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How many types of dinosaurs were there? |
Dinosaurs
Tyrannosaurus, brachiosaurus, stegosaurus, and triceratops are usually some of the first that come to mind. Velociraptor, ankylosaurus, apatosaurus, and diplodocus are some other common ones that people think of, but there are many more dinosaurs! Over 1000 different dinosaur species have been discovered so far!
We may never know how many species there were, but more and more are being discovered each year.
Some people divide dinosaurs up by what they eat. Plant-eaters are called herbivores, and meat-eaters are called carnivores.
Another way to group dinosaurs is by when they lived. Dinosaurs lived in three periods of Earth’s history. The first was the Triassic Period (251 – 199 million years ago.) Not many well-known dinosaurs were from the Triassic Period. The second was the Jurassic Period (199 – 145 million years ago) when brachiosaurus and stegosaurus lived. The third period of dinosaurs was the Cretaceous Period (145 to 65 million years ago.) Triceratops, tyrannosaurus, and velociraptor all lived during this period.
Dinos to Birds!
A lot of scientific evidence suggests that not all dinosaurs went extinct and that at least one line evolved into modern birds!
Think for a moment about birds. You may be lucky enough to be able to spot one around your home. Do you see any similarities to dinosaurs? They probably don’t look much like a brachiosaurus, but how about a velociraptor?
Recent discoveries tell us that some dinosaurs had feathers! How’s that for similar? Next time you see a bird, you just might be looking at a dinosaur alive in the world today!
