CONTENT
Tyrannosaurus………………………………………………………..p.g.3
Pterodactyls or Pterodactyloids…………….…………………….…p.g.4
Velociraptors…………………………………………………….……p.g.5
Pteranodons……………………………………………………….…..p.g.6
TYRANNOSAURUS
Tyrannosaurus rex was a huge meat-eating dinosaur that lived during the late Cretaceous period, about 85 million to 65 million years ago. Tyrannosaurus lived in open forests with nearby rivers and in coastal forested swamps.
ANATOMY
Tyrannosaurus rex was a fierce predator that walked on two powerful legs. This meat-eater had a huge head with large, pointed, replaceable teeth and well-developed jaw muscles. It had tiny arms, each with two fingers. T. Rex had a slim, stiff, pointed tail that provided balance and allowed quick turns while running. T. rex’s neck was short and muscular. Its body was solidly built but its bones were hollow.
SIZE
Tyrannosaurus rex was up to 12.4 m long, about 4.6 to 6 m tall. The arms were only about 1 m long. Tyrannosaurus rex was roughly 5 to 7 tons in weight.
TEETH AND JAWS
T. rex’s jaws were up to 1.2 m long and had 50 to 60 thick, conical, bone-crunching teeth that ranged in size from very small to over 23cm long.
TAIL
Tyrannosaurus had a stiff, pointed tail. The tail was used as a counterbalance for its enormous head, for agility and for making quick turns.
SKIN
Skin was bumpy, like an alligator’s skin.
HABITAT
Tyrannosaurus rex probably lived in forests, where its prey (plant-eating dinosaurs) could find plenty of food.
PTERODACTYLS or PTERODACTYLOIDS
Pterodactyloids lived from the Jurassic period through the late Cretaceous period. Pterodactyls died out during the Cretaceous, about 65 million years ago
ANATOMY
The Pterodactyls (or Pterodactyloids) were a group of flying reptiles. They were lightly built with hollow bones, long, curved necks, long skulls, and small bodies. They had large brains and good eyesight. Some had light-weight, bony head-crests, some did not. The crest may have acted as a rudder when flying.
SIZE
Pterodactyls ranged in size from having a wingspan of a few centimetres (primitive Pterodactyls) to over 12 m (later Pterodactyls). A pterodactyloid about 1.8 m long. Pterodactyls weighed about 50 kg.
TEETH
Pterodactyloids were carnivores; some had bristle-like teeth, some had no teeth. They ate fish (which they caught at the surface of the oceans), mollusks, crabs, perhaps plankton (for some species), insects, and scavenged dead animals on land.
TAIL AND FUR
Pterodactyls had short tails, some had no tails. Some pterodactyloids had fur on their bodies.
WINGS