By Helen and Mark Warner www.teachingpacks.co.uk © Teaching Packs - Dinosaurs - Page 1 Image © ThinkStock Millions of years ago people did not exist and the world was instead In this section, inhabited by dinosaurs. These you will learn about... creatures were prehistoric reptiles that lived on Earth for over 160 million 1. When the The Diamantinasaurus years. The term ‘dinosaur’ only refers lived in Australia about dinosaurs were 94 million years ago. alive. to certain species of large prehistoric reptiles that lived on the land during 2. Why dinosaurs did this time. Creatures such as not fly in the skies or live in the pterosaurs (which flew in the skies) oceans. and plesiosaurs (which Did you know? lived in the oceans) were The word dinosaur 3. What dinosaurs means ‘terrible lizard’. not dinosaurs. Scientists It comes from the looked like and Greek language and what they ate. now believe that these was first used by English paleontologist species were reptiles. Richard Owen in 1842. © Teaching Packs - Dinosaurs - Page 4 Body Shapes Diet is not the only way that paleontologists classify dinosaurs. The creatures can be broken down into groups based on their shape and common physical features. Did you know? Ankylosaurids The biggest dinosaur was This group of dinosaurs thought to be a sauropod were medium-sized called Amphicoelias. It might have been up to herbivores. They were sixty metres long! heavily armoured with a row of large plates on their back, which some paleontologists believe changed A Brachiosaurus. colour to act as a further deterrent from carnivorous dinosaurs. They also had clubbed tails to offer further protection, and spikes. Ankylosaurids had toothless beaks. An Ankylosaurus. Ceratopsians Sauropods A Triceratops. This group of dinosaurs were very Ceratopsians were medium-sized large herbivores who walked on four herbivores. They walked on four legs. They had long necks and tails legs and protected themselves and a relatively small head in from predators with long horns proportion to their body. Their legs and a horned frill at the back of their were thick and strong in order to necks. They had beaks and support the weight of their bodies. shearing teeth that were used to These dinosaurs could not move tear at vegetation and grind their very fast. Species include food up. Species include Triceratops and Styracosaurus. Brachiosaurus and Diplodocus. © Teaching Packs - Dinosaurs - Page 14 The Cretaceous Period was between 145 and 66 In this section, million years ago. It was a period of great diversity you will learn about... and saw a wider range of mammals and dinosaurs living on Earth than before. Large heavily armoured 1. Life in the oceans dinosaurs such as Triceratops and Ankylosaurus during the Cretaceous browsed leafy vegetation. period. The mighty Tyrannosaurus rex 2. The life of a Pteranodon. also appeared during this period. Did you know? 3. Herbivores, The climate and environment during the Cretaceous period omnivores and was warm and humid. This led to the appearance of flowering plants for the first time, causing the population and diversity carnivores that of insects to increase. The warm, humid weather led to a rise lived at this time. in sea levels which caused the two large continents from the Jurassic period (Laurasia and Gondwana) to separate further into the continents we know and recognise today. © Teaching Packs - Dinosaurs - Page 31 A Tyrannosaurus rex. 1. Finding The Discovery of Fossils When people are trying to find the fossilised remains of dinosaurs, they usually travel to deserts. This 2. Recording is because these places are If any fossilised remains are found, these exposed and there are no plants to are usually measured and drawn before cover the ground and hide what is digging begins. underneath. These scientists are trained to recognise rocks that were formed millions of years ago and how to identify bits of fossilised bones amongst the rocks. An illustration of a group of archaeologists discovering a dinosaur fossil. 4. Preserving and protecting 3. Uncovering Once the fossil has been fully To uncover the fossil further, workers use hammers and shovels uncovered, scientists use a to break open rocks. Once scientists are close to the fossils, special type of plaster to cover they have to be a lot more careful in case they damage the fossil before it is lifted out anything. Small tools are used to chip away at the rock and of the ground. The plaster is expose the fossil slowly and carefully. This can take a long time, used to protect the fossil until especially if it is a skeleton of a large dinosaur! the scientists can look at it more closely in a laboratory. © Teaching Packs - Dinosaurs - Page 46 Atmosphere Coprolite The gases that surround the planet. A piece of fossilised dung (poo). Bacteria Crest A microscopic living organism that is usually only A tuft of fur, feathers or skin on top of an animal’s Adapt one cell. head. Changing and becoming adjusted to new conditions. Big Bang Cretaceous Algae A scientific theory into how the planets were formed. The time between the Jurassic and Tertiary Periods. A type of non-flowering plant that lives in water. Biped Crustacean Amber An animal that uses two legs to walk on. An animal with an exterior skeleton such as a crab, Fossilised tree resin. lobster or shrimp. Browser Ambush An animal that feeds and grazes on plants. DNA A surprise attack. Stands for deoxyribonucleic acid. This contains the Carcass genetic code which determines how all living things Ammonites The dead body of an animal. are made and how they look. A fossil of an Ammonoid - a sea creature that lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous period. Carnivore Decay An animal that only eats meat. When something rots because of the presence of Amphibians bacteria or fungi. A cold-blooded vertebrate such as a frog or toad that Climate can live on both land and in water. The usual weather conditions in an area. Defence A way of protecting something from attack. Arachnids Colonisation A group of small animals similar to insects that have When an animal or plant lives in a certain area and Desert four pairs of legs. These include spiders and begins to breed or grow. A large area of land with little or no water devoid of scorpions. life. Conifer Armour A tree that has needle shaped leaves. Diet A tough exterior that offers protection during battle. What a living thing eats. Continent Any of the world’s main expanses of land, such as Digest Asteroid A large, irregular rock that orbits the Sun. If these Africa, America, Australia etc. Breaking down food into substances that can be drop out of orbit they can crash to Earth. used by the body. © Teaching Packs - Dinosaurs - Page 55 Tyrannosaurus Rex Ty-ran-no-sore-us Rex T-Rex lived in the humid forests during the Cretaceous period. The skull of the T-Rex could be up to 1.5 metres long and they had a powerful jaw capable of crunching through bones! Their teeth could grow up to 20 cm long. Meaning of name Tyrant Lizard Time Cretaceous Size 5.6 metres high, 12 metres long Diet Carnivore Lifestyle Hunter and/or Scavenger Fossils location(s) USA www.teachingpacks.co.uk © Images: © ThinkStock Eoraptor E-owe-rap-tore Eoraptor hunted on the river banks for small reptiles. They had powerful back legs and sharp claws to help them catch and kill their prey. Meaning of name Dawn Plunderer Time Triassic Size 1 metre long, 1 metre high Diet Carnivore Lifestyle Hunter Fossils location(s) North-western Argentina www.teachingpacks.co.uk © Images: © ThinkStock The chart below shows the height of six different dinosaurs. 24 22 1) What was the tallest dinosaur? 20 18 _______________________________ 16 14 2) What was the shortest 12 dinosaur? 10 8 _______________________________ Height (in metres) 6 4 3) How tall was an allosaurus? 2 0 Allosaurus Brachiosaurus Gallimimus Oviraptor Rex Tyrannosaurus Argentinosaurus Argentinosaurus _______________________________ 4) How tall was a tyrannosaurus rex? _______________________________ Dinosaurs 5) How much taller was an argentinosaurus than a gallimimus? ____________________________________________________________________ 6) Which dinosaur has the closest height to yours? ____________________________________________________________________ © 1 www.teachingpacks.co.uk Images: © ThinkStock I S S S P I N O S A U R U S S T X L G F K A M D I P L O D O C U S O R C U Z Y M H F V Y W E F G R M A I D Z A A J Q U T E F W T D Y V I N Q H E N A G Y F A L E P Z Z G V G Z C V Y O J S T E G O S A U R U S D O Z U Y D S Q K U H C Y J Q T H I X F W Y C O Q J S V Q I V C P Q X X P C S H T N P N I T B R A C H I O S A U R U S U B U Q X X A A B O B B M X T M N R Q D V M S I P R P Q H D C X W X N G N A X N V A T U P H E M R C M T O M T Y R A N N O S A U R U S R E X C W Z X P B K X R I D B T W K M N M H W A P A T O S A U R U S Y E O C G O T U O S T R I C E R A T O P S Q C P E N O Q F Y E E C J B M I R X N N L W U F O M J A L L O S A U R U S T M A Tyrannosaurus Rex VelociraptorAllosaurus AllosaurusSpinosaurus Spinosaurus Diplodocus StegosaurusApatosaurus TriceratopsStegosaurus Iguanodon Apatosaurus Brachiosaurus Brachiosaurus Triceratops Diplodocus Tyrannosaurus Rex Iguanodon Velociraptor Images: © ThinkStock Images: © www.teachingpacks.co.uk © One of the statues at the dinosaur park blinked and looked into my eyes.