The word “dinosaur,” which translates as “terrible lizard,” appeared in 1842, when humanity was just trying to figure out what kind of bones were being discovered during excavations. It was then that the science of paleontology was born. The history of dinosaurs has since been rewritten several times, and at the moment there are many versions about their origin, formation and extinction. Let's consider the most common and relatively official option.

The birth of dinosaurs

Attempts to explain in simple language the history of dinosaurs in a film or cartoon have been made more than once, but the events that preceded their appearance on our planet were practically not covered anywhere. As you know, the ancestors of these creatures are reptiles and birds. In particular, crocodiles existing at the moment have the most similar features to ancient monsters. About 300 million years ago, when lizards as we know them already existed, a serious climate change occurred. The rainforests were largely destroyed, and the remnants of life huddled in the remaining small enclaves. This gave the first impetus to the enormous diversity of species, as each population developed independently of each other and tried to adapt to the conditions in which it existed. And they differed greatly in different regions. This is how the ancestors of dinosaurs appeared, scientists called archosaurs.

First types

The history of dinosaurs, at least in the form in which modern man imagines them, began approximately 200-245 million years ago. There is practically no exact data about the features and differences of these creatures in comparison with later samples, but one thing can be stated for sure:

• They were bipedal (dinosaurs with four legs appeared a little later, although the reverse situation would have seemed logical).
• The creatures were quite large, mostly reaching 2-4 meters in height.
• They were all cold-blooded. Because of this, the need for food, despite its impressive size, was not too great.
• At the initial stages of development, most likely, there were no flying species of these dinosaurs.

In general, humanity knows very little about this period. Most of the information is guesswork and theories based on various findings and indirect data. So things could have been completely different.

The Last Dinosaurs

The size of the “terrible lizards” gradually increased, and this continued until approximately the end of the Jurassic period (this was about 145 million years ago). In the middle of their life cycle, dinosaurs reached enormous sizes (up to 12 meters in height and 1 ton of net weight). During the “reign” of these monsters, no other species could simply even conditionally lay claim to dominance on the planet. Even later, in the Cretaceous period (65 million years ago), creatures began to become smaller. According to some reports, they developed the rudiments of feathers, and even warm-blooded species arose. Based on available information, the number of predators has decreased significantly, and, accordingly, the number of herbivores has increased. As a result, rare hunters have truly become real “killing machines.” They moved quickly, could cope with most opponents, had no shortage of food and were rightly considered at that time the pinnacle of evolution.

Mass extinction

The situation with the disappearance of this type of living creatures is well shown in the cartoon “The History of Dinosaurs.” Of course, the information there is more aimed at children, but active volcanoes, drought, lack of food and other similar problems could really cause the complete extinction of the prehistoric rulers of the planet. According to the official version, it all started with a huge meteorite that fell somewhere in the region of what is now Mexico. Upon impact, a large amount of dust rose into the atmosphere, sharply reducing the temperature on the surface (a similar situation is called “nuclear winter” and could become a reality if countries try to solve their problems with nuclear weapons). Along the way, the impact on the Earth activated dormant volcanoes. As a result, the simultaneous impact of several factors at once led to the fact that dinosaurs simply did not have time to adapt and, within a short period, almost completely died out. Most likely, some individuals remained, but they could not survive in the new world, in which other dominant species appeared. Many people think that this particular dinosaur story is for children. Allegedly, in reality everything was completely different. Unfortunately, in the future, scientists disagree in their opinions, and no one can yet come up with a clear theory about how everything really happened.

A lot of intriguing and mysterious things are shown in the “History of Dinosaurs” documentaries from popular science channels. True, they cannot be called documentary, since there are no documents, but everything there was reconstructed very competently. Nevertheless, every year more and more discoveries are made that radically change the understanding of dinosaurs as such. Let's see what interesting facts the modern history of dinosaurs reveals to us.

• Despite the fact that dinosaurs were considered to be almost a mistake of nature (too small a brain, too much weight, a strictly limited diet, etc.), they managed to dominate the planet for more than 130 million years. The history of man as such, if we take our more or less intelligent ancestors, at best, dates back 100 thousand years. So it is not a fact that in the distant future some new species will not be considered a mistake by modern humans.
• Tyrannosaurus, known in many films and literature as the most terrible and huge dinosaur, in fact was not one. There were even larger creatures, however, unlike this predator, they were still not hunters.
• The history of dinosaurs is still silent about why the tyrannosaurus even needs its small arms. Judging by the structure of the skeleton, he simply could not reach them anywhere. What makes it even more mysterious is the fact that these arms had very well developed muscles.
• Stegosaurus plates were used primarily not for protection from predators, but for heat dissipation. That is, they played the role of a natural radiator, in one case cooling a huge dinosaur, and in another helping it more efficiently accumulate heat, which is extremely important for any cold-blooded creature.

Results

The history of dinosaurs is gradually acquiring new data, some of which contradict each other or do not fit into existing theories. For example, it is believed that dinosaurs and people could not have existed in the same period of history. Although there are very interesting stone finds on which ancient people quite reliably depicted the interaction between man and the “terrible lizard.” So far no one can say how everything really happened. We are not able to fully understand even our own history, let alone what happened long before the appearance of man as such.

In 1843, paleontologists discovered traces of some monstrous birds in the sandy slabs of geological deposits in Connecticut (a state in the eastern United States). In comparison with these meter-long paws, which left their imprints in the stone chronicle of the Earth, the elephant’s leg turned out to be miniature. How tall were the “birds” that walked along the shore of the prehistoric sea?

These weren't birds. In the Mesozoic era of Earth's history, from the Jurassic period (approximately 200'000'000 years ago) to the end of the Cretaceous period (about 70'000'000 years ago), giant lizards lived on our planet. Some of them, like kangaroos, ran on their hind legs. Their tracks looked like those of a bird.

It was an amazing time! The Earth has never seen such monsters before and is unlikely to see them again. And the land, and the sea, and the air were given to them as their possession.

The endless coniferous and fern forests were inhabited by all kinds of lizards. They flew between the trees on leathery, parchment-like wings. Nimble and agile dinosaurs the size of chickens darted through the clearings, and in the swamp, an animal as huge as a house slowly swarmed, waddling from side to side.

Types of dinosaurs

For four billion years of the existence of life, the Earth has not known other creatures as large as the brachiosaurus and brontosaurus.

A clumsy body, like a log, weighing tens of tons, was supported by massive pillar-legs. Each leg is twice as tall as a person! The neck, long and flexible, like a snake, crowned with a tiny head, was in constant motion: the head was busy with its almost only task - eating. Like a giant boa constrictor, a long tail stretched behind its body, one blow of which could have killed an elephant in its place. Scientists called this lizard a brachiosaurus. He is the champion in height among all giants known to science: twice as tall as a giraffe. And by craning his neck, he could look out the fourth floor window. 12 meters - such is its monstrous height.

Brontosaurus is Greek for “thunder lizard.” When he walked on the ground, it seemed to tremble and thunder. Of course, nothing like this could have happened - he was called the “thunderer” as a joke. Four crooked columns - legs that served as supports for the massive body. And even they bent under the weight of the huge reptile. The brontosaurus spent days and nights in lakes and swamps. The length of the “thunder” monster is 20 meters, and its weight is probably 40 tons. The tail and neck of the Brontosaurus are prohibitively long. At the end of the neck is a tiny head (relatively speaking, of course). The weight of the brain is only 400 grams. He lived a long time. His advanced age is believed to be 200 years.

Diplodocus is similar to Brontosaurus in every way. But not so massive, as if it was made from lighter parts. It weighs less, but its body is longer - up to 27 meters.

This giant is matched by another “dragon” - the stegosaurus. The stegosaurus had a small head, lowered almost to the ground, in which a pitiful grain of brain was located (the volume of a walnut and a weight of 70 grams). It turns out that in addition to the underdeveloped brain, the stegosaurus also had a hind, sacral brain, on which the “dragon” mainly relied. In the sacrum of the stegosaurus there was an extensive brain cavity, twenty times more capacious than in the head. Real skull! But not in the head, but at the base of the tail. Along the back of the stegosaurus, from head to tail, stretched a double row of huge - up to a meter in diameter - triangular bone shields. On its tail, the stegosaurus wore four sharp “swords” - long bone spikes. It was a terrible weapon! With a blow of its tail, the stegosaurus pierced its enemy right through.

Tyrannosaurus Rex was the largest land predator the world has ever known. Its dimensions: height - 5 meters, length about 10 meters! Weight - 10 tons! The meter-long jaws of the tyrannosaurus were armed with hundreds of sharp and large teeth, like knives. With them, a tyrannosaurus could easily rip open the stomach of an elephant, and could carry a rhinoceros in its mouth. Tyrannosaurus ran on two hind legs. The length of the Tyrannosaurus rex track is 76 centimeters and the width is almost 80 centimeters. With these legs he took steps 4 meters long. His appearance terrified all the ancient inhabitants of the planet.

Triceratops means “three-horned” in Greek. His horns were large: two large ones above his eyes and one smaller one on his nose. And the nose, or rather the end of the muzzle, was curved, like the beak of a parrot. Not only did the horns protect the Triceratops - it also had a bone shield. It grew from the back of the head like a wide slab and covered the neck of this lizard from above and from the sides. The head of the Triceratops was also large - 2 meters long (including the occipital shield). It occupied a third of the lizard's entire body. Its length was 6 meters, and it weighed more than 2 tons.

I can’t list all the dinosaurs. There are very, very many of them. I have listed the main ones. The second chapter will provide detailed information about Diplodocus.

When the dinosaur bone was first described in 1676, it was thought to belong to an elephant or perhaps some kind of giant. More than a century later, scientists realized that such fossils were the remains of creatures called megalosaurs. They were depicted as stocky, overgrown lizards. Then, in 1842, leading anatomist Richard Owen recognized megalosaurs as part of a whole new group of animals, which he called dinosaurs, i.e., "terrible lizards."

Since then, nearly 700 different species of dinosaurs have been described, with new ones being discovered every month. Our ideas about them have also changed radically. The dinosaurs we know today are very different from the ones you read about in books as a child.

Myth #1: All dinosaurs were big

The word "dinosaur" tends to conjure up images of a giant, and of course many of them were really big. Tyrannosaurus, for example, reached 12 meters in length and weighed 5 tons. Most likely, he was not even the largest of the carnivores. But herbivorous sauropods grew to titanic sizes. The huge Argentinosaurus is known only from a few bones found, but its size is estimated to be up to 30 meters long and weigh 80 tons. It was larger than any mammal on earth, with the possible exception of some whales. But dinosaurs were truly unique. No other group of land animals before or after them was able to reach such sizes.

But not all dinosaurs were giants. The horned dinosaur Protoceratops was the size of a sheep. Velociraptor reached the size of a golden retriever. In the famous film "Jurassic Park" they were created much larger to make the plot more terrifying. In recent years, many small species have been discovered, no larger than a cat, rabbit or quail. These small species were probably more common than the giants. Most likely, the fact is that the massive bones of the Tyrannosaurus rex are better preserved and easier to detect.

Myth #2: All dinosaurs were scaly

When dinosaurs were first discovered, it seemed obvious that they were somehow related to crocodiles and lizards, and therefore must be scaly. And many dinosaurs did live up to this idea. But in the 1970s, paleontologists suggested that some of them might have been feathered, like their avian relatives.

Although it was considered a fake at the time, a small carnivorous dinosaur was discovered in 1997 that was not covered in scales. Since then, feathers have been found on herbivorous ornithopods, fanged generalodontosaurs, and many carnivorous species, including tyrannosaurids. This means that the T-Rex was most likely covered in feathers rather than scales.

Myth #3: All dinosaurs were green or brown

Early ideas about dinosaurs were based on monochromatic coloring, which included depressing shades of gray, green and brown. If the Mesozoic era really was that boring, it's no wonder everyone died out. But in reality their color was brighter, even garish. Researchers have identified traces of melanin on dinosaur feathers. The same pigment gives color to scales, bird feathers and our hair. Analyzes show that dinosaurs had a variety of colors, including black, white and ginger. Some ornithopods even boasted an iridescent sheen to their feathers.

In addition, some dinosaurs had patterns consisting of spots and stripes, light bellies and dark backs. This coloration probably served as camouflage to help dinosaurs hide from predators or prey. But bright colors and noticeable patterns could also serve to attract the attention of the opposite sex.

Myth #4: Dinosaurs were bad parents

Most reptiles simply bury their eggs and move on, preferring to let the offspring fend for themselves. However, this behavior is very risky. A sea turtle, for example, must lay thousands of eggs so that only a few can survive. Previously, scientists believed that dinosaurs used the same principle of dealing with offspring. But now we know that these are myths.

Dinosaurs' living relatives, birds and crocodiles, guard both eggs and young. This suggests that dinosaurs did the same. And now there is evidence. During an expedition in the Gobi Desert, scientists found a dinosaur on top of a clutch of eggs. It was assumed that he died during the attack on the nest. This species was called oviraptor, that is, “one who steals eggs.” However, several more skeletons were later found on top of the clutch of eggs. It turned out that the oviraptor did not eat the eggs, he guarded them.

Myth #5: Dinosaurs were doomed to extinction

The extinction of dinosaurs has long been attributed to their inability to adapt to changing conditions. In fact, they lived for over 100 million years, and their remains have been found in North and South America, Asia, Europe, Africa and Antarctica.

Although some argue that their species was in decline, fossils show that dinosaurs remained widespread and diverse until 66 million years ago, when an asteroid hit Earth (in what is now Mexico). Debris from the collision rose into the sky and blotted out the sun, plunging the world into darkness. The extinction of the dinosaurs was not nature's deliberate plan. It became a cosmic accident. If the asteroid had moved just a fraction of a degree, dinosaurs, not humans, would still rule the planet.

Myth #6: All dinosaurs went extinct

The asteroid destroyed many species of dinosaurs, and the rest disappeared later. But some small, feathered dinosaurs may have survived. They were direct descendants of their carnivorous cousins. These feathered relatives not only survived, but thrived, evolving into tens of thousands of bird species.

How do we know about the existence of dinosaurs if no one has ever seen them? Thanks to the discovery of many fossil skeletons.

From them you can understand how dinosaurs were structured and how these ancient reptiles lived.

Imprints in the rocks

By studying fossil remains in rocks, scientists have discovered many interesting things. For example, they found that the first living creatures appeared in the sea over 3 billion years ago.

Restoring the skeleton - the work of a paleontologist

Scientists who study prehistoric animals are called paleontologists. They are the ones who search for fossilized bones on all continents. The bones, carefully cleared of layers, are cataloged and then sent to laboratories where skeletons are recreated from them. If individual parts are missing, they are replaced with copies molded from plaster or plastic.

Here is a restored Triceratops skeleton in a paleontological museum. Now anyone can see how big and strong he was. From the teeth we can understand what he ate, and from the size of the bones we can draw conclusions about his weight, method of movement, and even lack of dexterity.