Dinosaurs first made their presence felt around 230 million years ago and went missing around 65 million years ago; which means they walked and literally ruled the planet for 165 million years. Now compare this to us modern humans who first appeared somewhere between 100 thousand to 200 thousand years ago. Compared to dinosaurs, one could say we have just arrived and are just getting started. And this tells us that dinosaurs were a resilient and well adapted to their environment.
Sir Richard Owen is credited with coining the term Dinosauria in 1842. He – and many other paleontologists (guys who study dinosaurs) – relentlessly dug in the ground and studied the fossil records they discovered. This process allowed them to learn more about dinosaurs and the world during their time and to introduce the rest of us to what they discovered. Many of us likely saw our first dinosaurs in person on a trip to a natural history museum as children. And later, thanks to the magic of Hollywood special effects, they were brought to life in epic movies like Jurassic Park and Walking with Dinosaurs. Fun Fact: The biggest dinosaur was Argentinosaurus standing 70 ft tall. While the smallest dinosaur fossil found is that of Microraptor. It was 77–90 centimeters long and weighed just about a kilo.
One of the amazing bio-mechanism dinosaurs had was their ability to control their body temperature. In a recent study it was determined dinosaurs were neither cold blooded nor warm blooded. They were capable of regulating their body temperature to a certain level which gave them the ability to survive in varied climates and conditions. This is probably one of the reasons why they survived so long.
A wide spread myth is that a meteor impact killed the dinosaurs in matter of weeks. True, it is widely accepted that a meteor strike killed the dinosaurs but the process of extinction was very slow and lasted for around 700,000 years. Besides, some experts argue that not all dinosaurs went extinct – rather that birds evolved from these carnivorous predators into what we see today. It is even hypothesized that the closest dino ancestor to birds is the dreaded T.Rex!
Dinosaurs may have gone kaput long time back but for kids they are still very much alive in their imagination and as Dino Toys. We too have a few varieties and you can find them here.
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