DINOSAURS

A group of animals called dinosaurs lived on Earth 245 million years ago.

Why they became extinct is a great unsolved mystery. Dinosaurs were around for nearly 150 million years and then suddenly they disappeared from the face of the Earth. Why they became extinct is a great unsolved mystery.

Dinosaurs were reptiles and they had scaly skin and laid eggs.

Reptiles today have short, sprawling legs Reptiles today have short, sprawling legs. Dinosaurs had long legs tucked under their bodies and this allowed them to move much more easily.

These were all reptiles that lived at the same time as the dinosaurs. Just as there are different types of reptiles today (snakes, turtles, alligators, lizards), there were other reptiles that lived at the same time as the dinosaurs. There were flying and swimming reptiles - pterosaurs, plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs. Pterosaurs Plesiosaurs Ichthyosaurs. These were all reptiles that lived at the same time as the dinosaurs.

Dinosaurs lived on land.

We know about dinosaurs today because their bones, teeth, footprints, skin impressions, nests and eggs have been found as fossils.

These fossils are the clues that tell us how the dinosaurs lived. We know what the dinosaurs ate, how they protected and defended themselves, how long they lived, how fast they grew, their behaviour and what the environment was like where they lived.

These discoveries about dinosaurs have helped give us information about how the dinosaurs lived.

By asking questions, looking for information and finding answers we learn more about ourselves and the history of our planet Earth.