Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
Geo-inSight
Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs are without a doubt the best known
extinct animals. Hundreds of dinosaur species
existed during the Late Triassic through the
Cretaceous. Paleontologists now think that all dinosaurs
descended from a common ancestor.
1.
This skull of
Tyrannosaurus rex
is more than 1 m long. At about
12 m long and weighing 3 to 5 metric tons,
T. rex
was the largest
theropod in North America.
2.
Lifelike restoration of the Early Cretaceous 3-m-long theropod
Deinonychus
"terrible claw" in its probable attack posture. Note
the huge curved claws on the back feet and the well-developed
forelimbs with sharp claws.
3.
Scene from the
Late Triassic
showing
Brachiosaurus
,
a giant even by
dinosaur standards.
It was about 25 m
long and weighed
perhaps 75 metric
tons. Partial
remains indicate
that even larger
sauropods existed.
Stegosaurus
in the
foreground is noted
for the rows of
plates along its back and bony spikes at the end of its tail.
4.
Gigantosaurus
was a huge theropod that lived
during the Late Cretaceous in Argentina and
Brazil. It was nearly 13 m long, weighed about
7.3 metric tons, and lived 25 million years
before the more familiar
Tyrannosaurus rex
.
618
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