s and
two main types – Saurischian
osaurs were classified into
Din
nes.
ided based upon their hip bo
Ornithischians. They are div
of hip
ed’ dinosaurs, having a pair
Saurischians are ‘lizard-hipp
or down.
bones that pointed forwards
re saurischians, but a few
All carnivorous dinosaurs we
rischian.
rannosaurus Rex was a sau
herbivores were also. The Ty
irs of hip
ped’ dinosaurs, with two pa
Ornithischians are ‘bird-hip
. An
ithischians were herbivores
s pointing backwards. All orn
bone
is the Triceratops.
example of an ornithischian
in to two further groups, the
Saurischians can be divided
rphs,
eaters, and the Sauropodomo
Theropods, which are meat
all heads.
which had long necks and sm
s, the
ided into three further group
The Ornithischians can be div
ans,
rbivores, the Marginocephali
Ornithopods, two legged he
ls, and the Thyreophorans,
heads with bony horns or fril
who had
r footed dinosaurs.
who were armour plated, fou
What is A
Dinosaur?
Dinosaurs were a diverse group of animals, with
a wide variety of different species; however, they
all had several features in common.
kin
Scaly S
gists
laeontolo
re for pa saur skin,
h it is ra
Althoug ressions of dino now that
p
ok
to find im und enough t
e fo
.
they hav
scaly skin
aurs had
dinos
Both meat-ea
ting dinosau
rs
(carnivores) a
nd plant-eati
ng
dinosaurs (he
rbivores) had
claws. Carniv
ores were kn
own
as theropods
(‘beast footed
’)
because they
had hooked,
sharp
claws, where
as herbivores
had
blunt hooves
or toenails.
It is widely accepted that most dinosaurs
laid eggs, and scientists have been lucky
to find lots of fossilized eggs and nests.
The size and shape of the eggs varied
significantly with some small, palm sized
eggs to huge eggs, almost the size of
footballs, and even some eggs shaped
like loaves of bread!
All dinosaurs had long tails, for
balance and defence - to whip
and fight off enemies. Scientists
believe that dinosaurs held their
tails up off the ground, as there
have been no drag marks where
tracks by dinosaurs have been
found.
The first scientifically documented dinosaur egg fossils were
discovered in 1859 in France by Jean-Jacques Poech, although
they were mistaken for bird eggs! Nesting sites have been
found all over the world, with the oldest known dinosaur eggs
and embryos being the Massosponylus’, who lived around 190
million years ago in the Early Jurassic period.
Sauropodomorphs Included
the Plateosaurus, which lived
in the Triassic peroid
Identification and Classification
Fossilised dinosaur eggshell fragments are identified as
having three important traits:
zz A roughly uniform thickness
The Stegosaurus was a large
Thyreophoran dinosaur
zz Slightly curved
Legs
e, and
erect stanc
ed with an
their
rs walk
y beneath
All dinosau
ded directl
roups
at exten
into two g
had legs th
re divided
osaurs we
saurs) and
bodies. Din (lizard-hipped dino
ians
rs).
– saurisch
ed dinosau
(bird-hipp
ns
ornithiscia
The bite of a T-Rex
was
eight times more
powerful
that the bite of a lio
n!
6 | FUSE
The small, ‘chicken-sized’
Compsognathus was a Theropod
F