Dinosaur Day: Fun facts about dinosaurs
Dinosaur Day is celebrated twice, on May 15 and June 1, by dinosaur fanatics. On this day, they share facts about dinosaurs and do much more. Did you know the smallest discovered dinosaur egg was only three centimeters long? Not a lot of us know such interesting details about the ancient creatures. On this Dinosaur Day, let's go through some fun facts about them.
Dinosaurs ruled Earth for 160 million years
People have only been on Earth for about 2.5 million years, but dinosaurs lived on for about 160 million years, which is almost 64 times longer than humans have been around. Dinosaurs often swallowed large rocks to grind food in the belly. Dinosaurs lived on all the continents, even in Antarctica. It is speculated some dinosaurs lived for 200 years!
Huge animals with small-sized brains
One of the most intelligent dinosaurs was Troodon, a hunting bird-like dinosaur. About 11 feet tall, it had a brain size similar to a bird in the present day. Troodon had stereoscopic vision like humans, grasping hands, and behaviors common with both birds and crocodiles. Similarly, the Stegosaurus' body was the size of a van, but the brain was the size of a walnut!
Some dinosaurs measured over 100 feet in length
Baby Mussaurus or "mouse lizard" is the smallest dinosaur skeleton ever found. The largest dinosaur eggs (about 19 inches long) ever found were of a meat-eater in Asia called Stegosaurus ("slow lizard"). The Argentinosaurus was the largest dinosaur discovered and is the largest land animal ever known. Some Argentinosaurus may have been over 100 feet from head to tail.
Theories about the extinction of dinosaurs
Many scientists believe that a meteorite of six miles in diameter hit the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico 65.5 million years ago. It collided with tremendous force, sending shockwaves all around and causing the extinction of dinosaurs. Another theory says that small mammals kept eating dinosaur eggs until the population became unsustainable. Others believe that climate change may have caused mass extinction.
Paleontology reference
Over 700 different species of dinosaurs have so far been identified and named, but paleontologists believe there are many more to be discovered. The largest, most complete, and best-preserved Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever found was named Sue. Megalosaurus was the first dinosaur to be ever named. Reverend William Buckland did the honors in 1824. It was about nine meters long and three meters tall.
