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Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs are just incredible. They are gigantic, mystical and alien to the animal ecosystems we have today. And Kids just love them.
About Dinosaurs and other things Prehistoric
We are still discovering a great deal about these prehistoric creatures and change how we feel dinosaurs may have lived.
Wiki List_of_dinosaur_classifications
Ornithopod
They 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. Ornithopoda means "bird feet", from the Greek ornithos ("bird") and pous ("feet"); this refers to their characteristic three-toed feet, although many early forms retained four toes.
They lack any armor and range in size from quite small to quite large.
They later developed bony bird beaks.
Thyreophora
These are the armored herbivore dinosaurs. Greek: θυρεος, a large oblong shield, like a door and φορεω, I carry
Ankylosaurids - Ankylosaurus
These were heavily armored and have a large tail club composed of distended vertebrae that have fused into a single mass.
Ankylosaurus was named after the medical term ankylosis which refer to the stiffness produced by the fusion of many bones in the skull and body. So, it is often translated as 'stiffened lizard.' In Greek (αγκυλος/ankulos ('curved') and σαυρος/sauros ('lizard')) it translates into curved lizard.
Nodosaurids - Edmontonia
Nodosaurids are medium-sized to large, heavily built quadrupedal herbivorous dinosaurs, possessing small denticulate teeth and parasagittal rows of osteoderms (a type of armour) on the dorsolateral surfaces of the body. They have bony bumps and spikes that covered their bodies and continued out to the tail and/or were augmented with sharp spines
Stegosauria - Stegosaurus
Stegosaurs possessed rows of plates and/or spikes running down the dorsal midline and elongated dorsal vertebra. Its name comes from /ˌstɛɡɵˈsɔrəs/, meaning "roof lizard" or "covered lizard".
Marginocephalia
The "fringed heads" were herbivore dinosaurs that includes the thick-skulled pachycephalosaurids, and horned ceratopsians.
Pachycephalosauria - Pachycephalosaurus
They were all bipedal, herbivorous/omnivorous animals with thick skulls. In some fossils, the skull roof is domed and several inches thick; in others it is flat or wedge-shaped. While traditionally regarded as distinct species or even families, the flat-headed pachycephalosaurs may actually represent juveniles of dome-headed adults. The domes were often surrounded by nodes and/or spikes.
Greek - pachys-/παχυς- "thick", kephale/κεφαλη "head" and sauros/σαυρος "lizard" - Thick headed lizard
Ceratopsia - Triceratops
The "horned faces" is a group of herbivorous, beaked dinosaurs. 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.
Sauropodomorpha - Apatosaurus (Brontosaurus)
These were long-necked, herbivorous, saurischian dinosaurs which includes the sauropods and their ancestral relatives. Sauropods generally grew to very large sizes, had long necks and tails, were quadrupedal, and became the largest animals to ever walk the Earth. The "prosauropods" preceded the sauropods. They were smaller and were often able to walk on two legs.
Greek - Sauropodomorpha means "lizard-footed forms"
Theropoda
These were primarily carnivorous three-toed "beast feet" bipedal dinosaurs related to modern birds. A number of theropod groups evolved herbivory, omnivory, and insectivory. These are the T Rexes and other flesh eating monsters which we all love so.
Tyrannosaurus - T-Rex
Greek - tyrannos (τυράννος) meaning "tyrant," and sauros (σαύρος) meaning "lizard" - tyrant lizard
This is likely the most iconic dinosaur ever. It's gigantic, stomps and will eat and swallow you whole.
Allosaurus
Allosaurus means "different lizard". It is derived from the Greek ἄλλος/allos ("different, other") and σαῦρος/sauros ("lizard")
It was another top of the food chain carnivore. It was very large, and just a bit smaller than T-rex.
Giganotosaurus
As you can imagine, these were gigantic and even larger than the T-rex.
Spinosaurus
Just when you thought that it couldn't get any worse with T-Rex or Giganotosaurus in the neighborhood, her comes Spinosaurus. It's even bigger than T-Rex and Giganotosaurus. What I mean is that it is one huge meat eating monster, probably the biggest one to ever walk the earth and chew on flesh.
It is thought that Spinosaurus lived both in the water and on land like crocodiles. This based on two factors. One factor in this theory is that oxygen testing of Spinosaurus' teeth suggest that it spent a lot of time in the water. Another factor is that Spinosurus is one big bad lizard and could do whatever it wanted to. And who can argue with that.
Pterosaurs - Pterodactyl
These are flying reptiles which lived in the era of the dinosaurs. They ranged in size from the size of small birds to the size of a giraffe when standing with wings folded.
Pterosaurs were thought to walk on their front knuckles.
Crocodilians
These aren't dinosaurs, but were around during the late Cretaceous Period (Campanian stage). And since they were around during the age of the dinosaur, you can add your Crocodile toys to your dinosaur toy set for play.
Cavemen - Homo sapiens
Evolutionary Timeline
Based mostly on radiometric dating of fossils and educated speculation, dinosaurs became extinct around 65.5 million years ago. It is believed that some reptiles, birds and small mammals survived the extinction of the dinosaurs and later evolved into the creatures of the world we see today. The oldest man from the genus of Homo is thought to have walked the earth about 2 million years ago. That makes it pretty unlikely that dinosaurs and cavemen cohabitated the world at the same time.
But even if this is true, this bit of egghead theory shouldn't stop you from enjoying a silly caveman movie or playing hunt the dino with cavemen toys. And who really knows?
Dinosaur and Human Contemporary Theory
Man may have inhabited the earth with dinosaurs. There are many (mostly Creationists) who believe that man and dinosaurs were contemporaries. This is based on a few bits of evidence.
Stories of sea monsters, dragons and other creatures which are similar to prehistoric dinosaurs and their contemporaries.
Old statues, cave paintings and burial stones of creatures which resemble dinosaurs.
Fossilized of human and dinosaur footprints together.
Interpretations of the Bible suggesting that creatures similar in description to dinosaurs interacted with man.
Fossil evidence that dinosaurs existed and bible interpretations that all creatures were created on the same day and that man has been here since the beginning of time.
Unfortunately, much of this evidence is rather scientifically weak and sometimes fabricated. It also contradicts the currently accepted theory of evolution which make this theory blasphemous or idiotic in most circles. But it doesn't make it impossible - and it makes for some potentially fun play scenarios.
Living Dinosaur Theory
This is the theory that more than just non-avian dinosaurs survived the great dinosaur extinction and live in modern times. There is a good deal of folklore suggesting lone dinosaurs terrorizing remote areas. A prime example include descriptions of the Loch Ness monster and similar creatures which resemble marine creatures from the age of the dinosaur.
The concept of modern living dinosaurs allows modern man and his technology to interact with dinosaurs. This can make for a pretty fun safari or downtown rampage.
Cavemen
In regards to early man living in caves per popular culture - some prehistoric humans were cave dwellers, but most were not. Approximately 100,000 years ago, some Neanderthal humans dwelt in caves in Europe and western Asia. Caves there also were inhabited by some Cro-Magnons from about 35,000 years ago until approximately 8,000 B.C. The Cro-Magnon people made representational paintings on cave walls which is probably why we think of early man as living in caves. It is believed that both Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon built shelters, including tents, at the mouths of caves and used the caves’ dark interiors for ceremonies.
Human Evolution or Other Apemen
Whether or not you believe that modern man evolved from apelike primates, there is a good deal of evidence that other manlike primates walked the earth. It is possible that these were modern man's ancestors or possibly rivals that competed for the same food and resources as early man.
Missing Link
The "missing link" is a term used to describe as transitional fossil, especially one which would link the humanoids of genus Australopithecus to those of genus Homo. It is currently thought to be Homo gautengensis which possibly roamed the earth over 2 million years ago and died out approximately 600,000 years ago. He was much more apelike than what the most Grizzly of modern man would look like.
Neanderthal Man
The first proto-Neanderthal traits appeared in Europe as early as 600,000–350,000 years ago. Proto-Neanderthal traits are occasionally grouped with another r phenetic 'species', Homo heidelbergensis, or a migrant form, Homo rhodesiensis. Some feel that Neanderthals are separate species than Homo sapiens who evolved from separate but similar paths, while others feel that Neanderthals are a subspecies of Homo sapiens and even interbred with Homo sapiens.
Humans - Cro-Magnon
It is thought that anatomically modern humans originated in Africa about 200,000 years ago, reaching full behavioral modernity around 50,000 years ago. The earliest of Homo sapiens sapiens in Europe are referred to as the Cro-Magnon. The oldest "European Early Modern Humans" was dated 45,000 calendar years before present.
Cro-Magnon was not as strong as Neanderthal, but was taller with more advanced technology and "culture".
Sea Monsters
When dinosaurs walked the earth, similar sized creatures ruled the seas.
Pliosaurs
Pliosauroidea is an extinct clade of marine reptiles. Pliosauroids, also commonly known as pliosaurs, are known from the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. The pliosauroids were short-necked plesiosaurs with large heads and massive toothed jaws. These swimming reptiles were not dinosaurs but distant cousins of modern lizards. They originally included only members of the family Pliosauridae, of the order Plesiosauria, but several other genera and families are now also included, the number and details of which vary according to the classification used.
Plesiosauroids
These had long, snake-like necks, tiny heads, and wide bodies. They ate small sea creatures, probably using their long necks like a snake to catch their prey. They included:
Plesiosaurus - 7.6 feet (2.3 m) long - with a long neck, 4 wide, paddle-shaped flippers, and a tapered body. From England and Germany during the early Jurassic period.
Cryptocleidus - 13 feet (4 m) long - with curved, interlocking teeth and large flippers. From England during the late Jurassic period.
Muraenosaurus - 20 feet (6 m) long - with a very long neck, and a wide body. From England and France during the late Jurassic period.
Woolungosaurus - 26-33 feet (8-10 m) long - with a very long neck. From Queensland, Australia, during the early Cretaceous period, about 110 million years ago.
Elasmosaurus - 46 feet (14 m) long with an extremely long neck that was up to half of its length. It had and had 71 vertebrae, 28 of which were in its neck. It had four very long paddle-like flippers, and a short, pointed tail. From Japan and Kansas, USA, during the late Cretaceous period.
Thalassomedon - 40 feet (12 m) long with a very long neck (the neck had 63 vertebrae). From Colorado, USA, during the late Cretaceous periodPliosauroids
These large heads with very strong jaws, short necks, and resembled modern-day whales. They ate larger sea creatures. They included:
Macroplata - 15 feet (4.5 m) long with long, toothed jaws and a long neck (with 29 vertebrae). From England during the early Jurassic period.
Peloneustes - 10 feet (3 m) long with a big head, streamlined body, long head, and relatively few, not very sharp teeth. The neck had only about 20 vertebrae. Fossilized stomach containing suckers from cephalopods (e.g., squids) have been found. From England and eastern Europe during the late Jurassic period.
Kronosaurus - 30 feet (9 m) long with a short neck and huge head and jaws. The flat-topped head was up to 9 feet (2.7 m) long, about 1/4 of the entire length of the body. From Queensland, Australia during the early Cretaceous period. It was among the largest pliosaurs, and is named after the leader of the Greek Titans, Cronus.
Liopleurodon - 39-49 feet (12-15 m) long with a large head, short neck, powerful jaws and teeth, and four long, wide, strong flippers. It had a whale-like appearance. From England, France, Germany, and eastern Europe during the late Jurassic period.
Pliosaurus - 33-40 ft (10-12 m) long and the crocodile-like skull was 5-6.6 ft (1.5-2 m) long. From England and South America during the Jurassic period. May be the same as Liopleurodon.
Megalodon
If you think Jaws was big, he was a just a mackerel to the megalodon. These lived lived roughly from 28 to 1.5 million years ago, during the Cenozoic Era and well after the age of dinosaurs.
Dinosaur Toysoys
There are too many dinosaur toys to even attempt to list.
Lego Duplo Dinosaurs
Dupo are a similar scale to Playmobil and had a few runs of really cute and playable toys. The Lego design allows you to connect mini figs and baby dinosaurs to the back of larger dinosaurs for a ride or to use them as pack mules to carry blocks or supplies.
See our Duplo Dinosaur Page for more information.
Playmobil Dinosaurs
Playmobil has always made high quality and well designed toys. These are similar to the Lego Duplo scale, but look much more realistic than the Duplo version of these prehistoric creatures.
Dinosaur and Caveman Movies
Dinosaur and caveman movies are some of the most entertaining films around for younger and older boys alike.
See our Dinosaur Movie Page for more information.
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