DINOSAURS

Ms. Jones 2nd grade class

CARNIVORES
Meat-Eating
Examples: Tyrannosaurus Rex, Carnotaurus, Velociraptor

HERBIVORES
Plant Eating
Examples: Ankylosaurs, Triceratops, Stegosaurs, Iguanodon

TIME PERIOD
Three Ages of Dinosaurs: Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous
1. The Triassic Period
A. 250 million years ago
B. All the continents connected in Pangaea
C. It was HOT! No polar ice caps, over 100 degrees Fahrenheit on most of the continent.
D. Before, amphibians dominated but the Cretaceous brought the rise of the Reptiles. For
example, archosaurs (ruling lizards) and therapsids (mammal-like reptiles)
E. Rise of early marine reptiles (ichthyosaurs and shonisaurus)
F. Not as lush and green as later dinosaur time periods

TIME PERIOD
2. The Jurassic Period
A. 200-144 million years ago
B. Pangaea split in two- Gondwana and Laurasia
C. Hot and humid climate with steady rainfall
D. Lush, green plants
E. Growth of dinosaurs from medium to LARGE

TIME PERIOD
3. The Cretaceous Period
A. Dinosaurs attained maximum diversity
B. Break of Pangaea continued, continents began resembling what
they look like today.
C. Rising sea levels and increase of swamps
D. All new species of dinosaurs, including feathered dinosaurs showed
up (todays birds evolved from feathered dinosaurs, NOT
pterodactyls)
E. Maximum diversity of plant life, also brought a wide variety of insects
F. Ended 65 million years ago

WHAT ANIMALS ARE RELATIVES?

Birds related to meat-eating dinosaurs (dinosaurs and birds both have
hollow bones)
Crocodiles

HOW DO WE KNOW DINOS

REALLY EXISTED?
FOSSILS
Scientists have found fossilized bones of dinosaurs
Sometimes even complete skeletons
Fossils of dinos have been found on every continent
First known dinosaur bones found in 1786
(enormous skull with jaws in the Netherlands)
Richard Owen, a scientist in 1842 called them:
Dinosauria meaning terrible lizards

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE

DINOSAURS?
Nothing has been proven- all we have are THEORIES!
Popular theories consist of:
Major global climate change (shift from hot to much cooler temperatures)
Volcanism (increased volcano activity, creating enough dust to block
sunlight)
Asteroid hitting the earth, kicking up enough dust to cause climatic change
and causing massive hurricanes and firestorms
Meteor Shower

BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://dinosaurs.about.com/od/dinosaurbasics/a/dinosaurages_2.htm
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/dinosaur-evolution
http://www.explorit.org/science/dino.html
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/extinctheory.html