Basic Dinosaur Facts

Series Summary

Dinosaurs have captured the imagination of children of all ages ever since museums and scientists have been piecing together skeletons of these great creatures from long, long ago. Were they reptiles? Were they lizards? How did they go extinct? Many questions remain, but we know enough about them to create accurate models and piece together their eating habits and other aspects of their lifestyles. Popular dinosaurs such as tyrannosaurus rex have become part of our popular culture, terrifying villains in comic books, adventure stories and movies such as Jurassic Park.

In this free video series, a science expert will tell you all about a few of the most common dinosaurs as well as offer his own thoughts about their extinction. Learn basic facts about the hunting and feeding habits of the iguanodon, tyrannosaurus rex, brachiosaurus, triceratops, platysaurus and styracosaurus. Our expert will discuss the evolutionary ancestors of the creatures as well as how they interacted with one another. A fascinating series for kids as well as adults, these videos will peak your interest about a time long ago.

Video Transcript

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, to Dinosaur Secrets Revealed from Expert Village. I'm your host Doctor Franklin Rhuel. And first, a little background on the mighty dino. They range from 230 million to 65 million years ago. They were divided into three basic periods: Triassic, Jurassic, and cretaceous. The Triassic lasted from 230 to 200 million years ago and was characterized by such critters as this - the platysaurus, a prosauropod. The middle era - the Jurassic - ranged from 200 to 135 million years ago and was characterized by such critters as the sauropod, such as the brontosaurus, i.e. the Apatosaurus seen right here. And the third period, the cretaceous, lasted from 135 million to 65 million years ago and was noted] for such entities as the T-Rex, Tyrannosaurus Rex, the King of the Dinosaurs. Now, the first dinosaur fossil was actually found in Holland in 1770. Although other individuals before that might have come across them but did not know what they were. In 1841, the British anatomist Richard O'Neill [sic], coined the term "dinosaur" meaning terrible lizard. But in fact, these mighty creatures were not reptiles or lizards. They were in a class by themselves. For example, they differed from the lizards and reptiles in general by having better teeth so they could more thoroughly chew their food. They were generally bigger and had other different anatomical characteristics from the reptiles. So that term is actually inappropriate. The dinosaurs actually flourished on every single continent on Earth, including Antarctica. And they were in the sea, the land and the air. Now, your question is: Why did they die? We'll cover that in a future segment."