Little boys playing with dinoglow plush

9 Shocking Dinosaur Facts

We know many kids have an interest in dinosaurs, some may even be dino-obsessed. But is what they learned about dinos enough information? Let's dive into these 9 shocking dinosaur facts to keep your little ones wanting to learn more!

1. We’re closer in time to the T.Rex than the T.Rex was to the stegosaurus.
  • The stegosaurus existed in the Jurassic period and had already been extinct for 80-90 million years before the Tyrannosaurus Rex made an appearance. This makes the T.Rex closer to us, by 65.5 million years.
2. There were more than 700 types of dinosaurs.
  • Currently, there are over 700 different species of dinosaurs that have been identified and named. However, it is believed by paleontologists there are many more dinosaur species that still need to be discovered.
3. The biggest dinosaur was about 140 feet long.
  • The Supersaurus might be the longest dino that ever lived 150 million years ago. The first specimen was discovered in 1972.
4. The dinosaurs went extinct because of a giant asteroid.
  • An asteroid roughly 6 miles wide hit Earth about 65 million years ago, according to geological evidence. The impact made a huge explosion and left a crater 110 miles across. 
    5. Dinosaurs sometimes got sick.
    • Wonder what snot dripping from those large nostrils and coughs from those long necks could be like? Paleontologists found the first evidence of a non-avian dinosaur with a respiratory illness in 2022.
      6. Birds are close descendants of dinosaurs called Avian Dinosaurs.
      • Birds may be much smaller than their dino ancestors, but they very closely resemble dinosaur embryos. They may have paved the way for modern birds' features, ability to fly, and agile beaks. 
        7. The first dinosaur fossils were discovered in 1854 along the Missouri River.
        • In Montana, Ferdinand Hayden found the remains of a duck-billed dinosaur called Trachodon, according to paleontologist Joseph Leidy. 
          8. The oldest fossil footprints paleontologists discovered were 313 million years old!
          • The fossilized footprints were discovered in Grand Canyon National Park. Researchers found the discovery of a geology professor and his students in 2016 was the oldest to exist, give or take 1 million years.
            9. The last known dinosaurs roamed the earth 66 million years ago. They were on earth for 165 million years!
            • The last known dino species was the Chenanisaurus barbaricus until the asteroid wiped them out. 

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