Interesting Dinosaur Facts

Posted on | January 4, 2010 | No Comments

According to studies from complete skeletons, the Brachiosaurus is the largest or heaviest and tallest dinosaur. They are about 40 feet tall and approximately 70 to 80 tons in weight. Further studies about other dinosaurs like the Seismosaurus, Supersaurus, Ultrasaurus and Argentinosaurus are suggesting that the Brachiosaurus is not really the largest dinosaur. However, merely partial skeletons of these dinosaurs were discovered, making scientists uncertain if these are new species or they are also larger Brachiosaurus.

If scientists will just base their calculations on fossil records, the age of dinosaurs cannot be guaranteed. Although there were studies on their teeth’s growth rings, these were constantly replaced throughout the dinosaur’s lifespan. Thus, when compared to modern large mammals and reptiles, scientists estimated that dinosaurs could have lived for about 50 up to 150 years.

Paleontologists noted that the smallest dinosaur was the Compsognathus. It is even about the same size as a chicken. An adult Compsognathus can reach 2 feet in length, more attributed to its thin, long tail. The Troodon had the largest brain out of all the species. This is in relation to its actual body size. This is why they are thought as the most intelligent amongst other dinosaurs. In fact, most paleontologists regard them as smarter than an ostrich, making it smarter than any living reptile on Earth now.

Contrary to belief that the toughest dinosaur was the Tyrannosaurus Rex, it is the Deinonychus. This is because the T-Rex is more like a scavenger than a ferocious hunter. This made the Deinonychus the meanest ad toughest dinosaur. It is merely 2.7 meter long, 1.5 meters tall and it weighs just like an average man. Despite their small size, they are noted as “the most extraordinary predators of all time”. Due to its large serrated teeth, keen eyesight, great agility, grasping hands and sickle-shaped 5-inch long claws on every hind’s foot, this dinosaur variety is a very ferocious enemy.

Despite the size of dinosaurs, their eggs are quite small. In fact, the gigantic Sauropod’s eggs are no bigger than volleyballs. One reason is the fact that a bigger egg entails thicker shells so that it will not collapse. A very thick shell can actually pose 2 big problems. The 1st problem is that it is too thick for the oxygen to permeate. This means, the embryos will not be able to breathe. The 2nd problem would be the fact that the shell will be too thick to be pushed by the hatchlings.

The Galliminus which can travel about 35 mi per hour is considered as the fastest dinosaur. The Coelophysis ranks second at an estimated 25 mi per hour. The third in ranking is the T-Rex at 15 mi per hour. The Ancient Wing or the Archaeopteryx is a small creature with feathers. It is similar to a chicken but it can fly. It is actually the 1st known bird, showcasing how birds are descendants of dinosaurs. At current, paleontologists and scientists note that there are about 440 types of dinosaurs that existed. Even if no one actually heard the voice of a dinosaur, many scientists guess that the T-Rex had a raspy and deep voice, the Hadrisaur had a voice like a honking 5-ton goose and the Apatosaurus had a voice similar to a herd of snorting horses.

Dinosaur Bones

Posted on | September 30, 2009 | No Comments

Dinosaurs, of all known animals, are quite popular mystifying creatures and are well identified by children of all ages. Dinosaurs were real and live animals that lived in most regions of the world and were completely wiped out 65 million years ago. The cause of their extinction is still debated but most of the researchers agree that when alive, the dinosaur dominated the wilds. We are aware of their existence by their remains, usually documented in bones, either found as complete skeletons or separately. We have also found their footprints in rock, as well as some eggs rooted in them. Most of the bigger dinosaur specimens have now been collected and displayed in larger museums.

Most of the researchers around the world agree that dinosaurs are one of the larger species that lived in the Age of Reptiles, which was about more than 200 million years ago. It is estimated that the dinosaur age lasted for some 165 million years. During this time period, many types of dinosaurs roamed the wilds. Researchers have successfully come to know the variety of species of dinosaurs that existed during this time. This is done by the study of fossils of dinosaur bones being found out at different places of the world. However, many dinosaurs will never be discovered. This is due to the reason that only very few dinosaur bones are in reality fossilized through the delicate and temperamental process. In such a case, the tiniest dinosaurs and the largest will most likely be a mystery for the rest of time.

The fossilized dinosaur bones that have been unearthed from different parts of the world have helped us to know more about the mystifying creatures. The fossils of dinosaur bones serve as evidences that most dinosaurs had large bodies. Even the tiniest dinosaurs were bigger than anything else in their ecosystem and the largest dinosaur bones ever found indicate animals on a scale never seen in modern times. Dinosaurs bigger than the 38 ft tall Brachiosaurus found in Tanzania sometime between 1907-1912 have only been indicated by isolated bones.

Dinosaur bones can expose important information about the behavior of the dinosaur in its living environment. Time and again, computer simulations are employed to comprehend how a dinosaur with certain bones might have moved. These simulations compare the bones of the dinosaur with bones from more modern animals and then reconstruct the kinetics of movement based on the shapes of the bones. Because dinosaurs are thought to be more closely related to animals like birds and crocodiles rather than mammals, behaviors from these animals can be used to estimate dinosaur behavior. The analysis of bones used for movement, or Biomechanics, gives scientists information as to how quickly dinosaurs moved, if some dinosaurs could swim, and reveals whether ideas like sonic booms created by the diplodocid tail are fact or fiction.