found as complete skeletons or separately. We haveDinosaurs were land-living reptiles and inhabited rivers,
also found their footprints in rock, as well as somecakes and swamps. They were divided into flesh
eggs embedded in them. Most of the bigger dinosaureaters and plant eaters. Some of them walked on to
specimens have now been collected and displayed inhind legs, while others walk on all fours. Most species
larger museums.had scaly skins, but some had prominent bone plates
Who were these big, amazing animals who walkedon the body or even had heavily armored heads. The
the earth? Dinosaurs are commonly accepted as theorigin of dinosaurs has been attributed to a small
larger species that lived in what is now known as thereptile known as a "pseudosuchia" or a kind of "false
Age of Reptiles, which was about more than 200crocodile". Often, such creatures were only 2 feet
million years ago. It is estimated that the dinosaurlong and half of their bodies were made up by the
age lasted for some 165 million years, but this figuretail alone. The larger dinosaurs are said to have
does not mean that individual dinosaurs lived veryevolved from one or more of these little false
long lives. Most scientists still believe that their lifecrocodiles. Even the flying reptiles, or pterodactyls,
spans were no longer than those of the large gamehave been connected to the small reptiles.
animals that exist in Africa today. As reptiles,There is still some doubt surrounding as to when the
dinosaurs had cold blood and scaly skins. The femalefirst recognizable dinosaur bones were officially
of the species laid eggs on dry land. Like our reptilesdiscovered. Dinosaur footprints have been found by
today, the lives of dinosaurs were lived in a muchmany people all over the world at many times and
slower manner than warm-blooded mammals. Theirmost of these findings are yet to be documented.
food requirements would probably equal those ofYet, the first complete dinosaur skeleton may have
large cold-blooded animals we have today.the one excavated in New Jersey toward the end of
The name "reptile" comes from the Latin verb thatthe 1700s. These bones are still available for
means "to creep". However, our snakes and lizardsexamination and identification. Another step was
have not fired our imaginations as dinosaurs have.found in the early 1800s and is now all seen in the
Why do dinosaurs arouse such interest? For starters,British Museum of Natural History in London. Since
a simple answer would be that many dinosaurs werethen, many dinosaur species have been discovered in
very, very large. Their size alone would inspire a lotgreat numbers and in greater forms, especially in
of awe. Also, they are not like modern reptilesAfrica, Australia, France, Argentina and Portugal.