Can you imagine an animal as tall as a 4 storey building, twice as wide and weighing more than the combined weight of 800 Maruti cars!!!
That's what dinosaurs were like when they ruled the Earth 155 million years ago. They were one of the largest creatures ever to have walked on land. Most were plant eaters, though some were deadly killers.
The plant-eating dinosaurs, the Sauropods, were the giants of the dinosaur family, having massive bodies, long tails and long necks to feed on high branches.
The scary meat eaters were the Theropods. The Tyrannosaurus Rex with its sharp eyes, fearsome claws and teeth was one of the biggest meat-eater in history. Its name aptly means 'king tyrant reptile'.
The Stegosaurus had big spine like plates on its back, which may have acted as panels to absorb the Sun's heat quickly. Stegosaurus means 'roofed reptile'.
Why did dinosaurs die out?
There are many theories explaining the sudden disappearance of these huge creatures from Earth. The most popular among them is that around 65 million years ago, the Earth was hit by an asteroid at a speed of 1,00,000 kilometers per hour. This caused violent earthquakes and threw clouds of dust all around, causing the death of dinosaurs.
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Did you know?
The word dinosaur means 'terrible lizard'. In Greek, "deinos" means "fearfully great" and "sauros" means "lizard." The name is perfect because dinosaurs were reptiles.
Dinosaur names are usually Latin descriptions of their physical features or characteristics. For instance, the Stegosaurus means roofed reptile because of the big plates on its back
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