Dinosaurs [antikvár]

WhEN DiNOSaurM illions and millions of years beforeW any people lived on Earth, the worldbelonged to the dinosaurs! Theseamazing creatures first appeared about228 million years ago (mya for short).Though their name means "terriblelizard," these prehistoric reptiles werenot actually lizards, and many werenot particularly terrible (unless youwere a plant!). Some were as smallas a chicken; others were longerthan three buses in a row. From theknee-high to the sky-high,dinosaurs ruled the Earth for about160 million years. Humans haveonly been around for about 1.5million years, so we have a lot ofdinosaur daysDinosaurs lived during theMesozoic Era, which began245 mya and ended 65 mya.Each of three periods in theMesozoic Era had its own coolcreatures. The Triassic Period(248-206 mya) gave us the earliestdinosaurs, like Herrerosaurus (eh-ray-rah-SORE-us), as well as the first small mammals.The Jurassic Period (206-142 mya) producedplant-eaters like Stegosourus (steg-oh-SORE-us) andmeat-eaters like Altosourus (al-oh-SORE-us). And theCretaceous Period (142-65 mya) was the time ofIguonadon (ig-WHA-noh-don) and Deinonychus(die-NON-i-kus)and, sadly, the end of the line for thedinosaurs.empty nestersLike most reptiles, dinosaurs laid and hatched fromeggs. For many years, palaeontologists (scientistswho study prehistoric life) thought that dinosaurswere pretty relaxed parents, to put it mildly: in theirtough neighbourhood, maybe self-preservation wasconsidered a higher priority than taking care of thechildren! But some fossils now indicate thatcertain dinosaurs may have been veryprotective of their young, like oneCretaceous plant-eater who apparentlyguarded its babies and brought themfood. Palaeontologists named thisdinosaur Maiasaura (my-ah-SORE-ah), or "good mother lizard."Thanks, Mum!