What is a dinosaur?

Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles. A group consisting of the most

recent common ancestor of Triceratops and modern birds, and all its
descendants. Birds are the sole surviving dinosaur. In traditional birds were a
separate class that had evolved from dinosaur. Birds belong to a dinosaur
sub-group. The first dinosaur fossil were recognized in the early 19 th century
with the name “dinosaur” being coined by Sir Richard Owen in 1842 to refer
to these great “fossil lizards”.

When did dinosaurs live?

Non – bird dinosaurs lived between 245 and 66 million year ago, in a time
known as the Mesozoic Era. This was many millions of year before the first
modern humans, Homo sapiens, appeared.
Scientists divide up the Mesozoic Era into three periods Triassic, Jurassic and
Cretaceous. During the era, the land gradually split from one huge
supercontinent into smaller ones. The associated changes in the climate and
vegetation affected how dinosaurs evolve.

Triassic Period (252 to 201 million years ago)

All continents during the Triassic Period were part of a single land mass called
Pangaea. This means that the different between animals or plants were found
in different areas were minor.
The Triassic climate was relatively hot and dry, and much of the land was
covered with large deserts.
The first fossil of dinosaurs which is found in this period is of Nyasasaurus. It
is to be suggest up that it is one of the first dinosaur which is found.
It was in the environment that the reptile known as the dinosaurs evolved.
When there is end of Triassic, a series of Earthquake and Massive Volcanic
eruptions slowly began to break into the two parts. This was the birth of the
North Atlantic Ocean.

Jurassic Period (201 to 145 million years ago)

At the end of Triassic Period there was a mass extinction, the causes of which
are debated. Many large land animals wiped out dinosaurs survived, giving
them the opportunity to evolve into the wide variety of the forms increase in
number.
Vegetation grew in Jurassic Period providing plenty of food for plant eating
dinosaur, such as this Stegosaurus
Temperatures fell as it although, still warmer than today due to higher
amounts of carbon dioxide in atmosphere. Rainfall increased as a result of
the large seas appearing between the land masses.
These changes allowed plants such as fern to grow over huge areas. There
were forests of tall conifer trees such as sequoias.
The large dinosaurs Diplodocus lived in the Jurassic Period. Other dinosaurs
from the late Jurassic.
The plentiful plant allowed the huge plant eating sauropods a very large
eating herbivorous dinosaurs such as Diplodocus and Brachiosaurus to
evolve. These are some of the largest animal to have ever walked the Earth.
By the end of the Jurassic their herds dominated the landscape.

Cretaceous Period (Last 10 Million Years)

Other group of the organism also diversified. The first snakes evolved during
this time, and by the end of the Cretaceous; flowering plants were a much
common part of Earth plant life.
Various insects group are also appeared, including bees, which helped
increase the spread of flowering plants. Mammals now included tree climber,
even predators of small dinosaurs.