Dinosaurs Facts for Kids
Roar-some facts about dinosaurs
Troodon had a larger brain relative to its body size than almost any other dinosaur. Some scientists have speculated that, had the asteroid not struck, descendants of Troodon might have continued to evolve greater intelligence over millions of years.
Instead of a horn, Pachyrhinosaurus had a huge, rough, bony lump called a boss on its nose. Scientists believe this may have been used in headbutting contests between individuals competing for dominance.
The first dinosaur bone to be described in scientific literature was published in 1676, when a large thigh bone found in England was mistakenly thought to belong to a giant human. Scientists later identified it as belonging to a large theropod dinosaur, possibly Megalosaurus.
Muttaburrasaurus was a large plant-eating dinosaur discovered in Queensland, Australia, in 1963. It had an unusual hollow bump on its snout that may have helped it produce distinctive sounds or enhance its sense of smell.
Oviraptor was named 'egg thief' because the first fossil was found on top of what appeared to be another dinosaur's nest. Later discoveries revealed the eggs actually belonged to the Oviraptor itself — it was a devoted parent, not a thief.
Patagotitan mayorum, a titanosaur discovered in Argentina in 2013, may be the largest land animal ever to have walked the Earth. It weighed an estimated 69 tonnes and measured over 37 metres in length.
Some plant-eating dinosaurs swallowed rocks, called gastroliths, to help grind up tough plant material in their stomachs — the same way modern birds swallow grit. These polished, smooth stones are sometimes found with sauropod fossils.
Sinosauropteryx was the first non-avian dinosaur for which we have definitive evidence of feathers, announced in 1996 from a spectacular fossil found in China. This discovery helped confirm the evolutionary link between dinosaurs and modern birds.
Fossilised trackways left by sauropod dinosaurs have been found across the world, from North America and Europe to Asia and Africa. These footprints can be over a metre wide, giving scientists valuable information about how these giants moved.
Enormous bonebeds containing thousands of hadrosaur dinosaur skeletons have been found in North America. These mass death sites suggest these dinosaurs were struck by catastrophic floods or volcanic eruptions while travelling in enormous herds.