Directory of dinosaur provides resources with categorized listings of names, facts, dinosaur museums, fossils, dinosaur art and models, specific dinosaurs, paleontology, dinosaurs in museums, and dinosaurs around the world.

Archive for May, 2009

Common Facts About Dinosaurs

Thursday, May 14th, 2009

Most people find the subject of dinosaurs fascinating and intriguing. Learning about dinosaurs allows us to experience a world that is very different from our own today. It seems the more we learn about these awesome creatures, the more we want to learn. To learn more about these prehistoric creatures, travel back in with these dinosaur inspired crafts, activities, games, and other resources.

Dinosaur Egg
In a shallow bowl mix some flour and water until you get a runny paste. Tear some newspaper into small strips. Place an inflated balloon on top of a cup or a small container so that it doesn’t tip over. Dip and soak newspaper strips in the paste and remove excess paste. Place strips on the balloon. Overlap strips until the whole balloon is completely covered. Apply three of four layers and let dry. When strips are completely dry, let your child paint the egg.

Dinosaur Bones
Spray paint a number of small dog bones white. Place them in a shallow rectangular baking dish and cover with sand or clean dirt. Tell your child to pretend that he/she is a paleontologist and that he/she will be digging for dinosaur fossils. Because dinosaurs are now extinct, he/she must examine and study these fossils to understand the history of this fascinating group of animals. Explain that the bones and the ground around the dinosaurs let us know when the dinosaurs died and what the climate was like when they lived. Just digging up the fossils could take years! Provide children with digging tools such as small toy shovels, paintbrushes, sticks, etc.

Dinosaur Activity
Make two identical sets of dinosaur pictures. (You can find great dinosaur templates on our site or in coloring books.) Place the pictures face down on a table or on the floor and mix them up. Have your child turn over a picture. Then have him/her turn over another picture to try to find its match. If the two pictures don’t match, have your child turn the pictures over and try again. Play until all the pictures are matched.

Fossil Dinosaur Craft
Have children make imprints in playdough using pennies or leaves. Explain how this is very similar to how dinosaur fossils were made. Bones made imprints in the mud. This mud hardened and became a rock or stone. When this rock or stone is broken the imprint is still in place. Explain that we can learn about dinosaurs through fossils.

Dino, Dino, Who Has Your Bone?
Have your child close his/her eyes. Hide the dino bone. (A dog’s chew toy bone makes a good dino bone.) Say, “Dino, Dino, who has your bone, somebody stole it from your home. Guess who!” Have your child try to find the bone.

Dinosaur Salad
Explain that many dinosaurs were plant eaters. Discuss with your child that fruits and vegetables are parts of plants. Provide a variety of fruits and vegetables. Peel and slice the fruits/vegetables and place in a bowl. Mix together. Serve on a paper plate. Ask your child to eat his/her fruit or vegetable salad just as dinosaurs might have—without hands. Some suggested fruits and vegetables: bananas, apples, grapes, oranges, cantaloupe, watermelon, strawberries, lettuce, carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower.

Dinosaur Dancing
Discuss different ways the dinosaurs moved. Walk slowly like a Triceratops, run fast like a Compsognathus, etc. Play some instrumental music and let your child move or dance around like a dinosaur.

We can also find other information for dinosaurs from other sources, but here is the most interesting and the most basic one that help us understand these creatures in general.

Comprehensive Information For Dinosaurs

Thursday, May 14th, 2009

It is believed that dinosaurs existed on the earth millions of years ago. It is a dominant species of vertebrate animals whose extinction raised lots of questions which scientists have been trying to find out answers to until the present day.

Dinosaurs used to be the dominant vertebrate animals of our ecosystem. Under the phylogenetic taxonomy, dinosaurs are classified as sole descendants of the most current ancestors of modern birds and Triceratops. It is also suggested that dinosaurs can be classified as the descendants of the most current ancestor of the iguanodon and megalosaurus. This is since these are two of the three main genres quoted by Richard Own, particularly when he distinguished the dinosaurian classification.

Hence, both classifications result to an identical set of animals being classified as dinosaurs. This would include the Sauropodomorph, Theropods, Ankylosaurians, Ornithopods, Ceratopsians and the Stegosurians. These classifications are printed to correspond with the precise conception of dinosaurs that predated the Earth via the use of Phylogenetics.

Although T-Rex is the most popular dinosaur, there are actually various types of dinosaurs that lived long ago. In fact, there are now several facts and information about the most common dinosaurs. Many books about paleontology and archeology give a lot of information about the different species that existed.

Names of the most common dinosaurs are categorized into two orders such as Ornithischia and Saurischia. The first order consists of the kinds of dinosaurs that walked on the surface of the earth. They have hip joints that allow them to stroll around. The other order consists of dinosaurs that have joints and enabling them to fly. The T-Rex is among the most common dinosaurs that fit into the Ornithischia order while the Archaeopteryx is the greatest example of the Saurischia order.

Facts about usual dinosaurs can also be found in the Internet. There is a wide information and detail about them. In fact, pictures of the most usual dinosaurs are also indicated so that even kids will have a general idea about their appearance.

There are also facts regarding the extinction of dinosaurs. These facts provide concepts on how dinosaurs became extinct in our planet 65 million year ago. Amongst other theories, the theory about a comet that hit the Earth and created massive mayhem such as clouds of smoke that lasted for months and deprivation of vegetation among others, is the one most believed by scientists. Up to now, paleontologists and archeologists study the fossils and remains of dinosaurs they found in order to shed light to the theories that pertain to their extinction centuries ago.

Some extinction theories are said to be primarily caused by environmental factors, multiple collision and asteroid collisions. Another theory about the extinction of dinosaurs is due to a massive volcanic explosion of the Earth’s super volcanoes. It tells us that the super explosion overcame the Earth by means of sulfur dioxide and the blanketing of the surface of the Earth.

Facts about the bones of dinosaurs are complied and written in books by specialists that specialize in dinosaur bones. Numerous facts about bones of dinosaurs can also be found in museums. Archeologists study any dinosaur bone gathered from various parts of the word in order to know more about their kind and lifestyle. Due to the presence of fossils, the kinds of dinosaurs where revealed and man can now say that dinosaurs really existed some time in the past even before the birth of mankind.

Thus, facts about dinosaur eggs usually concentrate on what type of dinosaur they come from and the appearance of these eggs. The texture of the eggs can be verified by specie. It is interesting to know that these eggs follow a pattern when it comes to its eggshells. This pattern of eggshells enlightens us with what kind of dinosaur species it came from. The eggs of dinosaurs vary in shapes and sizes. Studying these eggs can help us analyze further these interesting species that once ruled the earth.

Information for dinosaurs is abundant. Here is the information which help people to get knowledge of dinosaurs. To get well-understanding of these animals, internet is a good choice.