michael++is+the+koolest

media type="custom" key="4777631"Did dinosaurs really exist?

Paleontologists discovered dinosaur fossils over the years. People came to believe that dinosaurs did exist by the evidence of the fossils. There are lots of different types of dinosaurs such as the t-rex and much more. Everybody reads about dinosaurs and watch movies about dinosaurs.

People have been finding dinosaur fossils for hundreds of years, or maybe even thousands of years. The Greeks and Romans may have found fossils, giving rise to their many legends. There are references to "dragon" bones found in Wucheng, Sichuan, China over 2,000 years ago; these were probably dinosaur fossils.

Evidence of dinosaur fossils and history tells us that these large animals did actually roam the Earth many millions of centuries ago.

History tells us that the dinosaurs first evolved and later became extinct during the Jurassic and Triassic period, which were 136 to 225 million years ago. This is based on evidence that dinosaur fossils were actually discovered. When these creatures became extinct, their bones and teeth were embedded in the soil and mud. Overtime these rocks were exposed by quarrying and by nature.

The first discovery was made about 200 years ago by an English doctor named Gideon Mantell. Both he and his wife had discovered large teeth embedded in a stone and found some bones nearby. After a lot of work and research he concluded that these large bones and teeth belong to some giant reptile which he named __Iguanodon__. Sir Richard Owen declared that they be called dinosaurs in 1841.

Sir Richard Owen (1804-1892) had noticed that a group of fossils (which included remains of __Megalosaurus__, __Igaunodon__ and __Hyleaosaurus__) had certain characteristics in common, including: Since Owens’s time, about 330 dinosaur species have been described. Palaeontologists have estimated range from about 1,000 to over 10,000 of dinosaur species existed during the Mesozoic Era. I am sure there are a lot of new dinosaurs left to discover!
 * Column-like legs (instead of the sprawling legs that other reptiles have)
 * Five fused vertebrae fused to the pelvic girdle.

The first dinosaur fossil found in the US was a thigh bone found by Dr. Caspar Wistar, in Gloucester County, New Jersey, in 1787 (it has since been lost, but more fossils were later found in the area). 
 * The First Nearly-Complete Dinosaur Skeleton and First American Dinosaur **

In 1800 in Massachusetts, USA, Pliny Moody found 1-foot (31 cm) long fossilized footprints at his farm that were thought by Harvard and Yale scholars to be from "Noah's Raven." Many other dinosaur footprints had been found in New England stone quarries in the early 1800's, but they were thought to be unimportant and were blown up in the quarrying process. Other fragmentary dinosaur bones and tracks were unearthed at this time in Connecticut Valley, Massachusetts.

The first nearly-complete dinosaur skeleton was discovered by William Parker Foulke. Foulke had heard of a discovery made by workmen in a Cretaceous marl (a crumbly type of soil) pit on the John E Hopkin farm in Haddonfield, New Jerdsery beginning in 1838. Foulke heard of the discovery and recognised its importance in 1858. Unfortunately, some of the bones had already been removed by workmen. The skull-less dinosaur was excavated and named by US anatomist Joseph Leidy who named it __Hadrosaurus fouki__ (meaning "Foulke's big lizard"). It was a __ duck-billed dinosaur __ (but it is now a doubtful genus because there is so little fossil information about it). The "Haddonfield Hadrosaurus" is on display at the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences.

__EVIDENCE OF THE PAST__ No human has ever seen a dinosaur alive. There is a long period of time,some 130 million years, which seperates the last of the dinosaurs and the first man. In spite of this, dinosaurs and many other kinds or prehistoric reptiles have become almost as familiar to us such as elephants, whales and giraffes. We know about these extinct animals because we find their bones and teeth preserved. When they died, their bodies were covered by sand and mud and the bones and teeth became fossils embedded in sandstones and clays. When these sedimentary rocks become worn away by quarrying or by wind and rain,the fossilised remains are exposed. From them it is possible to reconstuct skeletons. It is easy to work out whether an animal was a flesh-or plant eater from what kind of teeth found. Dinosaurs did really exist.

(__DICTIONARY MEANINGS__)
 * Evidence & References: To have proof
 * Cretaeous, Jurassic & Triassic: Different periods during the time of dinosaurs.
 * Evolve: Graudally adapting to make the best use of their environment.
 * Sedimentary: Pertaining to or of the nature of sediment.
 * Mesozoic era: Covers the Triassic, Jurassic and Creatous periods.
 * Embedded: Stuck in a place for a long time.
 * Preserved: To keep safe from harm or injury.
 * Fragmentary: Consisting of or reduced fragments.
 * Exposed: Left or being without shelter or protection.
 * Quarrying: Digging in dirt or sand on the ground.



    

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