Dinosaurs are known to be one of the most successful groups of living beings that ever existed on earth. There were different species of these dinosaurs in which some were small while some were giants. The reason behind you don’t see them today (fortunately) is because long time back, almost 66 million years ago an asteroid ended whole of their species. Asteroids are large, rocky elements that surround the sun and their diameter goes up to 100 meters. Just imagine how big must have been the asteroid that wiped the dinosaurs from the earth. When the asteroid about 10 to 15 km wide hit the earth’s surface the tidal waves occurred that washed some parts of the American continent. Around 75% of earth’s animals including the dinosaurs suddenly died during the same time that happened because the ecosystem of the earth collapsed. There was a reduction of plants which made a huge impact on herbivorous animals due to which carnivorous animals also suffered. The whole food cycle was disrupting which killed almost every living being of that time. Reading the history about the end of dinosaurs, you might be wondering what all types of dinosaurs were living on our earth before us. So here is a list of top ten popular dinosaurs whose fossils us humans have found in different parts of the world.
- Spinosaurus
Spinosaurus remains were first found in 1912 Egypt and the information about it was listed by palaeontologist Ernst Stromer in 1915. Spinosaurus was also known as the spined reptile as it had tall vertebral spines. It was a heavy, tall and largest carnivorous dinosaur known to the human kind. The skull was 1.75 meters long and the length of the body was about 46-59 feet. During the 1990s 2000s some other remains of the Spinosaurus were found in morocco, Tunisia and Algeria too.
- Archeopteryx
Archeopteryx is almost 150 million years old dinosaur which could fly and was considered the oldest known fossil bird once. The remains of this dinosaur were found in the year 1861 at the Solnhofen limestone formation in Bavaria, Germany. The bird dinosaur had well developed sharped teeth which give us a view that it was carnivorous and it also had a long defined tail. Archeopteryx had fingers that had claws which must have helped it to hunt other animals.
- Stegosaurus
Stegosaurus dates back to almost 159 million to 144 million years ago and is popular for its beautiful triangular bony plates along its spine. Their length went up to 6.5 meters that is almost 21 feet but a few even went above 28 feet. Their feet were short and their hind limbs were larger than their forelimbs that gave their body a bent like shape. There were some conception about the brain of the stegosaurus as some argued that it had two brains while others suggested it had only one.
- Velociraptor
During the cretaceous period almost 98 million to 66 million years ago, velociraptor lived in the central and eastern Asia. The velociraptor had a big claw on each of its foot a long tail that helped it in maintaining balance while they were hunting. Their height went up to 6 feet and weighed almost 44-45 kg. The diet of the velociraptor was small herbivorous animals as it was a carnivorous dinosaur.
- Tyrannosaurus Rex
Tyrannosaurus Rex was one of the most dangerous and biggest dinosaur during that time. The Rex fed on smaller dinosaurs and animals which can be proved by looking at the fossils as it showed very sharp and big teeth which helped it to eat flesh properly. The fossils of T.Rex were found in south Dakota and Montana as well as in Alberta, Canada. The predator lived on earth almost 91 to 66 years ago during cretaceous period.
- Triceratops
Triceratops was the dinosaurs that lived during the cretaceous period that was almost 145.5 million to 65.5 million years ago. Triceratops were herbivores as they fed on plants and trees. The height of a triceratops went up to 10 meters and they weigh almost 5,450-7,260 kg. At the back of its head there were frills and it had three horns on its face, two above the eyes and one on top of the nose.
- Allosaurus
Allosaurus was a dinosaur who lived on earth during 150 million to 144 million years ago during the late Jurassic period. Their fossils were first found in western United States, Utah and Colorado. Their body length went up to 35 feet and weight almost two tons. According to some people Allosaurus can also be scavenger who fed on dead animals and dinosaurs too.
- Dilophosaurus
The region where today we have North America was once home to the dinosaur dilophosaurus that lived there almost 193 million years ago. During the early Jurassic period this dinosaur was one of the largest and deadly carnivorous dinosaur. The name given to it is because of the two bones on the top of its head. The teeth of Dilophosaurus was thin, long and a little bit curved which made it easy for the dinosaur to tear the flesh of its hunt. Dilophosaurus is known for its speed which was about 30 mph that helped it to catch it’s prey easily
- Apatosaurus
You must have watch the movie the Jurassic park, where there was a long necked dinosaur well it is called the apatosaurus and they really do existed millions of years ago. Apatosaurus are very popular because of their long necks among all the other dinosaurs. They were plant eaters and were longer than the 5th floor buildings. Talking about their weight, it was almost as much as 4-5 adult elephants.
- Brachiosaurus
Brachiosaurus were really giant dinosaur with height that went up to 13 meters making them the tallest of all the dinosaurs for a century before other dinosaurs were discovered. Their remains were first found in Colorado in the year 1990. The name brachiosaurus was given to them by Elmer Riggs who was working for a museum in Chicago. According to some the brachiosaurus must have lived in the area where present day is United States.
