ACPL on | “DISCARDED | DINOSAL © i || FOREWORD BY JOHN H. OSTROM, PhD Peabody Museum, Yale University[ATE iNOSAUR BOOK osaur remains were first identified some ars ago, but there out about these extraordi creatures. The Ultimate Dinosaur Book will appeal to all ages: its evocative text and mors than 500 magnificent color ill dinosaurs and their world as never before. STORIES OF LIF Author David Li of various theories of extinetion. The tory section is a dramatically illustrated, coneise exploration of every aspect of dinosaur anatomy and behavior, from body structure to bree fighting to feeding, imate Dinosaur Book ed, full-color dinosaur ss. Every major group is represented, from four-story-high brachiosaurids to chicken-sized compsognathids. Lifelike models, illustrations, and specially issioned photographs of fossilized remains are annotated to emphasize portant features. A TO Z OF ALL KNOWN DINOSAURS: The final 5s brief guide to eves known dinosaur type, including the g of dinosaur + looked like, when and where they lived, and how they are classified. Lavishly illustrated, comprehensive, J featuring the world’s best dinosaur specimens, The Ultimate Dinosaur Boole is the one- volume reference every nosaur lover will have to haveTHE ULTIMATE DINOSAUR BOOKTHE ULTIMATE DINOSAUR BOOKpx) A DORLING KINDERSLEY BOOK Consultant Editors De Angela Milner (rhe Natural History Museum. London) Dr Ralph E. Molnar (Queensland Museum. Australia) John i Ostrom, PD (Peabody Museim, Yale University) Project Editor sary Lindsay Project Art Editor “ian Haines Editors dna Bunting ona Curtenay-Thompon, Us Editor Mary Ann tyne Designers Johnny Pau, Ann Rene, Clare Shedden Editorial Assistant Design Assistant Philp Sumerod snaging Editor Man dgiey Managing Art Editors Philip Giderasle, Stephen Knowlden Photographers Andy Crawlord, Lynton Gardiner [US), Steve Gorton Colin Keates (the Natural History Museum, London, Miguel Pereira (Argeatina) Tim Ridiey Uustrators Roby Braun, Simone End. Andrew Hutchinson, Steve Kitk Janos Maelly, Andrew Robinson. Graham Rosewarne, John sbbick. John Femperton Model Makers Roby Braun, David Donkin, Graham High and Jeremy Bunt (Centaur stadt), John Holmes Production Sarah Puller. iary Stephens ompsir pag make by CONTENTS ForEworD 7 THE ESSENTIAL DINOSAUR 8 ‘Wuat Is A Dinosaur? 10 Onicins, ANCESTORS, AND DESCENDANTS 12 TRrIAssic WorRLD 14 Jurassic WorLD 16 Cretaceous Wortp 18 Dinosaur ANATOMY 20 Lire AND BEHAVIOR 22 EXTINCTION THEORIES 24 FossILizaTIon 26 Dinosaur Finns 28 EXCAVATING Dinosaurs 30 Dinosaurs IN MuseuMS 32 RESTORATION OF Dinosaurs 34THEROPODS 38 Bipedal predatory dinosaurs with birdlike legs and feet. Most were armed with fangs as well as toe- and finger-claws HERRERASAURUS 40 Cerarosaunus 42 Diwoptiosaunus 44 Cortomnysts 46 CanNoraURus 48 Eustrerrosroxpr.us 50 Attosaurus 52 “TyRaxwosaurus 54 Barvonx 58 SpivosauRus 60 Gatuimios 62 Srurwosanus 64 Ourrarror 66 TROODON 68 Detwoxvcaus 70 Anciatorrenyx 74 AviMIMUs 76 Onxrrnorssres 78 Compsoonarius 80 SAuROPODOMoRPHS 82 Chiefly quadrupedal, plant-eating dinosaurs—some of which were immense—with long necks, bulky bodies, and long tails. Awcuisaunus 84 PLaTEOSAURUS 86 Massosroxnv.us 88 RIosAsAuRUS 90 Geriosaunus 92 BRactosaunus 94 CAMARASAURUS 96 BaROsAuRus 98: Diniovocus 100 Apxvosaurts 102 -Mavtevemisaunus 104 SALTASALRUS 106 StonosauRus 108 THyREOPHORANS 110 Quadrupedal plant-eaters, including the plated stegosaurs and armored ankylosaurs, with bodies fortified by bony studs and spikes or plates. Scetposaurus 112 Srecosaunus 114 Kewrnosaurus 118, ‘Tuonancosaunus 120 EpMoxtoxta 122 SavRoweLra 124 ‘MIN 126 Evortoceniatus 128 OrNiTHOPODS 130, Bipedal and bipedal/quadrupedal dinosaurs with distinctive hipbones, bony tendons that stiffened the tail, | and jaws and cheek teeth remarkably designed for chewing vegetation. Lesommosaunus 132 HereroposTasaunus 134 Hirrsiorkonoy 136 IouaNoDow 138 Ounanosaunus 142 EbMoNtasaurus 144 Maiasauna 146 ConyrnosauRus 148 LaMneosaunus 150 MARGINOCEPHALIANS 152 Plant-eaters with a ridge or shelf at the back of the skull; within this group were the thick-headed and “parrot-beaked” dinosaurs. PACIYCEPHALOSAURUS 154 PstrtAcasauRus 156 ProroceRaTors 158 CenrnosaURUS 160 Srvpacosaunus 162 Taicenators 164 ATO Z OF DINOSAURS 168 With entries for all the currently known dinosaur genera, this dinosaur dictionary also includes cross-references for names not now in standard use. Grossary 184 InpEX 185 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 192THE ESSENTIAL DINOSAUR ns with a definition of J the dinosaurs and k at how they evolved. It describes the world the dinosaurs inhabited, examining how they lived and how they may have died out. Finally, it surveys the sequence of events from fossilization to discovery, excavation, stud and reconstruction, resulting in today magnificently lifelike museum displays.ORIGINS, ANCESTORS, AND DESCENDANTS INosaURS ontciNareD from microscopic marine organisms DD several thousand million years ago, From these evolved true plants and animals. The processes of genetic change and natural selection led to the appearance of new forms of life. In the Paleozoic era (about 570-248 million years ago) soft-bodied creatures gave rise to fish with internal bony skeletons, Fish produced amphibians that walked on land, which in turn gave rise to reptiles. Reptiles dominated land life in later Paleozoic times. One group of reptiles evolved into archosaurs or “ruling reptiles.” This group included dinosaurs, which ruled the Mesozoic era (about 248-65 million years ago). Many scientists now believe that modern birds are descendants of the dinosaurs. JURASSIC PERIOD 208-148 ya this was the yay of ‘he sauropods: huge, plant eating Ainosars: Among te ares fal was immense, irae 4 ike Brachiosaurus. CRETACEOUS PERIOD 144-65 ra: herds of large, homed sinosaurs, such a Triceratops, muted, buts ie ‘mammal. Tis prod saw the end ofthe Age of Dinosaurs. CAMBRIAN PERIOD 570-510 wra:inserebras and elie conadont animals 25 fled the ses. These 4 swore possibly the cartes: ofall owe vertebrates (anima wth backbones) TERTIARY PERIOD 65-2 milion years ago, SILURIAN PERIOD 538-408 milion yrs ago (ORDOVICIAN PERIOD 4600-570 gave rise 1 amphibians. 2 CARBONIFEROUS PERIOD | OX 92-290 04: ates ine orm of reps evolved = from amphibians ‘THE AGES OF THE EARTH The spiral ribbon (below) represents the Earth through time. The last 570 million years, which are rich in fossil material, are marked off in geological periods. Seven animals representing predominant groups are illustrated close to the periods in which they lived. The conodont animal (the first vertebrate), the amphibian (the frst tetrapod), and the reptile (the rst amniote) here represent three major evolutionary innovations inherited by the dinosaurs Dinosaurs themselves are symbolized by a theropod, a sauropod, and a ceratopsian, TRIASSIC PERIOD 248-208 ura: new groupsof reptiles replaced the older forms. Dinos evoved tiverifed, and spread. Early nds ncluded shes, predatory ‘heropod Coelophysis, PERMIAN PERIOD 290-248 milion yar ago ‘QUATERNARY PERIOD. 2-0 ya:Homo sapiens has evolved from Homo erects, Mammals and binds are now he cif and vertebratesSAUROPSIBS = EVOLVING © VERTEBRATES Dinosaurs inherited key features that had evolved previously in other vertebrates. ‘The combination of an internal 01a! skeleton with movable jaws had first appeared in fish. From fish came amphibians: the first tetrapods (four- footed animals with lungs, and limbs evolved from fins). The eggs of amphibians had to be fertilized and Taid in water or they dried up. From amphibians evolved amniotes, whose eggs were fertilized in the female’s body and developed inside a waterproof membrane. The first amniotes were reptiles: cold-blooded animals with dry, scaly skin. With their waterproof skin and eggs, reptiles no longer depended on water and could live and breed on land. = EVOLVING AMNIOTES * Synapsids were mammal-like reptiles, characterized by a skull opening low down in the cheek. They dominated the land in Permian times, giving rise to true mammals before becoming extinct. Sauropsids (with two openings in the roof of the mouth) include turtles and tortoises. Diapsids (with two openings in the part of the skull behind each eye) produced plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs, lizards and snakes, and the archosaurs. Archosaurs have an extra skull opening in front of each, eye, perhaps to hold an excess salt- removing gland. Primitive archosaurs included a mixed group of thecodont ("socket-toothed’) reptiles, some similar to dinosaurs and erocodilians. Certain advanced archosaurs gave rise to two new groups: true crocodilians and ornithodires ("bird necks"). The latter included pterosaurs, dinosaurs, and modern birds, all of which walk fon their toes, They have an ankle joint forming a simple hinge, a shelf above the hip socket, and thighbones with an enlarged ridge (fourth trochanter). Dinosaurs evolved distinctive skull, spinal, shoulder, upper arm, hand, hip-, calf, and ankle bones. Strong similarities between the bones of predatory dinosaurs and modern birds suggest that birds may be feathered dinosaurs with wings. B VERTEBRATE EVOLUTION Starting with fish (top of diagram), this simplified family tree shows the sequence In which different groups of vertebrates evolved. The lines of extinct groups are shorter. Groups below amphibians belong to the class Reptilia (replies). Bizds and placed in a separate class, Scientists have worked out the relationships of dinosaurs to other groups of animals by comparing key characteristics in fossil bones. Kdemtiying sets of derived chatacteristics inherited from mammals are each traditional 4 common ancestor has enabled scientists 10 Aecide which ofthese organisms evolved first, and which are most closely relatedHE TRIASSIC PERIOD (about 248-208 million years ago) was the first phase of the Mesozoic era ("Age of Middle Life”), often called the Age of Dinosaurs. All lands formed one supercontinent, known as Pangaea (“all earth”), of which the northern part was called Laurasia and the southern part Gondwana. Everywhere the climate was mild, warm, or hot. No ice sheets covered polar lands, but deserts spread into inland regions. Flowering plants had not yet evolved; conifers, palmlike cycads, and ferns grew in moist areas. Life on land was dominated by prehistoric reptiles suited to dry conditions. Reptiles also took to the air and seas. In the Late Triassic, many of the older reptiles were wiped out, but new kinds took their place. The most successful of these proved to be the dinosaurs. Dicroidium waa ase seafer, ELANDS = savannas in drier open areas that would be grasslands today. Moist, open land supported dense growths of horsetails. Close to the equator and in drier regions, patchy conifer and cycad forests thrived, Stands of tall seedferns formed forests in Gondwana. Later in the Triassic period ferns were replaced by cycadeoids and conifers. Laurasia comprised North America, Europe, and much of what is now Asia. Gondwana included Africa, Arabia, India, Australia, Antarctica, and South America. The South Pole was located over the ocean. The whole of Pangaea was slowly drifting north as one great landmass. This supercontinent began to show the first signs of a future breakup after the Middle Triassic, when cracks appeared in parts of eastern North America, west and central Europe, and northwest Africa = PLANTS © ‘The plants that flourished in Laurasia were those adapted to dry climates, such as ginkgoes, seed ferns, and somewhat palmlike cycads and cycadeoids. The biggest trees were conifers. Ginkgoes formed a fairly open canopy of medium-size trees, and cycads ranged from short, squat forms to taller, palmlike species, Tree ferns created an understory in the forests, and low ferns formed BUPARKERIA Euparkeria was a ighy but ale archosaur. A dies and inosine precursor of ln Barly Triassic Herrerasaurus, Staurikosauru Melanorosaurus, echnosaurus, and Plateosaurus spf arly plane-atingdinosau Mussaurus ‘TRIASSIC SUPERCONTINENT Black uns show moder contin superimposed ‘on the Tras supersotinot Panga. Despite at ‘extensive area of water the Tethy Sea, the rt (avrasa and south (Gondwana) remained joined. = LIFE ON LAND © Reptiles ruled life on land during the Triassic period. Plant-eaters included hippopotamus-like dicynodonts, ‘squat, piglike rhynchosaurs, and mammal-like herbivorous cynodonts, ‘There were formidable flesh-eating eynodonts as well, Dicynodonts, rhynchosaurs, and most cynodonts died out in the first of two mysterious mags extinctions, The thecodonts that largely took their place died out in the second of these extinctions. Survivors Included turtles, land crocodilians, dinosaurs, and tiny mammals, Both ‘of the main dinosaur groups emerged during the Late Triassic. Among saurischian dinosaurs were bipedal Staurkosuris 4TRIASSIC COUNTRYSIDE Canis ley. Ar area desert lies beyond EUDIMORPHODON Eudimorphodon (“ru Late Triassic north aly was oe of the flesh-eating theropods and quadrupedal prosauropods: the first big, high-browsing herbivores. Early ornithischians were small, bipedal herbivores. With no sea to stop them, dinosaurs quickly colonized the world. = LIFE IN THE AIR Small reptiles with wings of skin or scales took gliding flights from tree to tree. These “wings” may have be supported by long ribs, or they may simply have been feathery scales growing from arms and legs or webs of skin between front and hind limbs. Late Triassic animals like these may have given rise to furry-bodied, warm: blooded “reptiles” called pterosaurs. These had large heads, short bodies, and long skin wings supported by elongated fourth finger bones. Unlike their gliding ancestors, pterosaurs were capable of powered flight = LIFE IN WATER = Various reptile groups invaded the shallow Triassic seas. Sharp-toothed, fish-eating nothosaurs grew up to 13 feet (4m) long and had small heads, long tails and bodies, and paddlelike limbs. Seallike placodonts crushed shellfish between broad, flat back teeth, Dolphinlike ichthyosaurs, up to about 50 feet (15m) Jong, were the reptiles best adapted to the sea. Among their prey were the big, swimming mollusksJURASSIC WORLD HE JURASSIC PERIOD (about 208-144 million years ago) marked the middle of the Mesozoic era. By this time the supercontinent Pangaea was breaking up in earnest. Rifts in the continental crust produced the Atlantic Ocean. Africa began to split from South America, and India prepared to drift toward Asia. Climates were now warm worldwide, and moist winds from invading seas brought rain to inland deserts. Plants spread into once-barren lands, providing food for abundant and widespread dinosaurs (including the largest of all land animals). Above them flew the first small birds, which themselves may have evolved from small dinosaurs. The seas were shared by new, large swimming reptiles, and bony fish built on “modern” lines. Megazostodon, ‘a shrewike mamma. » LANs ® palmlike eycadeoids were the main When the Jurassic period began, old mountains had been worn away, but, as Pangaea started splitting up, new ‘ones were formed. Floods of basalt lava oozed from geological rifts that ran all the way from southern Africa through Antarctica into Tasmania Episodes of mountain building wracked western North America, and volcanoes pushed up in the Andes. During the Jurassic, Tibet joined Eurasia, and, as the period ended, Arica brushed against southern Europe, losing chunks of crust that formed portions of land as far apart as Arabia and Spain. = PLANTS = Jurassic lands were generally greener and more lush than they had been in Triassic times, and vegetation types were more uniform worldwide, Tall forest conifers included relatives of today’s giant sequoias, pines, and Chile pine (monkey puzzle), Other plentiful trees included ginkgoes, while JURASSIC DINOSAURS. he major Late Jura planteates, Orisa included Deyosarus, Stegosaus ferved rom Best ike ro Seeldosaurus). and Camptosaurus. The nd Allosaurus ate sac herbivores, small trees and shrubby plants. In, conifer forests tall treeferns often made up the understory. The most common. low-growing plants were ferns and horsetails. These grew prolifically and may have been important as a food source for sauropod dinosaurs. No flowering plants had appeared yet. MARINE REPTILE Iehthyosaurus wir ase winning rept wie long sot. pale shaped limbs, and atl ti fin as es and ved i he ea Compsauras 16 JURASSIC CONTINENTS Black outines show the moder landmass, bun Jurassic times. Seas now began cut ina Pangaea ‘and ove Laurasia from Gondwana, = LIFE ON LAND ® In the Early Jurassic, the main plant eating vertebrates were prosauropod and ornithischian dinosaurs, and small, mammal-like reptiles. But, by Late Jurassic times, huge sauropods predominated. These browsed on both high- and low-level vegetation, Sauropods relied mainly on swallowed stones rather than teeth to pulverize their food. Stegosaurs, the next most abundant plant-eating dinosaurs, had toothless beaks and weak cheek teeth. There were also. carly ankylosaurs and ‘omnithopods. Large theropods killed. and ate herbivores, but small coelurid and compsognathid theropods chased. small game or may have scavenged Dipladcus Allesaurus Doosaurs= LIFE IN THE AIR The skin-winged pteros: life in the air. Rhamp pterosaurs had a long il that served as a stabilizer and rudder; pterodactyloid plerosaurs lacked a tail. Many of these creatures had spiky teeth, adapted for spearing fish as they swooped low over ‘0 appeared. The yx, had bones, 'sthat resembled a small = LIFE IN WATER By the Jurassic period, both nothosaurs, and placodonts had died out, but ichthyosaurs persisted. They sh: shallow seas with a group of marin crocodilians whose limbs had also evolved into flippers, and with teleosts (fish with a bony suction-feedi se res included barrel-bodied plesiosaurs, which traveled through the water like sea lions, and pliosaurs, short-necked plesiosaurs ds and strong, sharp teeth, times, ichthyosaurs ind marine crocodiliaCRETACEOUS WORLD HE CRETACEOUS PERIOD (about 144-65 million years ago) marked the last phase of the Mesozoic era and the climax of the Age of Dinosaurs. During this period, thick chalk beds covered the floors of shallow seas that ca and Europe; Laurasia and Gondwana fragmented into the continents that we know today; and colliding slabs of continental and oceanic crust thrust up the Rockies and other mountain ranges. Near the Equator, climates stayed warm but grew drier, and forests became thinner. Elsewhere the seasons grew more marked, and flowering plants began to appear, Animals on the now-isolated continents began to evolve separately from one another, explaining why more kinds of dinosaurs appeared in Late Cretaceous times than ever before. invaded North Ameri ~ Magnolasa survivor fiom the Cretan = LANDS ® Early in the Cretaceous period a land bridge linked East Asia and western North America, forming one faunal region known as Asiamerica Gradually over the Cretaceous period a shallow sca split North America in half, and western North America became an island with its own dinosaur genera, A shallow sea separated Euramerica (eastern North ‘America, Europe, and Greenland) from Asia, Also, the southern lands of Africa, Antarctica, India, South America, and Australia gradually drifted apart. With Euramerica, these southern lands shared “old-fashioned’ types of dinosaurs, so all arguably made up one great faunal region, known as the Eurogondwanan region. = PLANTS = Typically Mesozoic plants, stich as cycadeoids, ginkgoes, conifers, and ferns, still dominated the land in Early Cretaceous times. But small, weedy, flowering plants (angiosperms) also started to appear. As these prolific plants spread from the tropics into cooler regions, some evolved into CRETACEOUS DINOSAURS ike Hypsiton mn, Iguanodon ike Saltasaurus. Formidable carvan cl Sarcosuchus, a Bary Cretasous edilan up 0 49f¢(15m) log, ised in Aria and Sth America, shrubs and small trees. By the Late Cretaceous, oaks, maples, walnuts, and other trees were competing with the still-abundant conifers. = LIFE ON LAND ® By the Late Cretaceous, small mammals were diversifying fast and snakes had evolved from lizards, but dinosaurs still dominated life on land. New plant eating ornithischian Deinonychus 18 Salsa CRETACEOUS CONTINENTS Black outines show he shapes of made londonases in her Late Cretaceous postions. Shallow sas then ered immense tras of contiontl eras, families appeared, equipped with teeth and jaws that were engineered for chewing the new flowering plants, Low-browsing, armored ankylosaurs multiplied, too, but the less well- defended stegosaurs grew scarcer. The great, long-necked sauropods also began to diminish in northern lands, although they still predominated in the south. Cretaceous theropods ranged from birdlike ornithomimids to some of the largest of all land carnivores, the tyrannosaurids. = LIFE IN THE AIR ® Winged creatures of Cretaceous times ranged [rom the world’s first tiny moths and small social bees to the biggest animals that ever flew: giant pterosaurs, Among the largest pterosaurs were the ypsiophodon JguanodonCRETACEOUS Co lowering wes have western North America, PTERANODON ‘This totes persaur had wings up 237 (im) across and at fh cagh wish is huge Quetzalcoatlus and Preranodon. New finds published in the early 1990s show that birds were also diversifying. By the Early Cretaceous, little Sinornis from China and Concornis from Spain had ridged breastbones, like modern flying birds. Later, diving and running birds that did not fly appeared, among them the turkey-size Mononykus, with a ridged breastbone and a long, bony, dinosaurian tail core. = LIFE IN WATER Cretaceous water creatures included immense relatives of vertebrates living today. The largest freshwater species were crocodilians and the huge crocodile-like champsosaurs, while the marine turtle Archelon outgrew the largest leatherback living today Seagoing, flippered lizards, known as mosasaurs, grew to 33ft (10m) in Tength and swam with undulations of a deep, flattened tail. The flippered, swimming plesiosaurs included such short-necked forms (called pliosaurs) as the formidable Kronosaurus, with a head loft (3m) long, and long-necked fish-eaters, such as Elasmosaurus, which had no fewer than 70 cervical (neck) vertebrae. During this pe the ichthyosaurs died outDINOSAUR ANATOMY URVIVING FossiLs reveal the bony frameworks of dinosaurs. It S _ ispossible to guess at the internal anatomy and muscles of Sku! and mandible formed braincase dinosaurs by looking at those of living crocodilians, birds, fyusties, nostrils, and glands Teeth. and mammals. These animals also help us deduce how dinosaur _were specialized according to diet; bodies may have worked. Like those of living animals, Feet esther gi one dinosaur skeletons were largely designed to support muscles tnd calidel verdhres onan used for locomotion; to protect internal organs such as the spine that supported the head, brain, heart, and lungs; and to house bone marrow, which body, and tail. Ribs shielded the manufactured blood. Different groups of dinosaurs had baaieretentearete specialized bones. For instance, heavy dinosaurs had Tin) bones acedesietes thick, solid limb bones to support great weight, while worked by muscles. The lightweight dinosaurs had hollow, thin-walled limb forelimbs consis am bones. Huge “windows” in big theropod skulls and deep (shoulder bones) tie cavities scooped out of sauropod vertebrae removed humerus (upper arm bone), unnecessary weight. The digestive systems, teeth, and a claws of carnivores and herbivores varied according tO troodon had igces_carpals (wrist bones) diet and methods of attack and defense. anda wise viualftd. The metacarpals and = SKELETON # the radius and ulna (lower rd Dora vertebra Shoulder joint Lang Seapula Sidney ium Neural spine (Cuda vertebra Lateral caudal ‘musculature / ‘heron \ctoace Scie Posterior ral muscle \ Posterior Pubs! ‘atebrachiat tow. Fibula Anterior anebraci scl tra Mecarpall Una Femoral Ansar INSIDE A DINOSAUR musculature) crural mul AA model ofthe birdlike theropod Gafimimus reveals some of its supporting spinal, limb, nd ri bones, Also visible are abdominal uscles and those operating the limbs, neck, ‘and tal, Inside the chest and abdomen lie vital organs, including the heart, lungs liver, intestine, and museular gizard 20Amora fenestra Maxi Seated eat shaped tooth Manaibe |Sero ring orbit Parosptal prose nfratemporat fenestra A SKULL AND MANDIBLE ‘This kl belonged 1 Plateosaurus, a prsauroped lnosaur with wet dxgned for eting vegetation phalanges formed the palm and finger bones. The pelvic (hip) bones were fused to the sacral vertebrae. The structure of the hind limbs was as follows: femur (thigh bone), tibia (shin bone), fibula (calf bone), tarsals (ankle bones), metatarsals (upper foot ones), and phalanges (toe bones) = SOFT ANATOMY ® Bones were bound together by ligaments, and muscles were often attached to bones by tendons. Paired, ‘opposing muscles contracted and relaxed to move limbs to and fro. The digestive system consisted of a convoluted gut. Flesh-eaters would have had a fairly short, simple alimentary tract, but herbivores needed a long, complex intestine to break down fibrous vegetation. Body wastes, sperm, and eggs all left the body through the cloaca = HEART-LUNG SYSTEM ® A dinosaur’s heart-lung system may have functioned like those of warm- blooded humans or cold-blooded reptiles. Theropods probably had efficient hearts that kept their body temperatures high, as in birds or mammals. Sauropods might have een warm-blooded in another way: their vast bodies could have stored up enough heat from the sun to keep them warm all through the night. Scape mace Shoulder musculature, ose hor er Posterior back mace “—/ / Aner brachial ace § Digital extensor ms DINOSAUR MUSCUL: Sheets ad bands of ms Either way, the mild to hot climate probably meant dinosaurs never cooled enough to become lethargic like ordinary, cold-blooded, reptiles. = CONTROL SYSTEMS © Interacting nervous and hormonal systems coordinated body functions The brain sent signals to the nerves, which operated muscles. Immense sauropods had tiny brains, but some small theropods, like Troodon, had brains as “big” and complex as a bird's, The large theropod Tyrannosaurus had a brain well-designed to control limb movements and process sight and scent messages, but its cerebrum (“thinking part") was very small Ambiens mae ibid ml yy, asrsonmtins muse stl ATURE appear here superimposed (on the skeleton ofthe horned dinosaur Centeosaurus i, candat vertebra, Ishin Tibi. ollwxfirstioe) | BONY FRAMEWORK lat, yi tapi, the shelton of Bs, ipsa, 2 Pui Cervical vertebra Dorsal vertebra, | ed varius shape Bos ore predacory Tyrannosaurus.LIFE AND BEHAVIOR IKE PRESENT-DAY ANIMALS, dinosaurs lived in a variety of different ways. For example, some species lived in herds or packs, while others kept to themselves, and some were plant-eaters while others ate flesh. The three most important aspects in which dinosaur life and behavior varied were their ways of feeding FEEDING | Most kinds of dinosaur were either herbivores (plant-eaters) or carnivores (meat-eaters). Among the herbivores, wide-mouthed browsers, such as Maiasaura and Euoplocephalus, probably snatched mouthfuls of mixed plants, while narrow-mouthed dinosaurs, such as Edmontonia and Stew picked out specific plants. Ankylosaurs | | | | | | had primitive, small teeth with gaps between them. Horned dinosaurs had more advanced and efficient teeth | that formed a continuous cutting edge. The vegetation that a dinosaur could eat was limited by the animal’s | height. Little Lesothosaurus and low- ugging plants, although some small plant-eaters may have reared on their Scelidosaurus cropped ground- hind limbs to browse. In contrast the long-necked sauropods prosauropods were tall enough to feed on leafy twigs in the upper levels of tees. Flesh-eating dinosaurs fed on plant-eating dinosaurs and other animals. Lary ge theropods, such as Tyrannosaurus and Allosaurus, could have picked off plant-eaters that were even larger than themselves. Small | predators ~ Deinonychus, for example — mainly hunted small plant-eaters, although by hunting in packs, they may have brought down ornithopods as large as lguanodon, Smaller, more agile theropods, like Compsognathus, probably ate small lizards and large Inseets. A few dinosaurs had extremely specialized diets, Crocodile-jawed Baryonyx probably ate fishes, while the r may have fed on STRATEGY FOR ATTACK Allosaurus, fae droped, tack a much fighting (both attack and defense), and breeding. eggs or shellfish, and segnosaurs may have lived mainly on termites FIGHTING ® Most theropods had sharp teeth and claws for piercing the tough, scaly hides of plant-eating dinosaur prey Size and mobility largely determined how a theropod attacked. Large theropods, such as tyrannosaurids, may have stalked herds of plant- in to killa lagging ndividual by tearing a hole in its neck. In contrast, dromaeosaurids may have hunted in packs, swarming over their prey and using their hes EDMONTOSAURUS SKULL <= ALBERTOSAURUS SKULL. SKULLS AND TEETH The skull of Edmontosaurus has a0 ater or grinding tough vgeaton. Albertosaurus's sl has ess beak eke eesecond-toe claws to gash open its belly. A small, light hunter, such as, Ornitho tes, might have sprinted alter lizards and seized them in its sharp. toothed jaws or with its clawed hands, All plar defense against theropod attacks, eating dinosaurs had some Tough hides, some with bony studs or spikes, protected titanosaurid sauropods, stegosaurs, scelidosaurids, and ankylosaurs. However, it was the sheer size of most sauropods, duck-billed ornithopods, and ceratopsia dinosaurs that deterred predators, particularly since lar plant-eaters often traveled in herds. When threatened, many large plant-eating dinosaurs could have stood their ground and counter atiacked Prosauropods, sauropods, and iguanodontids could strike out with their large thumb-claws. Diplodocids and titanosaurids might have lashed out with their whiplike tails. Shunosaurus and ankylosaurid dinosaurs could even swing their tails to deliver crushing blows with thei bony tail clubs. Less well-protected plant-eaters relied on diffe survival strategies. Scelidosaurus, for COLONIAL NESTING example, might have crouched down, Maiasaura moth exposing only its armored back nd young Nets in colonies gave these duck billed Defenseless bipeds. such as the ostrich dinars mus impo hee dinosaurs and the hypsilophodontids, off would simply have sprinted away * BREEDING Like modern birds, many dinosaurs practiced courtship rituals, made nests, laid eggs, and even tended their young. Male duckbills, ceratopsid dinosaurs and some theropods had crests or horns on their heads that were probably used in courtship rituals. Pachyeephalosaurus males had head-butting contests to win herds of females. After mati female dinosaurs laid hard-shelled ‘eggs. In many cases, the eggs were laid in mud nests or hollows scooped in sand and covered with ve or sand. Some dinosaurs grouped their and certain AN ARMORED DINOSAUR’S DEFENSE nests in breeding colonic species returned to the same nesting sites year alter year. The mothers of some species stayed by the nests to protect the eggs and the small hatchlings. Most young dinosaurs apparently grew up quite quickly, although young duckbills were ‘yrannosaur would have hesaed before attacking probably fed and tended by their mothers for up to several months after hatching. Despite parental care, most young dinosaurs probably fell prey to flesh-eating theropods before reaching adulthood. DINOSAUR EGGS The sma th os a i ina bo shaped low di the ona rin or spiral 23EXTINCTION THEORIES AVING suRVIVED for 150 million years, dinosaurs seemed | indestructible. Groups cut off from one another on diverging continents were fast evolving in different directions, and there were now more kinds of dinosaurs alive than ever. Yet, 10 million years later, the creatures we usually think of as dinosaurs Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops, Fossil evidence suggests that dinosaurs did not all disappear all at once, but over an extended period. Fossil remains in ‘one rock formation in Montana suggest that dinosaur genera there dwindled from 19 to seven in the last few hundred thousand years before the time of the final extinction Although in geological terms the Age of Dinosaurs ended abruptly, the precise timescale is not known. The extinction might have happened in an hour, or could have taken up to 100,000 years. = “SELF-DESTRUCTION” = ‘The least convincing explanations of dinosaur extinction are those that blame the dinosaurs themselves. (One suggestion was that vicious carnivores ate all the herbivores, then starved to death. A second notion was that dinosaurs evolved into creatures too clumsy to fend for themselves. Horned, crested, and thick-skulled dinosaurs were interpreted as the incompetent products of “racial degeneration,” Defective hormones that led to dangerously thin eggshells, and stupidity resulting from shrinking brains, are other unsupported notions, were all extinct, as were all pterosaurs, marine crocodiles, plesiosaurs, many marine invertebrates, and all land animals above the size of a large dog. Scientists dispute why and how scores of groups suddenly died out about 65 million years ago. Various theories, some bizarre and some plausible, have been advanced to ‘This positon was though be caused by posoning ucsthe result of doing. explain this mass extinction. = THE LAST DINOSAURS * The last dinosaurs known lived in western North America and included | | » ENEMY AGENTS © ‘A second group of ideas suggests that a sort of “biological warfare” killed the dinosaurs. For instance, newly evolving flowering plants might have held poisons fatal to dinosaurs. The co-evolution of dinosaurs with plants makes this theory unlikely. A v may have caused a fatal panden but itis unlikely that any germ could kill a group as diverse as the dinosaurs. Perhaps small, prolific mammals ate all the dinosaurs’ eggs—but monitor lizards eat crocodiles’ eggs without making crocodiles extinct. None of these theories seems believable. EGG-THIEF ‘Small omvorows mammal ike is ce could have raided dinosaur rts, But 99 stealing id not Fell ofthe diners = GLOBAL CHANGE © Harsh changes affecting lands, seas, and climates may possibly have wiped out many dinosaurs and other animals. By the Late Cretaceous, such changes were taking place as a result of continental drift, mountain-building, and sea-level changes. As areas of shallow sea disappeared, many marine creatures lost their habitats. Away fron the Equator, climates cooled, seasons ‘grew more marked, and hardy plant Species evolved. If dinosaurs were cold blooded, they might have grown too sluggish to survive, and even a small temperature change could have made their eggs all hatch out as one sex, ending future breeding, ORODROMEUS HATCHLINGS Cola esting cast doubt on bei hat sre, overwed omales aid fatally thin es. 24» VOLCANIC * ERUPTIONS. Climatic change brought about by voleani¢ eruptions is another possible cause of the demise of the dinosaurs. At the end of the Cretaceous, floods of lava were erupting through the Earth’s crust in what is now central India—building the Deccan Plateau. For thousands of years this process sent enormous amounts of carbon dioxide and acids into the air. Spread around the world by winds, these ‘materials could well have caused the global atmospheric temperature to rise, acid rain to fall, and the ozone in the atmosphere, which shuts out deadly radiation, to diminish. = CATASTROPHES FROM SPACE Extraterrestrial” theories are those that suggest, for instance, that the extinction followed a burst of lethal radiation from an exploding star, or solar radiation admitted by a sudden reversal of the Earth’s magnetic field. Another, likelier theory is that a large asteroid crashed into the Earth: such, a collision would have formed a ‘gigantic crater, vaporizing rock and flinging up dust and water droplets into the stratosphere. Clouds would have been carried around the world by high-level winds, shrouding the planet and causing cold, stormy weather, Plants would have died, 25 GUNNARITES be along with many a land animals too large to hibernate Evidence for such a catastrophe, cited in 1979, isa thin, worldwide deposit of the rare element iridium, which is frequently found in meteorites, Associated finds included shocked quartz (impact-fractured sand grains) and fossil proof of a sudden loss of flowering plants in North America The recent discovery in Mexico of Chicxulub, a buried crater 110 miles (180km) across, provided further circumstantial evidence. It now seems likely that asteroids m caused other mass extinctions. THE SURVIVORS Most scientists believe the last true dinosaurs died out at the end of the Mesozoic era, Dinosaur fossils have been identified in rocks dating from the Cenozoic era (65 mya to present day), but the finds are small and are probably older material dislod from Mesozoic rocks. There is some support for the theory that birds are winged, feathered theropods. If this were so, with some 9,000 species living today, birds might claim to be the most successful “dinosaurs” of all METEOR CRATER, ARIZONA i parc VOLCANIC ERUPTIONSFOSSILIZATION HEN LAND organisms die their bodies usually disappear, eaten by scavengers, rotted by bacteria, or degraded by the weather. Fossils are exceptions to this rule: they are the remains of long-dead organisms that escaped destruction by being covered up by sediments. The remains turned into fossils while sediments above them hardened into heavy sheets of rock. In time, some of these rock strata were uplifted and eroded to reveal the fossils. Perhaps no more than one dead dinosaur in a million was fossilized, and relatively few of these have so far been exposed. A fsszed imprint ofa adosaur’s bly skin = How FossiLs = FORMED ssilization often took place when death occurred in or near water, or in marshland. The soft parts of the dinosaur’s body usually soon rotted away. However, the harder bones and teeth took much longer, and sometimes even the skin persisted in dinosaurs that were dried out and mummified by drought. Future fossils tended to be bones or other objects that were quickly cloaked by mud or sand dumped by moving water or wind. This process shut out the oxygen essential to bacteria that cause decay, but let mineral-sacurated water percolate into the pores and bigger cavities in bones, filling these with calcite, iron sulphide, silica, or even opal. Permineralization, as this process is called, increased the weight and hardness of the bones. The pressure exerted by the mass of sediments that gradually accumulated overhead often deformed the permineralized bones. = INSIDE THE EARTH © Compacted under the weight of the. overlying sediments, and bound by natural cement, these sediments hardened, their once-loose particles forming layers of sedimentary rocks. Over many millions of years, thousands of feet of sedimentary rock strata piled up on sagging plains and Fos il bones and teeth are our main clues to dinosaur life, but there are also fossil footprints, droppings, eggs, and the remains of prehistoric plants. offshore seabeds, Beneath the weight of these rocks, fragile dinosaur bones collapsed, but fossil teeth and stronger bones endured. In this way, dinosaurs ‘once living on the surface of the land were trapped deep within the Earth’s crust. But not irrevocably. The giant Jigsaw pieces, or tectonic plates, that form our planet's crust move slowly on convection currents in the Earth’s mantle, Where two of these plates collided, or one overrode another, {ossil-rich rock strata folded up and tilted into mountain ridges. Attacked by the elements, these mountains slowly crumbled, and their fossil treasures were laid bare. = MOLDS, CASTS, AND = PETRIFICATIONS. Not all fossilized dinosaur bones are heavy and permineralized. Freezing Alaskan rock, for example, has preserved bones that are darkened but lightweight, chemically unaltered, since death. At the other extreme, acid-rich groundwater, such as that found in porous sandstones, has completely dissolved bones, leaving only bone- shaped holes, or molds. Sometimes minerals filled these cavities, creating bone- shaped casts, Bones completely “turned into stone” by mineral replacement are called petrifications, 26 I TRICERATOPS ALIVE A Triceratops drinks froma rive flowing hough an open woodland offers, cones, and ther plants, ‘This ne eset mare than 65 milion years apo 2 TRICERATOPS BONES ile by seas or drowned by abi river ‘od, the Triceratops is mow reduced to scatered bones, bse and in the mow drip riverbed, A DINOSAUR TRACKWAY ‘Spy footprint Queensland's Late Cretaceous rok ‘may show where any small, bipedal dinosaurs ed roma large, predatory dinosaur, This event cured ‘aout 100 milion years ago, we ........ Experts identified these stones asthe fos droppings ofa dinosaur. ‘Theshape size, and contents (such as eds ‘and broke Bons) of suc coproies hold es he bulk ad eding habits ofthe tno they came fom3 LIFE GOES ON The skull of he drowned Teratops is buried under damped by the iver. The restof the skeleton hasbeen destroyed by animal scavengers ‘aeia and weathering 4.BONE TO FOSSIL izen milion ear fer the ‘Triceratops ied, he same chemicals that helped so cement tint rock have ansformed it buried skull nts «sony fs. Deland abow is now Inhabied by mammals TRICERATOPS AND TAPHONOMY ‘The scene showing a dead Trixratop’sseatered bones (2) based on taphonomy, or the study of what happens to animals after they die and before sediments cover ther. Taphonomy shows that lange, heavy skeletons hed together by strong ligaments breakup less readily than smal ‘ones. Small dinosaurs quickly decomposed and had their bon up or dispersed by scavengers or river currents Rivers could have separated the smaller bones of beast as heavy as Triaratps, but only bis of skllar | | crunched ‘other bones tended to survive irom eagle forms such as Tron, Few ‘dinosaurs under 1101b (50g) survive as aniculaed skeletons. 5 THE ICE AGE JUMBLED BONES ‘These jumbled bones (above) belonged to several CCoelophyss isis of flash flood PTEROSAUR FOSSILS ‘Ome rock below eft preserves peresaur hones. The ther rock below right) oma their mo = TRACE FOSSILS © Trace fossils are fossils that reveal traces of ancient animal activity. Ichnites are fossil footprints made in soft mud that hardened into rock. Distinctive ichnites are often given names, known as ichnogenera. Fossil footprints can indicate the size, weight, and stance of a dinosaur, and they may identify their maker as a theropod, sauropod, ornithopod, ceratopsian, or ankylosaur. Footprints forming a trackway can show how fast a dinosaur moved (the longer its stride the greater its speed), and parallel tracks may reflect herding. habits, Track sites with millions of 27 doer to the surface Wooly mammods roam a fe Age {an 20,000 years ago. Mountain | building arch movement have | ‘rangle sul fhe Teceratops 6 TRICERATOPS REVEALED rot, rin, ond wind have || eroded mows dyin layered rs formed me ‘ha 65 lon years ag. The Triceratops sls nw unearthed 2 os ters footprints mark where sauropod herds followed a Late Jurassic shore in western North America. Fossil clues to dinosaur diet include bitten leaves and coprolites (fossilized droppings) some of which still hold traces of food. Evidence of breeding activity ‘comes from broken fossil eggshells, whole eggs, complete clutches, nests, ‘embryos, and young. Proof of injury lies in bones scratched by teeth or broken by a fall (and sometimes subsequently healed). Abnormally swollen or fused bones are clues to bone disease. Fossilized wood, leaves, | | and old lake- and river-beds provide | clues to the dinosaurs’ environments.DINOSAUR FINDS Buckland published the first scientific account of a dinosaur Megalosaurus. The following ear, amateur paleontologist Gideon Mantell described the teeth and bones of [guanodon. The comparative anatomist Sir Richard Owen coined the term Dinosauria for the very few dinosaurs then known in 1841, and in 1887 Professor Harry Govier Seeley grouped all dinosaurs into the Saurischia and Ornithischia according to their hip design. While theoretical understanding grew, the hunt for fossil dinosaurs expanded, and in the course of the nineteenth century the search spread from England to mainland Europe and the Americas. Since 1900, paleontologists have unearthed dinosaurs FOSSIL JAWBONE FINDS IN EUROPE Dinosaur discovery very quickly spread from England and led to exciting fossi discoveries elsewhere in Europe. In 1837, Hermann von Meyer described Plateosaurus, a Triassic prosauropod found in Germany, and in 1861 he named Archaeopteryx, a bird closely linked to dinosaurs. in 1878, Belgian ie the dramatic discovery ‘of more than 30 complete Iguanodon skeletons in a deep coal mine. Since the 1860s, searchers in southern France have found clutches of large eggs laid by a Late Cretaceous sauropod. Numerous Late Cretaceous dinosaurs have been found across Europe. but England remains the best source of Early Cretaceous dinosaurs. UNITED STATES FINDS Early finds of fossil dinosaur bones and footprints in New England went ized. But hamed Troodon from LES MARSH (1831-1899) from Mesozoic rocks in every continent, and each year brings fresh discoveries, fossil teeth found in Montana. In 1858, he also named Hadrosaurus from New Jersey, the first dinosaur skeleton from the Americas to be described Discovery began in earnest in 1877, with news of finds of huge fossil bones in Colorado and Wyoming. The rival paleontologists Othniel Charles Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope hired teams who raced to wrest the remains of sauropods from the Late Jurassic rocks of Morrison and Canyon City 28 EDWARD DRINKER COPE (1840-1897) Cape ave names numer of diferent dinosaur Colorado, and Como Bluff, Wyoming. Over 20 dinosaur genera, including saurus and Camarasaurus, were named by these scientists. Fresh finds by Henry Fairfield Osborn, William J Holland, and Earl Douglass came in the early 1900s, Since the middle of this century, excavations by Sankar Chatterjee, David Gillette, John Horner, James Jensen, Robert Long, John Ostrom, and many more have thrown light on dinosaurs from allthree Mesozoic periods. Finds include Seismosaurus, Deinonychus, and whole colonies of nesting hadrosaurs. With about 110 genera, the United States led the world by the 1990s, = FINDS IN CANADA = In 1884, Joseph Tyrrel’s discovery of the first Albertosaurus skull launched a great dinosaur hunt that continues in the badiands beside Alberta’s Red Deer River. Thomas Chesmer Weston and Lawrence Lambe prospected for dinosaurs from riverboats. In 1910, Barnum Brown competed with Charles Sternberg and sons, who were collecting for the Canadian Geological Survey. Work stopped in 1917, but by this time, a wealth of Late Cretaceous horned and duck-billed dinosaurs had been found. In the 1980s, Philip Currie and other fossil-hunters renewed the search, and by the 1990s the area of Alberta now known as Dinosaur Provincial Park had yielded more dinosaur specimens than any comparable area on Earth. = FINDS IN ASIA = Chinese dinosaur discovery began in earnest under Young Chung Chien, whose work continued from the 1930s Into the 1970s. Since then, further discoveries have been made under Dong Zhiming. With 95 named genera in 1990, China ranked second only to the United States. In the early 1920s, American teams of scientists led by Roy Chapman Andrews and Walter Granger revealed Mongolia’s Gobi Desert as one of the world’s richest sources of dinosaur remains. Since then, Russian, Mongolian, Polish, ‘and American teams have worked this, desert. Russian paleontologists have also opened dinosaur quarries in remote parts of Siberia, = DINOSAURS FROM © GONDWANA By the early 1900s dinosaur finds had been made in South America, Africa, India, and Australia ~ the now inhabited parts of Gondwana. Most South American finds were made in Argentina, but Brazil was the site of the major discovery of Staurikosaurus. Other ne BAST-WEST COLLABORATION Dong Zhiming (right and Phi erie part in 1 Sino-Caradian excavation Inner Mongolia, SHUNOSAURUS (A CHINESE SAUROPOD) ‘This seleton come of ares of find that av made China oe ofthe top cures of fost Important finds included the theropod. Carnotaurus, sail-backed Amargasaurus, and Eoraptor (the most primitive of all, known dinosaurs). The Argentinian paleontologist José Bonaparte named ‘a number of South American genera African discoveries began in the early 1900s, and by the 1990s at least 16 nations had recorded dinosaur finds. ‘They included early forms in Morocco and South Africa, sail- backed dinosaurs in the Sahara Desert, and mixed Late Jurassic dinosaurs in what is now Tanzania. Dinosaur detection in India dates from the 1860s. By the 1990s it had produced a primitive sauropod, the last known stegosaur, and a giant theropod. Organized Australian discovery dates only from about 1980, By the 1990s Ralph Molnar, Thomas Rich, and others had raised Australia’s tally to nearly a dozen genera, including armored Minn = NEW LOCATIONS © Since 1980, dinosaur fossils have emerged in some unexpected places, In 1980, Ralph Molnar described a theropod vertebra discovered in the North Island of New Zealand. By 1990, Yoshikazu Hasegawa had studied scraps of perhaps nine dinosaur genera unearthed on the Japanese islands of Honshit and Kyuishi,, and in 1992, Wakinosaurus, a large Kytishi theropod, was named by Yoshihiko Okazaki During the 1980s, both Polar regions yielded dinosaur fossils. In 1985, teams from the universities of California and Alaska found many Late Cretaceous bones in the North Slope of Alaska. In 1986, Argentinian paleontologists noted a dinosaur from Antarctica, and by 1993 Antarctic finds included a sauropod and a horned theropod. JOSE BONAPARTE Sin the 1960s dh work of thi palontlogi fom Argentina has revealed valuable information on South American dinasurs. Among the dino named by Bonaparte areCarnotaus, MUSSAURUS own in Argentina and named i 1979, this ‘mouse Hard” we ny yon prosauropodEXCAVATING DINOSAURS IGGING UP DINOSAURS means first finding where their remains D._ aeetikely to be. Dinosaur hunters must concentrate on rocks formed from sediments laid down in Mesozoic times. Only certain regions of the world with special kinds of countryside provide rich hunting grounds. Sometimes amateurs discover dinosaurs by chance, but most finds result from paleontologists’ systematic fossil hunts. Once located, a small, isolated dinosaur fossil may be collected single-handedly in a few minutes, but prying a big fossil from hard rock can take a large team weeks or months of wielding an arsenal of machines and tools. Excavation is only part of the work; measuring and recording full details of the find are equally important. Once they are excavated, the fragile bones need careful cushioning and labeling before being transported to an often distant museum, = WHERE TO EXCAVATE ® ‘The best places for hunting dinosaurs are exposed Mesozoic rocks derived from sediments that accumulated on land or close inshore. This can mean roadside cuttings, quarries, sea cliffs, riverbanks, and even coal mines. But the most extensive, dinosaur-rich outcrops occur among badlands and remote deserts, such as parts of western North America, the Gobi Desert, Patagonia, and some sandy tracts of the Sahara, Here erosion lays UNEARTHING OPISTHOCOE ICAUDIA Sie workers here wt hammers and picks to remove sandy rock rom this heads fs saurapod in southern Mongolia. bare great tracts of fossil-bearing Mesozoic rock. Unfortunately, much dinosaur-bearing rock can never be explored. It lies deeply buried under other rocks, soil, water, or ice; has been. deformed by heat and pressure; or has been removed completely by erosion. = DINOSAUR DISCOVERY = This can be accidental or planned. For example, the discovery of Iguanodon is said to have begun when a doctor's wie noticed a fossil tooth in a heap of r WITH ROCK REMOVED The wls around this Stegosaurus ‘Helton in the Smithsonian station ere used to frei from its rocky mati EXCAVATING AN ANKYLOSAUR A Poli paleontologist’ delicate work with ie and brush lays bare the foreparof Sachania, This ‘anlyocaur may have been suffocated by a sandstorm in th Gobi Desert nearly 80 milion years ago. roadside stones. Farmers and road and railroad workers have also made important finds, And amateur and weekend fossil-hunters, often armed with no more than a geological hammer, have also been known to strike fossil “gold,as when Joan Wiffen discovered New Zealand's first known dinosaur, an unnamed theropod; William Walker discovered Baryonyx; and Eddie and Vivian Jones located new dinosaurs in Colorado. But a large number of major discoveries have occurred on long-term expeditions to remote regions, usually organized by universities or museums Teams of paleontologists set off in trucks loaded with gear for excavating, surveying, and packing fossil finds, = EXCAVATION METHODS * Fossil-hunters usually walk along dry streambeds and adjacent to slopes, scouring the ground for dark, shiny, or otherwise unusual “stones.” Such scraps may well be fossil fragments washed down from bones embedded in the rocks above. A single dinosaur bone projecting from a hill may prove an isolated find, or it may lead to an entire skeleton hidden underground, Picks and shovels are used to clear soil and soft rock from around a large fossil skeleton. In some deserts, bones can be exposed by merely brushing away the uppermost layer of the sand. Large skeletons entombed in hard rock present much greater problems. To get at a hidden skeleton a team may have to raze half a hillside with explosives, bulldozers, and power drills. Careful work can then be carried out with a variety of tools, including toothbrushes, to free the fossil from its surrounding matrix. Fragile bones are often removed while still embedded in large chunks of rock. = RECOVERING AND ®= REMOVING Once the bones lie exposed, scientists ‘can number and photograph them, and plot their position on a plan, Later, this detailed survey may help anatomists reconstruct the skeleton and may also help scientists understand what happened to the dinosaur after its death. Bones are prepared for removal by painting resin on crumbly fossils to stop them from disintegrating. Big bones can be protected with burlap soaked in plaster or with plastic foam. 31 EXCAVATING COELOPHYSIS Afr tamelingnder rock ih in Coelophysi fest, member ofa Careie Museum team protect ‘he fragile ok surface with burlap and ple. Memiber of the Carnegie Museum fam (above) prepare side a loko plastered rock omtining CCoclophyss sil down atinber slope. This quarry ‘arGhost Ranch, Abiquiu, New Mex. AFTER EXCAVATION ‘The bcs of oid rock and plaster encoing a od before Stegosaurus seletn abou) were rem was displayed athe SithDINOSAURS IN MUSEUMS ECOVERING A DINOSAUR fossil is the first RB _ step ona journey of discovery. When a museum laboratory has prepared the specimen, a paleontologist compares it with known dinosaurs. Differences may indicate a brand-new genus. A description of the specimen is then published in a scientific journal. When studies are complete, experts may reconstruct the creature’s skeleton and put it on display. These pages show the creation of a major sauropod exhibit for one American museum. Thanks to international collaboration, hundreds of such dinosaur displays have been developed around the world. At least three dozen institutions hold about 500 original specimens from Alberta's Dinosaur Provincial Park alone, area for area perhaps the world’s richest “gold mine” of articulated fossil dinosaurs. RECONSTRUCTED BAROSAURUS SKELETON ‘Among the most ambitious of any reconstructed