The Age of Dinosaurs, or the eras and periods of the earth. History of Dinosaurs

The Age of Dinosaurs, or Eras and Periods of the Earth

Scientists have identified several stages in the history of the Earth. They are called "era". Eras are divided into periods, each of which lasted several tens of millions of years. In different books The beginning and end years of eras and periods may vary slightly: There are different opinions in science. The Paleozoic era, or Paleozoic, began 570 million years ago. Over the 340 million years that it lasted, the living world changed amazingly. The waters and land were populated. Vertebrates arose (although the time of mammals and birds had not yet come). The living world has become incredibly diverse. But the molecules that made up the organisms of that time remained approximately the same. These molecules have changed little to this day. So the molecules that make up the human body are very similar to the molecules, for example, of an ancient crustacean. The Paleozoic era is divided into 6 periods: Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian. At the beginning of the Paleozoic, an amazing “explosion” of life occurred: many species of invertebrates were formed. But at first this happened only in water, especially in warm seas. The land remained deserted. Mastering sushi. Somewhat earlier than 400 million years ago, plants began to populate the land. At first they were inconspicuous sprouts. But after millions of years, the Earth was overgrown with dense forests. Following plants, invertebrate animals mastered life on land. The abundance of food on land attracted lobe-finned fish. Only they could, relying on their unusual limbs, move outside the water. And primitive lungs allowed these fish to breathe air. Many millions of years passed, and lobe-finned fish, gradually changing, turned into new biological species. But these were already animals of a new class - the class of amphibians (amphibians). Carboniferous period Paleozoic era(or carbon for short). Began 345 and ended 280 million years ago. In the humid heat, forests grew quickly and abundantly. After millions of years, these trees turned into coal. Amphibians reigned in the swamps and surrounding forests. And tiny ones. And huge five-meter tailed predatory stegocephals. At the end of the Carboniferous, the first reptiles appeared. The Permian period, or Permian (280-230 million years ago), was marked by the rapid emergence of new species of reptiles. The Mesozoic Era, or Mesozoic, began 230 million years ago and lasted 165 million years. During this time, higher (flowering) plants arose. Giant lizards (dinosaurs, ichthyosaurs and others) appeared, reigned on the planet and mysteriously died. Mammals and birds evolved. The Triassic period of the Mesozoic, or Triassic (230-190 million years ago) was marked by the dominance of reptiles on land, in water and in the air. The most famous of these reptiles are dinosaurs. Dinosaurs walked either on four legs or on two. It is very likely that some dinosaur species were warm-blooded. Judging by the tracks of dinosaurs and the remains of the eggs they laid, these animals were caring parents. Dinosaurs laid eggs in piles of plant debris. As these remains decomposed, they released heat, and the clutch of eggs was heated. And the mother, remaining nearby, guarded the nest (the relatives of dinosaurs, crocodiles, also do this). Recently, paleontologists discovered traces of the tragedy: a small skeleton of a female dinosaur lying on a fossilized clutch of eggs. Probably the mother warmed the eggs and died, but did not leave them. It is possible that eggs of some other species also incubated dinosaurs. It is unknown what color the skin of dinosaurs was. Perhaps, like many lizards today, snakes are bright and colorful. This is how artists draw dinosaurs. The name comes from Greek words meaning "horrible" And "lizard". In fact, not all dinosaurs are “terrible.” Dinosaurs of the Triassic period were, as a rule, small, graceful, fast animals. They ran on their hind legs, and their long tail helped them maintain balance. And in the next almost one and a half hundred million years, when dinosaurs dominated the land, they were mostly small. Some are as tall as a man, some are a little bigger, and some are as big as a chicken. The Jurassic period of the Mesozoic, or Jurassic (190-135 million years ago) is the era of the appearance of gigantic dinosaurs. Supergiants. During Jurassic period the largest animals on land appeared - . A heavy body on thick legs, with massive blunt claws on the toes. The neck is long. The tail is even longer. Without moving, moving only their necks, they plucked and ate whole mountains of greenery.

The brain of sauropods is too small in relation to the body - about the size of a fist, or even less. Despite this, the behavior of these lizards was most likely complex. They lived in herds (judging by the fossilized traces). Perhaps together they defended themselves from predators that appeared in the Jurassic. But how did they fight back? This is unknown.

Powerful predator of the Jurassic period. A fast animal weighing about a ton, armed with huge claws and teeth that look like curved daggers. Allosaurs attacked large herbivorous dinosaurs in packs. Carnivorous dinosaurs could not chew food with their cutting teeth. They swallowed pieces of meat whole. With their teeth, predators ripped open the tough skin of their prey and crushed bones.

The largest of these dinosaurs reached 9 m in length. Such a mountain consumed tons of green food. Sharp long bone spikes stood out on the tail to fight off predators. The bone plates on the back are apparently shields, salvation from enemy teeth and claws. The Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic, or Cretaceous (135-65 million years ago) is the era when dinosaurs and other reptiles continued to rule the Earth. And at the same time everything became more mammals(they appeared in the Triassic) and birds (they appeared in the Jurassic). Mammals lived side by side with dinosaurs for many millions of years, hiding and running away from these ferocious predators. It was no easier for the birds: although dinosaurs could not fly, they even reached bird nests in the trees. Reptiles in the sky. Pterosaurs (the name of the order of winged reptiles) took to the air at the end of the Triassic period and flew until the end of the Cretaceous. Each of their wings consisted of a leather membrane that was stretched between the body, limbs and one of the surprisingly long fingers of the forelimb. The remaining fingers were ordinary, and the reptiles clung to branches and stones with them, resting.

Animals with thin, hollow (like bird) bones. The first pterosaurs had a tail and teeth. After millions of years, pterosaurs got rid of this “heaviness”. Pterosaurs were obviously warm-blooded. Their body was covered with hairs - “wool”. The brain of these reptiles was well developed. Small pterosaurs (from 8 cm in wingspan) caught insects. Large ones (wingspan 1 meter, 2, and 6 meters) snatched fish, cephalopods and other food from the water. Surely pterosaurs nursed their young. Pterosaurs are not dinosaurs! Reptiles that are not extinct. During Mesozoic era snakes, turtles, lizards, and crocodiles appeared. They were not very different from the current ones. Reptiles in the sea. The most adapted to life in water were ichthyosaurs. They appeared back in the Triassic. Outwardly, they are strikingly similar to dolphins. The reason is the same lifestyle. Only the tail fin of ichthyosaurs is not horizontal, like that of dolphins, but vertical.

In water, reptiles have no place to lay eggs, so ichthyosaurs immediately gave birth to “ready” babies. A variety of long-necked plesiosaurs, crocodile-like giant mososaurs, and other aquatic lizards hunted fish and cephalopods. And sometimes they fought fiercely with each other. All fossil aquatic reptiles are not dinosaurs! Predatory lizards were distinguished by a relatively large and developed brain, and their behavior was complex. Apparently, some even knew how to hunt together, “coordinating” their actions. Catastrophe. To end Cretaceous period reptiles dominated on land and sea. It was at the end of the Cretaceous that the largest land predator of all eras appeared -. About 65 million years ago, dinosaurs and pterosaurs disappeared almost simultaneously, all sea lizards. They all died out without leaving descendants. Died cephalopods- ammonites and belemnites. What happened? What is the cause of this environmental disaster? There are many assumptions, and all of them are controversial. Here is one of them: a colossal meteorite, even an asteroid, crashed into the Earth. The monstrous explosion created such a cloud of dust that sunlight faded for a long time. Living conditions deteriorated so much that the dinosaurs could not bear it. Everything is very likely. But why did the closest relatives of dinosaurs - crocodiles - survive this ecological disaster? The causes of the great extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period are still a mystery to science. Birds appeared on Earth in the Jurassic period. The first fossil bird found was named.

The ancestors of birds are very close to the ancestors of dinosaurs and crocodiles. External resemblance birds and dinosaurs - no doubt. There are many similarities in other properties of the body of these animals (for example, scales on the legs of birds). However, one cannot assume that birds are descendants of dinosaurs. They are their close relatives. Archeopteryx was covered in feathers. Undoubtedly, he was warm-blooded. He could fly, but not for long. However, the skeleton of the tail of Archeopteryx is almost like that of a lizard (later this part of the spine disappeared in birds). The mouth is toothy. There is no beak yet. But there were three fingers left on each wing - to cling to tree branches. It is still unclear how the small (magpie-sized) Archeopteryx used its wings. Did he flutter from branch to branch? Or he ran on the ground and, jumping and flapping his wings, grabbed flying insects with his teeth and escaped from predators. Archeopteryx still has many signs of reptiles. Gradually, such signs became less and less. Already in the Cretaceous period there were many various birds shouted (they didn’t know how to sing yet) in the treetops. In swift, agile flight, the birds snatched prey from under the beaks of less agile pterosaurs. Mammals. The first mammals appeared at the end of the Triassic period - later than dinosaurs, earlier than birds. The ancestors of mammals were animal-like reptiles. They differed in many ways from other reptiles - the ancestors of dinosaurs. The beasts were most likely warm-blooded animals (at least many of them). Probably, instead of scales, their skin was covered with hair. There were other features of the body. So, there were many different glands on the skin that secreted sweat and other fluids. Perhaps in some species of these animal-like reptiles the glands secreted a liquid similar to milk. Such liquid could be licked and thus fed by the hatchlings from the eggs (as baby platypus do today). Then the cubs began to be born and develop as it happens today in marsupials. Finally, a special organ arose for feeding the baby inside the mother’s body - the placenta. The first mammals were small animals (like a shrew, like a hedgehog). For many millions of years they existed secretly in dangerous world dinosaurs. Apparently they were hiding in the thickets. They hunted only at night, for insects, shellfish, and other edible things. Perhaps they ate reptile eggs. , or Cenozoic. It began approximately 65 million years ago and continues to this day. During this time, mammals conquered land, water and air. Adapting to new living conditions, mammals have changed. Evolution continued.

Hi all! Today we will talk about animals that reigned on Earth in the past. Now we will look at who are dinosaurs? Let's look at predators and herbivores, and also find out what parents dinosaurs were and some theories of their extinction.

After reigning on Earth for 160 million years, dinosaurs disappeared from the face of the planet about 65 million years ago. Where did these giant reptiles come from? What did they really look like and why did they go extinct?

Dinosaur translated from Greek means a terrible or terrible lizard. About dinosaurs scientific knowledge are formed mainly from the study of fossils, which have been turned into stone by the fossil remains of animals or plants.

Modern paleontologists have a fairly clear idea of how dinosaurs originated, what their lifestyle was, anatomy, habitat, species diversity, distribution and reproduction in prehistoric form.

Experts can judge from minor flaws in fossilized bones about the muscular system of dinosaurs, but they judge from the appearance of individual bones what illnesses these ancient lizards suffered from.

If you carefully study the skull of a dinosaur that died 200 million years ago, this will give an idea of the dinosaur's nutritional structure and the size of its brain.

Fossil eggs reveal the story of baby dinosaurs. But such hypotheses as, for example, whether ancient reptiles had hair and what color their skin was, confirmation is much more difficult to find.

Age of dinosaurs.

From its origin, approximately 4500 million years ago, the entire history of the Earth is divided into eras (you can learn more about the geological history of the Earth). Most of the Mesozoic or Middle era is covered by the era of dinosaurs.

The Mesozoic era, in turn, consists of three periods - Triassic (225 - 185 million years ago), Jurassic (185 - 140 million years ago) and Cretaceous (140 - 70 million years ago).

Even before dinosaurs appeared, reptiles existed on Earth. Many new species arose at the beginning of the Triassic period. These are, for example, the fleet-footed cinodonts (“dog-toothed”), which hunted clumsy herds of herbivores.

Like most modern lizards, the paws ancient reptiles were located on the sides of the body. They were replaced by archosaurs (“dominant lizards”).

One group of these reptiles differed from all others in their body structure - their limbs were located vertically under the body.

That successful skeletal structure that we find in their descendant dinosaurs probably originates from here.

The first real dinosaurs walked the Earth towards the end of the Triassic period. However, the heyday of their era occurred in the Cretaceous period, when the number and diversity of species of these reptiles reached their apogee.

Scientists today count over 1000 species of dinosaurs, which are clearly divided into two groups - carnivorous and herbivorous dinosaurs.

Sauropods.

Dinosaurs ranged in size from giant sauropods to small predatory Compsognathus, which were no larger than a rooster.

These were herbivorous giants with a huge body, a small head and long neck, like a giraffe, which allowed them to reach the tops of trees to feast on the most delicious leaves.

They tore leaves from trees with teeth that looked like nails, and chewed them into a homogeneous mass with blunt molars. Diplodocus (“double lizard”) reached a length of 26 meters and weighed 11 tons.

The brachiosaurus was 28 meters long, 13 meters high and weighed 100 tons - the same as 16 African elephants. They ate only plants and to survive they had to eat about a ton of leaves a day.

In the skeletons of some fossil sauropods, huge stones were found in the place where the stomach should have been. These ingested stones apparently helped to crush leaves and rough twigs during the digestion process.

Self-defense.

Many herbivorous dinosaurs moved in groups in search of food. To more successfully fight off predators, they often gathered in large herds.

Triceratops did this to protect its young. Adults, in the event of an attack, surrounded the young in much the same way as elephants do now.

However, many “peaceful” dinosaurs were also decently armed. Like a rhinoceros, the Triceratops rushed into battle and pierced its enemy with two huge sharp horns, which were located in the frontal part of the snout.

Pinacosaurs stunned their opponents with blows from a heavy bone growth at the tip of their tail. Other herbivorous dinosaurs, like Stegosaurus, were protected by rows of large bony plates along their backs and sharp tail spines.

Tyrannosaurus

Predatory dinosaurs were allowed to tear their prey to pieces sharp teeth curved inwards, and was held in place by sharp and long claws.

The largest of carnivorous dinosaurs there was a tyrannosaurus ("titan lizard"), it weighed 8 tons and was 12 meters tall.

Its curved teeth reached 16 cm in length - almost as long as a human palm (depending on which one, of course).

Dinosaurs, despite their size, could move very quickly. Long-legged “ostrich” dinosaurs could run at speeds of up to 50 km/h.

Of course, such heavyweight dinosaurs, such as the 35-ton Apatosaurus, probably moved at the speed of a modern elephant, and the 100-ton clumsy Brachiosaurus could hardly move at a speed of more than 4 km/h (like human walking).

Sauropods needed strong legs to move. A springy heel-to-toe step, like a human one, required a very large expenditure of energy, and a large dinosaur would not have gone far with such a step.

Sauropods (i.e., giant "lizard-footed" creatures) ran rather than walked. To support the massive body, their limbs had to step on the entire plane of the sole.

And therefore, between the “heel” and the toes they had a thick keratinized cushion, just like a modern elephant’s sole.

Caring parents.

It was long believed that dinosaurs built nests and laid eggs. But how the young animals were raised remained a mystery; and only in 1978 this curtain was lifted when a nest with newborn babies and eggshell V American state Montana.

The length of the eggs did not exceed 20 cm, and some hatchlings were up to 1 meter long. These dinosaurs were very large for newborns, which means they still remained in the nests. for a long time after birth.

Scientists, based on these data, came to the following conclusion: parents cared for their babies until they were old enough and could take care of themselves.

Many of the cubs found in Montana had worn teeth. This means that their parents fed them in the nest, as birds do now.

Some experts had doubts that the giant parents were capable of feeding their offspring without causing harm.

But, largest reptile our days, the alligator also nurses its offspring and does it with the greatest care.

There is growing evidence that some large species of dinosaurs, like mammals, were viviparous.

Since many dinosaurs were constantly moving to escape from enemies and in search of food, they did not have time to lay eggs and then wait weeks or even months for small dinosaurs to appear and grow up.

And besides, the largest dinosaur egg that has been found does not exceed 30 cm in length. The baby that hatched from it was not much larger, and it would have to grow very quickly in order to reach the size of an adult dinosaur.

And therefore, some scientists have put forward a theory according to which largest dinosaurs were born alive - and quite large.

The first fossils.

For hundreds of years, people have encountered fossilized dinosaur bones, but few of them could have guessed what they were. Some even considered them to be the bones of giant men!

It was only in the 1920s that people began to realize that they were looking at the remains of extinct giant reptiles.

In 1822, Gideon Mantell found some huge teeth in a quarry in Sussex County, in the south of England.

He, after noting the similarity of these teeth with the teeth of the South American lizard iguana, guessed that the found teeth belonged to a reptile, and came up with the name iguanodon, i.e. “iguan-toothed” for it.

Dinosaur fossils are found in almost every corner of the world. They are found on all continents, including Antarctica.

Teeth and bones are found most often because these skeletal elements are much less susceptible to decomposition than soft tissues (viscera, skin).

Footprints take second place. They are in many cases found on paths that dinosaurs made in soft ground.

Who hunted whom, as well as the places of settlement of the lizards, can be determined by their tracks. Fossilized footprints are called residual fossils because they do not actually belong to the animal itself.

Coprolites (fossilized dinosaur excrement) are dissected and examined, along with intestinal contents and stomach stones, to find out what the ancient dinosaurs ate.

Imprints of dinosaur skin have also been found. They can tell a lot about the plastic armor of their owners.

No one knows what color dinosaurs were. Their skin, without having time to petrify, decomposes too quickly.

Predatory lizards, according to some scientists, had a protective coloration, which allowed them to blend into the terrain and sneak up on prey unnoticed.

Other reptiles, herbivores for example, were very large and could not be afraid of predators, and they may have had bright colors in order to attract the opposite sex.

Sudden death.

Dinosaurs went extinct about 65 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period. There are several theories on this matter, but paleontologists still cannot give a convincing explanation for the reason for their death.

According to one theory, A star exploded near Earth, covering the planet with deadly radiation.

At one time, scientists put forward such a theory that, being cold-blooded animals that are not able to regulate their own body temperature, they simply died out from the cold snap that swept the entire planet at the end of the Cretaceous period.

But now, when evidence has appeared that some species of lizards were warm-blooded, this theory no longer explains the mystery of their death.

In Mexico, on the Yucatan Peninsula, traces of a giant crater were discovered. This suggests that a huge meteorite collided with the Earth, and this collision was accompanied by a powerful explosion.

Huge clouds of dust rose into the atmosphere (more about the atmosphere), which hid the sun for several months, and this led to the destruction of almost all life on Earth.

Winters have become colder or summer heat strengthened, we benefited from it small mammals that are capable of hibernating. This is another theory of the extinction of dinosaurs; by the way, it is the most popular and widespread.

But the real reason We will apparently never know the death of the dinosaurs.

Well, that's all about these terrible lizards. I hope that this article helped you find out who dinosaurs were and who they really were. But there is still a lot of unknown in this area, and I think that scientists will gradually find answers to these riddles...

Life on our planet began about 4.5 billion years ago, but for more than 4 billion years it existed in the form of very primitive, tiny single-celled creatures that could not yet be divided into animals and plants.

Gradually, organisms became more complex and diverse. In the Cambrian period, about 550 million years ago, algae, sponges, mollusks, worms, coelenterates and many other new forms of life appeared. This time was called the "Cambrian explosion". Millions of years passed. The first vertebrates arose in the ancient seas - fish-like fish and lobe-finned fish.

The turning point in the evolution of life on Earth was the emergence of animals from water to land. This process took long time- about 100 million years. At first, lobe-finned fish came onto land only for a short time. True terrestrial vertebrates - armored-headed amphibians, or stegocephals - appeared in the Devonian after their ancestors learned to get food on land. IN Carboniferous period Stegocephalians began to be replaced by the first reptiles that appeared - cotylosaurs, which became the ancestors of all other groups of reptiles. In the middle of the Permian period, cotilosaurs became extinct, giving way to more developed animal-like vertebrates - therapsids, among which there were herbivores and predatory species. Animal-like animals remained the most common reptiles in the Early Triassic. At the end of the Permian period, thecodonts, or archosaurs, the most ancient lizards, appeared. The evolution of reptiles proceeded very quickly and violently. The Mesozoic era became the real kingdom of reptiles. It began about 235 million years ago and lasted approximately 160 million years. The Mesozoic is divided into three periods: Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous. The first two periods were much shorter than the third, which spans about 70 million years. At that time, there were no competitors for reptiles from other animals, therefore, under the influence of a variety of living conditions, the most different types reptiles. They have adapted to the most different conditions terrestrial environment. Subsequently, many of them secondarily adapted to life in water (ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs). Some became aerial animals (pterosaurs). At the end of the Triassic period, the first land turtles and crocodiles appeared, which survived everything natural disasters and have survived to this day. Dinosaurs also appeared in the Triassic period. The oldest known dinosaurs were Eoraptor and Herrerasaurus.

Main groups of dinosaurs

Dinosaurs descended from thecodonts, namely from slender, fleet-footed ornithosuchians, which are considered the direct ancestors of dinosaurs. Among dinosaurs, there are two groups: ornithischians and lizards. The pelvis of the first group is similar to the pelvis of birds, and the second is similar to the pelvis modern reptiles. Ornithischians also had an additional bone at the end of the lower jaw that covered the jaws in the form of a horny beak. There was another group of dinosaurs - segnosaurs. Their structure had features of both ornithischians and saurians, and some features are generally characteristic only of segnosaurs

In the Jurassic period, lizards flourished. The first of them were predators, they ran on strong hind legs and grabbed prey with their front legs. Later, herbivorous species evolved from carnivorous dinosaurs. They needed a huge amount of food, their body weight was constantly increasing. They used all four limbs while walking. Based on the structure of their legs, they were called lizard-footed dinosaurs, or sauropods. This group includes 40 genera. The bipedal predators were called beast-footed dinosaurs, or theropods. There are 150 genera.

Lizard-hipped dinosaurs Theropods

These dinosaurs walked on their hind legs with three toes armed with sharp claws. Some of them were ferocious hunters, others were scavengers. All theropods had backward-curved teeth. They did not know how to chew food and swallowed whole pieces of prey. They came in a variety of shapes and sizes - from a sixty-centimeter saltop to a fourteen-meter tyrannosaurus.

At the end of the Triassic period, small and very graceful coelurosaurs existed. They had light, hollow bones. They ran very fast on long hind legs, the front legs were half as long. To hunt, coelurosaurs gathered in packs, so they could attack large animals. This group includes the three-meter-long Coelophysis (“hollow form”) and the five-meter-long Halypicosaurus (“agile lizard”). Even more graceful species of coelurosaurs lived during the Jurassic period. These are a two-meter ornitholestes (“bird predator”) and compsognathus (“graceful jaw”), only 60 cm long and weighing 3kg. According to one hypothesis, Archiopteryx evolved from coelurosaurs. The descendants of Coelophysis also became powerful predators (Allosaurus, raptors, tyrannosaurus).

60 Allosaurus ("another reptile") skeletons have been found in deposits from the late Jurassic period. The largest of them reached 12 m in length and weighed 1-2 tons. Allosaurus had three toes with curved claws on its front paws. Its teeth had sharp, serrated back edges that cut through hide and bone like a saw.

Its close relatives, even more gigantic (up to 13m in length and weighing up to 7t), lived in the Late Cretaceous period. These are Giganotosaurus ("giant southern lizard") and Carcharodontosaurus ("huge shark-toothed lizard"). The skull of the carcharodontosaurus reached one and a half meters in length, and its mouth was so large that it could swallow an adult person whole. One of the most dangerous predators of the Late Cretaceous there was a tyrannosaurus (“tyrant lizard”). Its height reached 5 m, length - up to 14 m, and weight - up to 5 tons or more. The meter-long skull of this bloodthirsty lizard, flattened on top and on the sides, had a huge mouth armed with fifteen-centimeter teeth.

In the Late Cretaceous period, there was also a nine-meter Gorgosaurus. Outwardly, it resembled a Tyrannosaurus rex, but weighed about a ton or a little more. In its monstrous mouth there were 60 sharp ten-centimeter teeth. Scientists suggest that Gorgosaurus was clumsy, and therefore probably a poor hunter. The most accessible food for him could be slow animals, carrion and the remains of meals of other predators.

Even larger (14m or more in length, 6m in height) was the Tarbosaurus (“terrifying lizard”), also similar in appearance to a tyrannosaurus.

Albertosaurus (length 9m, weight 2.5t) and Megalosaurus (length up to 9m, weight 1t) were not inferior to these dinosaurs in bloodthirstiness.

One of the most terrible predators During the Cretaceous period there were dromaeosaurs, or raptors. They were distinguished by a huge sickle-shaped claw on each hind leg. They hunted in herds, so they could attack animals larger than themselves. Before biting the victim, raptors used grasping arms and long claws on their legs.

The most ancient raptor was Velociraptor, which lived in the Late Jurassic period. Its length was from one and a half to 4 m, weight up to 100 kg. Its sickle-shaped claw reached 15 - 20 cm. Deinonychus (“terrible claw”) had similar claws. Its height did not exceed one and a half meters, and its length was 3 -4 m. Average weight these lizards weighed 70-80kg. The largest of this group was Utahraptor (“Utah kidnapper”), which lived in the Early Cretaceous period. It reached 6 m in length and weighed about 900 kg. Towards the end of the age of dinosaurs, in the Late Cretaceous period, some raptors became increasingly bird-like. This is reflected in their names: avimim (“imitating a bird”), strutomim (“imitating an ostrich”), dromshcheomim (“imitating a chicken”). They could eat not only meat, but also fruits and soft parts of plants, and also caught insects. Instead of teeth, they had keratinized jaws. And oviraptor (“egg stealer”) had only one tooth for splitting the shells of large mollusks, the meat of which it ate. A bone appeared on the wrist of these lizards, thanks to which raptors could move their forelimbs to the sides, just as birds spread their wings. These long-legged animals apparently ran faster than other dinosaurs and were still predators. For example, Troodon ("tearing teeth") had big eyes and keen hearing. Apparently he was a good hunter. Ostrich-like dromaeosaurs were an intermediate link between Archiopteryx and birds.

The word “dinosaur,” which translates as “terrible lizard,” appeared in 1842, when humanity was just trying to figure out what kind of bones were being discovered during excavations. It was then that the science of paleontology was born. The history of dinosaurs has since been rewritten several times, and this moment There are many versions about their origin, formation and extinction. Let's consider the most common and relatively official option.

The birth of dinosaurs

Attempts to explain in simple language The history of dinosaurs in a film or cartoon has been repeated many times, but the events that preceded their appearance on our planet were practically not covered anywhere. As you know, the ancestors of these creatures are reptiles and birds. In particular, crocodiles existing at the moment have the most similar features to ancient monsters. About 300 million years ago, when lizards as we know them already existed, a serious climate change occurred. Rainforests were largely destroyed, and the remnants of life huddled in the remaining small enclaves. This gave the first impetus to the enormous diversity of species, as each population developed independently of each other and tried to adapt to the conditions in which it existed. And they differed greatly in different regions. This is how the ancestors of dinosaurs appeared, scientists called archosaurs.

First types

The history of dinosaurs, at least as they are presented modern man, began approximately 200-245 million years ago. There is practically no exact data about the features and differences of these creatures in comparison with later samples, but one thing can be stated for sure:

They were bipedal (dinosaurs with four legs appeared a little later, although the reverse situation would have seemed logical).
The creatures were quite large, mostly reaching 2-4 meters in height.
They were all cold-blooded. Because of this, the need for food, despite its impressive size, was not too great.
At the initial stages of development, most likely, there were no flying species of these dinosaurs.

In general, humanity knows very little about this period. Most of the information is guesses and theories based on various findings and indirect data. So things could have been completely different.

The Last Dinosaurs

The size of the “terrible lizards” gradually increased, and this continued until approximately the end of the Jurassic period (this was about 145 million years ago). In the middle of their life cycle, dinosaurs reached enormous sizes (up to 12 meters in height and 1 ton net weight). During the “reign” of these monsters, no other species could simply even conditionally lay claim to dominance on the planet. Even later, in the Cretaceous period (65 million years ago), creatures began to become smaller. According to some reports, they developed the rudiments of feathers, and even warm-blooded species arose. Based on available information, the number of predators has decreased significantly, and, accordingly, the number of herbivores has increased. As a result, rare hunters have truly become real “killing machines.” They moved quickly, could cope with most opponents, had no shortage of food and were rightly considered at that time the pinnacle of evolution.

Mass extinction

The situation with the disappearance of this type of living creatures is well shown in the cartoon “The History of Dinosaurs.” Of course, the information there is more aimed at children, but active volcanoes, drought, lack of food and other similar problems could really cause the complete extinction of the prehistoric rulers of the planet. According to the official version, it all started with a huge meteorite that fell somewhere in the region of what is now Mexico. Upon impact, a large amount of dust rose into the atmosphere, sharply reducing the temperature on the surface (a similar situation is called “nuclear winter” and could become a reality if countries try to solve their problems with nuclear weapons). Along the way, the impact on the Earth activated dormant volcanoes. As a result, the simultaneous impact of several factors at once led to the fact that dinosaurs simply did not have time to adapt and within short period almost completely extinct. Most likely, some individuals remained, but they could not survive in the new world, in which other dominant species appeared. Many people think that this particular dinosaur story is for children. Allegedly, in reality everything was completely different. Unfortunately, in the future, scientists disagree in their opinions, and no one can yet come up with a clear theory about how everything really happened.

A lot of intriguing and mysterious things are shown in documentaries"The History of Dinosaurs" from popular science channels. True, they cannot be called documentary, since there are no documents, but everything there was reconstructed very competently. Nevertheless, every year more and more discoveries are made that radically change the understanding of dinosaurs as such. Let's see what interesting facts it reveals to us modern history dinosaurs.

Despite the fact that it was believed that dinosaurs were almost a mistake of nature (too small a brain, heavy weight, strictly limited diet, and so on), they managed to dominate the planet for more than 130 million years. The history of man as such, if we take our more or less intelligent ancestors, at best, dates back 100 thousand years. So it is not a fact that in the distant future some new species will not be considered a mistake by modern humans.
Tyrannosaurus, known in many films and literature as the most terrible and huge dinosaur, in fact was not one. There were even larger creatures, however, unlike this predator, they were still not hunters.
The history of dinosaurs is still silent about why the tyrannosaurus even needs its small arms. Judging by the structure of the skeleton, he simply could not reach them anywhere. What makes it even more mysterious is the fact that these arms had very well developed muscles.
Stegosaurus plates were used primarily not for protection from predators, but for heat dissipation. That is, they played the role of a natural radiator, in one case cooling a huge dinosaur, and in another helping it more efficiently accumulate heat, which is extremely important for any cold-blooded creature.

Results

The history of dinosaurs is gradually acquiring new data, some of which contradict each other or do not fit into existing theories. For example, it is believed that dinosaurs and people could not have existed in the same period of history. Although there are very interesting stone finds on which ancient people quite reliably depicted the interaction between man and the “terrible lizard.” So far no one can say how everything really happened. We are not able to fully understand even own history, let alone what happened long before the appearance of man as such.

History of Dinosaurs conceals many mysteries that we, it seems, will not be able to solve. It is known that dinosaurs existed on the planet for more than 160 million years, between the Triassic and Cretaceous periods. From their bones we can guess what they looked like, what they ate, and what the life of these giants was like in general. But scientists even today cannot come to a consensus on one of the most important questions in the history of dinosaurs, namely: how did they die? Perhaps the reason for the extinction of dinosaurs will be better understood if we better study their life history.

Origin of the word "dinosaur"

First, let's talk about what dinosaurs are. Translated from Greek the word "dinosaur"- means "terrible lizard." This is what today they call the reptiles that lived on our planet in the Mesozoic era. The name was proposed by British archaeologist Richard Owen, the founder of paleontology, in the 19th century. He wanted to emphasize in this way the enormous size of the discovered fossils.

As you probably know, all history is conventionally divided into eras. Now Cenozoic era, and dinosaurs lived during the Mesozoic era, which was divided into the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The story of dinosaurs has begun during the Triassic period, approximately 225 million years ago.

Dinosaurs were not the first reptiles. Before them, the planet was dominated by more familiar lizards, whose paws were located on the sides. But after global warming, which occurred approximately 300 million years ago, new, larger species of reptiles began to emerge. One of them was an archosaur, which is the direct ancestor of all dinosaurs. Presumably, he was one of the first lizards whose paws were located below the body.

Dinosaurs in the Triassic period

The beginning of the Triassic period is characterized by the appearance large quantity new species of reptiles, many of which walked on two hind legs. Archaeological evidence tells us that one of the oldest dinosaur species in history was Staurikosaurus, which lived 230 million years ago in what is now Brazil. In addition to him, then there were cynodonts, orythozchids, aetosaurs and many other species. They turned out to be more adaptable to life than other animal species, and by the end of the Triassic period, giant reptiles began to dominate the entire world.

Dinosaurs of the Jurassic period

Having become the masters of the Earth, dinosaurs settled throughout the planet, populating mountains, swamps, forests and depths of the sea. Soon winged lizards appeared and took over the sky. This time in dinosaur history is characterized by great diversity among dinosaur species. The species of dinosaurs were so different in appearance that it is difficult to believe that they family ties. Among them were giants like Diplodocus, and small lizards, such as Compsognathus.

Dinosaurs in the Cretaceous period

During the Cretaceous period, dinosaurs reached their peak as the number of species increased significantly. There are many more herbivores as many new plants appeared on Earth. Naturally, the number of predators has also increased. It was during the Cretaceous period that the famous tyrannosaurus. His fame is well deserved, because he was the greatest predatory dinosaur: with a height of up to 12 meters, its weight could be equal to eight tons, that is, it far exceeded the mass of an elephant. In addition to him, other famous species lived at this time, such as Triceratops and Orcheopteryx.

The Mystery of the Death of the Dinosaurs

At the end of the Cretaceous period, approximately 65 million years ago, dinosaurs mysteriously died. Besides them, other lizards and some species became extinct sea creatures. The event that led to this still remains one of the most difficult riddles in the history of dinosaurs. It is not even known whether this happened instantly or whether the extinction lasted hundreds of years. There are many hypotheses, but each of them has its own weak spots. According to one of them, the death of dinosaurs was a consequence of a meteorite fall. After this, ash and dust rose into the air, blocking the sun and thus causing the effect of “nuclear winter”. But this hypothesis does not explain the death of marine life, which should have been the last to be affected by the cold. Others say it's because a star exploded nearby, irradiating the Earth with deadly radiation. Still others claim that a cold snap occurred on earth, which killed the dinosaurs. Some even believe that dinosaurs were exterminated by ancient mammals by eating their eggs. In any case, they are no longer there. Perhaps science will someday be able to understand how this happened. After all, we only began to study this issue in the 19th century.

History of dinosaur science

People have repeatedly found dinosaur bones before, but mistook them for something else. For example, the ancient Greeks believed that these were the remains of soldiers who died during the siege of Troy. And with the advent of Christianity, the remains of reptiles were mistaken for the bones of giants who died during the great flood.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Richard Owen laid the foundation for our knowledge of dinosaurs, identifying their main features and identifying them as a separate subphylum of animals. His followers have been accumulating knowledge about these animals for centuries and discovering new varieties. Science does not stand still, so today we know much more about the life of these giants. Nowadays, about a thousand species of these creatures are identified, and work in this area continues.

The footprint of dinosaurs in human culture

Although these majestic animals died a long time ago and no one alive today could see them, these giant reptiles have left a huge mark on our culture. There are a huge number of books, films and other works dedicated to dinosaurs. First, Conan Doyle's The Lost World, which was later adapted into many films. Later there was “Jurassic Park,” based on Crichton’s work, and many other films. Coloring books, toys and cartoons about giant lizards are produced for children.

Even though they died millions of years ago, the history of dinosaurs and their mysterious extinction is still of great concern to the minds of not only scientists, but also ordinary people. Perhaps we are afraid of repeating their fate? After all, like them once, we dominate the Earth. But it is likely that the disappearance of dinosaurs will forever remain one of the many mysteries in the history of our planet that humanity will not be able to solve.

This section of the site is entirely dedicated to these giant animals. History of Dinosaurs, as well as a description different eras and eras are systematized and divided into separate lectures And lecture courses.