Q: What do T. rex eat?
from ?; January 31, 2000
A: T. rex was a meat-eater. It ate other dinosaurs (like Triceratops) and other large animals. For information on T. rex's diet, click here..
Q: did any camarasaurus live in oregon?
from Jack S., Fossilville, Oregon; January 31, 2000
A: Only a hadrosaur has been found in Oregon, no Camarasaurus. For a state-by-state list of fossils found, click here.
Q: What type of birds became extinct first?
from Michelle M., North America; January 31, 2000
A: The earliest birds went extinct the earliest. So far, the earliest known bird is Archaeopteryx, which lived about 150 million years ago.
Q: were there any dinosaur fossils in San Antonio? When
were the 3 times dinosaurs ruled the land?
from J Graco, San Antonio, Texas, USA; January 31, 2000
A: I don't about San Antonio, but the following fossils (animals with an asterisk weren't dinosaurs) have been found in Texas: Acrocanthosaurus, Alamosaurus, Brontopodus, Camptosaurus, Chasmosaurus, Coelophysis, Deinonychus, Dimetrodon*, Edmontosaurus, Hypsilophodon, Iguanodon, Kritosaurus, Megatherium* (giant ground sloth), Ornithomimus, Panoplosaurus, Pleurocoelus, Protohadros byrdi, Quetzalcoatlus*, Shuvosaurus, Stegoceras, Technosaurus, Tenontosaurus, Texascetes, Torosaurus, Tyrannosaurus rex.
Dinosaurs lived during the Mesozoic Era, which is divided into 3 periods, the Triassic, the Jurassic and the Cretaceous.
Q: How do you type an upside down question mark on the computer??
from Jimmy L, Georgia, USA; January 31, 2000
A: For most web browsers, use the URL code ¿
Q: what kind of dinosaur did a dog evolve from.
from brett c, gering, nebraska, USA; January 31, 2000
A: Dogs are mammals, which didn't evolve from dinosaurs. Mammals evolved from pelycosaurs. For more information on mammalian evolution, click here.
Q: i need information about Wooly Mamouths please
from Beth W., Elmira, NY, USA; January 31, 2000
A: For information on Woolly mammoths, click here. For a woolly mammoth printout, click here.
Q: How does the Tyrannosaurus Rex repoduce?¿
from Dusty K., Cumberland, Rhode Island, USA; January 31, 2000
A: No one knows. For other information on T. rex, click here.
Q: Were was the stegoceras' fossil was found?
from maegan.m., benton, maine, USA; January 29, 2000
A: Stegoceras fossils were found in Alberta, Cananda and Montana, USA. For more information on Stegoceras, click here.
Q: Who were the first people to find a fossil or bone from a dinosaur?
from Megan D., Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada; January 29, 2000
A: For a page on the earliest dinosaur discoveries, click here.
Q: what did diplodocus have in its stomach to help it digest?
from Danyelle B, wolsey, sd, USA; January 28, 2000
A: Gastroliths, stones that it swallowed to help grind up food. For more information on Diplodocus, click here.
Q: how many chamber could be found in a dinosaurs heart
from Tim t., jasper, fl, USA; January 28, 2000
A: They probably had four-chambered hearts.
Q: I'v been reading "Walking With Dinosaurs" and it says that Liopleurodon
was about 25m (80 feet) long and weighed 150 tonnes! Thats much bigger than Kronosaurus so shouldn't you have put Liopleurodon as the biggest pliosaur?
from Michael G., Mandurah, WA, Australia; January 27, 2000
A: Yes, it is the biggest-known pliosaur, but the numbers given in that TV series and book are vastly higher than those in other paleontology references. The length figures for Liopleurodon are generally in the 12-15 m (39-49 ft) range (for example, see: http://www.dinosauria.com/dml/names/ples.html). Also, it was only recently discovered that the biggest Kronosaurus was modeled with 10 extra vertebrae, making it bigger that it should have been. I've amended that figure.
Q: Are there any known dinosaurs that were omnivorous?
from Gina L, Cupertino, CA, USA; January 27, 2000
A: Yes. For details, click here.
Q: when did people start looking for and putting the bones
together?
from e.d., ns, Dartmouth, Canada; January 27, 2000
A: See this page.
Q: When the first dinosaur was born. How could so many other kinds
develop. For example, there are meat eaters, vegi eaters, two legged, four legged.
from Brittany G., Santa Rosa, CA, USA; January 27, 2000
A: This type of variation has happened with most groups of orgamisms. For example, look at the mammals. There are plant-eaters (like deer) and meat-eaters (like lions), bipeds (like us) and quadrupeds (like dogs), big (like elephants) and small (like shrews), etc.
Q: What are some intresting facts abouyt the Permian Period?
What came before dinosaurs?
What are some facts about the Dimetrodon?
from Tamara M., Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas, USA; January 26, 2000
A: For information on the Permian period, click here. For information on Dimetrodon, click here.
Q: Can you tell me everything about tricertops?
from John Y, Los Angeles, California, USA; January 26, 2000
A: For information on Triceratops, click here.
Q: I have a school project on Spinosaurus. Did it nurture its young? What
were its enemies, and what animals did Spinosaurus attack? What about fossils? Have any
nests or eggs been found? Also, what was its environment like? Did it travel in a herd
or by itself? Thank you for any answers!
from Katherine R, Rowlett, TX, USA; January 26, 2000
A: No one knows if Spinosaurus nurtured its young. It was at the top of its local food web. No one knows exactly which animals it ate, but it probably ate dinosaurs that were smaller than it was. For a list of its contemporaries, dinosaurs that lived at the same place (Africa) and time(the late Cretaceous period, about 98 to 95 million years ago), click here.For the rest of the information on Spinosaurus, click here.
Q: Can you tell me how a Parasaurolophus Breeds? Do they nurture their
babies or do they grow on their own? Are the babies born live or are they hatched from
eggs? I need this information for a school project due soon, please hurry...Thanks.
from Rosa M., Fort Myers, FL, USA; January 26, 2000
A: No one knows anything about how Parasaurolophus bred; the large head crest may have been used in a courtship display, but this is pure speculation. Neither Parasaurolophus eggs nor nests have been found, so no one knows if they cared for their young or not. Parasaurolophus probably did hatch from eggs, though. For more information on Parasaurolophus, click here.
Q: What does Deinocheirus mean?
from Dara S., Arvada, Colorado, USA; January 26, 2000
A: Deinocheirus means "terrible hand." For more information on Deinocheirus, click here.
Q: What can you tell me about ice age animals
from Sharon B., Springfield, Il, USA; January 25, 2000
A: Click here.
Q: What animal is bigger than any dinosaur
from Justin F., oconto falls, WI, USA; January 25, 2000
A: The Blue whale.
Q: What did the Apatosaurus used to be called?
from Laurie B., New Berlin, Wisconsin, USA; January 25, 2000
A: Brontosaurus. For information on Apatosaurus/Brontosaurus, click here.
Q: What are Empty Niches, Speciation, and types of Saurischians
from Christina R., Narragansett, Rhode Island, USA; January 25, 2000
A: An empty niche is a niche (a position or place to live in an environment) that is unoccupied. After a mass extinction event, for example, there are many newly-emty niches. For a definition of speciation, click here. For the types of saurischian dinosaur, click here.
Q: What is a trilobite.
from micky r., chicago, IL, USA; January 25, 2000
A: For information on Trilobites, click here.
Q: Is a Mammoth a dinosaur?
from jessi h, franklin, north carolina, USA; January 25, 2000
A: No, mammoths were mammals (closely related to modern-day elephants). For information on mammoths, click here.
Q: WHICH DINOSAUR IS NAMED AFTER A TOWN IN SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY
from Randy C., LINDENWOLD, N.J., USA; January 24, 2000
A: The first nearly-complete dinosaur skeleton was found in Haddonfield, New Jersey, so people called it the "Haddonfield Hadrosaurus," but its scientific name is really Hadrosaurus fouki. For more information on this dinosaur, click here and scroll down to the section on America.
Q: What is a living fossil?
from Amanda A., Corpus Christi, Texas, USA; January 24, 2000
A: An animal like the coelacanth, which is a primitive fish that was thought to be extinct, but was found alive in the sea off Africa. For more information on the Coelacanth, click here.
Q: HOW DO EGGS TURN INTO FOSSILS.
from kasey s, sacramento, ca, USA; January 24, 2000
A: The same way other things fossilize. For information on how fossils form, click here.
Q: are depictions of sail-backed dinosaurs accurate?
from wally f, bozeman, mt, USA; January 23, 2000
A: Perhaps. Some dinosaurs, like Acrocanthosaurus, had spikes coming out its vertebrae, but it isn't known whether they were covered by skin, forming a sail. Paleontologists are more sure of a sail on Spinosaurus, Ouranosaurus and Rebbachisaurus.
Q: How many species of dinosaurs are there?
from Andrew H., B.G., Kentucky, USA; January 22, 2000
A: There are under a thousand known dinosaur genera, and for each genera, there can be many species. And these represent only the fossils that people have found so far; there are others that haven't been found yet, and many more that may not have fossilized. For a list of the known dinosaur genera, click here.
Q: Who were the Muttaburrasaurs's predators?
from Alex H., Gorham, NH, USA; January 22, 2000
A: Muttaburrasaurus lived in Australia during the mid Cretaceous period, about 113-97.5 million years ago. Go to the page on middle Cretaceous dinosaurs and then go the section on Australia. To determine possible predators of Muttaburrasaurus, look for meat-eaters (listed in red) that lived during the same time period and were big enough to threaten Muttaburrasaurus.
Q: Who was an enemy to the t-rex?
from jess, nj, USA; January 22, 2000
A: T. rex was the top predator in its environment. Its only enemies were disease organisms (like bacteria and viruses).
Q: I live in England, and there are hardly any/no universities I have heard of that do paleo courses! Help!
from Jen B., London, Essex, England; January 21, 2000
A: There are many other ways to learn about paleontology, and it's often better to do things in a slightly different fashion from others in the field and gain a different perspective. Plus, in England, you have Richard Dawkins - you couldn't find a better biologist anywhere in the world. Learning evolutionary biology is at the heart of paleontology. Also, the Isle of Wight is a treasure trove of fossils, and remember, most of the early fossil hunters and biologists were English (Richard Owen, Thomas Huxley, Darwin, etc.).
Q: Where did Allosaurus live.
from ?; January 21, 2000
A: Over 60 Allosaurus fossils have been found,
mostly in the Morrisson Formation in Colorado,
USA, but also in other locations in western North
America and one possible find in Australia.
Allosaurus fossils may have also been found in
Africa and Australia. For more information on Allosaurus, click here.
Q: What was the Muttaburrasaurus named after?
from Alex H, Goorham, N.H., USA; January 21, 2000
A: Muttaburrasaurus was named after the Australian town of Muttaburra, located in central Queensland. Saurus means lizard. For more information on Muttaburrasaurus, click here.
Q: Were there any dinosaurs living in georgia
from jeff m., evans, ga, USA; January 21, 2000
A: None have been found. FOr a list of dinosaur fossil locations, state by state, click here.
Q: Where can I find the dinosaur Albertosaurus
from Bernard A., Richmond, California, USA; January 20, 2000
A: For information on Albertosaurus, click here.
Q: What are Plate Tectonics,and how are they formed?
from Janelle S, Iantha, , Missouri, USA; January 20, 2000
A: Plate tectonics (meaning "plate structure") is a geological theory that has to do with the structure and movement of the Earth's continental plates. For information on plate tectonics and continental drift, click here.
Q: Did dinosaurs have sharp teeth.
from christa k., blue bell PA, USA; January 20, 2000
A: Some dinosaurs had sharp teeth, some had flat, grinding teeth, some had peg-like teeth, some had leaf-shaped teeth, and some had no teeth. For a page on dinosaur teeth, click here.
Q: i want to know what is a dinosaur?
from Jila, montgomery village, MD, USA; January 19, 2000
A: See this page.
Q: what are some interesting brachiosaurus facts?
from Melissa F., swanton, OH, USA; January 19, 2000
A: For a page on Brachiosaurus, click here.
Q: How do you know the dinosaurs names if you never saw
them?
from Samantha R, Watertown, MA, USA; January 19, 2000
A: When someone finds a new type of dinosaur, that person names the dinosaur and publishes a detailed description of the new dinosaur in a scientific journal. Then, when someone digs up a dinosaur, they can look up the characteristics of the various dinosaur and determine if it is an old, already-named dinosaur, or a new type. For a page on how people name dinosaurs, click here.
Q: What happened to the dinosaurs?
from Katie, Virginia, USA; January 19, 2000
A: Most of them died out, but some probably evolved into birds.
Q: WHAT DOES A DINOSAUR HEART LOOK LIKE?
from DENZEL M, Watertown, MA, USA; January 19, 2000
A: No one knows; no fossils of dinosaur hearts or heart tissue have been found.
Q: how many dinosaurs alive?
from abigail d., Watertown, MA, USA; January 19, 2000
A: For a list of the known dinosaurs, click here.
Q: WHAT WAS THE FIRST DINOSAUR ON EARTH?
from chris K, Watertown, MA, USA; January 19, 2000
A: The earliest-known dinosaurs far were recently found on Madagascar, off the coast of Africa. For more information on them, click here. Until recently, Eoraptor was the earliest known dinosaur.
Q: Is Archelon (dinosaur)bird hipped or lizard hipped?
from ?; January 19, 2000
A: Neither, it was a ancient, car-sized marine turtle. For more information on Archelon, click here.
Q: how do eggs turn into fossils
from Kasey S, sac., ca, USA; January 18, 2000
A: The same way anything fossilizes. For a page on how things fossilize, click here.
Q: I am trying to find out how sharks sleep since they have to keep
moving.Please help me.
from Ashley D, Morris, IL, USA; January 18, 2000
A: Fish don't sleep in the same way that we do, but they have active and inactive
periods. Some sharks (like the nurse shark) have been observed resting motionless
on the sea floor. Other sharks have to keep moving in order to breathe.
Q: I need to find a color page for an ARCHAEOPTERYX. Can you please tell me
where to go to download a copy?
from Sheri H, Kingsville, TX, USA; January 18, 2000
A: For an Archaeopteryx printout, click here.
Q: How many days did the new born baby BRONTOSAURS/APTOSAURS have to stay in
his/her nest?
from Amrita A, CT, USA; January 18, 2000
A: No Apatosaurus nests have ever been found; no one know if they even made nests. For information on Apatosaurus, click here. For information on dinosaur eggs and nests, click here.
Q: How do scientists know that the bones fit right?
from ?; January 18, 2000
A: Paleontologists base models of extinct creatures on related modern-day animals, since most of the bones are similar. For example the femur, or upper leg bone, of a T. rex and a lizard are pretty similar. Of course, it is very easy to make mistakes. For instance, scientists had the wrong head on Apatosaurus for years. For a page on putting fossils together, click here.
Q: What length did the T-Rex reach up to?
from ?; January 18, 2000
A: See this page.
Q: What dinosaur had the biggest brain? Which was the smartest? Was it a leaf-eater?
from Remy S., Orange Village, OH, USA; January 18, 2000
A: The dinosaurs with the biggest brain to body mass ratio were meat -eaters (troodontid theropods like Troodon).
Q: How many teeth do dinosaurs have?
from ?; January 18, 2000
A: It varies depending on the type of dinosaur. Some had hundreds, some had less than a hundred, and some had none. For more information on dinosaur teeth, click here.
Q: Do you guys have any SAUROLOOPHUS pictures?
from Natalie, CA, USA; January 17, 2000
A: We just added one to the Saurolophus page and added a Saurolophus printout.
Q: Tell me all about the T Rex
from John D., Kingston, Ohio, USA; January 17, 2000
A: For information on T. rex, click here.
Q: When did the Stegosaurus become extinct? What do the fossil;s of the Stegosaurus tell us about how the animal moved, what it ate and how it reproduced?
from Sarah M., NC, USA; January 17, 2000
A: Stegosaurus went extinct about 140 million years ago during the late Jurassic period. To deduce information on how an extinct animal moved, you can look at its legs structure and length, stride length, and its mass. For information on dinosaur locomotion, click here. To determine what type of diet an animal had, you can look at its teeth and/or jaws and determine what plants (or animals) lived during that time. For information on dinosaur diets, click here. Nothing is known about Stegosaurus' reproduction.
For more information on Stegosaurus, click here.
Q: i'm doin a report on the dinosaur called proceratosaurus,i need up to 15
facts on this dinosaur and i have foung nothing on it
from Joel; January 17, 2000
A: I've added Proceratosaurus to the dictionary (with over 15 facts). For the entry on Proceratosaurus, click here.
Q: How did the woolly mamouth become extinct?
from Vikki S, Ashford, Kent, England; January 17, 2000
A: They probably couldn't adapt to the climate changes as the Ice Age ended, together with predation from humans. For more information on the Woolly mammoth and mammoths in general, click here.
Q: What did Iguanodon eat? How did it gather food? How did it protect itself from its enemies?
from Robby G., Miami, FL, USA; January 17, 2000
A: Iguanodon was a plant eater. It probably ate cycads and other prehistoric plants with its tough, toothed beak. It may have used its large thumb spikes for protection. For more information on Iguanodon, click here.
Q: did alamosaurus take care of their young? how?
from Ta-Tiana J., Canton, Ohio, USA; January 17, 2000
A: No one knows if Alamosaurus cared for its young - no fossil Alamosaurus eggs or nests have been found. For more information on Alamosaurus, click here.
Q: Theropods and Ornithopods are very much alike, structure and posture wise. Their main difference is their hips. Theropods had "lizard hips" and Ornithopods had "bird hips". So it just seems more logical that the "bird hipped" dinosaurs would eventually become birds. The Theropods, which every one believes are birds' ancestors, would have had to change their hips into "bird hips" before they could become birds. Your section on the Ornithischian Dinosaurs says that they are not the ancestors of birds and my question is why and how do we know they aren't.
from dinofriek, algonquin, IL, USA; January 16, 2000
A: The ornithischians had hips that superficially resemble those of birds; the saurischian hips superficially resembled those of lizards. The ornithischians and saurischians also differed in many other basic ways (see this page for more details of their differences). The characteristics of early birds (like Archaeopteryx) are carefully noted and compared to other organisms, and they are more similar to coelurosauian theropod dinosaurs (a type of saurischian, or lizard-hipped) than to any ornithischians. Thomas H. Huxley was the first scientist to notice the similarities between birds and dinosaurs (in the late 1800's). In 1986, J. A. Gauthier looked at over 100 characteristics of birds and dinosaurs and showed that birds belonged to the clade of coelurosaurian dinosaurs. [Gauthier, J.A., 1986. Saurischian monophyly and the origin of birds, in The Origin of BIrds and the Evolution of Flight, California Academ of Sciences Memoir No. 8]
Q: How do you pronounce Ornithischian and Saurischian?
from dinofriek, algonquin, IL, USA; January 16, 2000
A: Ornithischian is pronounced "or-ni-THISS-key-an" and Saurischian is pronounced "sawr-IS-key-an."
Q: What was the habitat of the iguanadon and did it have enemies?
from Ray K., Santa claus, Indiana, USA; January 16, 2000
A: Iguanodon lived during the early to middle Cretaceous period, when the climate was warmer than it is now. It was probably hunted by large theropods, perhaps Baryonyx, Erectopus, Yangchuanosaurus, Altispinax, etc.
Q: what is the scientific name for the duck-billed dinosaur?
from brittany b, trout creek, mt, USA; January 16, 2000
A: Hadrosaurs, which means "bulky lizards" in Latin.
Q: How many dinosaurs are there?
from Goldie H., Providence, Rhode Island, USA; January 15, 2000
A: About 1,000. For a list of all known dinosaur genera, click here.
Q: How do they defened their selfs?
from Savannah V, San Benitos, TX, USA; January 15, 2000
A: For a page on dinosaur defenses, click here. For a printout on dinosaur defenses, click here.
Q: Hello, it's me again. I've searched this site and I have a few
questions about the ostrich dinos Shuvosaurus and Pelicanimimus, which don't
seem to be listed. I was wondering what the current status of Shuvosaurus is
(dinosaur or rauisuchian) and just where the skin impressions of
Pelicanimimus were found. I've heard they show naked skin lacking feathers or
scales, which seems strange since more primitive dinos like Sinosauropteryx
have proto-feathers. If skin was just found on the head, neck, and limbs,
then it's still possible Pelicanimimus had proto-feathers on its body, but I
don't know if they found anything there. I've also heard somewhere that all
skin impressions found were really fossilized muscle fibers, but can't verify
this. Please answer or point me in the right direction, I've searched
everywhere for decent info and ostrich dinos mean a lot to me! One more
thing- do you know of an American Gallimimus or have more info on Orcomimus?
Thanks! (Sorry i!
t was so long, I couldn't help it!)
from Mary N., Georgia, Vermont, USA; January 14, 2000
A: I've added Shuvosaurus, Pelecanimimus and Orcomimus to the dictionary.
Most references now interpret Shuvosaurus as a rauischian, not as a dinosaur. The impressions that were originally interpreted to be feathers on Pelecanimimus, are now though to be muscle fibers. Orcomimus was newly named, and very little information is available about it yet. I haven't heard of an American Gallimimus.
Q: I am in the Second Grade, we are learning a lot about dinosaurs and fossils. What was the biggest sea animal in the dinosaur days?
from Brittany G., Santa Rosa, USA; January 14, 2000
A: The plesiosaurs were the biggest marine reptiles during the Mesozoic Era (the time of the dinosaurs). Kronosaurus and Liopleurodon were the largest-known plesiosaurs.
Q: WAS THE T REX A MEAT EATING DINO ??????
from Leiland B., CADDO MILLS, TX, USA; January 14, 2000
A: Yes. For more information on T. rex and what it ate, click here.
Q: How did scientists know the fossils were dinosaurs?
from Haylie H., McKinleyville, CA, USA; January 14, 2000
A: At first they didn't. For information on the early dinosaur discoveries, and how scientists realized that they had found new creatures, click here.
Q: how do you think the megalodon died
from ?; January 14, 2000
A: No one knows why it went extinct. For information on Megalodon click here.
Q: Why do dinosaurs eat some dinosaurs and not others?
from Nathan S., McKinleyville, CA, USA; January 14, 2000
A: For information on dinosaur diets, click here.
Q: How did scientists discover dinosaurs?
from Bryanna W., McKinleyville, CA, USA; January 14, 2000
A: For information on the early dinosaur discoveries, click here.
Q: Hi, it is Amanda again. I am just wondering if you could tell me the enemies of the Homalocephale. Thank you!
from Amanda, Tewksbury, MA, USA; January 13, 2000
A: Homalocephale, a small plant-eater from the late Cretaceous period, may have been hunted by Adasaurus, Alioramus, Anserimimus, Avimimus, Borogovia, Conchoraptor, Chingkankousaurus, Deinocheirus, Elmisaurus, Gallimimus, Hulsanpes, Ingenia , Maleevosaurus, Saurornithoides , Shanshanosaurus, Therizinosaurus, T. rex, and Velociraptor (medium to large theropods from Mongolia during the late Cretaceous). For more information on Homalocephale, click here.
Q: Were have Brontosaurus fossils been found. In what country and states.
from ?; January 13, 2000
A: Brontosaurus, now known as Apatosaurus, has been found in Colorado, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming, in the USA. For more information on Apatosaurus, click here.
Q: The teeth of this dinosaur were found in England by Mary Ann
Mantell?
Dinosaur with massive skull bone used in fighting?
Flying reptiles such as Pteranodon and Rhamphorhynchs?
"Bird imitator" dinosaur; resembled todays ostrich?
What type of plant flourished during the Cretaceous Period 9letters 3 letter
o.
from andrew H., grafton, West Virgina, USA; January 13, 2000
A: For the tooth, click here and sctoll down to Mantell. Massive skulled dinosaurs were pachycephalosaurids; a common pachycephalosaurids were Pachycephalosaurus and Stegoceras. For Plesiosaurs, flying reptiles, click here. Ornithomimus menas bird mimic. For Cretaceous plants, click here.
Q: how may bones are in a T-rex
from rebecca.b, glendale, AZ, USA; January 13, 2000
A: It probably had
about 200 bones, roughly the same as us - no complete skeletons have been found. For more information on T. rex, click here.
Q: where can i find pictures of dinosaur teeth. I found some
when I went camping and would like to see if they match any.
from douglas w., staten island, USA; January 13, 2000
A: For information on dinosaur teeth, click here.
Q: how many types of dinosaurs are there?
from Melissa p., tucson, az, USA; January 13, 2000
A: For a list of all the known dinosaur genera, click here.
Q: what happens when a dinosaur lost a tooth?
from casey p., west orange, nj, USA; January 13, 2000
A: Dinosaurs had replaceable teeth. For more information on dinosaur teeth, click here.
Q: A second grade student in my class would like to know why dinosaurs
are so big. Thanks! Mrs. Habib, 2nd Grade teacher at Dow's Prairie Elementary
School
from Mrs. Habib, McKinleyville, California, USA; January 13, 2000
A: No one knows why some of the dinosaurs were so big. It's a scientific mystery that people have tried to answer for a while. Perhaps one of your students will be able to answer that question when they grow up.
Q: How are dinosaurs parents? How do they take care of their young?
What is the difference between dino parents and other animals?
from Beret O., Monument, Colorado, USA; January 13, 2000
A: Some, like Maiasaura, were nurturing parents who made nests and cared for their young. Others (like some sauropods) laid eggs as they walked and then presumably wandered off. For most dinosaurs, nothing is known yet about how or if they cared for their young.
Q: Cynognathus
from ?; January 13, 2000
A: For information on Cynognathus, click here.
Q: what was the climate in late jurassic period?
from Jenna P., North Royalton, Ohio, USA; January 12, 2000
A: The late Jurassic was relatively warm (warmer than it is now). There was no polar ice during the last two-thirds of the Jurassic. The climate was warm and
moist and the sea levels were high. There were vast flooded areas, temperate and subtropical forests,
and coral reefs. The extensive water moderated the strong seasonality so that by the end of the
Jurassic there was less seasonality than we have now (the difference between winter and summer was not as strong).
Q: what does ultrasaurus' teeth like?
what does ultrasaurus fight with?
from tommie, cerritos, ca, USA; January 12, 2000
A: Ultrasauros had chisel-shaped teeth. Ultrasauros was enormous - it probably only fought with others of its kind. For more information on Ultrasauros, click here.
Q: Is a hairy mamoth and a wooly mamoth the same or are they two
different animals? Thank you
from Gavin, Port Richey, FL, USA; January 12, 2000
A: I've never heard of a hairy mamoth, it's probably just a way someone referred to the woolly mammoth. For information on the mammoths, click here.
Q: Which dinosaur genuses were the ancestors of birds?? I know all the following rules:
Rule #1: The dinosaur cannot be between 65 and 82 million years old.
Rule #2. The Dinosaur has to be a theropod.
Finish the list of rules.
from JIMMY L., Georgia, USA; January 11, 2000
A: Determining which non-avian dinosaurs were the most likely ancestor of the birds is certainly an interesting problem. It would have hollow bones, insulating feathers (which probably didn't fossilize, so that's not too much help in most cases), and a homeothermic (warm-blooded) metabolism. I think it would also have to predate Archaeopteryx (which is 150 million years old) and have many bird-like skeletal characteristics. I also think that birds evolved from the tiny theropods, and not the huge ones. Most cladograms (including ours) show Aves (the birds) branching off from the Coelurosauria, Maniraptora and Dromaeosauria (which seems too late to me, but I haven't studied bird evolution in depth).
Q: how did dinasours get discovered?
from hayden p., thatcher, arizona, USA; January 11, 2000
A: For a page on early dinosaur discoveries, click here.
Q: Hi. I am wondering if you could maybe show me a
picture of a sceleton of the dionsaur fossil Homalocephale?
Thank you if you can help it is for a school project
from Amanda C, Tewksbury, MA, USA; January 11, 2000
A: For a picture of a Homalocephale fossil, click here. For information on Homalocephale, click here.
Q: Ms. Jeananda-
There was a question from the end of December concerning a
dog/tiger dinosaur. May I suggest this could refer to the
Cynognathus, a dog-like therapsid I've sometimes seen restored
with tiger-like stripes?
from Mary N., Georgia, Vermont, USA; January 11, 2000
A: Thanks!. To Andrew: for information on Cynodonts, click here.
Q: I'm doing a school report/essay on the evolution
of dinosaurs to birds, reptiles, etc. Could you give me some
information on this topic because I can't find it anywhere?
Also, is there any chance the Loch Ness Monsters or Ogopogo are
dinosaurs that escaped extinction?
from Jordan H.; January 11, 2000
A: For a page on dinosaur evolution, click here. For a page on dinosaurs and birds, click here. Some people believe that the Loch Ness monster and others actually exist (many, however, do not), and might be a remaining plesiosaur.
Q: i am in the second grade and doing a science project on dinosaur feet.sizes of feet from imprents they have let.where can i find pictures and mesurments on them .thank you patrick
from patrick p, wapakoneta, ohio, USA; January 11, 2000
A: For a page on ichnogenera (dinosaurs known only from fossilized tracks), click here. For information on dinosaur locomotion and calculating speeds from fossil evidence, click here. I don't know of any measurements online, but for an excellent site that contains an overview of dino tracks, click here.
Q: what did the Vulcanodontidae eat?Where did it live?How tall is
it? How long was it?Did it stay and protect its babies?Where there more than one
differnt kind if so what were they?Did it ever fight its own kind?Did they have
different colors?Did they travel in heards?
from Teddy F., Bowerston, Ohio, USA; January 11, 2000
A: Vulcanodon was a plant-eating dinosaur that was about 20 feet (6.5 m) long. Only one partial fossilized skeeton was found, so nothing is known about parental care, fighting, or traveling. No one knows what color it was (or what color any of the dinosaurs were). For more information on Vulcanodon, click here.
Q: Why do the triceratops have three horns instead of two?
from Riley T, Menlo Park, CA, USA; January 11, 2000
A: No one knows why.
Q: DO YOU HAVE ANY INFO. ON 3 HORNS
from LACORSHA, GARLAND, TEXAS, USA; January 11, 2000
A: Three-horn's scientific name is Triceratops. For information on Triceratops, click here.
Q: Did Raptors really screech? If they did please tell me why?
from Terry W., Crest Hill, O:, USA; January 11, 2000
A: No one knows what sounds (if any) the "raptors" (the dromaeosaurid dinosaurs) made.
Q: I would like to know the kind of habitat the Dinosaur
Leaellynasaura would live in. What parts of the world would Leaellynasaura live in
at this stage in the Cretaceous period? And what were its major predator(s)? By my
knowledge so far, it would be the dwarf Allosaur, but were there any others?
from Stefano P, Melbourne, Vistoria, Australia; January 10, 2000
A: Leaellynasaura fossil were found in Australia. As to its predators, this small plant-eater may have been hunted by Kakuru, Rapator, or Walgettosuchus (and probably others). For other dinosaurs that lived during the middle Cretaceous, click here (and scroll down to the section on Australia). For more information on Leaellynasaura, click here.
Q: What dinosors lived in ontario
from Mark H., barrie, Ontario, Canada; January 9, 2000
A: Although many dinosaur have been found in Canada, I haven't heard of any found in Ontario. For a list of Canadian dinosaurs, click here.
Q: what is a cionodon? And what does it look like?
from Mary R., apalachin, new york, USA; January 9, 2000
A: (pronounced (see-OH-no-don) Cionodon (meaning "column tooth") is a dubious genus of duck-billed dinosaur (it is known from fossil teeth that may actually be examples of other dinosaurs, including Bactrosaurus and Thespesius). It was a plant-eater, an ornithischian from the late Cretaceous period, about 97.5 to 65 million years ago. Fossil teeth were found in Colorado, USA and Alberta, Canada. Cionodon was named by Cope in 1874; the types specis was C. arctatus. It may have resembled Edmontosaurus, pictured at the right.
Q: do you have any more information on the Utahraptor
from Mike F., Swansea, IL, USA; January 9, 2000
A: For information on Utahraptor, click here. If there's other information you need about it, let me know.
Q: What and how much do Iguanodons eat?
from Eric S., Chicago, IL, USA; January 9, 2000
A: Iguanodon was an herbivore (plant-eater). No one knows exactly what or how much it ate, but it must have been an enormous amount. For more information on Iguanodon, click here. For information on what plants lived during the time of Iguanodon (the early Cretaceous period), click here.
Q: IS THERE ANYTHING KNOW ABOUT STEGOSAURUS NESTING OR EGGS?
from cathie, morrisville, pa, USA; January 9, 2000
A: No. For information on Stegosaurus, click here.
Q: Do you know the year the edmontosauras died? Help Please
from Brittany C, USA; January 9, 2000
A: Edmontosaurus went extinct about 65 million years ago. For information on Edmontosaurus, click here.
Q: WHAT PLACES THE DINOSAURES LIVE?
from DANIEL T., RESHON LE ZEON, Israel; January 8, 2000
A: For a list of the locations where dinosaurs have been found, click here.
Q: how does a shark see, his eyes are on the sides of his head, so what is his field of vision.
from octavia g, glenside, pa, USA; January 7, 2000
A: Animals whose eyes are on opposite sides of their head have a very wide field of vision - wider than we do. They can see in front of them, to the sides, and a little bit behind themselves. They lack depth perception, however. Many dinosaurs, like Gallimimus, had eyes on the opposite sides of their head.
Q: How can scientists tell that all the continents were once hooked together?
from tk, mentor, ohio, USA; January 7, 2000
A: See this page.
Q: how many eggs does the gallimimus lay?
from brandon h., Avon, Indiana, USA; January 7, 2000
A: No one knows; no fossilized Gallimimus nests or eggs have been found. For more information on Gallimimus, click here.
Q: Now, on a question you answered earlier, you wrote that dinosaurs were PROBABLY the ancestors of birds. But PROBABLY means that there is a tiny chance that they weren't. Name a modern scientist who believes that birds still didn't come from dinosaurs.
from Jimmy L., Georgia, USA; January 7, 2000
A: Larry Martin, a biologist at the University of Kansas. For some more information, see this page.
Q: Who found Ornithomimus?
from ?; January 7, 2000
A: The first Ornithomimus
fossil was found near Denver, Colorado, USA in 1889, and was named by paleontologist Othniel C. Marsh in 1890. For more information on Ornithomimus, click here.
Q: WHAT DINOSAUR IS MOSTLY FOUND IN TEXAS?
from Kody R., miami, texas, USA; January 7, 2000
A: Acrocanthosaurus, Alamosaurus, Brontopodus, Camptosaurus, Chasmosaurus, Coelophysis, Deinonychus, Dimetrodon*, Edmontosaurus, Hypsilophodon, Iguanodon, Kritosaurus, Megatherium* (giant ground sloth), Ornithomimus, Panoplosaurus, Pleurocoelus, Protohadros byrdi, Quetzalcoatlus*, Shuvosaurus, Stegoceras, Technosaurus, Tenontosaurus, Torosaurus, and Tyrannosaurus rex have been found in Texas, USA. Alamosaurus has only been found in Texas, Utah, and New Mexico.
For other states' dinosaurs, click here.
Q: Who discovered the Parasaurolophus.
from ?; January 7, 2000
A: Parasaurolophus was described and named by Dr. William A. Parks in 1923 from
an almost complete skeleton found in Alberta, Canada (but I don't know who found the specimen - may have been Parks or someone else)
Q: Are there any similarity between dinosaurs and birds?
from Burak A:, Ankara, Balgat, Turkey; January 6, 2000
A: Yes; dinosaurs are probably the ancestors of the birds. For more information on dinosaurs and birds, click here.
Q: Triops: 1. what do they eat? 2. how long do they live? 3. mine
are from freeze dried eggs - are they male and female? just male? just female?
4. will they try and mate? 5. will they mate? 6. can they make babies? 7. how
long will the babies live? 7. how big will they REALLY get? 8. i have a 1 gallon tank and have already changed the water once (in accordance with the 7-10 day instructions). if i change it again within the next 7-10 days, will that increase the life cycle of the triops that i now have? 9. if i feed them the brine shrimp
&/or dried worms in accordance with the instructions, will they get bigger and
want to breed? 10. should i separate the big from the small within the 20-90 life
span to keep them living longer?
from KRISTOPHER H., COPPERAS COVE, TEXAS, USA; January 6, 2000
A: For information on Triops, click here. I don't know how to care for them.
Q: HOW DO YOU KNOW IF A T.REX IS A FEMALE OR A MALE?
from Jasmine lynn W., Vineland, New Jersey, USA; January 6, 2000
A: No one knows how to determine whether a T. rex fossil is male or female. For information on T. rex, click here.
Q: WHO LOOK THE DINASOURS FOR FIRST TIME
from TANIA P, MONTERREY, NUEVOLEON, USA; January 6, 2000
A: For information on the first-known dinosaur fossils, click here.
Q: Hi, I have a dinosaur report to due on Majungatholis,and I'm
almost done but I still have some more information to put in it. I would like to
know the following questions please: What is it's group classification?,
What is it's subgroup classification?,
Is it a Carnivore/a herbivore/or a carninvore?,
What is it's height and weight?, What is it's geological Era, and
What is it's geological time period?
from Crissy M, Columbia, PA, USA; January 6, 2000
A: For information on Majungatholus, click here.
Q: List all known dinosaurs
from Patrick M., Lancaster, PA, USA; January 6, 2000
A: For a list of all known dinosaur, click here.
Q: Are Wolly Mamoths dinos,has somone found one frosen?
from NAME, CITYSTATE, USA; January 6, 2000
A: No, they were mammals that lived millions of years after the dinosaurs (which were reptiles) died. In 1997, an
entire mummified Woolly Mammoth was found in Siberia. It was
removed in October, 1999, and brought to a frigid, underground
cave where it will be carefully studied. Scientists hope to be able to clone this remarkable specimen.
For more information on the woolly mammoth in general, click here.
Q: I would like information on the following animals/fossils:
1. Hypsibema 2. Lophorhothon 3. Zatamous
Thank-You
from M. Smith, Youngsville, NC, USA; January 6, 2000
A: Click on their names: Hypsibema, Lophorhothon, Zatomus.
Q: Can you give me information based on anklosaurus
from pt, greenville, n.c., USA; January 6, 2000
A: For information on Ankylosaurus, click here.
Q: how long did the sauroposeidon dinosaur live
from silicon spider, sleepyhollow, new york, USA; January 6, 2000
A: Only one, incomplete Sauroposeidon fossil has been found, and it dates from about 110 million years ago. For more information on Sauroposeidon, click here.
Q: In simple terms, what is the difference between and EON, ERA,
PERIOD, and an EPOCH. Perhaps a definition of each.
Thank-you
from Mike S., Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; January 6, 2000
A: For a page on the definitions of these terms, click here.
Q: Who is Jack Horner? And what dinosaurs babies did he find?
from K.M., Millersville, MO, USA; January 6, 2000
A: Jack Horner is a paleontologist; he named the dinosaur Maiasaura. For more information on Jack Horner, click here.
Q: why do some dinosaurs have saurs at the end of their name?
from mario d., palacios, texas, USA; January 5, 2000
A: See this page.
Q: Is there a dinosaur that was a meat eater and plant eater?
from ?; January 5, 2000
A: Yes, some, like Ornithomimus and Oviraptor, were omnivores. For information on dinosaur diets, click here.
Q: Who named the dinosaur T-rex?
from Heather, ?; January 5, 2000
A: T. rex was named in 1905 by Henry Fairfield Osborn. For more information T. rex, click here.
Q: Where did Brachiosaurus live
from Suninta R., Sansas City, Missouri, USA; January 5, 2000
A: Brachiosaurus fossils have been found in western North America and Tanzania, Africa. For more information on Brachiosaurus, click here.
Q: Hi! My name is Kelly. I am looking for info on a certain dino. It is called the Erlikosaurus. i hope you can help me because it is a school project. Thank you Kelly :)
from Kelly A., Tewksbury, MA, USA; January 5, 2000
A: (pronounced ER-lik-oh-SAWR-us) Erlikosaurus (meaning "Erlik's lizard"; Erlik is the king of the dead in Mongolian myths) was a meat-eating dinosaur. A theropod, it was about 16-20 ft (5-6 m) long. This therizinosaur lived during the late Cretaceous period in what is now Mongolia. Only a partial skeleton (including a skull) has been found. Erlikosaurus was named by Barsbold and Perle in 1980. The type species is E. andrewsi.
Q: how did the saltopus nest. I need all info on the saltopus that is
know.
from Adam C, levittown, pa, USA; January 5, 2000
A: Nothing is known about how Saltopus nested, or if it even made nests. For more information on Saltopus, click here.
Q: DO YOU HAVE FLYING DINOSAURS.
from jillian, oswego, ny, USA; January 5, 2000
A: If you mean pterosaurs, click here.
Q: Which dinosaur was called the egg eating dinosaur?
from Doug H., Concord, CA, USA; January 4, 2000
A: Oviraptor means "egg thief." For more information on Oviraptor, click here.
Q: WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE SEISMOSAURUS ??
from TIFFANY. K, FULLERTON, CA, USA; January 4, 2000
A: Seismosaurus means "earthquake lizard." For more information on Seismosaurus, click here.
Q: What is the height of a T.rex?
from Olimpia I; January 4, 2000
A: Tyrannosaurus rex was up to 40 feet (12.4 m) long, about 15 to 20 feet (4.6 to 6 m) tall.
For more information on T. rex, click here.
Q: How do Sciencetist find out the ages of fossils?
from Bianca B., St. Louis, MO, USA; January 4, 2000
A: For a page on dating fossils, click here.
Q: WERE DINOSAURS CANNIBLES
from PEEKABOO K; January 4, 2000
A: Since many modern-day reptiles are cannibals, it's likely that some meat-eating dinosaurs (theropods) were.
Q: Hi my name is Michelle. I would like to get some inside information on a dino called Velociraptor. That is my favorite dino (and yes I am a girl) THANKS!!!! p.s can you get a picture?
from Michelle D., Chicago, IL, USA; January 4, 2000
A: For information on Velociraptor, click here.
Q: Is there a species, or kind of dinasour, that we havn't discovered
yet?
from Brittany G., Santa Rosa, CA, USA; January 4, 2000
A: Yes, new dinosaurs are found all the time.
Q: What happened to the Woolly Mamouth that was recently found buried in the ice?
from Jan B., Westport, MA, USA; January 4, 2000
A: In 1997, an
entire mummified Woolly Mammoth was found in Siberia. It was
removed in October, 1999 and brought to a frigid, underground
cave where it will be carefully studied.
Scientists hope to be able to clone this remarkable specimen.
For more information on the woolly mammoth in general, click here.
Q: Were there any dinosaurs that could fly or glide?
from Ima B., Orange County, FL, USA; January 4, 2000
A: Some recently-found dinosaurs from China have wing-like arms and some feathers; they may have been able to glide or even fly on their own. For more information on these hollow-boned, feathered, theropods, like Archaeoraptor, click here.
Q: I've been reading "The Riddle of the Dinosaur" (John Noble Wilford,
1985). In the concluding chapter, Dale Russel's "Dinosauroid" model is said to
have evolved from the relatively intelligent Stennonychosaurus with an
encephalization quotient of 0.3. The dinosauroid, at 7.1, approaches the human at
about 7.5. According to your charts, this would have been a very stupid
stennonychosaur, as you placed the dromaeosaurs at 5.8. Could you please clear this up for me?
from Brad M., Woodville, Ontario, Canada; January 3, 2000
A: FIrst of all, my figures are from Fastovsky and Weishampel's book, The Evolution and Extinction of the Dinosaurs (1996). The dinosaurs' intelligence was certainly not close to the intelligence of mammals. The concept of EQ (cerebrum-to -body weight comparisons developed by H.J. Jerison in the 1970's and further work on dinosaur EQ's was done by J. A. Hopson) was not intended for making comparisons of widely different organisms (like reptiles and mammals). EQ lets you know, within a group of relatively similar organisms, which has a reatively larger brain. For example, humans have an EQ of about 7.4, bottle-nosed dolphins are at 5.6, chimpanzees are at 2.5, and most mammals are about 2. When you compare EQ across extremely different organisms, like reptiles and mammals, the results are almost meaningless.
Q: Hi! My name is Jill I am doing reseach on Dimetrodon. Can you please hep me to find information on migration, isolation, chromosome number, method of reproduction, genetic disorder, body systems and energy on Dimetrodon. I hope I am not asking for too much information and I just hope I can find it.
from Jill D., USA; January 3, 2000
A: No one knows. Only fossilized bones of Dimetrodon have been found, yielding no information about chromosomes or internal body structure. For some information on Dimetrodon, click here.
Q: I want to repeat my question concerning a Velociraptor named Bambi,
which is the exakt title of a link offered a bottom of your own Velociraptor-
Site!
Anton, Hamburg
from Anton G., Hamburg, Germany; January 3, 2000
A: Bambiraptor might be a Velociraptor (or perhaps another raptor).
Q: What type of geographic area did the hypsilophodon dinosaur live in.
from Danny, Whittier, CA, USA; January 2, 2000
A: Hypsilophodon lived in what is now Spain, Portugal, and England (the Isle of Wight); during the early Cretaceous, they were warmer and wetter than they are now. For more informaion on Hypsilophodon, click here.
Q: Hi, I am still sitting at my report on Velociraptors.
1. Please give me the exact names of the locations where V. has been found
2. Bambi from Montana - is it a Velo or not? When was it found?
Thank you very much, I am very happy that I found your site and that I can ask my questions. Greetings, Anton
from Anton G., Hamburg, Germany; January 1, 2000
A: Velociraptor fossils have been found in: the Gobi Desert, Ukhaa Tolgod, near Dalandzadgad, in southern Mongolia; in Kazakhstan; and in Shanxi, China (indeterminate material, but perhaps Velociraptor). I don't know anything about Bambi (a fossil from Montana that might be a Velociraptor).
Q: I need information about a paleontologist. Where did he or she live? What did he or she find?
from Stuart H., Monroeville, PA, USA; January 1, 2000
A: For a list of major paleontologists (and short biographies about them), click here
