Prehistoric Animals : Stegosaurus

                                                                      Stegosaurus

   Stegosaurus

Stegosaurus

Although nowhere near the largest of the Jurassic dinosaurs, Stegosaurus were still about the size of a bus. Distinctive and heavily built, they were herbivores with short forelimbs and would have walked with their small head close to the ground and the four-spiked tail held high. The double row of plates running along the back helped control body temperature and were probably used in display or possibly in defence against carnivorous Allosaurs. Most fossils for the three known species, including some complete skeletons, have come from the USA, although a recent discovery in Portugal suggests a wider distribution.

Scientific name: Stegosaurus
Rank: Genus

Common Name : Roof-lizard

Prehistoric Animals : Armoured Dinosaurs

Armoured Dinosaurs

While early armoured dinosaurs had bony scutes like crocodiles, later forms took armour to the extremes, evolving large plates, spikes, clubs and carapaces. Covering yourself in heavy armour proved to be a very successful anti-predation strategy, as armoured dinosaurs evolved during the early Jurassic and lasted right up until the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period. Though there were many variations and modifications within each type, they came in two basic forms: the stegosaurs with their rows of spikes or plates along the spine, and the more heavily amoured ankylosaurs.

Scientific name: Thyreophora
Rank: Suborder

Common Name : Shield Bearers

Prehistoric Animals : Ankylosaurs

Ankylosaurs

Looking like reptilian armadillos, or prehistoric tanks, Ankylosaurs were heavily armoured dinosaurs with protective plates over their head and shoulders. Some species took their protection to extremes and even had armoured eyelids. Spikes and protrusions were common in a bid to deter predators from taking a bite. Some ankylosaurs had a large, heavy club at the end of the tail for wielding as a weapon or, as has also been suggested, for sexual selection. To carry the weight of all this heavy armour, these plant-eating dinosaurs had very short, stout legs.

Scientific name: Ankylosauria
Rank: Infraorder

Common Name : Fused Lizards

Prehistoric Animals : Apatosaurus

Apatosaurus

Apatosaurus used to be known as brontosaurus, following a labelling error on a very similar specimen. Subsequently renamed, Apatosaurus was one of the larger sauropod dinosaurs, and therefore one of the largest animals ever to have walked the Earth. Peg-like teeth effectively stripped leaves from trees, but were no use for chewing, so Apatosaurus probably swallowed stones to grind up its meals in the gizzard. Enormous size, herding behaviour and a whip-like tail would all have provided valuable defence against the meat-eaters of the time.

Scientific name: Apatosaurus
Rank: Genus

Prehistoric Animals : Diplodocus

 

 

Diplodocus

Diplodocus was one of the longest animals to have lived on Earth and may have reached over 30 metres and weighed around 15 tonnes. The quantity of plant material eaten by roaming herds of this massive herbivore is unimaginable. Once the most famous dinosaur in the world, Diplodocus had four large sturdy legs supporting a long neck and a long tail that could be flailed around like a whip. Several different species have been described since the first Diplodocus discovery was made in North America in 1877. They lived there about 150 million years ago during the late Jurassic period.

Scientific name: Diplodocus
Rank: Genus

Common Name : Double Beam

Prehistoric Animals : Diplodocid Dinosaurs

Diplodocid Dinosaurs

Diplodocids were a family of giant sauropod dinosaurs. They had shorter legs and longer necks and tails than the other types of sauropod, but were still massive beasts, weighing several times more than African elephants. Despite being herbivores, their teeth were unsuited to chewing plant matter, so - like today's chickens - they swallowed stones to grind the food in the stomach. Unlike chickens, being 30 metres long they had to select rather large stones for this to be effective. It is thought that they may have used their long necks for reaching down to feed on the ground, rather than for reaching up into the crown of trees in the manner of giraffes .

Scientific name: Diplodocidae
Rank: Family

Prehistoric Animals : Daspletosaurus

 

 

Daspletosaurus

The name Tyrannosaurus rex or 'tyrant lizard king' would have been equally appropriate for Daspletosaurus. This terrifying tyrannosaur preceded T-rex by ten million years, being top of the food chain in North America's vast flood plains 75 million years ago. A formidable predator, it was nine metres long and weighed as much as three tonnes.

Like the tyrannosaurs that were to follow, it relied on smell and hearing as much as sight. Bite marks in Daspletosaurus skulls suggest they fought each other over food, territory or dominance in a group. A remarkable discovery of a group of Daspletosaurus near some Hadrosaurs raised some interesting questions. Did these tyrannosaurs hunt in packs or come together to feast on the carcasses?

Scientific name: Daspletosaurus
Rank: Genus

Common Name : frightful lizard

Prehistoric Animals : Tyrannosaurus Rex

Tyrannosaurus rex

One of the greatest carnivores - though not the largest - ever to have walked the Earth, Tyrannosaurus rex (or T-rex) ruled North America during the late Cretaceous period, some 68-65 million years ago. The massive skull of this mighty theropod dinosaur measured 1.5 metres and was balanced by a long heavy tail. The jaw, filled with huge, saw-edged teeth could deliver a devastating bite. Top predator or mighty scavenger, the 'tyrant lizard king' was without doubt a dinosaur to be feared. Thirty specimens have been recovered, some of which (such as those named Sue, Stan and the juvenile Jane!) are almost complete.

Scientific name: Tyrannosaurus
Rank: Genus
Common Names :T-rex, tyrant lizard king

Prehistoric Animals : Tarbosaurus

Tarbosaurus

Tarbosaurus was a relative of Tyrannosaurus and lived in Asia during the late Cretaceous. It has the smallest forearms of all the tyrannosaurs known and though slightly smaller than T-rex, was still one of the larger members of the tyrannosaurid family. It had a lightweight skeleton, which probably helped to increase its agility. Tarbosaurus bataar skeletons are common in the rocks of the Nemegt Formation of the Gobi Desert in Mongolia.

Scientific name: Tarbosaurus
Rank: Genus
Common Name: Alarming lizard

Prehistoric Animals : Tyrannosaurs

Tyrannosaurs

The family of tyrannosaurs includes the famous Tyrannosaurus rex as well as other large carnivores such as Albertosaurus and Tarbosaurus. They evolved in the late Cretaceous and their large size made them the top predators of the time. Like human beings, tyrannosaurs went through an adolescent growth spurt, increasing greatly in height and weight until they approached sexual maturity. Thereafter they grew much more slowly until they reached their final size. Tyrannosaur fossils are found in Asia and North America, through their ancestors also lived in Europe.

Scientific name: Tyrannosauridae
Rank: Family

Common Name: Tyrant lizards

Prehistoric Animals : Sauropod Dinosaurs

Sauropod Dinosaurs

The largest sauropod dinosaurs weighed close to 100 tonnes - ten times the record weight of a modern elephant. Sauropods therefore include the largest land animals ever to have lived. They were a very successful herbivorous group, arising in the early Jurassic and surviving for around 100 million years. Fossil footprints show that sauropod dinosaurs travelled in herds. Notable sauropods include Diplodocus, Apatosaurus (formerly Brontosaurus) and the record-breaking heavyweight Argentinosaurus.

Scientific name: Sauropoda
Rank: Infraorder

Common name : Brontosaurs lizard foot

Prehistoric Animals : Dinosaurs : Dinosauria

Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs were the dominant land animals for 160 million years, making them one of the most successful groups of animals ever. The name dinosaur translates as 'terrible or wondrous lizards' and they certainly evolved in a diverse range of sizes and shapes, from the gigantic plant-eating sauropods to the quick meat-eating tyrannosaurs. They also sported an impressive array of body modifications including horns, scales and crests. So far, the remains of over 1,000 different dinosaur species have been identified from fossils though technically, birds are feathered dinosaurs, meaning dinosaurs aren't really extinct at all.

Scientific name: Dinosauria
Rank: Superorder

Prehistoric Animals : Ornithopod Dinosaurs

Ornithopod Dinosaurs
With some of the most advanced chewing apparatus ever developed by a reptile, ornithopod dinosaurs became a most successful group of herbivorous dinosaurs. They rapidly became a prominent feature on North America's Cretaceous landscape, until they were wiped out by the famous Cretaceous-Tertiary, or K-T, extinction event. Early ornithopods were only about a metre long and could probably run very fast on their hind legs. They evolved to become as large as some of the mighty sauropods, walking and grazing on all four legs, but still using the hind legs for running and reaching up into trees. Notable ornithopods include the duck-billed hadrosaurs and, of course, iguanodon.
Scientific name: Ornithopoda
Common names:bird feet

Ornithopods ( /ɔrˈnɪθɵpɒd/) or members of the clade Ornithopoda (/ɔrnɨˈθɒpədə/) are a group of ornithischian dinosaurs that started out as small, bipedal running grazers, and grew in size and numbers until they became one of the most successful groups of herbivores in the Cretaceous world, and dominated the North American landscape. Their major evolutionary advantage was the progressive development of a chewing apparatus that became the most sophisticated ever developed by a reptile, rivaling that of modern mammals like the domestic cow. They reached their apex in the duck-bills, before they were wiped out by the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event along with all other non-avian dinosaurs. Members are known from all seven continents, although the Antarctic remains are unnamed, and they are generally rare in the Southern Hemisphere.

Prehistoric Animals : Horned Dinosaurs : Ceratopsia

Horned Dinosaurs

Speculation continues over the function of the wicked looking horns and grand neck frill of the larger ceratopsians such as Triceratops. Were they for protection, display or even to control body temperature? The earliest horned dinosaurs were quite small and got about on two legs. The four legged giants that characterise the group came later. Fossil evidence suggests horned dinosaurs originated in what's now Asia during the Cretaceous period, spreading out and thriving as herbivores. Many of the species are recognised from their skulls, which seem to be the part of a ceratopsian skeleton most likely to be preserved.

Ceratopsia or Ceratopia ( /ˌsɛrəˈtɒpsiə/ or /ˌsɛrəˈtoʊpiə/; Greek: "horned faces") is a group of herbivorous, beaked dinosaurs which thrived in what are now North America, Europe, and Asia, during the Cretaceous Period, although ancestral forms lived earlier, in the Jurassic. The earliest known ceratopsian, Yinlong downsi, lived between 161.2 and 155.7 million years ago. The last ceratopsian species became extinct in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, 65.5 million years ago.

Early members of the ceratopsian group, such as Psittacosaurus, were small and bipedal animals. Later members, including ceratopsids like Centrosaurus and Triceratops, became very large quadrupeds and developed elaborate facial horns and frills extending over the neck. While these frills might have served to protect the vulnerable neck from predators, they may also have been used for display, thermoregulation, the attachment of large neck and chewing muscles or some combination of the above. Ceratopsians ranged in size from 1 meter (3 ft) and 23 kilograms (50 lb) to over 9 meters (30 ft) and 5,400 kg (12,000 lb).

Triceratops are by far the best-known ceratopsians to the general public. It is traditional for ceratopsian genus names to end in "-ceratops", although this is not always the case. One of the first named genera was Ceratops itself, which lent its name to the group, although it is considered a nomen dubium today as its fossil remains have no distinguishing characteristics that are not also found in other ceratopsians.

Scientific name: Ceratopsia
Common names:horn face

Prehistoric Animals : Ceropod Dinosaurs

Ceropod Dinosaurs
Ceropod dinosaurs were all plant-eaters and include the horned and duck-billed dinosaurs. The secret of their success was in their teeth. These were much more efficient at grinding up plant food than your typical dinosaur's dentition, so cerapods were able to extract more nutritional value from their food and tackle plants that others found too tough to digest. It wasn't until big herbivorous mammals evolved that such efficient chewing teeth were seen again on Earth.
Scientific name: Cerapoda
Common names:horn foot

Prehistoric Animals : Bird-hipped Dinosaurs

Bird-hipped Dinosaurs

Bird-hipped dinosaurs derive their name from the shape of their pelvis, which resembles that of modern birds, whose pubis points to the rear of the animal. Unexpectedly, birds did not evolve from these dinosaurs, but from the lizard-hipped dinosaurs, since this shape of pelvis has evolved more than once. Another distinguishing characteristic of the bird-hipped dinosaurs was a horny beak, which they used to crop plants, much like a horse or deer uses its front teeth today. Duck-billed dinosaurs, horned dinosaurs and armoured dinosaurs were all of the bird-hipped variety.

Scientific name: Ornithischia
Common names:Bird-hipped

Prehistoric Animals : Lizard-hipped Dinosaurs

  
Lizard-hipped Dinosaurs

The earliest known dinosaurs, lizard-hipped dinosaurs first appeared in the mid Triassic. As well as these first dinosaurs, the order includes all the carnivorous dinosaurs and one group of herbivores - the sauropods and their close relatives. The name 'lizard-hipped' comes from the shape of their pelvis, in which the pubis points towards the front of the animal. Birds are descended from this group of dinosaurs.

History of life on Earth :Prehistoric animals

Dinosaurs
DinosaursDinosaurs were the dominant land animals for 160 million years, making them one of the most successful groups of animals ever. The name dinosaur translates as 'terrible or wondrous lizards' and they certainly evolved in a diverse range of sizes and shapes, from the gigantic plant-eating sauropods to the quick meat-eating tyrannosaurs. They also sported an impressive array of body modifications including horns, scales and crests. So far, the remains of over 1,000 different dinosaur species have been identified from fossils though technically, birds are feathered dinosaurs, meaning dinosaurs are not really extinct at all.

Prehistoric Animals
Dinosaurs Tyrannosaurus Diplodocus Ichthyosaur Woolly mammoth Neanderthal Pterosaur Ammonite History of life on Earth

Prehistoric Animals
Dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus, Diplodocus, Ichthyosaur,Woolly mammoth, Neanderthal Pterosaur Ammonite
Big Five extinctions
Permian–Triassic extinction event Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction eventGeological time periods
Jurassic TriassicMass extinction theories
Impact event Flood basaltAncient Earth habitats
Snowball Earth Coal fore