Dinosaurs Facts for Kids
Roar-some facts about dinosaurs
A piece of 99-million-year-old Burmese amber was found to contain a perfectly preserved wing of a baby bird or bird-like dinosaur, complete with individual feathers showing their original microscopic structure. This gave scientists an incredible view of ancient plumage.
Einiosaurus was a ceratopsian dinosaur with an unusually shaped nasal horn that curved sharply forward like a can opener. It lived in herds in what is now Montana, USA, during the late Cretaceous period.
The age of the dinosaurs spans the Mesozoic Era, which is divided into three periods: the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous. Each period had its own distinctive dinosaur communities and ecosystems, shaped by changes in climate and geography.
The tuatara of New Zealand is the sole surviving member of an order of reptiles called Rhynchocephalia that was abundant during the dinosaur age. Its ancient lineage has barely changed in over 200 million years, making it a true living fossil.
Baryonyx was discovered in Surrey, England, in 1983 by an amateur fossil hunter. It was a fish-eating spinosaurid theropod with a large claw on its thumb, making it one of the most important dinosaur discoveries in British palaeontology.
Most dinosaur skeletons displayed in museums are not made entirely from real bones — they use high-quality replicas of the fossils alongside genuine specimens. This is because real fossils are extremely heavy and too fragile to suspend in dramatic poses.
Rugops, a large meat-eating dinosaur from North Africa, had numerous small pits and grooves on the surface of its snout that likely anchored soft tissue structures in life. Scientists believe these may have supported brightly coloured display features.
Ornithomimid dinosaurs closely resembled modern ostriches, with toothless beaks, long legs built for speed, and small arms. They are believed to have been omnivores and among the fastest two-legged runners in the dinosaur world.
Scientists do not know exactly what sounds dinosaurs made, but evidence suggests many may have used closed-mouth vocalisation — producing low, booming calls by inflating throat pouches like crocodiles and some birds do today. The roaring dinosaurs in films are entirely fictional.
The enormous sauropod Seismosaurus, now considered a species of Diplodocus, was discovered in New Mexico and given a name meaning 'earth shaker lizard'. Its vertebrae were fused at the hips, suggesting it had suffered a serious injury during its lifetime.