Presentation on Dinosaurs

Presented by :: Navneet Rana

WHAT WE WILL DO TODAY ABOUT
DINOSAURS IS THEIR....

 CLASSIFICATION
 DISTRIBUTION
 APPEARANCE AND EXISTENCE
 INTRODUCTION

 Dinosaur literally mean Terrible Lizard

 Clade :: Dinosauria
 First appeared in Triassic period (231- 243
million years ago)
 Most dominant terrestrial vertebrate after
Triassic – Jurassic extinction event (201 million
years ago)
 Some were herbivorous and some were
carnivorous
 Ancestral Bipedal, many extinct groups include
 Communication :: Visual and
auditory signals
 CLASSIFICATION

 Classified in two order

1) Saurischia (lizard hipped)
2)Ornithischia (bird hipped)

These two basically differ in pelvic structures

 Pelvic structures

 SAURISCHIA ORNITHISCHIA
 Saurischia

 Sauros -lizard, ischion- hip joint.

 Almost all are carnivorous .
 Identified by their three-ponged pelvic structure
(Pubis pointed forward).
 Main evolutionary changes :: gradual increase
in the size and proportionate decrease in that of
fore limb.
 Backbone was composed of 10-30 vertebrae
and tail was long.
 Further classified in three
suborders
1)Theropoda
2)Sauropoda
3) Paleopoda
 Theropoda

 Means “beast footed”

 Include largest terrestrial carnivores ever to
made the earth tremble
 Upper Triassic – Creataceous
 Was bipedal and not more than 2m long having
flexible neck and long tail
 Hand and small forelimbs were used for food
gathering
 Tyrannosauros :: largest and most dreaded
dinosaurs , also known as T-rex
Indian genera include Epicampodon, Teratosaurus
from Panchet formation of Gondwana rocks.
Megalosaurus from Creataceous rocks of South
India
Indosuchus, Lametosaurus, Jubbulporia and
Megalosaurus from Lameta of cretaceous.
TERATOSAURUS
MEGALOSAURUS
 Sauropoda
 Sauro + pod :: lizard-footed
 Name Sauropoda was coined by O.C Marsh in
1878
 They had very long necks , long tails, small
heads (relative to the rest of the body)
 Four thick, pillar like legs
 Well known genera include Brachiosaurus,
Diplodocus, Apatosaurus, Brontosaurus
 First appearance :: late Triassic
 Indian genera include Titanosaurus and
Diplodocus
Brachiosaurus
 Paleopoda

 Includes both carnivorous and herbivorous

forms.
 Restricted to the Upper Triassic.
 They exhibit bipedal adaptation but they were
frequently quadrupedal.
 ORNITHISCHIA

 Bird-hipped
 Backbones were stiffen near the pelvis structure
 Horn-faced, armored
 All were herbivores
 “Leaf-shaped”cheek teeth
 Pubis points down and back, parallel to Ischium
 There is strong evidence that they lived in herds
 Further classified into four
suborders
 Stegosauria
 Ankylosauria
 Ceratopsida
 Ornithopod
 Stegosauria
 Jurassic – Early cretaceous periods.
 All are quadrupedal and Were armoured
dinosaurs.
 Had complex array of spikes, and plates
running along their back, hips and tails.
 Had characterstic small, long, flat , narrow
heads..
 Fossils have been found in mostly in Northern
hemisphere,predominantly in Europe, North
America and China.
Stegosaurus
 Ankylosauria

 Included heavy , armoured, quadrupedal

herbivores.
 Were very strongly armoured and of cretaceous
form.
 100 million years old remains of Ankylosaur
family have been discovered in Utha(U.S.A)
Ankylosaurus
 Ceratopsida

 Included horned herbivorous quadrupedal

dinosaurs with subequal development of
forelimbs and hind limbs.

 GENUS Triceratops grew to a length of about

seven meter. It was sometimes surmounted by
paired horns. It lived during cretaceous times
Ticeratops
 Ornithopod
 Ornithopod means “bird feet”.
 Started out as small, bipedal running grazers.
 Later beacme more adapted to graze on all
fours and their spines get curved.
 Most successful groups of herbivores in the
cretaceous world.
 Early orinithopods were only about 1m long and
had a stiff tail.
 Dominated the North American landscape.
 Major evolutionary advantage was progressive
development of the chewing apparatus.
Camptosaurus
 Distribution
 Paleontologists do found dinosaurs all over the
world. In facts, they have been found on every
major continent including Antartica, Australia,
India and in far North of Canada. Almost 50
eggs species or “oospecies” are known mostly
from Central Asia, Southern Europe, India,
South America(Brazil, Argentina), North
America(Canada, U.S) and South Africa. Many
of these are found in the sediments of
cretaceous age.
 Paleontologists haven't found even a
single marine fossils. The absence of
dinosaurs fossils in marine sediments is
good evidence that dinosaurs were strictly
land dwellers.
EXTINCTION
 Extinction

 The last dinosaurs died approximately 65

million years ago. Although the cause of their
extinction is still a mystery, climatic change,
diseases, changing plant communities, and
geologic events could all have played a role.
Lately, dinosaur extinction theories have been
the subject of much debate and controversy.
 The asteroid collision theory is the most
acceptable theory.
Well we don't know what really happened to them

 One thing for

sure is……….
 We will have

an incredible
time going
back in time to
learn about
these
 SOME INTERESTING FACTS
1) Smallest dinosaur :: Compsognathus(4.6ft long)
2) Largest dinosaur :: Argentinosaurus(30-35m in length)
3) Fastest dinosaur :: Ornithomimids (ostrich mimic)
4) Slowest dinosaur :: huge dinosaur with short legs.
5) First dinosaur fossil was found in England in 1676 by
Reverend Robert Plot. It was a huge femur.
6) Meteor that killed dinosaurs was travelling at the speed
of 30m/s.
7) Crater created by the meteor that killed dinosaurs is
known as Chicxulub crater is 180km wide and 20km deep
and is located at the edge of Gulf of Mexico
8) Extinction event of dinosaurs is also known as KPG
extinction
9) Birds are now recognized as being the sole surviving
lineage of the Theropod dinosaurs