Survival in the WildDinosaurs

Dinosaur

The word dinosaur comes from the Greek language and means ‘terrible lizard’. The word was coined by English paleontologist Richard Owen in 1842 and was meant to refer to Dinosaurs impressive size rather than their scary appearance.

A person who studies dinosaurs is known as a paleontologist.

Carnivores • Carnivores are meat eaters

• Spinosaurus is now officially the biggest carnivorous dinosaur known to science.

Tyrannosaurus rex

Giganotosaurus

Spinosaurus

- This two-legged beast actually strode onto the fossil scene in 1915 when a specimen was described by German paleontologist Ernst Stromer. He figured this theropod (defined as a two-legged carnivore) was bigger than Tyrannosaurus rex, but the original Spinosaurus bones were destroyed by Allied bombs in 1944. So the T. rex reigned as the king size, carnivorous land beast for decades.

- Spinosaurus is the newly crowned biggest land carnivore, at 55 feet long and 8 tons.

• Rather than being carnivores (meat eaters), the largest dinosaurs such as the Brachiosaurus and Apatosaurus were actually herbivores (plant eaters).

• To help fight meat eaters such as the Allosaurus or Spinosaurus, many plant eaters had natural weapons at their disposal. Examples of this include the spikes on the tail of the Stegosaurus and the three horns attached to the front of the Triceratops’s head shield.

Herbivores

Triceratops

Brachiosaurus

Apatosaurus

Recall...

What are the four basic needs of

living things?

Discussion Questions

• What would dinosaurs need to survive in their environment?

• What environmental conditions are needed to prevent extinction?

• Do you think that there are still ‘dinosaurs’ alive today?

• What scientific facts support your belief?

• What natural disasters may have caused dinosaur extinction?