Page 87 - DINOSOUR ATLAS

dinosaur facts

Questions You Ask

There are many Things that we still do not know about Q How fast did dinosaurs move?
dinosaurs. The evidence of their fossil remains is often
confusing, and some features can be interpreted in more A Meat-eating theropods like Albertosaurus stood on
than one way. But every time a new fossil is found, it their hind legs, and their leg bones show that they had
adds another piece to the jigsaw. Gradually, piece by a long stride like a modern ostrich. The muscle scars
piece, we are building up a complete picture of how on their bones also show that they had an ostrichlike
these astonishing animals lived and died. running action, so they could probably run quite fast—
at least in short bursts. Big sauropods that stood on
Q Who discovered the first dinosaur? four feet, such as Argentinosaurus, would have
moved more slowly.
A There are accounts of
giant fossilized bones in
ancient Chinese, Greek, and
Roman texts. The Chinese believed
they were the bones of dragons, and they
were not far wrong. The first picture of a a hunting theropod
dinosaur bone appeared in 1676, in a ran on its toes, which
book by Dr. Robert Plot, an English were linked to the leg
historian. He assumed it was the muscles by slender, Massive thigh Muscles
lightweight tendons
dr. robert Plot thighbone of an elephant. would have propelled
Albertosaurus in a
high-speed charge
albertosaurus on the move toward its prey
Q What was the first named dinosaur?
Q How intelligent were dinosaurs?
A In 1824 the geologist and fossil hunter
William Buckland published a scientific A We can only guess at a dinosaur’s intelligence by
account of the partial remains of a large comparing the size of its brain with its body size. This
meat-eating reptile, which he had suggests that hunters like Albertosaurus were a lot more
discovered near Oxford, England, five years intelligent than giant plant-eaters. They needed to be, to
earlier. He named it Megalosaurus, which plan their hunting tactics.
simply means “big reptile.”

Q What was the biggest dinosaur?

A Some enormous spine bones
found in Argentina in the late
1980s were over 5 ft (1.5 m)
across. They belonged to
Argentinosaurus, a colossal
sauropod that could have
been 130 ft (40 m) long—
although a complete
skeleton has yet to
be found.
Parts of the fossilized megalosaurus jaw

Q How many different dinosaurs were there?

A Nobody knows. About a thousand species have
been found and named, but many more probably
await discovery. Some fossils of the same species
may also have been given different names. argentinosaurus

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