What Are Dinosaurs Essay

944 Words2 Pages

Life Before Humans
Over 65 million years ago, dinosaurs roamed and ruled the Earth. They were the top predators and where in an abundance of species. Today, scientist unearth their fossils and put them together to create an image of a lifetime. Even though no one was around when they were alive, we have an idea of what they looked like. If you have ever seen a dinosaur, you would probably think that they all were big giants that ate everything in sight! Although that is true, dinosaurs did eat almost everything, they weren’t all that big. Some of the dinosaurs that were recently discovered, were only the size of a domesticated chicken!

What Are Dinosaurs?
Dinosaurs were a diverse group of animals of the clade Dinosauria. In the Triassic period, 231.4 million years ago, the first dinosaurs appeared. They were the Herrerasaurus and the Eoraptor. They were the first (but not
Most scientists wonder if dinosaurs were affected by the same diseases and viruses that humans face today. Some of the fossils that they have found, showed signs of deformations that may have been caused by arthritis, cancer, or infection. Sense there were no veterinarians way back then, it was hard to tell what kind of different diseases or viruses that happened when dinosaurs were around. Modern reptiles are cousins to the dinosaurs, crocodiles are among the most ferocious reptiles alive today. Reptiles suffer from fewer diseases than warm-blooded animals, but reptiles do get sick. For example, an epidemic of Entamoeba invadens caused by the parasite amoebas swept through the London Zoo and killed a large number of reptiles and snakes. Many amphibians and reptiles have a gland, the Harderian gland, next to their eyes that washes excess salt out of their bodies. The glands form droplets sometimes called "crocodile tears." These glands can become infected, sometimes causing the animal to lose its sight, and snakes can get parasites from tick

Ceratopsians and Pachycephalosaurs
2049 Words | 5 Pages
...silophodon, a small, agile bipedal herbivore. The Ceratopsians appeared at beginning of cretaceous period from the family Ornithopoda. Pachycephalosaurs contained a ten inch thick skull, which was actually fairly fragile, and their first line of self defense would be to run away. Ceratopsians, which mean horned face, are large beasts with horns that can defend themselves pretty well. Both were very similar, but contained distinct differences.
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Cannibalism and Feeding Habits of Dinosaurs
768 Words | 2 Pages
...ories of why dinosaurs went extinct abound, and as there is no theory yet to be truly confirmed as the “right one”, my theory of dinosaur cannibalism is also purely anecdotal. The discovery of the cannibalistic Majungatholus atopus in Madagascar is an important scientific find because it confirms a long-standing theory of cannibalism among certain carnivorous dinosaurs. Behavioral patterns of extinct animals are difficult to establish; however, these bones give authentication to previous unfounded beliefs about the ancient feeding practices of some dinosaurs.
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Recreating Prehistoric Life: Jurassic Park
696 Words | 2 Pages
The idea of cloning dinosaurs and other prehistoric life became popularized by the 1992 film Jurassic Park (based on Michael Crichton’s 1990 novel). Though it may have sparked new interest into the field of paleontology, it did so with deceiving inaccuracies. However, the technical fallacies of the actual dinosaurs are somewhat forgivable as it added to the film’s dramatic appeal. Velociraptor, as depicted in the film, was about the size of a grown man. In reality, velociraptor came to about the kneecap. Furthermore, velociraptor would more likely have been covered in feathers rather than the lizard-like skin portrayed in the movie. One scene shows velociraptor fogging the window of a door. This is an endothermic or warm blooded trait as it implies the dromaeosaurid’s body temperature is above the temperature of his environment. There is also no evidence of dilophosaurus bearing a neck frill, and brachiosaurus did not have the ability to chew his food in a circular motion (iguanodon was the first dinosaur to develop this technique by acquiring back molars to allow for equine or bovine-like chewing). Fortunately, tyrannosaurus remained very close to his biological authenticity, with the only paleobiological errors stemming from a lack in computer animation such as rudimentary ball and joint programs. However, the erroneous nature of the deoxyribonucle...
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Tyrannosaurus Rex Was a Slow Runner
1263 Words | 3 Pages
Ever since we were young we have been fascinated by the dinosaurs. We have played with dinosaurs as children, watched documentaries as adults with interest, and watching movies with enjoyment. No dinosaur from the past strikes more fear in the present day to the average person then that of Tyrannosaurus Rex. For decades children have played with dinosaurs and had T-Rex dominating other dinosaurs by chasing them down and destroying them. We have seen it time and time again in movies. In Jurassic Park we saw T-Rex terrorize humans, cars, and other dinosaurs. We have even dreamt about it, but if a recent study is correct we are false in our fears.
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Warm Blooded Versus Cold Blooded Dinosaurs
1534 Words | 4 Pages
Dinosaurs were first believed to be cold-blooded because they were thought to be related closely to reptiles which are cold-blooded creatures. Cold-blooded animals don’t actually have “cold” blood, instead they rely on the temperature from their environment to regulate their own body temperature. They do this by taking advantage of external heat by basking in the sun, and by lying in the shade to cool down. A more correct term is “ectothermic” which means “heat from outside.” On the other hand, a warm-blooded animal creates heat internally by chemical reactions inside their body. They are able to regulate their body temperature internally instead of relying on their environment. Author of the article, “Dinosaurs: Warm or Cold Blooded?” Beverly Eschberger explains, “endothermic animals have a continually high requirement for food to fuel the heat generation. Providing they can find food their constantly-optimum body temperature means that they can stay active even when it is very cold” (par 3). Even though it was believed that dinosaurs were closely related to cold-blooded reptiles, most dinosaurs had similar behaviors of a bird which is a warm blooded animal. Believing dinosaurs were warm blooded would help explain the reason why dinosaurs were so dominant and plentiful for such a long period of time. There are many other factors that play a vital role in ...
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What Are Dinosaurs?
776 Words | 2 Pages
We use dinosaurs to represent the changes in nature that have occurred throughout time. Studies found that although the “oldest rock did not show evidence of life, the progression of plant and animal life that changed in recognizable intervals, from ancient life, age of reptiles to the age of mammals” (Dino Nature Metaphor, slide 6), measured the age of the earth. When we think of dinosaurs in relation to nature, we think of that very powerful force that controls the cycle of life. Nature was able to yield such magnificent ferocious creatures that walked the earth and then take them back when they served nature’s purpose. Dinosaurs fit perfectly in nature’s constant
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Estimating Dinosaur Behavior
1886 Words | 4 Pages
Dinosaurs are an extinct group of animals that thrived for 165 million years starting 230 million years ago in the Late Triassic period of the Mesozoic Era. Despite being extinct for the past 65 million years and not being able to study them in their true form, scientists have been able to estimate many different behaviors of dinosaurs. This paper will show that the close study and examination of different types of body and trace fossils, along with animal models, can be provided as evidence to estimate different types of behaviors in dinosaurs. The different types of behaviors examined below will fall into the categories of: mating; reproduction and nesting; social lives; locomotion; feeding; and fighting. To begin, a great deal of information gathered from fossils and compared to living animal models have been used to estimate mating behaviors.
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Life During the Jurassic
1092 Words | 3 Pages
...ll. This group still remained successful during the Jurassic period and had a wide geopraphic distribution. Other reptiles evolved to not only live on land, but to fly. The earliest known birds appeared during this period; Archaeoteryx being the first to be considered the intermediate between the birds and predatory dinosaurs. It is debated on whether this ancient bird could actually fly or merely glid from tree to tree. Carnosaurus, meaning “meat-eating” is another group of dinosaurs that ruled during the Jurassic. With such large herbivorous prey animals, the correlation of these large predators make sense of why they were so common. An Allosaurus was one of the most common Carnosaurs in North America. Upon finding numerous intact skeletons in fossil beds, it has been reported that the Allosaurus was superficially similar to the later evolving Tyrannosaurus rex.
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Trilobites
852 Words | 2 Pages
They ruled the world before the time of the dinosaurs, from the Cambrian Period to the
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Informational Essay on Triceratops
640 Words | 2 Pages
The Triceratops were very interesting dinosaurs. They were very smart and strategic. They moved in herds and used mating calls. They were very complex. They had an interesting body shape that gave them an advantage towards their predators. They were known for their horns and parrot-like beaks. They were herbivores that lived in North America. Triceratopses were very interesting.
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Extinction On Dinosaurs
569 Words | 2 Pages
The dinosaur could not have lived for ever. No creatures, no plants, no tiny bacteria are
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Jurassic Period
1097 Words | 3 Pages
The Jurassic period is known as one of the most interesting periods of time in earth’s history, mainly for the awe-inspiring creatures many of which have gone extinct, the most remarkable being the dinosaurs. Life in the ocean during this time was also extremely diversified and amazing for the creatures it beheld. The Jurassic occurred from 199.6 to 145.5 million years ago, following the Triassic Period and preceding the Cretaceous Period within the Mesozoic Era. The supercontinent of Pangea began to drift apart during this time. Right before the Jurassic period began, a major extinction event occurred wiping out much of the life on earth. The events that unfolded afterwards gave life to a new planet.
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The Extinction of The Dinosaurs
1255 Words | 3 Pages
Norell, Mark, Lowell Dingus, and Eugene S. Gaffney. "Why Did Nonavian Dinosaurs Become Extinct?" Discovering Dinosaurs: Evolution, Extinction, and the Lessons of Prehistory. Berkeley: U of California, 1995. N. pag. Print.
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Bikers Argumentative Essay
473 Words | 1 Pages
When someone hears of Hell’s Angels, Sons of Thunder, and Hellfighers; what comes to their mind? Most think of devilish, rude beings that are a menace to society and are unsafe on the roads others drive on. The media, video games, and people have made accusations against biker groups to shape them that way. Most groups consist of individuals looking for a family they never had or to spread the word to others about how their lives changed by joining the group. One would know if someone was in a biker group by seeing them in a leather jacket with their name and other patches, including a ginormous patch of their group on the back of it.
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Reptiles
1082 Words | 3 Pages
Reptiles are vertebrate, or backboned animals constituting the class Reptilia and are characterized by a combination of features, none of which alone could separate all reptiles from all other animals.The characteristics of reptiles are numerous, therefore can not be explained in great detail in this report. In no special order, the characteristics of reptiles are: cold-bloodedness; the presence of lungs; direct development, without larval forms as in amphibians; a dry skin with scales but not feathers or hair; an amniote egg; internal fertilization; a three or four-chambered heart; two aortic arches (blood vessels) carrying blood from the heart to the body, unlike mammals and birds that only have one; a metanephric kidney; twelve pairs of cranial nerves; and skeletal features such as limbs with usually five clawed fingers or toes, at least two spinal bones associated with the pelvis, a single ball-and-socket connection at the head-neck joint instead of two, as in advanced amphibians and mammals, and an incomplete or complete partition along the roof of the mouth, separating the food and air passageways so that breathing can continue while food is being chewed. These and other traditional defining characteristics of reptiles have been subjected to considerable modification in recent times. The extinct flying reptiles, called pterosaurs or pterodactyls, are now thought to have been warm-blooded and covered with hair. Also, the dinosaurs are also now considered by many authorities to have been warm-blooded. The earliest known bird, archaeopteryx, is now regarded by many to have been a small dinosaur, despite its covering of feathers The extinct ancestors of the mammals, the therapsids, or mammallike reptiles, are also believed to have been warm-blooded and haired.
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What Are Dinosaurs Essay

Ceratopsians and Pachycephalosaurs

Cannibalism and Feeding Habits of Dinosaurs

Recreating Prehistoric Life: Jurassic Park

Tyrannosaurus Rex Was a Slow Runner

Warm Blooded Versus Cold Blooded Dinosaurs