Dinosaur |
Picture |
Description |
Ankylosaurus |
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The Ankylosaurus lived during the Cretaceous and late Jurassic
Periods. They were a medium-sized plant eating dinosaur, growing up to 30
feet long. It had an armor of spines and spikes on its back. These bony
plates helped protect the Ankylosaurus from being eaten by other meat eating
dinosaurs. They also had a large, heavy tail that they could swing from
side-to-side like a club to protect themselves. |
Apatosaurus |
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The Apatosaurus, also known as the Brontosaurus, is one of
the best known dinosaurs. It lived during the late Jurassic Period. It was
one of the largest dinosaurs, at up to 70 feet long. It was very heavy,
with a very long neck and tail. It ate leaves and other vegetation. It could
rear up on its hind legs to reach high branches. While its size helped to
protect it from other dinosaurs, it could also use its long, narrow tail
to hit an attacking dinosaur.. |
Archaeopteryx |
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The Archaeopteryx was a small creature, about 1 foot long,
that is believed to be one of the first birds. It lived in the late Jurassic
Period. The Archaeopteryx had many features of a bird, including wings that
allowed it to fly like a bird. It also had many features of a reptile, including
reptilian teeth, claws and tail. |
Brachiosaurus |
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The Brachiosaurus was one of the tallest dinosaurs at over 75 feet long
and 40 feet tall, to its raised head. It was also very heavy, weighing
over 80 tons. It lived during the late Jurassic Period.
Like the Apatosaurus, the Brachiosaurus ate leaves and other vegetation.
Unlike the Apatosaurus, the Brachiosaurus could not rear up onto its hind
legs to reach tall tree branches. |
Coelophysis |
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The Coelophysis is one of the oldest known dinosaurs It lived
during the late Triassic Period. It ranged from 3 to 10 feet long, with
a long neck and tail, and could run on its hind legs. The Coelophysis moved
and hunted in packs. It ate small animals, and possibly even other Coelophysis. |
Gallimimus |
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The Gallimimus lived during the Cretaceous Period. It grew
up to 13 feet long. It could run on its hind legs. It could use its front
legs to hold food. It had a long, toothless beak, possibly used to eat eggs. |
Ichthyosaurus |
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The Ichthyosaurus lived in the early and middle Jurassic Period.
It was a dolphin-like animal that lived in the sea. |
Iguanodon |
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The Iguanodon was a plant eating dinosaur that lived during
the Cretaceous Period. It grew to 33 feet long and 15 feet tall when on
its hind legs. It could walk on 2 or 4 legs, but it ran on its hind legs.
The Iguanodon had a large bony beak for biting off plants and branches,
and rear teeth for grinding them before swallowing. |
Melanosaurus |
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The Melanosaurus lived during the Triassic Period. It was
a large plant eating dinosaur growing up to 40 feet long. |
Plesiosaurus |
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The Plesiosaurus was a reptile that lived during the Jurassic
Period. It had a long neck and small head. It had arms and legs that looked
like paddles to help it swim through the water to catch fish. |
Protoceratops |
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The Protoceratops was a small, horned dinosaur growing up
to 7 feet long. It lived during the Cretaceous Period. Skeletons of the
Protoceratops were found along with nests of eggs. This discovery was one
of the first signs that dinosaurs laid eggs. |
Pterodactyl |
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The Pterodactyl was a flying reptile that lived during the
late Jurassic Period. It grew to 25 feet, wing-tip to wing-tip. |
Spinosaurus |
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The Spinosaurus was a meat eating dinosaur that lived during
the Cretaceous Period. It grew up to 40 feet long. Its most outstanding
feature was its 6 foot high spines on its back, looking like a large sail.
It is believed that the long, narrow spines helped to cool the Spinosaurus. |
Stegosaurus |
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The Stegosaurus lived during the late Jurassic Period. It
grew to 25 feet in length, and up to 2 tons in weight. It was a plant eating
dinosaur with a small head and neck. It had large triangular plates on its
neck, back and tail. It also had long, pointed spines at the end of its
tail that could be used to protect itself by hitting attacking dinosaurs. |
Torosaurus |
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The Torosaurus was a horned dinosaur. It had a large frill
around its neck as part of its skull. It grew to 9 feet long. |
Triceratops |
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The Triceratops is the best known horned dinosaur. It lived
during the Cretaceous Period. It was a plant eating dinosaur with a hooked
beak. The Triceratops had 3 horns: one on its nose, and two above its eyes.
It had a small neck frill. It grew to 30 feet long and 10 feet tall at its
hips. |
Tyrannosaurus |
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The Tyrannosaurus is the best known dinosaur. It lived during
the Cretaceous Period. It was one of the biggest meat eating dinosaurs at
50 feet long and 20 feet tall, weighing up to 6 tons. It had powerful jaws,
with sharp 7 inch teeth, well designed for eating other dinosaurs. It could
use its long tail for balance when attacking other dinosaurs. |
Velociraptor |
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The Velociraptor was a small, fast-running dinosaur that lived
during the Cretaceous Period. It grew up to 6 feet in length. It was a meat
eating dinosaur with a long snout, powerful jaws and sharp curved teeth.
It also had a large claw on its foot used for hunting. |
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