PREHISTORIC LIFE
APRIL 13, 2021
the late dinosaurs era : t-Rex and others
The later generation of Dinosaurs was filled with more unique and fierce beasts roaming the land of prehistoric Earth.
The later dinosaurs era lived between 140 million and 60 million years ago. These giants two legged type of dinosaurs was descended from Megalosaurus. Their front limbs were very tiny, and it is hard to believe that the front limbs could have been of much use.
Tyrannosaurus belonged to this group of dinosaurs and it is one of the most well represented of the large theropods. It was the biggest and most ferocious land carnivore that has ever lived. With its very long sharp teeth, and huge claws on its feet, it must have been a terrifying creature.
Tyrannosaurs often called T Rex where Rex meaning “king” in Latin, so Tyrannosaurs rex meaning “tyrant lizard king”. The famous predator lived and dominated all across what is now western North America. It coexisted alongside many well known dinosaurs such Pchycephalosaurs, Ankylosaurs, Triceratops and Quetzalcoatlus. An adult T Rex could grow up to 12 meters long and 6 meters tall. This king lizard lived during the Late Cretaceous Period, some 68 million years ago.
Some herbivorous dinosaurs, like Styracosaurus, had an elaborate combination of frill and horns around the head and neck. This armor protected them from fierce carnivores such as Tyrannosaurus. They may also have used the spikes in mating battles between rival males. They traveled in herds from the dicovery of over 100 fossils at the same site in Alberta, Canada, in 1913.
Styracosaurus or “spiked lizard” weighed about 7 tons. Its sharp horns would have made a deep wound, and could easily have broken the leg of giant predators like Tyrannosaurus. Styracousaurus lived during the Late Cretaceous Period.
An adult T-Rex was so powerful and strong, it could smash a car with just one movement.
Other herbivorous dinosaurs without effective armor relied mainly on speed to escape from their enemies as fast as they could. To be able to do that, they rose up on to their powerful hind limbs. Some plant eater dinosaurs like Iguanodon had strong and long bony spikes on its thumbs, which it may have used to protect itself from meat eaters enemies.
Anatosaurus and Corythosaurus belong to a group of herbivores called the bipedal duck-billed dinosaurs of the Late Cretaceous Period about 70 miilion to 65 million years ago. They had a horny covering of skin, which reach to their jaws with hundreds of hard teeth inside, which they used to grind up their meal. They roamed in what is now North America. Anatosaurs means “duck lizard” and probably ate mostly conifer needles and seeds.
Another duck-billed dinosaurs, such as Corythosaurus, had strange helmet-shaped crests formed on their heads. The helmet looked similiar to the helmet worn by the ancient Greek soldiers. They lived during the Upper Cretaceous Period, about 77-75.7 million years ago.
They had no protective armor or spikes, and probably lived in herds, while most of the herd was feeding, others would be keeping watch for any hungry carnivores prowling nearby. Corythosaurus itself is a genus of ornithopod, about 9 – 10 meters long and 2 meters tall at the hips with 3 – 5 tons weight.
Some dinosaurs were not very big. Ornithomimus was a small two-legged, lightly built animal that could run fast. They have small toothless beaks that may indicate they were omnivorous. It may also have picked at the dead bodies of animals killed and half-eaten by carnivores dinosaurs such as the T Rex. Ornithomimus fossils were found covered in feathers in Mongolian, European and North America dating from 125 million to 66 million years ago during the Cretaceous period.
Although Ornithomimus considered as vegetarians they also sometimes ate meat. They had three toes on each foot, long slender arms and a long neck just like a bird and weak jaws It also had claws on each of its hand and foot. Ornithomimus name means bird mimic.
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