I am going to tell you about the 7 species of dinosaurs which walked the earth a hundred million years ago.

Allosaurus

The name allosaurus comes from two Greek words meaning “other lizard.” It is rather tame name for such a fierce beast. He was a giant meat-eating dinosaur who lived on other giant dinosaurs of his time. There were other, smaller meat-eaters who fed on the smaller dinosaurs. But Allosaurus, because of his size was the most terrible of all. He was 35 feet long from the tip of his big tail to the front of his huge jaws!

Brontosaurus

Brontosaurus means “thunder lizard.” The scientist who named him had a  good imagination. He must have thought: “The ground probably shook and thundered every time this giant took a heavy step, so I’ll call him thunder lizard.’” Skeleton of Brontosaurus have been found in north America. When the scientists put the first one together, they must have been surprised! For there they saw an animal measuring 70 feet long. It had a heavy tail that seemed to go on until it tapered off to a long point. Its body must have been the size of a small blimp. And four stout legs like tree trunks held it up. Then a long neck, almost as long as the tail, stretched out in front.

Stegosaurus

The “cover lizard” was covered with armour and bony plates. That’s how he got his name. If you can picture a tank walking, that’s Stegosaurus! But he was not a tank that attacked other animals. He ate plants, and his armour was to protect him from the meat-eating dinosaurs who might have tried to eat him.

Ankylosaurus

This “curved lizard” got his name because of the way his ribs curved heavily over his back. He was an example of another way the plant-eaters could defend themselves against the meat-eaters, Ankylosaurus wore armour. He was the walking tank of his time, just as Stegosaurus had been at an earlier time.

Protoceratops

This long name comes from three Greek words that mean “first horn-face.” When you look at this dinosaur’s picture, you may wonder who ever decided to call him “horn-face,” He had no horns on his face. Well, Protoceratops was the first of a large family of horn-faced dinosaurs. But he himself never had any horns. He was also the most smallest of the family, as he grew only to about five or six feet in length. Protoceratops and his family were the last of the dinosaurs to appear on earth.

Iguanodon

This dinosaur got his name because of a mistake. The scientist who first found its large teeth thought that they looked like the teeth of our modern iguanas, only bigger. So he called the creature Iguanodon, which means “iguana lizard” and “tooth”. Iguanodon was the first giant reptile to be described.

Tyrannosaurus Rex

The most famous of all the dinosaurs was the fierce king of the meat-eaters. His name means “king of the tyrant lizards. A tyrant is a cruel ruler, so he was well-named. Tyrannosaurus Rex was the last of the great meat-eating dinosaurs. And you can see a close resemblance between him and Allosaurus, who had lived much earlier. But tyrannosaurus Rex was bigger and more terrible. His head was very large. His jaws were huge, and when they opened wide they were edged with sharp curved teeth. Some of those teeth were six inches long! The “king of the tyrant lizards” was 45 feet long. When he stood up oh his heavy hind legs he was nearly 19 feet tall. His front legs had become so small that they couldn’t even reach his head.

Hope everyone liked this article.