It is no secret that during the existence of our planet the world of flora and fauna has changed several times. Dinosaurs did not survive to our times, but their existence is confirmed by numerous excavations.
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Types of dinosaurs, their classification
Paleontologists claim that dinosaurs inhabited our planet for over a hundred million years. Scientists came to such conclusions after many years of excavations, which allowed them to invade the bowels of the earth and find numerous remains of giant birds and animals there. What was the reality in those days, one can only guess.
Today we will take a closer look at what varieties of dinosaurs are, and what information about them is available today. In general, when you start to be interested in these animals, it is amazing how much paleontologists know, and no one has ever seen these animals with their own eyes. Now these are the heroes of horror films, fairy tales for children, and so on, it is thanks to the artists that we have a clear idea of how such unusual creatures really looked like. Very often different dinosaurs are compared to dragons.
Scientists, unfortunately, have not been able to come to a unanimous conclusion why dinosaurs suddenly died out on our planet. Although not only dinosaurs disappeared in that era, but also many inhabitants underwater world. One theory says that it is not the Earth that has changed dramatically climatic conditions, and dinosaurs could not live in a new environment, so one by one they began to die. The second theory (more realistic) says that 65 million years ago a huge asteroid crashed into our planet, which destroyed many earthly creatures.
We will not go into details about why huge creatures disappeared from the face of the Earth, it will be much more interesting to talk about what paleontologists know today. And they know a lot, from the remains they managed to establish which dinosaurs existed, to report approximately how many species there were, and also to give them certain names.
For the first time, the English biologist Richard Owen spoke about dinosaurs, it was he who called animals by this term (by the way, “dinosaur” is translated from Greek as a terrible lizard). Until 1843, scientists did not put forward theories about the existence of dinosaurs. Their remains were attributed to either dragons or other giant mythical animals.
Now the list of species is simply huge and each genus has its own name. For example, you will be interested to know what are the two largest and most ancient groups of these animals. Maybe the names will seem funny to someone, but these are lizard and ornithischian creatures. Next, we list the most famous and, in our opinion, the main species or types of dinosaurs. Do not be surprised that representatives of the most famous breeds could perfectly swim, fly, and not just move on land. A lot of information was studied by scientists before they could draw conclusions that dinosaurs can be divided into such groups:
- predatory;
- herbivores;
- flying;
- water.
Paleontologists knew exactly how to distinguish one type from another, they carried out more and more research, as a result of which the world learned about trinosaurs, ichthosaurs, pliosaurs, tyrannosaurs, ornithocheirs and so on.
The exact number of species of dinosaurs that existed cannot be established, and it is unlikely that this will ever be known. There are many nuances in the study of fossils. The number of varieties is said to range from 250 to 550 and these numbers are constantly changing. For example, some species have only been identified from the excavation of a single tooth or vertebra. Over time, scientists realize that some species that were previously considered different can actually be attributed to the same thing. So no one can draw firm conclusions. Perhaps most types of dinosaurs exist only in the imagination of paleontologists and other sensationalists. But since these huge creatures have disappeared from our planet, it means that it was necessary. Nothing happens by chance, and especially the extinction of real giant predators.
Swimming dinosaur: myth or reality?
Paleontologists say that aquatic dinosaurs did exist. To be honest, the population of the seas and oceans in those days was not so harmless. Aquatic fish dinosaurs would happily eat everyone. And they can not even compare with the most dangerous sharks today. The size of the monsters exceeded the size of modern whales. Huge animals could happily eat, for example, another dinosaur, which, by chance, was at the wrong time in the wrong place. Some fish grew up to 25 m (for comparison, a standard nine-story building is 30 m).
Sea monsters were classified as follows:
- plesiosaurus (a long-necked creature that lived all the time under water, sometimes surfaced to breathe air or grab a flying bird);
- elasmosaurus weighed about 500 kg, had a small but movable head on a huge (8 m) neck;
- mosasaurs lived in the seas and oceans, but moved a little like a snake;
- ichthyosaurs are very warlike and bloodthirsty animals that lived and hunted in packs. There were practically no insurmountable obstacles for them;
- the notosaurus led a dual lifestyle (on land and in water), eating small creatures and fish;
- liopleurodons lived exclusively in the aquatic environment, could hold their breath for several hours, dive to the depths and hunt there;
- Shonisaurus is a completely harmless reptile that was an excellent hunter and fed on mollusks, octopuses, and squids.
Very little is known about the existence of two-headed creatures, many types of dinosaurs were with long claws that helped them move faster. Some types of large marine inhabitants were:
- with a collar around the neck;
- with a hood;
- with a crest on the back (sometimes with two crests);
- with spikes;
- with a tuft on his head;
- with a mace on the tail.
Herbivorous dinosaurs: their classification
This is most likely the most peaceful species of huge creatures. They quietly chewed weed, were happy and entered the fight solely for the purpose of self-defense. Rarely have herbivorous creatures attacked first. At the same time, dinosaurs of this type were not at all weak, defenseless animals. A powerful skeleton, huge horns, a tail with a mace, unrealistically huge sizes, strong limbs that could immediately strike on the spot - all these are the characteristics of completely peaceful animals.
There were several types of herbivorous creatures:
- stegosaurus - they had peculiar combs on their bodies, chewed grass, from time to time swallowed stones to improve digestion;
- euplocephalus, which was covered with spikes, a bone shell and had a mace on its tail. This is a truly terrible monster;
- brachiosaurus - could eat about a ton of greens in just a day;
- triceratops had beaks, horns, lived in herds, easily defended themselves from enemies;
- hadrosaurs were quite large, but very vulnerable, it is still a mystery how they survived.
This is not a complete list of species of grass dinosaurs.
carnivorous dinosaurs
Yet most dinosaurs were predators by nature. They had a powerful body structure, huge teeth, horns, shells. All this allowed animals to rise above other living beings, often dinosaurs fought with their relatives. The strongest always won, there was no question of any family ties. Tyrannosaurus rex was considered the most popular predator, you can find a lot about it interesting information, watch the video. Tirex is the hero of many horror films, because this born hunter was really scary, disgusting, ruthless, bloodthirsty.
Dinosaur with a long neck (name and species)
Among herbivores, marine and predatory species there were breeds that were distinguished by unrealistically long necks. For example, diplodocus is a herbivore creature whose neck consisted of 15 vertebrae. He could easily get branches from the tallest trees.
Flying species or dinosaur birds did indeed have wings, scales, sometimes even feathers. A feature of these creatures were huge very sharp teeth, which cannot be said about modern birds. These are pterodactyls, pterosaurs, archeopteryxes. Ornithocheirus was the size of a small plane, had a light skeleton, a crest on its beak. Such "birds" lived near large reservoirs.
Quite informative, and also interesting to read about the inhabitants of the Jurassic period, isn't it? At that time, the population of the Earth was completely different, terrible and incomprehensible to us, its modern inhabitants.
1. Triceratops (Triceratops horridus)
Triceratops is a herbivorous dinosaur that lived on Earth at the end of the Cretaceous period in the regions North America.
As herbivores, Triceratops fed on shrubs and plants such as ferns, palms, and cycads. These herbivorous dinosaurs had beak-like mouths that could basically only grab food, not chew. Interestingly, these dinosaurs had up to 800 teeth, which served exclusively for grasping vegetation.
An interesting fact is that many of them had horns.
2. Dracorex († Dracorex hogwartsia)
Dracorex is a herbivorous dinosaur that existed during the Late Cretaceous. This dinosaur reached 1.4 meters in height, 6.2 meters in length and weighed about 45 kg. Dracorex was the owner of the original long mouth. Numerous spikes and bumps were localized on his skull.
Whether this dinosaur is a herbivore or not is still debated at present. The dracorex had extremely sharp teeth with many fangs,
therefore, some scientists classify it as an omnivore.
Its name Dracorex hogwartsia is taken from the popular Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling. As you understand, this name means "Dragon King of Hogwarts".
3. Moschops († Moschops capensis)
Moschops is a genus of prehistoric herbivorous mammalian reptile that existed during the Permian period. Most Moschops remains have been excavated in a region called the Karoo in South Africa.
In this habitat, Moschops was the largest herbivore. He had a massive
body (about 5 meters long), thick skull and very short but heavy tail.
As mentioned above, this dinosaur had a herbivorous lifestyle, so its teeth were serrated at the ends - this helped to chew plants.
4 Argentinosaurus († Argentinosaurus huinculensis)
The next herbivorous dinosaur on this list is Argentinosaurus, which may have been the largest and most massive land animal that ever existed. The Argentinosaurus was a herbivore, as it fed on plants that grew on our planet during the Jurassic period until the end of the Cretaceous period. It had a long neck, making it easy to reach the tops of the trees.
Literally, the name of this dinosaur means "silver lizard". Argentinosaurus fossils were first excavated in South America in 1988. Unfortunately, very little information is currently known about this species of dinosaur.
5. Stegosaurus († Stegosaurus)
Stegosaurus is known to be a genus of herbivorous dinosaurs that predominantly settled in areas of western North America during the Late Jurassic.
This herbivorous dinosaur is characterized by a toothless beak and small teeth on the inside of the cheeks. It follows that such teeth were not suitable for eating animal flesh. Unlike other herbivorous dinosaurs, which had strong jaws and teeth for crushing plant matter, this dinosaur had jaws that only allowed the teeth to move up and down.
Among dinosaurs, Stegosaurus is known for having a relatively small brain and perhaps even for having the lowest brain-to-body ratio.
This dinosaur, whose name literally means "covered lizard", is memorable because of the presence of plates that lay along its back in a vertically flattened position. In total, this dinosaur had 17 original spines on its back (called forceps) that were not hard as such, but consisted of soft bony material where many blood vessels passed.
6. Edmontosaurus († Edmontosaurus regalis)
Next on this list is Edmontosaurus. It is characterized by having a beak-shaped mouth, short limbs, and a very long, pointed tail.
7. Diplodocus († Diplodocus longus)
Diplodocus is considered one of the longest land animals that ever existed.
Fossils of this herbivorous dinosaur showed that these animals existed in the late Jurassic period. Most of their fossils have been excavated from the Rocky Mountains in the western United States.
Due to its enormous size, Diplodocus also required huge amounts of plant material to survive. Scientists have speculated that its blunt teeth functioned to cut plants, as Diplodocus swallowed food whole without even chewing.
It is interesting to know that, having such dimensions and body structure, this dinosaur did not have the opportunity to raise its long neck above five meters from the ground.
8. Hadrosaurus († Hadrosaurus foulkii)
Literally means "strong lizard". Hadrosaurus is a genus of herbivorous dinosaurs that lived in parts of North America during the Late Cretaceous.
Hadrosaurus had a beak-shaped mouth and jaw that were designed to crush plant matter such as pine needles and cones.
It is also important to note that only one skeleton of this dinosaur has ever been found. This fossil was missing a skull, making it difficult for scientists to analyze appearance hadrosaur.
9. Nodosaurus († Nodosaurus textilis)
Another famous herbivorous dinosaur is the Nodosaurus, which is very notable for its "armor".
This dinosaur was a herbivore. He had a rather narrow head with an elongated mouth. Interestingly, Nodosaurus had cavities in its skull that separated its mouth from its nasal passages, thus making it able to eat and breathe at the same time.
Individuals of this genus existed from the late Jurassic until the early Cretaceous. It is interesting that at this time the lands of Alabama were divided into two parts: the northern part was covered with forests, and the southern part was covered with shallow lakes.
10. Ankylosaurus († Ankylosaurus magniventris)
The name comes from other Greek. ??????? ??????, which means "bent lizard". Ankylosaurus is a genus of armored dinosaur that existed in parts of the western United States and Canada during the Late Cretaceous.
Like the Stegosaurus, this massive dinosaur had a body also covered in bony plates (called "scutes"). These shields grew on different parts of the dinosaur's body, such as the neck, back, and hips.
This dinosaur was a herbivore that fed on low-lying vegetation. The beak-shaped mouth allowed the animal to pluck leaves from plants. In addition, studies have shown that he could swallow a huge amount of plants without even chewing.
The origin of dinosaurs has been one of the most poignant mysteries and discussions of the last century. But even now, extremely little is known about these lizards. What were they like? Can the dinosaur be considered the "king of nature" and the top of the food chain of its period?
These and many other questions have not yet been answered. Even those fragments of information that archaeologists and paleontologists managed to collect are based more on the analysis of fossils and theories built around the principles of life of similar organisms.
Many species of dinosaurs are still only superficially studied, and therefore there is no need to talk about a sufficient knowledge base on this issue.
Basic classification of dinosaurs
The difference between dinosaur species is dictated by habitat, food preferences, dietary habits, and even class.
Some names come directly from the names of the discoverers, as well as the territories where the skeleton of one or another pangolin was first found.
The type of dinosaur also varied significantly depending on which predator dominated the region. Yes, to
for example, huge diplodocus were perfectly protected from small aggressors, for example, deinocheirs, but not only hunted for the young of this subspecies of herbivores, it literally threatened their population.
In general, dinosaurs can be divided into 4 classes:
- Predators.
- Herbivores.
- Flying.
- Water.
However, some dinosaurs managed to combine several classes in their specificity.
Predators
The class of predators includes several subspecies, which can be conditionally grouped into two categories: large and flocking.
The class of the first, for example, can be attributed to "Tyrex", in other words, a tyrannosaurus rex. He was one of the most famous predators of his period, which is about 65 million years ago.
This dinosaur, like its fellows, is characterized by a solitary lifestyle with hunting mainly for large game. With a length of fangs of 15-19 centimeters, it was not a problem for this lizard to bite through even the strong shell of a stegosaurus or come together in a fight with a triceratops.
Its name even contains a direct reference to the reputation of the lizard - namely, the prefix "tee", whose entomology is close to "terror", which translates as "horror".
Allosaurus, Dilaphosaurus, Carnotaurus and Megalosaurus should also be attributed to the same kind of dinosaurs.
For the last kind are quite characteristic, but the complete skeleton of this lizard has never been found.
pack predators distinguished by considerable intelligence and hunted mainly young growth of large herbivorous dinosaurs and sick loners.
Could not only coordinate their actions within the pack, they were in contact with
other representatives through sound effects. If the brain of an average stegosaurus reached the size walnut, then in Velociraptor it was already the size of a large orange.
Distinctive feature This type of dinosaur is a large claw on the first toe of the hind paw, through which hunting took place.
Velociraptor jumped on the back of its prey, after which it tried to break the spine or inflict wounds leading to blood loss. This species of dinosaurs is characterized by hunting in a pack, the type of which is similar to the actions of wolves.
Herbivores
The class "herbivores" has several subspecies. Most often they are named according to the names of several of the most famous representatives (Triceratops, Stegosaurus and Diplodocus).
At one time, the last of those mentioned was for the entire period of the existence of lizards. Its length from the nose to the tip of the tail reached 30 meters.
Ultrasaurus was supposed to be the new record holder, but, as in the case of Megalosaurus, a complete lizard skeleton has not been found. This species is characterized by huge sizes, even the “smaller” of them, namely the Apatosaurus reached a record 22 meters.
A dinosaur called Triceratops was not in danger of a head-on fight. Like the modern rhinoceros, this dinosaur crushed the enemy with horns, although they were present in the amount of three pieces, and the neck of the lizard was covered with a bone “collar”, which also served to regulate heat transfer.
Stegosaurs and brontosaurs preferred defense to attack. Such dinosaurs just had to stand on their feet, huddle together and patiently wait out the attack. Their backs are tightly protected by a horny shell.
The stegosaurus also had spikes at the tip of its tail, with which the lizard skillfully defended itself from small aggressors.
One of the heaviest dinosaurs, namely the brontosaurus, had a heavy bone mace at the end of the tail, which could easily break through the skull, for example, of a velociraptor.
Aquatic
Aquatic dinosaurs are almost completely represented by the predator class. The largest of them, namely the plesiosaur, according to a number of scientists, may well be the same. The length of his neck reached 11-15 meters.
Mosasaurus and Ichthyosaurus are named as the ancestors of modern dolphins.
Pliosaurus, also known as "predator x", was the most aggressive. This dinosaur is characterized by attacks, including on its own relatives. It is likely that killer whales are the heirs of the pliosaurus. Most of these lizards became extinct after the average water temperature began to drop as a result of the onset ice age.
flying
Some flying dinosaurs later evolved into birds, others remained a subclass of their own, but they posed a serious threat to their habitat and deserve a mention.
He hunted insects (the size of which reached 2 meters during the existence of the lizard) and he himself was far from small. It was in his skeleton that the remains and traces of the feather cover were found, after which the origin of modern birds from this subspecies was proved.
The second subclass, represented by pterodactyl, had a wooly coat and huge leathery wings. Dinosaurs of this species are characterized by a diet of fish, fruits and insects.
Each type of dinosaur was distinguished by its own specifics and features. Such a concise description is not capable of giving a full assessment of them, but it is sufficient for the primary one. At one time, dinosaurs were a huge force, but later lost the battle to nature and even mammals, losing the championship once and for all.
The beginning of history was the climatic changes that occurred on Earth 300 million years ago. There has been a significant increase average temperature which contributed to the extinction of some species and the spread of others. In particular, the flowering of reptiles began.
Both the number of individuals and the number of species increased. The ancestors of dinosaurs, the archosaurs, also descended from them. Modern representatives This group of reptiles - crocodiles. The archosaurs of the Permian period were distinguished by the specific structure of the teeth, as well as by the specific protective covering of the skin - scales. Like modern crocodiles, they are eggs.
Carnivorous dinosaurs fed mainly on small mammals. There were also herbivorous dinosaurs with a plant-based diet.
After the Mass Permian, only 5% of pre-existing species, and the ancestors of dinosaurs managed to survive this ecological upheaval. Dinosaurs themselves originated 230 million years ago. The earliest dinosaur species known to scientists is the Staurikosaurus. It was about 2 m long and weighed up to 30 kg. Staurikosaurus was a predator and moved on its hind legs.
The age of the dinosaurs and their decline
Gradually, dinosaurs became an increasingly diverse group of creatures, capturing more and more new habitats. Dinosaurs could also live in water, competing with large predatory fish. Gradually, flying dinosaurs appeared. Also, over time, the sizes of reptiles became more and more diverse - their weight could reach 200 kg or more.
Dinosaurs flourished during the Cretaceous and Jurassic periods, when dinosaur species accounted for more than half of all species of the Earth's fauna. In total, the remains of about 500 species of dinosaurs were found, but scientists believe that there were much more of them - up to 2000 during the entire existence of this superorder.
The largest dinosaurs were herbivores or lived in water.
The exact reason for the extinction of the dinosaurs remains unknown. One theory suggests that dinosaurs died due to a meteorite fall and the resulting tsunami and other cataclysms. Other scientists believe that the reason was the gradual climate change, which led to the extinction of not only dinosaurs, but also a number of other species - up to 20% of flora and fauna species disappeared. What is known for sure is that the dinosaurs disappeared at the end of the Cretaceous period - about 65 million years ago. The dominance of reptiles was replaced by a wide distribution of mammals.
Dinosaur species of this group lived in the late Jurassic on the territory of modern North America about 150 million years ago. Paleontologists consider diplodocus to be one of the most easily identifiable dinosaurs. Moreover, this species is the largest of all dinosaurs known from complete skeletons found. Diplodocus were herbivores, and their huge size was a deterrent to the predatory lizards of those times - ceratosaurs and allosaurs.
Allosaurus - a thunderstorm of diplodocus!
Within the framework of this article, we will not be able to consider all types of dinosaurs with names, so we will only turn to the most prominent and famous representatives of these legendary giants. One of them is the Allosaurus. This is a member of the genus predatory dinosaurs from the theropod group. Like diplodocus, allosaurs existed in the Jurassic period about 155 million years ago.
These creatures walked on their hind legs and had very small forelimbs. On average, these lizards reached a length of 9 meters and a height of 4 meters. Allosaurs were considered large bipedal predators of the time. The remains of these insidious creatures were found on the territory of modern Southern Europe, East Africa and North America.
Ichthyosaurs - legendary fish lizards
They represent an extinct detachment of large marine reptiles, reaching a length of 20 meters. Outwardly, these lizards resembled modern fish and dolphins. Their distinguishing feature was large eyes, protected by a bone ring. In general, at a short distance, ichthyosaurs could well be mistaken for fish or dolphins.
The origin of these creatures is still in question. Some paleontologists believe that they come from diapsids. This version is supported only by conjecture: apparently, the shoot of ichthyosaurs somehow branched off from the main diapsid stem even before this subclass split into archosaurs and lepidosaurs. However, the ancestors of these fish lizards are still not known. Ichthyosaurs died out about 90 million years ago.
Dinosaurs take to the sky
At the end of the Triassic period, the first flying species of dinosaurs appeared on the planet, which appeared unexpectedly in the fossil record. Curiously, they were already fully formed. Their direct ancestors, from which they developed all this time, are unknown.
All Triassic pterosaurs belong to the Rhamphorhynchus group: these creatures had huge heads, toothy mouths, long and narrow wings, and a long and thin tail. The size of these "leather birds" varied. Pterosaurs, as they were called, were mostly the size of both gulls and hawks. Of course, among them were 5-meter giants. Pterosaurs died out about 65 million years ago.
Tyrannosaurs are the most famous dinosaur species.
The list of ancient lizards would be incomplete if we did not mention the most majestic dinosaur of all times and eras - the tyrannosaurus rex. It's insidious and dangerous creature fully justifies its name. This creature represents a genus from the coelurosaur group and theropod suborder. Includes one single species - Tyrannosaurus rex (with Latin"rex" is a king). Tyrannosaurs, like allosaurs, were bipedal predators with massive skulls and sharp teeth. The limbs of Tyrannosaurus Rex were a complete physiological contradiction: massive hind legs and tiny hook-shaped forepaws.
Tyrannosaurus is largest view within their own family, as well as one of the largest terrestrial predatory lizards in the entire history of our planet. The remains of this animal were found in the west of modern North America. According to scientists, they lived about 65 million years ago, that is, it was in their century that the death of the entire dynasty of ancient lizards occurred. It was the tyrannosaurs that crowned the entire great era of dinosaurs, which ended during the Cretaceous period.
Feathered heritage
It is no secret to many people that birds are direct descendants of dinosaurs. Paleontologists saw in the external and internal structure Birds and dinosaurs have a lot in common. It should be remembered that birds are descendants of land lizards - dinosaurs, and not flying lizards - pterosaurs! Currently, two subclasses of ancient reptiles are "hanging in the air" because their ancestors and exact origins have not been established by paleontologists. The first subclass is the ichthyosaurs and the second is the turtles. If we have already dealt with ichthyosaurs above, then nothing is clear at all with turtles!
Are turtles amphibians?
And therefore it is clear that, considering such a topic as "Types of dinosaurs", one cannot fail to mention these animals. The origin of the turtle subclass is still shrouded in mystery. True, some zoologists still believe that they originated from anapsids. However, they are opposed by other pundits who are sure that turtles are the descendants of some ancient amphibians. And they do not depend on other reptiles at all. If this theory is confirmed, then a big breakthrough will occur in the science of zoology: it may happen that turtles will not have the slightest relation to reptiles at all, because then they will become ... amphibians!