The Science Experts » Dinosaurs

Did dinosaurs and humans coexist?

Matt — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 06:13:25 +0000

No. They narrowly missed each other on the evolutionary timescale. In this case, narrowly means about 65,000,000 years. Contrary to some creationist theories you may have uncovered if you searched for this exact term in any search engine, there is a preponderance of evidence against their claims.

In short, modern humans appeared on Earth about 25,000 years ago. Compare that to when the dinosaurs became extinct, and you’ll find that’s a difference of more than three orders of magnitude. That’s huge in the statistical world.

If you’ve got a few minutes, do a quick YouTube search on this question and you’ll be amazed that there is still any debate on this topic.

What was the largest dinosaur?

Dan — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 11:13:25 +0000

It is believed that the Brachiosaurus is the largest dinosaur that ever lived. It is also the largest species in which a whole skeleton has been discovered. This skeleton is in the Humboldt Museum in Berlin and measures 73 feet long and 46 feet tall. Its estimated weight is 35 tons, or about 70,000 pounds.

The Brachiosaurus was a four-legged non-carnivorous dinosaur with a long neck and very long tail. It lived about 155 to 120 million years ago.

What’s the difference between a mastodon and a mammoth?

Admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 22:13:25 +0000

While many people today use the words interchangeably, they were actually two different animals. Paleontologists aren’t completely certain, but most think the mastodon appeared first and a side branch led to the mammoth.

The mastodon lived in Africa, Europe, Asia, and North and South America. It appeared in the Oligocene period (25-38 million years ago) and survived until as recent as one million years ago. A full-grown adult was about 10 feet tall and, like the mammoth, was covered in thick woolly hair. It’s tusks were straight and mostly parallel to one another.

The mammoth evolved less than 2 million years ago and lived as recent as 10,000 years ago. It is believed that it lived only in North America, Europe and Asia. The mammoth was somewhat larger than the mastodon and an adult stood between 9 to 15 feet tall. Unlike the mastodon, the mammoth’s tusks had a distinct upward curve.

Most scientists believed that the warming of the earth’s climate after the last ice age is what led to the mammoth’s extinction.

Source: The Handy Science Answer Book available from Amazon.

What was the smallest dinosaur?

Dan — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 02:13:25 +0000

We’ll never know for certain, but the smallest dinosaur yet discovered is the Microraptor, a small bird-like theropod which is thought to have been about 18-24 inches long. Prior to this, the Compsognathus, another theropod was thought to have been the smallest dinosaur.

The Compsognathus was about the size of a modern chicken and weighed 5-7 pounds. Other small dinosaurs discovered so far are the: Saltopus (an insectivore about 24 inches long), Lesothosaurus (a plant-eater from Africa), and the Wannanosaurus (another plant-eater about 39 inches long).

Source: Enchanted Learning, dinosaur questions.