For as long as I can remember, I’ve always had an interest in dinosaurs. Something about the mystery behind them intrigued me. It is so amazing how scientists can put together pieces of an evolutionary puzzle that create the picture of prehistoric life. My favorite part of the study of dinosaurs is that it’s ever-changing. Scientists are constantly revising their ideas of dinosaurs and learning new things about the way dinosaurs lived. To me, it’s simply incredible.
I am sure that my friends are sick of me spewing dinosaur facts at them against their will, so I’m going to channel that energy here. I’m going to talk about some of my favorite dinosaurs and some cute little facts about them, so you can annoy your friends with them too.
T-rex. Yes. I know. Basic. But the Tyrannosaurus Rex is truly one of the most amazing creatures to ever roam the earth. Their reign lasted for 2.5 million years. They are among the largest predators to ever live on land. The T-Rex had a head that was 5 feet long. This, along with their thick and powerful necks, where made to house the jaw of the T-Rex, which is one most powerful jaws ever known. Their massive heads and necks were the cause of their infamously tiny arms. The neck took up too much space around the shoulders, so there was no room for arms.
Their tails were used to help balance their colossal weight, 9 tons, while walking on two legs. These tails were also incredibly powerful and were used when attacking prey, competitors, and even each other. The T-Rex was first discovered in 1902, and scientists continue to learn new things about it.
One of the first dinosaurs to ever be discovered is the Iguanodon. The discovery of the Iguanodon helped to shape everything that scientists know about dinosaurs today. The Iguanodon was able to walk on two hind legs and on all fours. Iguanodons, to me, are the cutest dinosaur. They had a spike on their thumb to help them dig for food. If that isn’t adorable, I do not know what is. Originally, scientists believed that the spike was on their nose, but they later discovered that it was actually on their thumbs. Even though the Iguanodon was big and bulky, it was an herbivore, getting its food from wetlands and forests.
This next dinosaur is definitely one of the scarier-looking dinos. It has a long, alligator-like snout paired with sharp teeth. Their nostrils were situated further up on their scalp, closer to their eyes. Its tail was large and paddle-like, and they had a large sail on their back. It’s debated whether or not the Spinosaurus was truly semi-aquatic or not. While scientists know that their diets consisted mostly of fish and other aquatic animals, some scientists believe that the spinosaurus was too buoyant to dive, and the water was too unstable to support the bipedal animals’ weight. Although many of the features of the spinosaurus support the idea that they were, in fact, semi-aquatic animals. Some of these features include a paddle-like tail and flat back feet that may have been used for paddling. Personally, I believe that the Spinosaurus was semi-aquatic based on its features, which are shared with many other animals known to be semi-aquatic
One last thing I wanted to talk about what the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs. The sheer size of the asteroid itself was almost unimaginable, and that alone wiped out many of the dinosaurs. When the asteroid hit, debris from the asteroid shot back up into space and fell back down onto the Earth. If any dinosaurs survived the hit, they would have died soon after due to extreme heat conditions. The site of the asteroid hit is off the Gulf of Mexico and is roughly nine miles in diameter and 125 miles wide. While there are very few fossils at the site of the asteroid hit, some small fish were found with pollen in their gills, so we know that the asteroid hit in the spring. While dinosaurs and other large species were wiped out, small mammals that lived in the margins were able to survive, leading to the mammals taking over. If it weren’t for this extinction event, we would have never existed.
Learning about the reign of the dinosaurs is something that brings me a lot of happiness, and it makes me feel closer to the world around me. Knowing that once, the very land I walk on was occupied by some of the most amazing creatures of ever lived, is so surreal.