Dino Fun Zone!

Dinosaur factoids you didn’t know

Dino Facts

Most living things never become fossils.
Fossils are imprints left behind by prehistoric life. When tiny bits of rocks and minerals (called sediment) are joined together over millions of years, they become sedimentary rock. Plants and animals that become sandwiched in this sediment eventually turn into fossils. So the fossils you find aren’t actual bones.
Did you know? Dinosaur fossils are rarely, if ever fully complete. Scientists usually have to reconstruct the fossil. Reconstruct your own fossils with the printouts below. (click on fossil image, then right click and save as)

T.rex Facts:

Known to many as the “tyrant lizard king”, Tyrannosaurs Rex lived near the end of the Cretaceous period approximately 65-68 million years ago. The T. rex is one of the largest carnivores that has ever lived on land. It weighed up to seven tons, measured up to 50 feet long, and with teeth seven inches long! Click on the image to see how big you would be next to a T.rex!
The T .rex had a huge head but very little of it was filled with a brain.
The skull of the Tyrannosaurus Rex was more than 5 feet long and was very wide at the rear but had a narrow snout, allowing unusually good vision
The T. rex had an extra joint in its jaw so that it could open its mouth wider for extra large bites.
Scientists believe the T.rex powerful predator could eat up to 500 pounds of meat in one bite.
The T. rex was thought to be the largest meat-eating dinosaur until 1993, when the giganotosaurus was discovered.
The T. rex probably did not run very fast, because if it fell while running fast, it would have crushed its head and ribcage.
The T. rex is a biped, which means it walked on 2 legs just like you.

Brachiosaurs Facts:

One of the largest dinosaurs that ever lived was the Brachiosaurus. Its name may sound funny but it actually means “arm reptile” because its front legs were much longer than its back legs. The Brachiosaurus was a peaceful plant eater that probably lived in herds. This dinosaur stood over 45 feet high and was a whopping 75 feet long. It’s estimated that the Brachiosaurus weighed 55 tons, that’s five times the weight of an elephant! Click on the image to see how big you would be next to a Brachiosaurs!
The Brachiosaurus probably swallowed its food whole without chewing
The Brachiosaurus neck evolved to eat plant that no other dinosaur could reach.
Unlike other dinosaurs, it had front legs longer than the hind ones, so that its back sloped upwards towards the head.
The Brachiosaurus is one of the largest animals known to ever walk the earth!
Scientists think that the Brachiosaurus could have been as large as 80 feet in length, about the same length as a blue whale!

Triceratops Factoids:

The Triceratops is one of the best-known dinosaurs and was the largest, most common, of the horned dinosaurs. The name Triceratops name may sound funny but it actually means “three horned face”. The Triceratops lived at the same time as the T. rex, around 68-65 million years ago. The solid frill around its neck was probably used as a protective shield to protect it from larger carnivores. Click on the image to see how big you would be next to a Triceratops!
It had a parrot-like beak, many teeth, and an extremely powerful jaw to grind up the plants it ate.
6-foot-wide head frill made of bone was thought to be used as protection against predators and to regulate body temperature.
As an effective defense, the Triceratops probably charged into its enemy like a rhinoceros when threatened.
It has one of the largest skulls of any land animal ever discovered which is nearly one-third as long as its body.

A Fight to the End

In the world of Paleontology, one of the most fascinating discoveries ever unearthed was that of a Protoceratops skeleton interlocked with a Velociraptor skeleton. The duo was discovered by a Polish-Mongolian team in 1971 in the southern part of Mongolia. The fossils are estimated to be about 80 million years old. As they fought to the death, a sudden sand dune may have buried them in that instant, leaving them interlocked forever.