All kinds of dinosaurs with names, their description

Scientists have calculated that vertebrate animals inhabit our planet for about 500 million years, 200 million of them account for the dominance of ancient lizards, called dinosaurs. At one time, ancient reptiles were the crowning of the creation of mother nature, and their offshoot - the dinosaurs - generally represented the peak of the development of all the reptiles that ever inhabited our planet. All kinds of dinosaurs, like their way of life, changed each other in different epochs, and nature brought in their lives all the new adjustments.

Who are paleontologists?

Before we know what kind of dinosaurs existed on our planet in different epochs, it is necessary to understand how it all began. The science of paleontology deals with the study of life, which was born in distant epochs. Its name comes from three Greek words: "paleos" - ancient, "ontos" - being, "logos" - word. People involved in this science are called paleontologists. Their work somewhat resembles the work of detectives: for scattered fragments and remains of paleontologists, it is necessary to restore a complete picture of long-past eras. A huge role in this is played by their intuition combined with logic and imagination.

Even the most insignificant facts need careful investigation. Paleontologists collect them bit by bit. This is quite a painstaking and exhausting work, because many events of the past have irretrievably gone into oblivion, without even leaving behind a single trace in the rocks. It is thanks to the labors of these people that we can learn about which animals once inhabited the planet Earth, what kinds of dinosaurs existed, how they looked, how they lived, on whom they hunted, how they escaped from certain dangers. Paleontologists were able to reconstruct the picture of the surrounding world of the great era of dinosaurs.

How was the era of dinosaurs formed?

Of course, all kinds of dinosaurs and varieties that branch off from them during the great era of reptiles could not become so numerous and widespread if our planet did not develop and was not properly formed. The era of dinosaurs is divided into several periods. Let's briefly review each of them.

• Archaean. This is the very first, the earliest period. This is the starting point, from where the reptilian era begins. At this time on Earth only life began to arise, the evolution of unicellular organisms took place.
• Proterozoic. In this period, multicellular animals and plants began to appear on the planet.
• Cambrian. In the Cambrian period, life on Earth began to develop actively, algae and aquatic invertebrates appeared.
• Ordovician. This time was marked by the appearance on the planet of the first vertebrate beings.
• Silur. In the Silurian period, invertebrate animals and certain plant species move from land to water.
• Devonian. This time is characterized by the appearance of gymnosperms, as well as animals such as amphibians, arachnids (spiders, mites), insects.
• Carbon. It is from here that the epoch of ancient reptiles begins. Reptiles that appeared during this period, divided into three branches: anapsid, synapsid, diapsid. At the same time, the first coniferous plants and flying insects began to appear on the planet.
• Permian. The Permian period is marked by the appearance of the first beetles, bedbugs, hymenoptera, the first small lizards and the first arhosaurs.
• Triassic. Paleontologists found out that it was at this time that the first flies began to inhabit our planet, while the last ancient amphibians - stegocephalus - began to die out. Representatives of the anapsid class also died out. In the Triassic period there were the first crocodiles, turtles, flying lizards, mammals and, of course, dinosaurs.
• Yura. The Jurassic period is a peculiar culmination of the era of dinosaurs. It was at this time that angiosperms appeared on Earth, the butterflies began to fly, some modern amphibians (the same green frogs) originated, ancient birds (archeopteryx) and, of course, new species of dinosaurs. In the Jurassic period, the last representatives of the class of synapsides began to die out.
• A piece of chalk. Angiosperms finally conquered the land. There are modern types of ants and bloodsucking insects. In addition, the Cretaceous period is the end of the great era of reptiles: it was at this time that there was a complete extinction of dinosaurs, sea reptiles, pterosaurs. It was the Cretaceous period that was marked by the appearance of some modern animals: our planet began to conquer new intelligent and beautiful animals - placental mammals, marsupials and birds.

Subclass of anapsid

Before the planet Earth began to colonize various types of dinosaurs, many years have passed, aimed at forming the so-called genealogical tree of the terrible lizards. The most ancient and most primitive group is considered to be an anapsid subclass. At once we will notice that any representative of this group has not lived in this or that kind up to now. The last anapsids died out about 200 million years ago. It happened in the Triassic period.

Subclass of the synapsid

From the root of the anapsid, the second evolutionary branch of future dinosaurs, the synapsid, separated. To this ancient class belonged the ancestors of mammals. But they were destined to sink into oblivion. So, unfortunately, and not seeing the heyday of their descendants - modern mammal animals, to which we belong - people. It happened in the Jurassic period.

Subclass of diapsids

Much later the synapse from the base of the ancient trunk separated a new branch - diapsids. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that it was the subclass of the diapsids that divided into two branches - the arhosaurs and the lepidosaurs. Lepidosaurs are a group of animals that live on Earth today: hatteria (ancient lizards), snakes, turtles. But not all lepidosaurs could live to our era, among them there are known extinct forms, such as plesiosaurs - sea predators with long necks. If you believe the legend, in the Scottish lake of Loch Ness there is still one such plesiosaur named Nessie, but this is another story.

The branch of arhosaurs was represented by crocodiles and other ancient reptiles, among them all kinds of flying dinosaurs, and land lizards. Archosaurs are the most important lizards of all time and epoch, one of the most diverse and amazing reptiles, the most perfect reptiles of that time. Fortunately, all the dinosaurs have died out, and have not lived to our days, but now on the planet Earth live several species of ancient crocodiles, preserved from those times! What were these legendary lizards? We bring to your attention the brightest species of dinosaurs and their description.

Peace-loving Diplodocus

This is a representative of a group of so-called sauropods. According to paleontologists, these dinosaurs could reach a length of up to 58 meters with a weight of 113 tons. However, more and more modern scholars are inclined to believe that the diplomats did not exceed the length of 27 meters and the weight of 20 tons. The first fossils of this peace-loving lizard were found by paleontologists in 1877 in the mountains of Colorado, USA.

Types of dinosaurs of this group lived in the late Jurassic period in the territory of modern North America about 150 million years ago. Paleontologists consider Diplodocs to be one of the most easily identifiable dinosaurs. Moreover, this species is the largest of all dinosaurs, known by the found complete skeletons. Diplodocuses were herbivorous animals, and their huge size was a deterrent for predatory lizards of those times - ceratosaurs and allosaurs.

Allosaurus - a thunder of diplomats!

Within the framework of this article, we will not be able to consider all kinds of dinosaurs with names, so let's address only the most prominent and famous representatives of these legendary giants. One of them is Allosaurus. It is a representative of the genus of predatory dinosaurs from the group of theropods. Like the Diplodocus, allosaurs existed in the Jurassic period about 155 million years ago.

These creatures moved on their hind legs and had very small forelimbs. On average, these lizards reached a length of 9 meters and a height of 4 meters. Allosaurs were considered large biped predators of that time. The remains of these insidious creatures were found in the territory of modern Southern Europe, East Africa and North America.

Ichthyosaurs are the legendary fish-fanciers

Represent the extinct detachment of large marine reptiles, reaching a length of 20 meters. Outwardly these lizards resembled modern fish and dolphins. A distinctive feature of them were large eyes, protected by a bone ring. In general, at a short distance ichthyosaurs could be completely mistaken for fish or dolphins.

The origin of these creatures is still in question. Some paleontologists believe that they are from the diapsid. This version is confirmed only by guesswork: apparently, the escape of ichthyosaurs somehow branched off from the main stem of the diapsids even before this subclass was divided into arhosaurs and lepidosaurs. Nevertheless, the ancestors of these fish-finches are still not known. The ichthyosaurs died out about 90 million years ago.

Dinosaurs rise to the sky

At the end of the Triassic period, the first flying dinosaur species appeared on the planet, which arose unexpectedly in the paleontological chronicle. Curiously, they were already fully formed. Direct their ancestors, from which they developed all this time, are unknown.

All Triassic pterosaurs belong to the group of Ramforinhs: these creatures had huge heads, toothed mouths, long and narrow wings, a long and thin tail. The size of these "leather birds" varied. Pterosaurs - as they were called - had basically the size of both gulls and hawks. Of course, there were 5-meter giants among them. Pterosaurs died out about 65 million years ago.

Tyrannosaurs are the most famous species of dinosaurs

The list of ancient lizards would be incomplete if we did not mention the most dinosaur of all time and epochs - tyrannosaurus. This insidious and dangerous creature fully justifies its name. This creation represents the genus of carnivorous dinosaurs from the group of the celurosaurs and the suborder of the theropods. Includes a single species - tyrannosaurus rex (from the Latin language "rex" - this is the king). Tyrannosaurs, like allosaurs, were bipedal predators with massive skulls and sharp teeth. The limbs of the tyrannosaurus were a continuous physiological contradiction: massive hind legs and tiny hook-shaped front legs.

Tyrannosaurus is the largest species within its own family, as well as one of the largest terrestrial predatory pangolins in the history of our planet. The remains of this animal were found in the west of modern North America. According to scientists, they lived about 65 million years ago, that is, the death of the entire dynasty of ancient lizards fell on their age. It was tyrannosaurs that crowned the whole great era of dinosaurs, which ended in the Cretaceous period.

Feathered heritage

For many people it is not a secret that birds are direct descendants of dinosaurs. Paleontologists saw in the external and internal structure of birds and dinosaurs much in common. It should be remembered that birds are the descendants of terrestrial lizards - dinosaurs, and not flying pangolins - pterosaurs! Currently, two subclasses of ancient reptiles "hang in the air", because their ancestors and exact origin are not established by paleontologists. The first subclass is ichthyosaurs, and the second is turtles. If we have already sorted out the ichthyosaurs above, then nothing is clear with turtles!

Turtles are amphibians?

Therefore, it is understandable that when considering a topic such as "Kinds of Dinosaurs", one can not but mention these animals. The origin of the subclass of turtles is still covered with a veil of mystery. True, some zoologists still believe that they originated from anapsids. However, they are opposed by other learned men who are sure that turtles are descendants of some ancient amphibians. And do not depend on other reptiles. If this theory is confirmed, then in the science of zoology there will be a big breakthrough: it may happen that turtles will not have the slightest relation to reptiles at all, because then they will become ... amphibians!