Dinosaur Research Paper
Ryley
Paleontology 15
Dinosaurs were creatures that ruled the Earth for over 160 million years. They became extinct in the Cretaceous period, 65 million years ago when an asteroid hit the earth causing the climate to change extremely leading up to the dinosaurs extinction. Many different species of dinosaurs existed during this time, about 500 different species in total. Each species had different adaptations and different body parts to better their living conditions. Dinosaurs were reptiles and most dinosaurs hatched from eggs and grew relatively quick compared to the growth of humans. The largest dinosaurs were over 100 feet long and up to 50 feet tall. The smallest dinosaurs were about the size of a chicken.
Dinosaurs are grouped into different orders based on the structure of their hip bones. One order they can be grouped into is the order Ornithschian, meaning bird hipped. Even though these dinosaurs had hip bones similar to birds, they are not ancestors to birds. Dinosaurs that are grouped into the order Ornithschian are all herbivores, meaning they only eat plants or that they are vegetarians. In some cases, they lived in herds which made it harder for the Saurischian dinosaurs to hunt them as the Saurischian dinosaurs usually lived in smaller groups. These dinosaurs had a pubis bone that pointed downward and towards the tail. This meant that Ornithschian dinosaurs had a four pronged pelvic structure.
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They can also be grouped into the order Saurischian, meaning lizard hipped. In the order Saurischian, the majority of the dinosaurs are carnivores. Their hunting styles varied from group hunting and hunting alone. Usually if a saurischian dinosaur was relatively small, it would hunt in groups. Bigger carnivorous dinosaurs hunted alone and kept their own territory. Saurischian dinosaurs had three pronged hips and a pubis which rotated backwards. These dinosaurs were divided into two main groups; theropods and one of the two primary lineages of herbivorous dinosaurs; the sauropods. These dinosaurs dated back to the early Jurassic and were an amazingly diverse group of dinosaurs.
Sauropods are an infraorder of the saurischian dinosaurs. Sauropods were herbivores, their diet consisted of a variety of different plants and tree leaves. They digested their food by swallowing their food into a large gizzard. The digestion process is then aided by large stones which the sauropod swallows for this purpose. Sauropods lived widespread throughout the world in the late Jurassic period, but first appeared during the Triassic period. These dinosaurs had a huge neck, reaching to the tops of trees, then eating the leaves that grew there. Sauropods had spatula shaped teeth to make chewing and grinding down plants and leaves easier. These dinosaurs were massive overall. The smallest sauropods were still counted among the largest animals in their ecosystem at 20 feet long. The only real competitor in terms of size is the blue whale, but sauropods were land based. All sauropods were quadrupeds, or four legged. Their hind legs were straight, strong and massive, ending in club like feet with five toes, which had the inner three toes clawed. The front legs were significantly longer, ending in pillar-like “hands” which sauropods used for supporting weight and stability. Only the thumb had a claw. This particular family is famous for its enormous size and long necks. This group includes the world’s largest land animal to ever live. The biggest of the sauropods was the Brachiosaurus. Standing on for legs, this dinosaur could reach heights of up to 40-50 feet tall and 85 feet long. This land giant weighed anywhere from 33-88 tons. The Brachiosaurus had a small head compared to the rest of its body, giving its overall appearance a weird shape. Another unusual appearance on this dinosaur was their front legs were longer than their hind legs, giving it a giraffe-like stance.
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Dinosaurs were a diverse group of animals that were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years. Because dinosaurs were reptiles, their limbs were located directly below their body and they were cold blooded. Almost all dinosaurs went extinct during the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction. Some birds however, survived the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction. The fossil record indicates that most birds evolved from the theropods during the Jurassic period. Birds are the only type of dinosaur to survive the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction and have survived to modern day. Birds back in the dinosaur days were very diverse. There were over 9000 different species of birds, yet paleontologists have only identified around 500 distinct genera and 1000 different species of non-avian dinosaurs.
Dinosaur bones can be found anywhere in the world today, even on the South Pole. Dinosaur bones can tell paleontologists a lot about the dinosaur species. It is assumed but not proven that the larger the dinosaur, the longer lifespan that dinosaur would have. Small dinosaurs would have a much shorter lifespan. Dinosaur bones sometimes show rings of growth, similar to trees but much fainter. The only problem about these rings is that we do not know how long it took for the ring to develop. It is a funny fact that dinosaurs were known for their size even though the majority of all dinosaurs were human size or smaller. Some dinosaurs had very small brains, about the size of a pea, and were very stupid. Other dinosaurs had relatively large brains and were relatively smart compared to modern reptiles and so say they may have been as smart as modern birds.
Bibliography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauropoda
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4759
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaur
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saurischia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornithischia
