It’s been an exciting few months for palaeontologists. Advances in technologies have revealed some exciting new facts about the prehistoric creatures. We were so fascinated to hear this news, so we’ve decided to learn more about Dinosaurs. Read today’s blog to find out some more super cool facts you can share with your little ones about these ancient reptiles.
1
Dinosaurs are a group of reptiles that dominated the earth for over 160 million years. The modern form of humans who have only roamed the earth for 200,000 years. How crazy is that? We’ve got a lot of catching up to do!
2
Dinosaurs first appeared on earth 230 million years ago. The climate was a lot hotter back then, where much of the earth was like a desert!
3
Like other reptiles, dinosaurs laid eggs. Many eggs grew as big as footballs. The bigger the egg, the thicker the shell. One egg found 30 years ago was over 50cm wide! Now that’s a big egg!
4
Most dinosaurs were vegetarians. The amount of plants some dinosaurs would eat in a day could completely fill a bus! And I thought I ate a lot…
5
For their own protection, most plant-eating dinosaurs grew natural weapons, like spikes and horns. They would also live together in herds like many animals do today.
6
Dinosaurs had large holes in their skulls to make their heads lighter. Some of the largest skulls were as big as a Smart car!. That must have felt like a very large weight on their shoulders!
7
The word dinosaur was founded by British Paleontologist Richard Owen in 1842. It’s a Greek word that means ‘terrible lizard’. Although, Owen implied that the term was used to describe their significantly large size.
8
The Hadrosaurus dinosaur had over 1000 teeth and continued to grow new ones throughout their lifetime! Smile for the camera… or maybe no
9
To-date, there are 700 species of dinosaurs. However, Paleontologists believe that there are still many more to be discovered!
10
It is believed that birds we see today have actually evolved from dinosaurs! In fact the chicken is believed to be the closest relative to a dinosaur! Some would say we’re still living amongst dinosaurs today!
FREE, DOWNLOADABLE DINOSAUR SHADOW PUPPETS
Click here to download these super fun shadow puppet templates. It’s guaranteed to keep you and the little one entertained! All you need next is a white sheet, a small lamp and a darkened room! Watch this helpful video for instructions.
