Dinosaurs By: Kyle Mullins

Dilophosaurus Although Jurassic park made Dilophosaurus famous, it also showed two features the dinosaurs real life- the ability to spit poison and the large fold skin around the neck which opened rather like an umbrella. Dilophosaurus was a member of a family of ancient two-legged dinosaurs that lived at the end of the Triassic Period.

Triceratops Triceratops was described for the first time in 1889 and since then hundreds of examples have been found including specimens of both young mature animals. This herbivore had a huge skull, around 2.5 metres long, and reached 9 metres in length and 3 metres in height. It is believed that the largest animals may have weighed 11 tonnes!

Giganotosaurus This ( giant southern reptile) was an enormous predator. It was 13.5 metres long, and its skull measured 1.8metres. It had a large mouth with so sharp that one easily slashed through the flesh and muscles of its prey. Giganotosaurus had extremely strong bones, particularly in its hind legs, which were thicker and wider than those of an African.

Argentinosaurus Argentinosaurus Huinculensis was named after the Huincul Formation in south-west Argentina, where palaeontologists found its fossil in 1993. Its scientific name means ‘Argentinean lizard. Only parts of the skeleton were recovered, including some vertebrae, ribs, a shin bone and thigh bone. When it was first discovered, Argentinosaurus attracted international attention because of its size.

The Mystery of Extinction The Mesozoic Era started 252 million years ago, after a great extinction removed most of the synapsids from the Paleozoic Era. During the Mesozoic, the most varied, common and gigantic vertebrates were the reptiles. This group included sea animals, land animals, such as dinosaurs and crocodiles, and flying animals, including pterosaurs and birds. The Mesozoic Era finished 66 million years ago in the same way it has started-with the major extinction.