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Wednesday, August 1, 2018
Dinosaurs were reptiles that lived on Earth from about 230 million years ago to about 65 million years ago.
While many people think dinosaurs were massive, dinosaurs were usually human sized or smaller. Scientists believe that the larger bones were just easier to be fossilized.
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Today's Random Fact:
The word "dinosaur" was coined by British paleontologist Richard Owen in 1842. It is Greek, meaning "terrible lizard." Rather than implying that dinosaurs were fearsome, Owen used the term to refer to their majesty and size.
Dinosaurs dominated Earth for over 165 million years. Humans have been around for only 2 million years.
Most meat-eating dinosaurs had bones filled with air. Though their bones were huge, they weren't as heavy as they looked. Birds have the same kind of hollow bones.
Triceratops had the biggest skull with a solid shield than any other dinosaur. It was up to 6 1/2 feet long, with a bony shield over its neck.
Sauropods were the tallest animals that ever lived. Some were more than twice the height of a giraffe.
Many scientists believe that a massive meteorite hit the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico 65.5 million years ago and caused the extinction of the dinosaurs as well as the pterosaurs and plesiosaurs. The 112-mile-wide crater was caused by a rock 6 miles in diameter. It would have hit Earth's crust with immense force, sending shockwaves around the world. No land animal heavier than a large dog survived. However, animals such as sharks, jellyfish, fish, scorpions, birds, insects, snakes, turtles, lizards, and crocodiles survived.