Dinosaurs – mighty creatures
The word “dinosaur” is derived from two Greek words, meaning “terrible lizard.” The dinosaurs arose during the interval of geologic time known as the Mesozoic (middle life) era, often called the “golden age of reptiles” or “the age of dinosaurs.”
Species of dinosaurs ranged from chicken-sized creatures to colossal, herbivorous animals known as “sauropods”.
Dinosaurs were remarkable and impressive animals. Some species of dinosaurs were large predators, others were immense herbivores, and still others were smaller predators, herbivores, or scavengers. Most, if not all, dinosaurs laid eggs. Some dinosaurs built large nests to keep their babies together. Large dinosaurs might have lived almost 100 years.
Dinosaurs lived for about 160 million years and were the dominant terrestrial animals on Earth throughout the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods—a span of over 100 million years. The dinosaurs were the ancient cousins of today’s crocodiles, snakes, and lizards.
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