What were the dinosaurs

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What were the dinosaurs

What were the dinosaurs?

Dinosaurs were a branch of Class Reptilia

Features of dinosaurs:

Laid shelled eggs (occasionally fossilised)
Some cared for their young (fossils found showing nests of eggs with adults close by, family groups)

May have been warm blooded

May have required a high metabolism to support size & level of activity
Blood flow through bones, bone growth patterns support warm-blood

Herbivores & carnivores
Only lived on land

Some related reptiles lived in water- ichthyosaurs
Some related reptiles flew/glided- pterosaurs

Dinosaurs evolved to fill almost all ecological niches- large, small, herbivores, carnivores.

Dinosaurs are classified into two groups: lizard-hipped & bird-hipped.
	The Saurischia (lizard-hipped) dinosaurs have the three main bones of the hip girdle arranged with the pubis (front bone) pointing forward (like reptiles). Theropods- predatory dinosaurs Sauropodomorphs- very large, long-necked, herbivorous dinosaurs

	The Ornithischia (bird-hipped) dinosaurs have the hips similar to that of modern, but not fossil, birds. All of the ornithischians were herbivores. Examples: stegosaurus, anklyosaurus, triceratops, bipedal dinosaurs like iguanadon

66 million years ago, all dinosaurs became extinct except for a group of theropods which had evolved into birds.

The real reason for dinosaur extinction…

Current evidence is that a meteorite caused volcanic activity and climate change (KT event). The earth was hotter and drier, and large organisms didn’t have enough food to survive.

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