K DINOSAURS BOOKS
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VISION
Written by
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David Stewart
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Illustrated by
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K DINOSAURS BOOKS
r
VISION
Written by
David Stewart Illustrated by
Diego Vaisberg
ISBN: 978-1-913337-66-7
Consultant: John Cooper studied Geology at university and began a career in museums, specialising in the study of dinosaur fossils at Leicester Museum and the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, USA, before moving to Brighton to become Keeper of Natural Sciences at the Booth Museum of Natural History. He is the founder and chairman of the Brighton & Hove Geological Society and has written many children’s books on geological themes. He retired in 2015 but remains the Emeritus Keeper of Natural Science at the Booth Museum.
© The Salariya Book Company Ltd MMXXI All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
Author: David Stewart has written many nonfiction books for children. He lives in Brighton, England, with his family.
Published in Great Britain in MMXXI by Book House, an imprint of The Salariya Book Company Ltd 25 Marlborough Place, Brighton BN1 1UB www.salariya.com
135798642 A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Printed and bound in China. This book is sold subject to the conditions that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form or binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
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www.salariya.com for our online catalogue and free fun stuff.
Artist: Diego Vaisberg works as a designer and illustrator. He has previously worked in the product and design department for the Ink-co kids’ accessories brand, and has been professor of Editorial design and Illustration at Palermo University, Buenos Aires since 2014. Editor: Nick Pierce
Contents What is a dinosaur?
How long ago did dinosaurs live? What did dinosaurs eat?
4 6
10
Did dinosaurs eat each other?
14
Were dinosaurs good parents?
21
Did dinosaurs lay eggs?
18
How big were dinosaurs?
24
Did dinosaurs live in water?
28
How do dinosaurs measure up?
26
Did dinosaurs fly?
30
What is inside a dinosaur?
34
What happened to the dinosaurs?
40
Dinosaur facts
46
Index
48
Did dinosaurs have feathers? How fast were dinosaurs?
How do we know about dinosaurs? Glossary
32
37
42
47
What is a dinosaur?
D
inosaurs were one of several types of reptile which lived long ago. For many millions of years they lived almost everywhere around the world, but they disappeared 65 million years ago. Dinosaurs lived on the land. They had strong legs and were good walkers or runners. Many were huge, but some were very small. Lizards are not dinosaurs, though they are reptiles and are just as old. Lizards are small but very fast and can be fierce. Unlike dinosaurs, the legs of lizards stick out sideways from their body and could never carry the weight of a larger creature. Dinosaurs’ legs were positioned directly beneath the body.
Draco lizard
Crocodile Crocodiles and alligators are reptiles too and are even older than dinosaurs. They live on land, but spend a lot of time in water. Their skulls are very big and their jaws are huge and long. Crocodiles and alligators can attack even quite large creatures that dare to enter the water.
4
Dinosaur remains were first discovered in south-east England in the early 19th century. But they were not called dinosaurs until 1842 when the name was invented. It means ‘terrible lizard’.
Some of the large, meat-eating dinosaurs would have been ferocious creatures. Many others may have been sociable plant-eaters.
Eoraptor
Did you know? Eoraptor was believed to be the very first dinosaur. Its bones have been found in 225 million-year-old rocks in Argentina. It was a small meat-eating dinosaur, only 1 m long. The remains of an older species from 243 million years ago, called Nyasasaurus, have been found in Tasmania, but no one has a good idea what it looked like. It is thought that it might have been from 1 to 3 metres long. Its diet is unknown.
5
How long ago did dinosaurs live?
D
inosaurs lived between 243 and 65 million years ago. They lived on Earth for almost 180 million years! They were not the first reptiles. Before them lived many different types of small lizards. Many of these first reptiles survived to live side-by-side with the dinosaurs. Some, like lizards and crocodiles, still live today.
What did Earth look like millions of years ago? 245–208 million years ago Dinosaurs lived so long ago, it is impossible to imagine the passing of so much time. In all those millions of years the continents, seas, oceans and weather have changed hugely.
It would be difficult for us to recognise the Earth 200 million years ago. The plants and animals were very different. Although we might recognise some types of animals and plants, all are extinct or unknown today.
6
208–135 million years ago The dinosaurs lived in a time known as the Mesozoic era, meaning ‘middle life’. This spiral represents the Mesozoic era. The first dinosaurs that we know about were found in rocks about 243 million years old from a period of time called the Triassic.
135–65 million years ago Scientists believe that most dinosaurs lived in the Jurassic period. There were fewer dinosaurs alive in the Cretaceous period and by the end they were all extinct.
Did you know? Remains of one of the earliest known reptiles were found in Scotland. It lived 335 million years ago.
7
Mesozoic era
The climate becomes warm and wet. Large species of dinosaur evolve.
200–145 million years ago
Jurassic period
The first dinosaurs and mammals start to emerge and populate the land.
250–200 million years ago
Triassic period
The continents that we know today are formed by the end of this period.
145–66 million years ago
Cretaceous period
