What dinosaurs are predators. Predatory dinosaurs - theropods: description, lifestyle. Carcharodontosaurus - sharp-toothed lizard
Carnivorous dinosaurs appeared in Triassic period and became extinct in the Cretaceous. All of them were reptiles and laid eggs, although in appearance most of them differ from ordinary snakes and lizards. The largest of the predatory dinosaurs reached 30 m in length and weighed more than a ton, but not all of them were giants. The length of the smallest predatory dinosaurs was no more than 25 cm, but, nevertheless, they were extremely dangerous.
In 1841, the English zoologist Sir Richard Owen coined the word "dinosaur", which means "terrible lizard". Herbivorous and carnivorous dinosaurs are extinct reptiles of gigantic size. However, you should not consider all dinosaurs to be large animals - some of them were medium in size, and some were very small. Most of the dinosaurs weighed about 2 tons. Dinosaurs lived on Earth for about 160 million years in mesozoic era, during the Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous periods.
Interesting to know, Dinosaur fossils were first discovered in England and described in 1824. Then the scientists were able to find fossils of other fossil animals that were assigned to the same class. The number of such finds is in the hundreds.
Tyrant Lizard - Tyrannosaurus Rex
The largest carnivore that ever existed on Earth and lived on land - a tyrannosaurus rex - predatory dinosaur 2.5 meters high, over 10 meters long and weighing about 7 tons. When the tyrannosaurus stood up on its hind legs, it became a six-meter giant. Only one huge skull of a tyrannosaurus rex was 1.3-1.5 meters long, and there were 60 teeth in its mouth, some of them were up to 20 cm long. This predatory dinosaur moved on its hind legs, since the front ones were too short. Two claws on the forelimbs served as a support or were used by this predator to attack and grab the prey. Tyrannosaurus attacked large herbivorous dinosaurs - inactive and incapable of effective defense.
Interesting to know. Another predatory dinosaur, a contemporary of the Tyrannosaurus rex, the Gorgosaurus lived in what is now Canada. The length of this lizard was 7-9 m and weighed about a ton.
Terrifying - Tarbosaurus
Modern Mongolia and China were home to the carnivorous Tarbosaurus dinosaurs. Somewhat smaller than a Tyrannosaurus Rex, Tarbosaurus was one of the most dangerous and largest predators on Earth during the prehistoric period. This pangolin had powerful three-toed hind limbs and a long, heavy tail that balanced its body. With a height of about 10-12 meters, this predator weighed 5-6 tons. Despite being smaller than Tyrannosaurus, Tarbosaurus had a larger skull and large quantity teeth. This predatory dinosaur could reach speeds of no more than 30 km / h and, most likely, ate carrion. Studies of the fossilized brain of Tarbosaurus indicate that it had an excellent sense of smell and good hearing, but poor vision.
Interesting to know. Carnotaurus is a predatory dinosaur of the Cretaceous period. The remains of this large lizard were found in Argentina. Similar in physique to the Tarbosaurus and Tyrannosaurus rex, Carnotaurus was distinguished by horn-like growths above the eyes, thinner hind limbs and very tiny front paws. His height was 8-9 m, weight - about 2 tons.
Strange lizard - allosaurus
The predatory dinosaur Allosaurus, slightly smaller in size than the Tyrannosaurus Rex, reached a length of 9 meters, and half of its body was the tail. The powerful jaws that complemented the huge head of the Allosaurus allowed it to cope with the bones of flying orinitopod dinosaurs. This predatory dinosaur weighed about 2 tons, but at the same time it moved quickly, taking big steps while chasing the prey. Perhaps, the front short paws served him in order to hold the victim at the moment of capture. Allosaurs lived in the Jurassic period in North America and hunted large herbivorous pangolins - brontosaurs, stegosaurus, sauropods.
Terrible Claw - Deinonychus
Another predatory dinosaur 3-4 m tall and weighing 50-100 kg is Deinonychus. Fast and agile, Deinonychus was very aggressive. It was the discovery of the remains of this predatory dinosaur that prompted scientists to think about the warm-bloodedness of ancient dinosaurs. It is assumed that Deinonychus was able to climb trees, and the claws on the middle fingers of his hind legs helped him in this. The sharp sawtooth teeth of the predator allowed it to cope with the bones of large herbivorous dinosaurs.
Graceful jaws - compsognathus
One of the smallest predatory dinosaurs is a compsognathus with a small body of 40-100 cm and a narrow elongated head of about 7 cm. The weight of this prehistoric predator was approximately 3 kg due to the lightweight structure of bone tissue. He was lightning fast and flexible. Sharp, slightly curved teeth and dagger claws on the front paws helped him deftly attack the victim. The Compsognathians hunted in packs. The bones of this animal have been found in Bavaria and France in the deposits of the Jurassic period.
The last of the finds of paleontologists is the skeleton of a predatory dinosaur tyrannosaurus
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Fortunately for mankind, the era when the most predatory dinosaurs in the world still lived on our planet has long passed. I don’t even want to imagine what would happen if these “cute” creatures were still in the neighborhood. An adrenaline rush is guaranteed. The largest predatory dinosaur - what is it?
Deinocheirus - a terrible hand
Presumably, the size of this "baby" was about 20 meters. To date, only two forelimbs of this dinosaur have been found in Mongolia. It remains only to find the complete skeleton of the monster to confirm this championship title. Judging by the size of the front paws (2.4 meters), this is really the largest predator dinosaur that lived on our earth.
By 70 million years ago, Deinocheirus was vastly larger than all existing theropods (meat-eating dinosaurs). It looked like a huge ostrich with long forelimbs. Thanks to such “hands”, he perfectly climbed trees and, with the help of sharp powerful claws, instantly tore his victim apart.
Egyptian spinosaurus - spiked lizard
A seven-ton handsome man ranging in size from 12 to 17 meters is considered one of the largest predatory dinosaurs of the prehistoric past. Its narrow, elongated skull is shaped like a crocodile's head. It is believed that he lived both on land and in water, but hunted only aquatic inhabitants. The latest discovery of Spinosaurus remains in Morocco proved that it moved on four legs, and not on two, as previously thought.
A hump on the back with a fatty layer made it possible to save energy reserves for periods of drought. Stenosaurus possessed sharp teeth and powerful front paws, which allowed him to easily catch both large fish and amphibians. On the back of this dinosaur was a membrane-fin, which could serve as a heat exchanger (1.8 meters).
"Royal lizard - tyrant" measured 14 - 15 in length and 5 - 5.6 meters in height. The tyrannosaurus weighed like a huge elephant (6 - 7 tons). He possessed the most powerful jaws and sharp teeth among all land predators. Its powerful hind legs were well developed and helped to run fast enough, however, only for short distances. Long distances due to the huge weight were beyond the power of the tyrannosaurus. As a rule, he lay in wait for his prey in ambush and made an attack with a lightning dash. Only adult dinosaurs could escape from these powerful jaws, and young and old individuals became the prey of this predator.
The tyrannosaurus did not disdain carrion, the corpses of other dinosaurs also served as food for it. These giants hunted alone and strictly adhered to "their" territory. When the female laid her eggs, she spent the rest of the time near the nest, which could become a tasty prey for other dinosaurs. Due to the gases with which the atmosphere was filled in those days, 3-4 cubs from the entire litter were born. Was it possible to survive in such conditions, tyrannosaurs were doomed to extinction.
Giganotosaurus - giant southern lizard
Presumably, this predator lived on the territory of Argentina and had very impressive dimensions - 12 - 13 meters in length and about 4.5 meters in height. These inhabitants of Patagonia united in flocks to hunt large herbivorous dinosaurs, but alone they could only cope with old and sick individuals. Giganotosaurs did not disdain carrion either.
Throughout the history of the Late Cretaceous period, this species can also be attributed to the largest predatory dinosaurs in the world. Many remains of Tarbosaurus began to be found in the 40s of the last century, which makes it possible to compile a portrait of this handsome man. These predators lived in China and, possibly, Mongolia 70-80 million years ago.
Bipedal five-ton predators moved on their hind legs, and the forelimbs were disproportionately small with two fingers on each paw. Tarbosaurus hunted small herbivorous dinosaurs, but could also eat carrion. Due to instability, tarbosaurus did not run very fast, and therefore preferred to ambush prey.
Carcharodontosaurus - sharp-toothed lizard
This representative of predatory dinosaurs lived in Africa, its remains were found in Algeria and Morocco. The length of this monster was about 12 meters, with a weight of up to 6 tons. The first finds of the remains of Carcharodontosaurus were made back in 1925 by French paleontologists. The predator moved on two powerful hind legs, while the forelimbs were weak. He also had a long, elongated skull, resembling wide scissors. The body of the predator ended in a long tail.
Carcharadontosaurs hunted most often on flat terrain and could develop very good speed for such gigantic sizes. Sometimes they wandered into coastal areas and there they had conflicts over prey with another representative of the predatory dinosaurs - spinosaurus.
Bahariasaurus
Another representative of African predatory dinosaurs. He presumably lived on the territory of modern Egypt, Nigeria and Morocco. The predator is 11.9 meters long and weighs 4 tons. He had powerful hind limbs, but the front paleontologists have not been able to find so far, however, like the skull, so one can only guess about his image. It is believed that the Bahariyasaurus was quite mobile, and hunted near water bodies for smaller aquatic inhabitants, such as turtles.
An unimaginable event occurred about 251 million years ago, which significantly influenced subsequent eras. The name given by scientists to this event sounds like the Permian-Tertiary extinction, or the Great Dying.
It became a formative boundary between the two geological periods- Permian and Triassic, or, in other words, between the Paleozoic and Mesozoic. It took a little time for most of the marine and terrestrial species.
These events contributed to the formation of a group of archosaurs on land (the most prominent representatives dinosaurs) and marine dinosaurs.
Marine reptiles inhabited the water areas of the Mesozoic along with land dinosaurs. They also disappeared at the same time - about 65.5 million years ago. The reason was the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction.
In this article, we want to introduce you to a selection of the 10 most striking and ferocious representatives of marine dinosaurs.
Shastasaurus is a genus of dinosaurs that existed more than 200 million years ago - the end of the Triassic period. According to scientists, their habitat was the territory of modern North America and China.
Shastasaur remains have been found in California, British Columbia, and the Chinese province of Guizhou.
Shastasaurus belongs to the ichthyosaurs - marine predators similar to modern dolphins. Being the largest reptile in the water, individuals could grow to unimaginable sizes: body length - 21 meters, weight - 20 tons.
But despite large sizes, Shastasaurs weren't exactly terrible predators. They ate by sucking, and ate mainly fish.
Dakosaurus- saltwater crocodiles, who lived more than 100.5 million years ago: late Jurassic - early Cretaceous.
The first remains were discovered in Germany, and later the territory of their habitat was expanded from England to Russia and Argentina.
Dacosaurs were large, carnivorous animals. The maximum length of the body, reptilian and fish-like at the same time, did not exceed 6 meters.
Scientists who have studied the structure of the teeth of this species believe that the dracosaurus was the main predator during the period of residence.
Dracosaurs hunted exclusively on big booty.
Thalassomedon are dinosaurs belonging to the group of pliosaurs. Translated from Greek - "sea lord." They lived 95 million years ago in the territory of the North. America.
The length of the body reached 12.5 meters. Huge flippers, which allowed him to swim at incredible speed, could grow up to 2 meters. The size of the skull was 47 cm, and the teeth were about 5 cm. The main diet was fish.
The dominance of these predators persisted until the Late Cretaceous, and ceased only with the advent of Mosasaurs.
Nothosaurus - sea lizards that existed in the Triassic period - about 240-210 million years ago. Were found on the territory of Russia, Israel, China, North Africa.
Scientists believe that notosaurs are relatives of pliosaurs, another type of deep-sea predators.
Nothosaurs were extremely aggressive predators, and their body reached a length of up to 4 m. The limbs were webbed. There were 5 long fingers, intended both for movement on land and for swimming.
The teeth of predators were sharp, outwardly directed. Most likely, notosaurs ate fish and squid. It is believed that they attacked from an ambush, using their sleek reptilian physique to approach food unnoticed, thereby catching it by surprise.
A complete Nothosaurus skeleton is in the Museum natural history, Berlin.
Sixth on our list of marine dinosaurs is the Tylosaurus.
Tylosaurus is a species of mosasaur. A large predatory lizard that lived in the oceans 88-78 million years ago - the end of the Cretaceous period.
Huge tylosaurs reached 15 meters in length, thus being the dominant predators of their time.
The diet of tylosaurs was varied: fish, large predatory sharks, small mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, waterfowl.
Thalattoarchon is a marine reptile that existed during the Triassic period - 245 million years ago.
The first fossils discovered in Nevada in 2010 have provided scientists with new insights into the rapid recovery of ecosystems after the Great Dying.
Found skeleton - part of the skull, spine, pelvic bones, part of the rear fins - was the size of a school bus: about 9 m in length.
Talattoarchon was an apex predator, growing up to 8.5 m.
Tanystropheus - lizard-like reptiles that existed 230 - 215 million years ago - the middle Triassic period.
Tanystrofey grew up to 6 meters in length, had a 3.5-meter elongated and movable neck.
They were not exclusively aquatic inhabitants: most likely, they could lead both water and semi-aquatic image life, hunting near the shore. Tanystrophei are predators that eat fish and cephalopods.
Liopleurodon are large carnivorous marine reptiles. They lived about 165-155 million years ago - the boundary of the middle and late Jurassic periods.
Typical dimensions of Liopleurodon are 5-7 meters in length, weight - 1-1.7 tons. It is believed that the most famous large representative was more than 10 meters in length.
Scientists believe that the jaws of these reptiles reached 3 m.
During its period, Liopleurodon was considered an apex predator, dominating the food chain.
They hunted from ambush. They fed on cephalopods, ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, sharks and other large animals.
Mosasaurus - reptiles of the late Cretaceous period - 70-65 million years ago. Habitat - the territory of modern Western Europe, North America.
The first remains were discovered in 1764 near the river Meuse.
The appearance of the mosasaurus is a mixture of whale, fish and crocodile. There were hundreds of sharp teeth.
They preferred to eat fish, cephalopods, turtles and ammonites.
Research scientists suggest that mosasaurs may be distant relatives modern monitor lizards and iguanas.
Rightfully ranked first prehistoric shark, considered a truly terrible creature.
Carcharocles lived 28.1-3 million ago - Cenozoic era.
This is one of the largest predators in history. marine life. It is considered the ancestor of the great white shark - the most terrible and strongest predator today.
The length of the body reached 20 m, and the weight - 60 tons.
Megalodons hunted cetaceans and other large aquatic animals.
An interesting fact is that some cryptozoologists believe that this predator could have survived to the present. But, fortunately, apart from the found huge 15-centimeter teeth, there is no other evidence.
And here's what: » The largest and smallest dinosaurs. And then you can get confused in this topic. It is desirable to consider sauropods and theropods (carnosaurs) separately. Well, if someone else interesting gets caught) "
Let's understand this issue of the long, long history of our mother Earth.
And the task is not an easy one! First, how to evaluate the largest dinosaur? By height? By weight? By lenght? And how many reservations that this or that species is not particularly proven. And by the way, many open dinosaurs have almost the same estimated size. Well, let me offer several versions on this topic, and then you decide for yourself who can be considered the largest or smallest.
"Terrible lizard" - this is how the word "Dinosaur" is translated from ancient Greek. These terrestrial vertebrates inhabited the Earth during the Mesozoic era for over 160 million years. The first dinosaurs appeared in the late Triassic period (251 million years ago - 199 million years ago), about 230 million years ago, and their extinction began at the end of the Cretaceous period (145 million years ago - 65 million years ago), about 65 million years ago.
Dinosaur remains found back in 1877 in Colorado are still considered to be the bones of the largest dinosaur, Amphicelia. Amphicelia(lat. Amphicoelias from the Greek amphi"both sides" and coelos"empty, concave") - a genus of herbivorous dinosaurs from the group of sauropods.
Paleontologist Edward Cope, who back in 1878 published an article on amphicelia, made his conclusions on a single fragment of a vertebra (destroyed shortly after cleaning and not preserved to this day - only a drawing has survived), so the size and even the very existence of this dinosaur is in doubt. If Amphicelias is nevertheless described correctly, then its length, according to calculations, was from 40 to 62 meters, and weight - up to 155 tons . Then this seems to be not only the largest dinosaur of all time of their existence, but also the largest known animal. Amphicelias is almost twice as long blue whale and 10 meters longer than the seismosaurus, which is in second place. Then the maximum size mark of the animals will be at the level of Amphicelias - 62 m in length. However, assumptions have been made about the existence of more massive dinosaurs (for example, a bruhatkayosaurus that lived in Cretaceous.
Bruhathkayosaurus (lat. Bruhathkayosaurus) is one of the largest sauropods. According to different versions weighed 180 or 220 tons (according to other hypotheses - 240 tons) . Apparently, bruhatkayosaurus is the heaviest animal ever lived (in second place is a 200-ton blue whale, on the third - 155-ton amphicelias). The genus includes the only species found in southern India (Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu). Age - about 70 million years (Cretaceous period). There is no single estimate of the length of this dinosaur; different scientists determine its length from 28-34 meters to 40-44 meters.
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Don't be in a hurry to believe the speculation just yet. Due to the meager amount of bones, this has not yet been proven. Only guesses of scientists and a wide range of estimates. We will wait for new excavations - after all, we rely only on facts. And if you rely only on the facts, then this is what they say.
Although paleontologists claim they have found a larger saurus, the size of Argentinosaurus is backed up by compelling evidence. Just one Argentinosaurus vertebra is over four feet thick! It had a length of the hind limbs of about 4.5 m, and a length from shoulder to hip. 7 m. If we add to the results obtained the length of the neck and tail, corresponding to the proportions of previously known titanosaurs, then the total length of the Argentinosaurus will be 30 m. However, this does not make it the longest dinosaur. The longest seismosaurus is considered, the length of which from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail is estimated at 40 m, and the mass is from 40 to 80 tons, but, according to all calculations, the Argentinosaurus is the heaviest. Its weight could reach 100 tons!
In addition, the Argentinosaurus is undoubtedly. the largest pangolin, about which good paleontological material has been collected. This giant was dug up in 1980 by two paleontologists, Rodolfo Coria and José Bonaparte from the Museum of Natural History in Buenos Aires. According to these researchers, Argentinosaurus belongs to the titanosaurs (a suborder of sauropods of the order of lizard dinosaurs), which were widespread in the south of the American continent in the Cretaceous period.
Argentinosaurus bone
Comparing the found bones with the already known remains of sauropods, scientists calculated that the unearthed monster had a hind limb length of about 4.5 m, and a length from shoulder to hip. 7 m. If we add to the results obtained the length of the neck and tail, corresponding to the proportions of previously known titanosaurs, then the total length of the Argentinosaurus will be 30 m. This is not the most long dinosaur(The longest is the seismosaurus, the length of which from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail is estimated at 40 m, and the mass is from 40 to 80 tons), but, according to all calculations, the heaviest. Its weight could reach 100 tons.
Sauroposeidon ( Sauroposeidon ) is named after Poseidon, the Greek god of the ocean. In size, it competed with Argentinosaurus, and possibly could surpass it, however, its weight was much less, according to paleontologists, it weighed no more than 65 tons, while Argentinosaurus could weigh up to one hundred tons. But, Sauroposeidon could be the tallest dinosaur that ever roamed the earth, and what is there the tallest creature on the planet in general! Its height could reach almost 18-20 meters
His physique indicated that he had to consume about a ton of vegetation daily, an almost endless work. To accomplish this "feat", the dinosaur had 52 chisel-like teeth that cut down plants in one fell swoop. He didn't even bother to chew his food, swallowing delicious vegetation, which immediately fell into a 1-ton stomach, the size of a swimming pool. Then his gastric juice, which had incredible strength and could dissolve even iron, did all the rest of the work. The dinosaur also ingested rocks that helped it digest fiber.
It's good that the dinosaur's digestive system worked so well, because with a lifespan of 100 years (one of the longest in the dinosaur kingdom) and in the absence of such a metabolism, he would have aged very quickly.
We all discussed the so-called sauropods (sauropods), but which of the predators is the largest dinosaur?
You probably thought that Tyrannosaurus rex would be in this category. However, it is now believed that Spinosaurus was the largest predatory dinosaur. Its mouth was similar to the mouth of a crocodile, and the outgrowth on its back resembled a huge sail. The sail made this theropod look even more majestic. Leathery "sail" reached a height of 2 meters. The predator itself was over 17 meters long and weighed 4 tons. He moved on his hind limbs like other theropods. It could be over 20 feet tall. Read more about dinosaur
Spinosaurus had a leathery "sail" stretched over the spinous processes of the vertebrae, reaching a height of 2 meters. The predator itself was over 17 meters long and weighed 4 tons. He moved on his hind limbs like other theropods.
Spinosaurus hunted alone, lying in wait for the prey. In doing so, he relied on his gigantic size and the strength of the jaws, elongated, like a pliosaurus, and armed with sharp conical teeth. This predator fed mainly on large fish, but it could well attack even a sauropod dinosaur of its size. Sinking its teeth into the neck of the sauropod, the spinosaurus bit the throat, which led to the rapid death of the victim. He could also attack crocodiles, pterosaurs and freshwater sharks.
In the middle of the day, Spinosaurus could turn its back to the sun. In this position, the "sail" was turned edge to direct sunlight and did not absorb heat, so Spinosaurus, which, like all reptiles, was cold-blooded, avoided the risk of overheating. If he suddenly became too hot, then he could dive into the nearest lake or river and dip his "sail" in the water to cool it. In the early morning, even in the warm climate of the Cretaceous period, the temperature was probably not as high as in the afternoon. It is possible that at dawn the Spinosaurus was even chilly. Then he could stand so that the sun's rays fell on the "sail" plane, as shown in the illustration. There is another theory, according to which it is believed that the "sail" in mating season could serve as a means of attracting females.
Apparently, Spinosaurus was one of the most ferocious predators late Cretaceous period. The length of its body from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail was about 15m - more than the length of a modern bus. In the illustration you see a row of spines on the spine, the longest of which reached 1.8 m. These spines served as the basis for the "sail" of Spinosaurus. The longest spikes were located in the center; each spike in the middle was thinner than at the top end. The massive body of the spinosaurus was supported by two powerful columnar legs, and the feet ended in three sharp claws. In addition, each foot had an additional weak toe. The huge claws on the feet of the Spinosaurus could be useful to him in order to keep the victim trying to escape. The upper limbs of Spinosaurus were short, but also very strong. The skull structure of Spinosaurus was similar to that of other carnivorous dinosaurs; its characteristic feature was straight teeth, sharp as meat knives, which could easily pierce even the thickest skin. The tail of the spinosaurus was long, wide and very strong. Scientists suggest that in some cases, Spinosaurus could knock down prey by delivering a series of powerful blows with its tail.
Here are some other predators that can be mentioned that could compete with big dinosaur. And this is again not a Tyrannosaurus rex :-)
Tarbosaurus (Tarbosaurus), a genus of extinct giant predatory dinosaurs (superfamily of carnosaurs). Large land predators - the body length is usually over 10 m, the height in a bipedal position is about 3.5 m. The skull is huge (more than 1 m), massive, powerful dagger-shaped teeth, designed to attack very large animals (mainly herbivorous dinosaurs). The forelimbs of T. are reduced and had only 2 full fingers each, the hind limbs are highly developed, forming, together with a powerful tail, a support tripod for the body. T. skeletons have been found in the Upper Cretaceous deposits of the South Gobi (MPR).
Lit .: Maleev E. A., Giant carnosaurs of the family Tyrannosauridae, in the book: Fauna and biostratigraphy of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic of Mongolia, M., 1974, p. 132-91
The Asian Tarbosaurus (Tarbosaurus bataar) was a close relative of the North American carnivorous dinosaurs of the late Cretaceous. Tarbosaurus is a lizard-robber. From the tip of the muzzle to the tip of the tail - about ten meters. The largest of them has more than 14 m in length and 6 m in height. head size - more than a meter in length. The teeth were sharp, dagger-shaped. All this allowed the Tarbosaurus to cope even with those opponents whose body was protected by bone armor.
With his height and appearance it looked a lot like a tyrannosaur. It also walked on strong hind limbs, using its tail for balance. The forelimbs were greatly reduced, two-fingered, and apparently served only for holding food.
Among the first dinosaur finds in England was a fragment of the lower jaw with several teeth. Apparently, it belonged to a huge predatory lizard, which was later christened and
megalosaurus (giant lizard). Since no other parts of the body could be found, it was impossible to form an accurate idea of the shape of the body and the size of the animal. It was believed that the lizard moved on four legs. Since then, many other fossil remains have been unearthed, but a complete skeleton has never been discovered. Only after making a comparison with other predatory dinosaurs (carnosaurs), the researchers came to the conclusion that the megalosaurus also ran on its hind legs, its length reached 9 meters and it weighed a ton. With greater accuracy, it was possible to reconstruct the Allosaurus (another lizard). Over 60 of his skeletons of various sizes have been found in America. The largest allosaurs reached a length of 11-12 meters, and weighed from 1 to 2 tons. Their prey, of course, were gigantic herbivorous dinosaurs, which is confirmed by the found piece of the Apatosaurus tail with deep bite marks and knocked out Allosaurus teeth.
Even larger, in all likelihood, were two species that lived 80 million years later in the Cretaceous, namely: a tyrannosaurus (tyrannical lizard) from North America and a tarbosaurus (terrifying lizard) from Mongolia. Although the skeletons are not completely preserved (most often the tail is missing), it is assumed that their length reached 14-15 meters, the height was 6 meters, and the body weight reached 5-6 tons. The heads were also impressive: the skull of the tarbosaurus was 1.45 meters long, and the largest skull of a tyrannosaurus was 1.37 meters. The dagger-shaped teeth, protruding 15 cm, were so powerful that they could hold an actively resisting animal. But it is still unknown whether these giants could really pursue prey or were too massive for this. Perhaps they fed on carrion or the remains of the prey of smaller predators, which they did not have to drive away. The dinosaur's forelimbs were remarkably short and weak, with only two fingers each. And a huge finger with a claw 80 cm long was found in a tercinosaurus (crescent lizard). But whether this finger was the only one and what sizes the whole animal reached is unknown. The 12-meter spinosaurus (spiny lizard) also had an impressive appearance. Along his back, his skin was stretched in the form of a sail 1.8 meters high. Perhaps this served him to scare away rivals and competitors, or perhaps it served as a heat exchanger between the body and the environment.
Who was the giant scary hand"? Until now, we are not able to imagine what a giant predatory dinosaur looked like, from which, during excavations in Mongolia, only the bones of the fore and hind limbs have been found so far, unfortunately. But the length of the forelimbs alone was two and a half meters, that is, approximately equal to the length of the entire Deinonychus, or four times the length of its forelimbs. Each hand had three huge claws, with which it was possible to stab and tear even very large prey. Amazed by this find, Polish researchers gave this dinosaur the name Deinocheirus, which means "terrible hand."
If we take for comparison the dimensions of an ostrich dinosaur, which has a similar structure of the forelimbs, but is four times smaller in length, then we can assume that Deinocheirus was one and a half times the size of a tyrannosaurus rex! Dinosaur lovers and researchers around the world are looking forward to new bone finds and the solution to the mystery of the giant "terrible hand".
Tarbosaurus, whose remains were found in the southern part of the Gobi Desert, are large predatory dinosaurs. The total length of their body reached 10, and the height - 3.5 meters. They hunted large herbivorous dinosaurs. Tarbosaurs were distinguished by the impressive size of the skull - in adults it exceeded 1 meter.
According to experts, the dinosaur whose skull the detainee wanted to sell lived on our planet 50-60 million years ago.
Every year, Mongolian paleontologists and international expeditions find more and more remains of tarbosaurs in the South Gobi.
Since the early 1990s, such unique exhibits have been actively falling into private hands. According to information law enforcement Mongolia, illegally operates a network of smugglers engaged in such a trade. Behind last years Customs officers and police stopped several attempts to export fossilized remains of eggs and parts of dinosaur skeletons abroad.
So, which of the record holders do we have in the rank of marine Dinosaurs?
The crown of weight and size in the family of pliosaurs belongs precisely to Lioplervodon. It had four powerful flippers (up to 3 m long) and a short, laterally compressed tail. The teeth are huge, up to 30 cm long (perhaps up to 47 cm!), round in cross section. It reached a length of 15 to 18 meters. The length of these reptiles reached 15 meters. Liopleurodons fed on large fish, ammonites, and also attacked others. marine reptiles. They were the dominant predators of the Late Jurassic seas. Read more about dinosaur
Described by G. Savage in 1873 based on a single tooth from the Late Jurassic layers of the Boulogne-sur-Mer region (Northern France). The skeleton was found in late XIX century in Peterborough, England. At one time, the genus Liopleurodon was combined with the genus Pliosaurus (Pliosaurus). Liopleurodon is distinguished by a shorter mandibular symphysis and fewer teeth than Pliosaurus. Both genera form the family Pliosauridae.
Liopleurodon ferox is the type species. The total length reached 25 meters. The length of the skull is 4 meters. Lived in the waters of northern Europe (England, France) and South America (Mexico). Liopleurodon pachydeirus (Callovian of Europe), distinguished by the shape of the cervical vertebrae. Liopleurodon rossicus (aka Pliosaurus rossicus). Described on the basis of an almost complete skull from the Late Jurassic (Titonic era) of the Volga region. The length of the skull is about 1 - 1.2 m. A fragment of the rostrum of a giant pliosaurus from the same deposits may belong to the same species. In this case, the Russian Liopleurodon was not inferior to European species. The remains are on display at the Paleontological Museum in Moscow. Liopleurodon macromerus (aka Pliosaurus macromerus, Stretosaurus macromerus). Kimmeridge - Titonius of Europe and South America. Highly large view, the length of the skull reached 3 meters, the total length should be from 15 to 20 meters.
Liopleurodon was a typical pliosaurus - with a large narrow head (at least 1/4 - 1/5 of the total length), four powerful flippers (up to 3 m long) and a short, laterally compressed tail. The teeth are huge, up to 30 cm long (perhaps up to 47 cm!), round in cross section. At the tips of the jaws, the teeth form a kind of "rose". The external nostrils did not serve for breathing - when swimming, water entered the internal nostrils (located in front of the external ones) and exited through the external nostrils. The flow of water passed through Jacobson's organ and thus the Liopleurodon "sniffed" the water. This creature breathed through its mouth when it surfaced. Liopleurodons could dive deep and for a long time. They swam with the help of huge flippers, which flapped their wings like birds. Liopleurodons had good protection - under the skin they had strong bone plates. Like all pliosaurs, liopleurodons were viviparous.
In 2003, remains of the species Liopleurodon ferox were discovered in Late Jurassic marine sediments in Mexico. It reached a length of 15 to 18 meters. It was a young one. On its bones were found marks from the teeth of another Liopleurodon. Based on these injuries, the attacker could have been over 20 meters long, as his teeth were 7 cm in diameter and over 40 cm long. In 2007, the remains of very large pliosaurs of an unknown species were discovered in the Jurassic deposits of the polar archipelago of Svalbard. The length of these reptiles reached 15 meters. Liopleurodons fed on large fish, ammonites, and also attacked other marine reptiles. They were the dominant predators of the Late Jurassic seas.
Well, with the largest ones, probably everything, choose which one you like best for the pedestal :-) And now about the smallest ones ...
In 2008, scientists discovered the skull of one of the smallest dinosaurs that lived on Earth. This find may help in the search for an answer to the question of why some of the dinosaurs once became herbivores.
The skull, less than 2 inches (about 5 centimeters) long, belonged to a Heterodontosaurus baby that lived about 190 million years ago and was 6 inches (15.24 centimeters) high and 18 inches (nearly 46 centimeters) from the head. to the tip of the tail.
But to a greater extent, it was not the size of the animal that intrigued scientists, but its teeth. The opinions of experts about whether the heterodontosaurus ate meat or plants were divided. The mini-dinosaur, whose weight, according to The Telegraph, is comparable to mobile phone, there are both front fangs and teeth typical of herbivores for grinding plant food. There was an assumption that adult males had fangs, which used them to fight competitors for territory, but the presence of them in a cub disproved this theory. Most likely, such fangs were required for protection from predators.
Now the scientists who discovered the animal have a theory that Heterodontosaurus was in the process of evolutionary transition from carnivore to herbivore. It was probably an omnivore, feeding mainly on plants, but diversifying its diet with insects, small mammals, or reptiles.
Laura Porro, Ph.D. at the University of Chicago (USA), suggested that all dinosaurs were originally carnivorous: “Because Heterodontosaurus is one of the earliest dinosaurs to adapt to plants, it may represent a phase of transition from carnivorous ancestors to fully herbivorous descendants. Its skull indicates that all dinosaurs of this species survived such a transition."
Fossils of Heterodontosaurus are incredibly rare, with only two adult finds from South Africa known so far.
Laura Porro found part of a fossilized baby skull with two adult fossils during excavations in Cape Town in the 60s. Dr. Richard Butler, a specialist at the Natural History Museum in London, described the find as extremely important, as it provides an opportunity to learn how this animal changed in the process of growth. Interestingly, most reptiles change their teeth throughout their lives, while Heterodontosaurus did this only during maturation, like mammals.
Another small one:
But in 2011, the discovery of a new fossil could indicate the existence of the smallest species in the world among all known dinosaurs. The feathered bird-like creature that lived more than 100 million years ago measured no more than 15.7 inches (40 centimeters) in length.
The fossil, represented as a small neck bone found in southern Britain, was only a quarter of an inch (7.1 millimeters) long. It belonged to an adult dinosaur that lived during the Cretaceous period 145-100 million years ago, University of Portsmouth paleozoologist Darren Naish reported in the current issue of Cretaceous Research.
This discovery should place in the ranks of the world's smallest dinosaurs another bird-like dinosaur, so far called Anchiornis, who lived in an area now called China, 160-155 million years ago. The recently found bone belongs to the maniraptoran, a group of theropod dinosaurs thought to be the ancient ancestors of modern birds.
With a fossil with only one vertebra available, it's hard to guess exactly what the little dinosaur ate or even how big it really was.
The vertebra lacks a neurocentral suture, a rough, open line of bone that does not close until the dinosaur is an adult, Naish and his University of Portsmouth colleague Steven Sweetmen reported. This means that the dinosaur died as an adult animal.
But calculating the estimated length of a dinosaur from a single bone was tricky enough. The researchers used two methods to determine how big the maniraptoran was. The first method involved building a digital model of the dinosaur's neck, and then the scientists superimposed that neck on the silhouette of a typical maniraptoran.
The method is more art than science, as Naish wrote on his blog, Tetrapod Zoology, predicting that it must have infuriated some researchers. A slightly more mathematical method, used to calculate the neck and torso ratios of other related dinosaurs, was applied to determine the new maniraptoran length. Both methods led to the following figures - about 13-15.7 inches (33-50 centimeters), as noted by Naish.
The new dinosaur does not yet have official name and dubbed the Ashdown maniraptorian after the area where it was discovered. If Ashdown dino turns out to be the smallest recorded dinosaur, he will break the record for the smallest already. famous dinosaur North American measures about 6 inches (15 cm). This dinosaur, Hesperonychus elizabethae, was a predatory velociraptor with a hideous twisted toe claw. He was about a foot and a half (50 cm) tall and weighed about 4 pounds (2 kilograms).
In the 1970s in the deposits of the Upper Triassic in Newfoundland (Canada), a small footprint was found left by someone, no larger than a thrush in size. The structure of the fingers is typical for carnivorous dinosaurs of that time. This print belongs to the smallest dinosaur ever found on Earth. However, it is still not known what age the individual that left the trace could be - an adult or a calf.
sources
http://dinopedia.ru/
http://dinosaurs.afly.ru/
http://dinohistory.ru/
http://www.zooeco.com/
And let's remember one of the versions, and also remember who Well, a question that indirectly relates to our today's topic - The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy is made -Any person imagines a dinosaur in the form of a ferocious lizard of terrifying size, baring its huge mouth and destroying everything in its path. Indeed, most of the ancient reptiles had a gigantic size that boggles the imagination. This is evidenced by numerous finds of individual fragments and even entire skeletons of fossil pangolins. However, not all dinosaurs were giants, among them there were separate species, which nature, as if in mockery, endowed with the growth of a chicken. These tiny creatures darted in numerous flocks among the thickets of relic fern, trying not to get under the feet of their huge relatives and looking for even smaller prey.
Why, until recently, scientists knew so little about these amazing crumbs? It was the small stature that played with them bad joke. The bones of these dinosaurs were so light and fragile that they did not stand the test of time and practically did not survive to this day. Only a few finds allowed these small reptiles to make themselves known.
This lizard has gained fame small predator Jurassic period. Its length did not exceed a meter, and its weight reached only two kilograms. He moved on fast hind legs, had a long tail and a movable head. The nimble dinosaur hunted insects and lizards. In total, three Compsognathus skeletons were found. Two of them were found on the territory of Europe in the middle of the nineteenth and at the end of the twentieth century, and one skeleton was preserved in Russia and was found quite recently, in 2010. Thanks to these findings, scientists were able to restore the appearance and habits of the fossil dinosaur.
Nkvebasaurus
The only fragment of the skeleton of this pangolin was found in 2000 in Africa, near the Sahara desert. Most likely the remains belonged to the cub. The structural features of these lizards include the presence of long fingers, which made it possible to capture prey. The so-called stomach stones, which are usually intended for grinding plant foods, have been preserved in the intestines. This allowed scientists to conclude that the nquebasaurs are omnivores. In length, the dinosaur did not exceed a meter and was a contemporary of Compsognathus.
Scipionyx
The perfectly preserved skeleton of this pangolin was found in Italy at the end of the twentieth century. The skeleton that belonged to a baby dinosaur pleased scientists with an extensive base for research, because the fossilized remains preserved the structure of not only the soft tissues of the animal, but also its internal organs. Most likely, the body of the lizard was covered with primitive feathers. He moved on his hind legs, supporting his body with the help of his tail. The size of adults, according to scientists, reached two meters. The dinosaur lived in the Cretaceous period and was a predator. In any case, scientists found lizards and fish among the undigested food residues.