The most primitive of all dinosaurs is Eoraptorlunensis. It got this name in 1993, when in the foothills of the Andes, located on the territory of Argentina, in the rocks, which are 228 million years old, researchers discovered the skeleton of this creature. Scientists attributed this dinosaur, whose body length reached 1m, to theropods - predatory dinosaurs from the order of ornithischids.
Therizinosaurus was named the most ridiculous dinosaur
Its legs resembled bird's feet, each of which had 4 functional toes, and at the end of the creature's muzzle there was a toothless beak.
Sauropods were representatives of the suborder dinosaur dinosaurs. They were distinguished from other monsters by their incredibly long neck and tail. Sauropods moved on four limbs. These herbivorous dinosaurs inhabited most of the land in the Cretaceous and Jurassic periods (208-65 million years ago).
Scientists believe that the heaviest dinosaurs were:
- Titanosaurs Antarctosaurus giganteus (Arctic giant dinosaurs), fossils of which have been found in Argentina and India. Their weight reached 40-80 tons. Moreover, the approximate weight of the Argentine titanosaur (Argentinosaurus) could reach up to 100 tons. Such estimates were made in 1994 based on measurements of the size of his giant vertebrae.
- The brachiosaurus Brachiosaurus altithorax are named after their long forelimbs. The weight of these giants was 45-55 tons.
- Diplodocus Seismosaurus halli (earth-shaking lizards) and Supersaurus vivianae, which weighed more than 50 tons, and according to some sources could approach 100 tons.
The largest and tallest dinosaur species
the skeleton of which managed to survive completely, was discovered in Tanzania, more precisely in Tedaguru, Brachiosaurus brancai. Its remains were found in the Late Jurassic deposits formed 150-144 million years ago. Excavations were carried out in 1909-1911 by German expeditions. The preparation of the bones and the assembly of the skeleton took place at the Natural History Museum at Berlin's Humboldt University. The skeleton of a dinosaur was created from the bones of not one, but several individuals in 1937. The total body length of the brachiosaurus was 22.2 m, the height at the withers was 6 m, and the height with the head raised was 14 m. During his lifetime, its weight, according to scientists, reached 30-40 tons. The small tibia of another brachiosaurus, also kept in the museum, suggests that these dinosaurs could have been much larger.
The longest dinosaurs were
the brachiosaurus Breviparopus, whose body length could be 48 m, and the diplodocus Seismosaurus halli, discovered in the US state of New Mexico in 1994, whose body length reached 39-52 m. Comparison of animal bones served as the basis for obtaining such estimates.
The smallest dinosaurs are considered
the cosmognathus (graceful jaw) inhabiting the southern part of Germany and the southeastern region of France and the little-studied herbivorous Fabrosaurus that lived in the American state of Colorado. The length of these creatures, from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail, was 70-75cm. The weight of the first reached 3 kg, the weight of the second - 6.8 kg.
Ankylosaurus are considered the most armored
of all dinosaurs that have existed on our planet. Their head and back were well protected by bony plates, spines and horns. The width of their body was about 2.5 m. Their main distinguishing feature was a tail, at the end of which a huge mace flaunted.
The largest footprints of a prehistoric lizard
there were footprints found in 1932 in Sal Lake City, Utah. They belonged to a large hadrosaurus (platypus) walking on its hind legs. The tracks were 136cm long and 81cm wide. In other reports from Colorado and all the same Utah, it was said about another footprints 95-100m wide. According to some reports, the width of the hind paws of the largest brachiosaurs can reach 100 cm.
Largest skull
belonged to Torosaurus, a herbivorous lizard that wore a huge bone shield around its neck. The length of this dinosaur could reach 7.6 m, and weight - 8 tons. The length of the skull alone, together with the ossified “jabot”, was 3m, and its weight was about 2 tons. This "brainy" creature lived on the territory of the modern American states of Texas and Montana.
In the line of the most toothy dinosaurs
in the first place are the ornithomimids Pelecanimimus (bird-like dinosaurs). They had over 220 incredibly sharp teeth in their mouths.
The owners of the longest claws
were therizinosaurs found in the Late Cretaceous deposits of the Nemegt basin, located in Mongolia. The length of their claw along the outer curvature could reach 91cm. In Tyrannosaurus rex, for comparison, this value was 20.3 cm. Therizinosaurus had no teeth at all, and the skull was rather fragile. This lizard ate, according to scientists, termites.
Spinosaurus could also boast of its long claws, the total length of which reached 9m, and its weight was about 2 tons. In January 1983, amateur paleontologist William Walker discovered a 30cm long claw belonging to a spinosaurus near Dorking.
Largest eggs
Of all the dinosaurs known to science, the 12-meter titanosaur Hypselosaurus priscus, which lived on our planet about 80 million years ago, was laid. Shards of his egg were discovered in October 1961 in the valley of the French river Durance. According to scientists, its overall dimensions were 25.5 cm in diameter, 30 cm in length, and its capacity was 3.3 liters.
The paths created by dinosaurs are used by scientists to determine the speed of these animals. So the trail found on the territory of the American state of Texas in 1981 allowed researchers to conclude that a certain carnivorous dinosaur was able to move at a speed of 40 km / h. It is known that some ornithomimids were able to run even faster. For example, the owner of a large brain, the 100-kilogram Dromiceiomimus, who lived at the end of the Cretaceous period in the territory of the modern Canadian province of Alberta, could easily overtake an ostrich, whose movement speed can exceed 60 km / h.
The smartest dinosaurs
Troodontids are considered, the brain mass of which in relation to the mass of their body was comparable to the same parameters possessed by the most intelligent birds.
The stegosaurus that lived 150 million years ago in the modern American states of Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah could reach a length of 9m. However, the brain of this creature did not exceed the size of a walnut, and its weight was only 70g, which was only 0.002% of its entire body weight, which averaged 3.3 tons.
If you think that we have told everything about dinosaurs, then it is not so. In fact, there are still a lot of open questions and interesting facts about these ancient creatures.