What is the very first dinosaur on earth. Dinosaurs. Difference in pelvic bones

Background under the question mark (LP) Gabovich Evgeny Yakovlevich

When did dinosaurs live?

The Spanish cave of Casares, also dating from the Ice Age, shows a group of three monstrous dinosaur-like creatures. Two of these animals are large, possibly adults, and the third animal is small, apparently a calf. All three have long necks, massive but ill-defined torsos, and strange reptilian heads. They look menacing.

As in other cases, the logic of the caves themselves suggests that these are creatures that the artists actually saw outside the walls of their dwellings.

Baigent, Michael. Forbidden archeology. Sensations and hoaxes of ancient and early history. Page 102

This question seems to have nothing to do with the problem of the correct dating of the time of life of primitive people, but, nevertheless, its consideration demonstrates on what a shaky foundation the entire building of prehistoric chronology is built. The fact is that the finds of bones of dinosaurs, which allegedly completely disappeared from the face of the Earth 60 million years ago or even became extinct for tens of millions of years before the corresponding global cosmic catastrophe that destroyed the last of them, amaze archaeologists with their freshness and excellent preservation.

As Di Welt reported in its science section on October 9, 2006, in September 2005, American and Mongolian paleontologists found 67 skeletons of small dinosaurs in the Gobi desert in two days. Obviously, they didn't have to dig too deep! And a year before, Jack Horner, who led the search for dinosaurs, had already unearthed 30 such skeletons.

In the Gobi desert, dinosaur skeletons often lie directly on the surface, but by some miracle they are perfectly preserved in an area where sandstorms demolish archaeologists' tents well-fixed in stone ground many times a year. And the grains of sand flying at great speed during such storms process the surface of the skeletons no worse than high-quality sandpaper. Nevertheless, as Heinzon writes, it is often difficult to consider such finds older than the skeletons of animals that obviously died in the most recent time.

When reading the reports of the relevant expeditions of paleontologists, one often gets the impression that scientists who find well-preserved dinosaur skeletons are well aware that these dinosaurs lived quite recently, but do not dare to come up with heretical short datings, fearing the revenge of their academic colleagues from the silence of their offices, in which there are no sandstorms and in which dinosaurs obviously have not lived for a long time ..

Worse, the bones of dinosaurs found by scientists with such ease are not always completely fossilized: they often find preserved genetic material in them. For example, the gene material of tyrannosaurs that were not completely fossilized and for at least 80 million years was found (it is believed that these cute little animals died out 20 million years before the bulk of the more peaceful dinosaurs, which they ate without using the services of fire for cooking) . Until recently, scientists were sure that organic matter undergoing gradual mineralization cannot retain DND for more than two million years (also, of course, a fantastically long time!), So the named find would mean that dinosaurs lived simultaneously with the first hominids, which supposedly roam the Our planet is at least four million years old.

But the idea of the simultaneous existence of humans and dinosaurs is one of the axiomatic taboos accepted by science. Otherwise, one can agree even to the point that numerous legends about dragons carry the existence of dinosaurs side by side with humans even into the Late Stone Age, if not even in early historical times!

In order to free themselves at least for a while from the need to seriously deal with this paradox, colleagues simply suspect the authors of the finds of careless handling of dinosaur bones found close to the surface (for example, in the state of Utah in the USA), during which, they say, the finds were contaminated with human genetic material. It would be interesting to know whether geneticists have learned in recent years to distinguish between human and dinosaur DNA. Or, indeed, the DNA of dinosaurs differed so little from that of our ancestors that we, too, may not come from ugly monkeys, but from cute dinosaurs.

Heinsohn cites other examples of dinosaur remains that have not rotted away and at the same time not quite fossilized (for example, dinosaur eggs), which make even less substantiated hundreds of thousands of years during which it has not been preserved or for which, despite the vigorous efforts of scientists, no no remains of human skeletons have been found. He believes that here, too, we are talking about the need to radically shorten the chronology of prehistory.

Interestingly, one of the most active critics of the New Chronology of Fomenko and Nosovsky, Ustin Valeryevich Chashchikhin (who characterizes himself as a “graduate of Moscow State University and MEPhI”), is also a supporter of a radical reduction in the chronology of prehistory. Here is what he writes on his website on the Internet in the section http://www.cnt.ru/users/chas/dinosaur.htm, in an article entitled "When did dinosaurs live?"

… dating according to the geochronological scale is incorrect, it is based on outdated ideas. In addition, there is a logical error in the “dating” according to the geochronological scale - a vicious circle […]. Therefore, the assertion that dinosaurs allegedly lived 100 million years ago has no evidence, and the geological layers formed quickly as a result of a tectonic catastrophe, a rapid split. (The author means the split of the ancient continent, as a result of which quickly, within days, and not millions of years, Europe and Africa on one side and both Americas on the other - E.G.) quickly diverged over a gigantic distance - E.G.) When did dinosaurs live? Dinosaur experts point out […] that typically most original dinosaur bones have not yet been fossilized […] and fossilization can be very rapid, depending on the concentration of minerals in the solution. This indicates that dinosaurs became extinct relatively recently. At the beginning of the 20th century, there were American alligators 6.5 m long […]. According to National Geographic magazine […], 500 years ago on the island of Madagascar there lived a bird-dinosaur aepiornis, 3 meters long and weighing 500 kg.

Further, the author exclaims: “PEOPLE have seen dinosaurs!” And then he quotes the Bible, in the book of Job, in the 40th chapter (verses 10-19), a huge creature is described, which has “a tail like a cedar” (Job 40:12), and “feet like copper pipes” (Job 40:13) . He cites a long quotation from the book of Job and analyzes it, after which he formulates the following conclusions:

This description only fits a dinosaur (diplodocus, sauropod). So the "behemoth" described in Job 40 is just a dinosaur! Therefore, dinosaurs and humans coexisted. The writing of the Book of Job dates back about 4,000 years ago. (Here the critic of the new chronology played a little in the historians' favorite game of stretching time intervals - E.G.)

In addition, in the Bible, in the book of the prophet Isaiah, ch.30, art. 6, along with such living animals as lions, donkeys and camels, a flying serpent is also described. Isn't that a pterodactyl?

Noting that in other cultures there are also descriptions of lizards and dragons (Chinese dragons, the Celtic epic Beowulf), which could be chronicle evidence of dinosaurs, and mentioning the Russian epic about “Ivan Tsarevich and the Serpent Gorynych”, Chashchikhin comes to the following conclusion: “ From all this it is obvious that dinosaurs lived recently - several centuries ago and were described by many peoples (Chinese, etc.) as dragons, and as a "behemoth" in the Bible, Job 40:10-19. And they died out, respectively, recently, several centuries ago due to cooling and the Ice Age. As we can see, the radical reduction of prehistory finds allies on both sides of the barricade separating the supporters of historical analytics from the fans of TI.

Chashchikhin's point of view is not only accepted, but also actively promoted by the German author Dr. Hans-Joachim Zillmer, who devoted several books from the series [Zillmer1-5] to the joint stay on Earth of dinosaurs and humans, as well as to criticism of geological dating. for example books:

Darwin's mistake. Antediluvian finds prove that dinosaurs and humans lived together, 1998.

Mistakes in the history of the Earth. A desert on the site of the Mediterranean Sea, dense forests in the Sahara and the worldwide dominance of dinosaurs. The deepest antiquity was yesterday, 2001.

Dinosaur Handbook. Facts, findings, contradictions, 2003.

I note that in the second of the books named here, chapter 5 is titled "An Invented Stone Age?" In it, the author, in particular, refers to the book of Heinsohn considered here. Sections of chapter 5 of this book by Zillmer, which bears the titles "Fresh Dinosaur Remains" and "The Phantom Middle Stone Age," are also based on the work of Illig and Heinsohn.

From the book Forbidden Archeology author Baigent Michael

CHAPTER 4 Living Dinosaurs On February 19, 1980, Professor Roy McKel of the University of Chicago, a biologist with a long passion for cryptozoology, made his way through the largely unexplored Likval Swamps, in the jungles of the northern African Republic of the Congo. suffocating

From the book Forbidden Archeology author Baigent Michael

African Dinosaurs There is no doubt that the natives, who have lived for centuries in the area of the Likvalsky swamps, have always known about this monster and saw no reason to experience anything other than great sacred fear for it. Among some of the tribes living in this region,

From the book Good Old England author Coty Katherine

Victorian Dinosaurs I wonder what Jurassic Park would have looked like if it had been created back in the 19th century? You can easily find an answer to this question, especially since it was then that dinomania was born - obsession with dinosaurs - the fruits of which we are still reaping

author

From the book Reconstruction of True History author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

From the book The Beginning of Horde Russia. After Christ. The Trojan War. Foundation of Rome. author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

7. When did the "ancient" American Maya and Aztecs live? Where did they come to America from? For the history of the emergence of "ancient" civilizations on the territory of the American continent, see our book "Biblical Russia", as well as KhRON5 and KhRON6. Apparently, these civilizations arose in the era

author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

13. When "ancient" eclipses occurred and when astronomical zodiac horoscopes were created Ancient chronicles contain many descriptions of eclipses of the Sun and Moon. It turned out that, under the pressure of the already established Scaligerian chronology, astronomers of the 17th–19th centuries

From the book Reconstruction of True History author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

32. When the great Italian Renaissance artists lived B and we provide numerous evidence that the dates of the lives of many famous Renaissance artists are actually closer to us by about 100-150 years. We are talking, in particular, about Leonardo yes

From the book The Third Project. Volume III. Special forces of the Almighty author Kalashnikov Maxim

They will die out like dinosaurs. Bruce Sterling has a great prescient novel about mid-21st century America, Decay. And there is one curious episode in it. A large automotive corporation finances a talented biologist. He made "live"

From the book Why Europe? Rise of the West in world history, 1500-1850 author Goldstone Jack

CHAPTER 1. The World at the Beginning of the 16th Century: When the Rich Lived in the East CHAPTER OVERVIEW: In 1500, Europe was not the richest region in the world. Although the Europeans mastered some technologies and borrowed others, including watchmaking, gunpowder weapons, sea sailing ships, they were amazed

From the book Ancient America: Flight in Time and Space. Mesoamerica author Ershova Galina Gavrilovna

From the book Crazy Chronology author Muravyov Maxim

Why did dinosaurs become small? All the problems began with the dinosaurs after the power in the Fora tribe was seized by Foraminifera. It happened 70 million years ago. Then powerful giant dinosaurs ruled the Earth. Now 70 million years later

From the book History of Decline. Why did the Baltics fail author Nosovich Alexander Alexandrovich

1. Dinosaurs of the Baltics: skeletons of industrial enterprises of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia When you drive through the territory of the Baltic States, your eyes stumble upon them from time to time. Large concrete boxes, dilapidated buildings with clogged windows, rusty fittings. This is

From the Vatican book [Zodiac of Astronomy. Istanbul and the Vatican. Chinese horoscopes] author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

From the book When was Kievan Rus baptized? the author Tabov Jordan

Chapter ten. When did the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius live? § 1. IntroductionThis chapter examines the chronological information about Sts. Cyril and Methodius and the creation of Slavic writing. The dating of the life of the holy brothers and the creation of writing are generally considered

From the book Picts and their ale author Fedorchuk Alexey Viktorovich

Many people will be very interested to know where dinosaurs lived? The answer to this question is very simple - dinosaurs lived all over the Earth. They lived in North America, South America, Australia, Europe, Asia, Africa and even Antarctica. They lived on land, in the sky, and in the depths of the sea.

However, not all dinosaurs lived at the same time and in the same place.

North America.

A large number of dinosaur fossil skeletons have been found in North America. Across the plains of Canada and Mexico, from New York to California, lived some of the largest dinosaurs that ever walked the planet.

We list the largest:

Tyrannosaurus Rex, Ankylosaurus, Coelophysus, Deinonychus, Diplodocus, Ornithomimus, Stegosaurus and Triceratops.

South America.

Although not as many dinosaurs have been discovered in South America as in North America, paleontologists believe that the very first dinosaur species appeared on this continent. We list the most famous:

Abelisaurus, Anabysia, Argeninosaurus, Austroraptor, Carnotaurus, Eoraptor, Giganotosaurus and Megaraptor.

Europe.

Such a science as paleontology appeared in Germany and Great Britain. In fact, very few dinosaur fossils have been found in Europe, but the species that have been found in Europe have been very impressive. These include: Archeopteryx, Balaur, Baryonyx, Cetiosaurus, Compsognathus, and Europasaurus.

Africa.

Not as many dinosaur species have been found in Africa as in America, but some of the dinosaurs that lived on this continent were the most aggressive and formidable of all dinosaurs. These dinosaurs include the following wmds: Spinosaurus, Aardonyx, Ouranosaurus, Carcharodontosaurus, Heterodontosaurus, Eocursor, and Afrovenator.

Asia.

Over the past 20 years, a large number of dinosaur bones have been discovered in Asia. These discoveries gave scientists a wealth of information about the evolution of dinosaurs. Where did dinosaurs live in Asia? Everywhere, throughout the continent, but the lizards were especially concentrated in the central and eastern parts of the mainland. Here is a list of dinosaurs found here: Dilong, Dilophosaurus, Mamenchisaurus, Microraptor, Oviraptor, Pittacosaurus, Shantungosaurus, Velociraptor and Sinosauropteryx.

Australia.

Not many dinosaurs have been found in Australia, but a rather impressive collection of therapods and sauropods has been found there. These include Cryolophosaurus, Lielinasaurus, Redosaurus, Antarktopelta, Muttaburrasaurus, Australovenator, Diamantinasaurus, and Ozraptor.

Antarctica.

At that time in Antarctica it was much warmer and there was practically no snow. And as a result, many types of dinosaurs were able to populate this continent. These include such small specimens as Cryolophosaurus Ellioti, Antarktopelta Oliveroi, Glacialisaurus Hammeri and Trinisaurus Santamartaensis.

As you can clearly see, dinosaurs were a diverse group of animals that took over almost the entire planet. Billions of dinosaurs settled all over the world. One hundred percent - it was a brilliant sight.

The Age of Dinosaurs, or Eras and Periods of the Earth

Scientists have identified several stages in the history of the Earth. They are called "era". The eras are divided into periods, each of which lasted several tens of millions of years. In different books the years of the beginning and end of eras and periods may differ slightly: there are different opinions in science. The Paleozoic era, or Paleozoic, began 570 million years ago. For 340 million years, while it lasted, the world of the living has changed amazingly. Water and land were inhabited. Vertebrates arose (although the time of mammals and birds has not yet come). The living world has become extremely diverse. But the molecules that made up the then organisms remained approximately the same. These molecules have changed little to our time. So the molecules that make up the human body are very similar to the molecules of, for example, the most ancient crustacean. The Paleozoic era is divided into 6 periods: Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian. At the beginning of the Paleozoic, there was an amazing “explosion” of life: many species of invertebrates formed. But at first this happened only in water, especially in warm seas. The land remained deserted. Mastering sushi. Somewhat earlier than 400 million years ago, plants began to populate the land. At first it was nondescript sprouts. But after millions of years, the Earth was overgrown with dense forests. Following plants, invertebrates have mastered life on land. The abundance of food on land attracted lobe-finned fish. Only they could, relying on their unusual limbs, move out of the water. And primitive lungs allowed these fish to breathe air. Many millions of years have passed, and the crossopterygians, gradually changing, have turned into new biological species. But these were already animals of a new class - the class of amphibians (amphibians). The Carboniferous period of the Paleozoic era (or Carboniferous for short). It began 345 and ended 280 million years ago. In the damp heat, the forests grew rapidly and prolifically. After millions of years, these trees turned into coal. In the swamps, in the forests surrounding them, amphibians reigned. And tiny ones. And huge five-meter tailed predatory stegocephalians. At the end of the Carboniferous, the first reptiles appeared. The Permian period, or Permian (280-230 million years ago) was marked by the rapid appearance of new species of reptiles. The Mesozoic era, or Mesozoic, began 230 million years ago and lasted 165 million years. During this time, higher (flowering) plants arose. Appeared, reigned on the planet and mysteriously died giant lizards (dinosaurs, ichthyosaurs and others). Mammals and birds evolved. The Triassic period of the Mesozoic, or Triassic (230-190 million years ago) was marked by the dominance of reptiles on land, in water and in the air. The most famous of these reptiles are the dinosaurs. Dinosaurs walked either on four legs or two. It is highly likely that some dinosaur species were warm-blooded. Judging by the traces of dinosaurs, by the remains of the eggs they laid, these animals were caring parents. Dinosaurs laid their eggs in piles of plant debris. As these residues decomposed, they gave off heat, and the egg laying was heated. And the mother, staying nearby, guarded the nest (so do the relatives of dinosaurs - crocodiles). Recently, paleontologists have discovered traces of the tragedy: a small skeleton of a female dinosaur lying on a petrified clutch of eggs. Probably, the mother warmed the eggs and died - but did not leave them. It is possible that dinosaurs of some other species also incubated eggs. It is not known what color the skin of the dinosaurs was. Perhaps, like many of today's lizards, snakes are bright, multi-colored. This is how artists paint dinosaurs. The name comes from the Greek words meaning "horrible" and "lizard". In fact, not all dinosaurs are “terrible”. Triassic dinosaurs were generally small, graceful, fast animals. They ran on their hind legs, and a long tail helped to maintain balance. And in the next almost one and a half hundred million years, when dinosaurs dominated the land, they were mostly small. Who is as tall as a man, who is a little more, and who is completely chicken. The Jurassic period of the Mesozoic, or Jura (190-135 million years ago) is the era of the appearance of gigantic dinosaurs. Supergiants. During the Jurassic period, the largest animals on land appeared -. A heavy body on thick legs, with massive blunt claws on the fingers. The neck is long. The tail is even longer. Without moving, moving only their necks, they plucked and ate whole mountains of greens.

The brain of sauropods in relation to the body is too small - with a fist, or even less. Despite this, the behavior of these lizards was most likely complex. They lived in herds (judging by the petrified footprints). Perhaps together they defended themselves against predators that appeared in the Jurassic. But how did they fight back? This is unknown.

Powerful predator of the Jurassic period. A swift animal weighing about a ton, armed with huge claws and teeth like curved daggers. Allosaurs attacked large herbivorous dinosaurs in packs. Carnivorous dinosaurs could not chew food with their cutting teeth. They ate whole pieces of meat. With their teeth, predators ripped open the strong skin of their prey and crushed the bones.

The largest of these dinosaurs reached 9 m in length. Such a mountain consumed tons of green fodder. Sharp long bone spikes bristled on the tail - to fend off predators. Bone plates on the back are, apparently, shields, salvation from enemy teeth and claws. The Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic, or Cretaceous (135-65 million years ago) is the era when dinosaurs and other reptiles continued to dominate the Earth. And at the same time, there were more and more mammals (they appeared in the Triassic) and birds (they appeared in the Jurassic). Mammals have lived side by side with dinosaurs for many millions of years, hiding and running away from these ferocious predators. It was not easier for the birds: although the dinosaurs could not fly, they reached the bird nests even in the trees. Reptiles in the sky. Pterosaurs (the name of a group of winged reptiles) took to the air already at the end of the Triassic period and flew until the end of the Cretaceous. Each of their wings consisted of a skin membrane that was stretched between the torso, limbs and one of the surprisingly long fingers of the forelimb. The remaining fingers were ordinary, and the reptiles clung to branches and stones with them, resting.

Animals with thin, hollow (like those of birds) bones. The first pterosaurs had a tail and teeth. After millions of years, pterosaurs got rid of this “heaviness”. Pterosaurs were obviously warm-blooded. Their body was covered with hairs - “wool”. The brain of these reptiles was well developed. Small pterosaurs (from 8 cm in size in wingspan) caught insects. Large ones (wingspan 1 meter, and 2, and 6 meters) snatched fish, cephalopods and other food from the water. The pterosaurs must have fed their young. Pterosaurs are not dinosaurs! Reptiles that are not extinct. During the Mesozoic era, snakes, turtles, lizards, crocodiles appeared. They are not very different from today. Reptiles in the sea. The most adapted to life in water were ichthyosaurs. They appeared in the Triassic. Outwardly, they are strikingly similar to dolphins. The reason is the same way of life. Only the caudal fin of ichthyosaurs is not horizontal, like that of dolphins, but vertical.

In the water, reptiles have nowhere to lay their eggs, so ichthyosaurs immediately gave birth to “ready” cubs. A variety of long-necked plesiosaurs, crocodile-like giant mososaurs, and other aquatic lizards preyed on fish and cephalopods. And sometimes they fought fiercely with each other. All fossil aquatic reptiles are not dinosaurs! Predatory lizards were distinguished by a relatively large and developed brain, and their behavior was complex. Apparently, some even knew how to hunt together, "coordinating" their actions. Catastrophe. Until the end of the Cretaceous, reptiles dominated land and sea. It was at the end of the Cretaceous that the largest land predator of all eras appeared -. Approximately 65 million years ago, dinosaurs and pterosaurs, all sea lizards, disappeared almost simultaneously. They all died out without leaving any descendants. Cephalopods - ammonites and belemnites - died. What happened? What is the cause of this ecological catastrophe? There are many assumptions, and all of them are controversial. Here is one of them: a colossal meteorite crashed into the Earth, even an asteroid. From the monstrous explosion, such a cloud of dust rose up that the sunlight faded for a long time. Living conditions deteriorated so much that the dinosaurs could not bear it. Everything is very likely. But why did the closest relatives of dinosaurs - crocodiles - survive this ecological disaster? The causes of the great extinction at the end of the Cretaceous are still a mystery to science. Birds appeared on Earth in the Jurassic period. The first fossil bird found was named.

The ancestors of birds are very close to the ancestors of dinosaurs, crocodiles. The external similarity of birds and dinosaurs is undeniable. There is much in common in other properties of the organism of these animals (for example, scales on the legs of birds). However, birds cannot be considered descendants of dinosaurs. They are their close relatives. Archeopteryx was covered in feathers. Undoubtedly, he was warm-blooded. He could fly, but not for long. However, the tail skeleton of Archeopteryx is almost like that of a lizard (subsequently, this part of the spine in birds disappeared). Mouth is toothy. There is no beak yet. But there were three fingers on each wing - to cling to tree branches. It is still unclear how the small (magpie-sized) Archeopteryx used its wings. Whether he flitted from branch to branch. Or he ran on the ground and, bouncing and flapping his wings, grabbed flying insects with his teeth, escaped from predators. Archeopteryx has many more features of reptiles. Gradually, these signs became less and less. Already in the Cretaceous period, many different birds screamed (they did not know how to sing yet) in the crowns of trees. In swift, agile flight, the birds snatched prey from under the beaks of less nimble pterosaurs. Mammals. The first mammals appeared at the end of the Triassic period - later than dinosaurs, earlier than birds. The ancestors of mammals were animal-like reptiles. They differed in many ways from other reptiles - the ancestors of dinosaurs. The Beasts were most likely warm-blooded animals (at least many of them). Probably, instead of scales, their skin was covered with hair. There were other features of the body. So, on the skin there were many different glands that secreted sweat and other fluids. Perhaps, in some species of these animal-like reptiles, the glands secreted a liquid similar to milk. Such a liquid could be licked and fed by hatchlings from eggs (as platypus cubs do today). Then the cubs began to be born and develop in the way that marsupials do today. Finally, a special organ arose for feeding the cub inside the mother's body - the placenta. The first mammals were small animals (like a shrew, like a hedgehog). For long millions of years, they secretly existed in the dangerous world of dinosaurs. Apparently, they were hiding in the thickets. They hunted only at night, for insects, mollusks, and other edible trifles. They may have eaten reptile eggs. , or Cenozoic. It began about 65 million years ago and continues to this day. During this time, mammals conquered land, water and air. Adapting to new living conditions, mammals have changed. The evolution continued.

Dinosaurs are huge lizards, the height of which reached a 5-story building. Their remains are found deep in the earth, so scientists say that dinosaurs lived on Earth millions of years ago.

The last dinosaurs became extinct about 65 million years ago. And they appeared 225 million years ago. Judging by the remains of the bones of these lizards, scientists conclude that there were more than 1000 varieties of such animals. Among them were large and medium, bipedal and quadrupedal, as well as those that crawled, walked, ran, jumped or flew in the sky.

Why did these giant animals become extinct? There are several theories about their death.

Since the death of dinosaurs occurred a very long time ago, we can only build hypotheses based on known scientific facts:

The extinction of the dinosaurs proceeded very slowly and took millions of years. This period was called by paleontologists "Ice Age".
Over the indicated millions of years, the climate has changed.
In the previous era, there were no ice caps on Earth, and the water temperature at the ocean floor was +20ºC. Climate change has caused a decrease in overall temperature and the appearance of significant icing.
In addition to the climate, the composition of the atmosphere changed. If at the beginning of the Cretaceous period the air contained 45% oxygen, then after 250 million years - only 25%.
During this period of time, a planetary catastrophe occurred. It is confirmed by the fact of the presence of iridium - an element that is located deep in the earth's core, and is also found in asteroids and comets. Iridium is found in the deep layers of the soil all over the planet.
There are indirect witnesses of the collision of the Earth with an asteroid - huge craters. The largest are in Mexico (80 km in diameter) and at the bottom of the Indian Ocean (40 km).
Along with the dinosaurs, some types of pangolins (marine and flying) became extinct.

When and how dinosaurs became extinct: catastrophe theories

Habitat change

Our planet is changing very slowly but steadily. The climate is changing, new species of animals appear and old species disappear. They are not adapted to life in new conditions.

cooling

The average air temperature dropped from 25ºC to +10ºC. The amount of precipitation has decreased. The climate became colder and drier. Dinosaurs, like other dinosaurs, were not adapted to life in cool conditions.

It is known that most lizards are cold-blooded. When the air temperature drops, they cool down and become numb. However, this theory cannot explain why those reptiles that were warm-blooded and could hibernate died out.

Another theory is more vital - as a result of climate change, there is less herbaceous vegetation - ferns, which were not eaten by predators. Judging by the size of the dinosaurs, solid thickets of food were necessary for their subsistence. As a result of a decrease in the amount of food, a gradual extinction began. Herbivores were dying because they had lost food. And predatory - because there were few herbivores (which they ate).

Planetary catastrophe: a collision with an asteroid or a star explosion

Traces of a collision with a celestial body were found on the Yucatan Island - a huge crater covered with stones and soil. When the asteroid collided with the earth, a powerful explosion was supposed to occur, which raised tons of soil, stone and dust into the air. A dense suspension covered the sun for a long time and caused a cooling. As a result, not only dinosaurs became extinct, but also a number of other reptiles. This theory is confirmed by the remains of iridium in the soil of the Cretaceous period.

The explosion of a star relatively close to our planet could be the cause of a significant increase in radiation. However, it is not clear why the colossal releases of radiation kept other animals alive. Why dinosaurs died out is still a mystery that haunts the minds of scientists.

Despite many theories, scientists are doing computer simulations and reconstructions of what happened many millions of years ago. This will be discussed in the film.

Who are dinosaurs?

» Dinosaurs » What are dinosaurs?

Word "dinosaur" literally means "terrible, huge lizard." Dinosaurs are ancient prehistoric reptiles that belong to the archosaur subclass. Dinosaurs are very different: they could be the size of a cat and a huge whale, which is the largest animal on planet Earth.

Some dinosaurs were predators, i.e. preyed on others, weaker and less aggressive. Other lizards ate exclusively plant food. They are called herbivores. Dinosaurs mastered not only land. They also lived in water and, as many scientists believe, could fly.

Dinosaurs are not reptiles in the full sense; have a significant difference from them: the legs of dinosaurs were located directly under their torso, in contrast to reptiles, whose legs are located on the sides of the torso. In this regard, dinosaurs are similar to mammals.

The word "dinosaur" was first introduced into scientific use by the English explorer of the 19th century Richard Owen. He established that the fossilized remains belong to animals of the same species.

Dinosaurs lived on planet Earth for approximately 140 million years. They lived on all continents: on land and in the ocean. The era of dinosaurs is called the Mesozoic era. This era is divided into three periods: Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous. Dinosaurs originated during the Triassic period, approximately 300-200 million years ago. It is interesting that then all the continents were connected to each other, and the weather conditions were hot. There was little vegetation. Huge tracts of land resembled deserts. Plants grew in river valleys. There were also coniferous forests. Plants were dominated by ferns and conifers.

Dinosaurs flourished during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.

At this time, they populated the land and learned to fly.

Dinosaurs resembled dinosaurs of various sizes: some were the size of a chicken, others were larger than elephants and whales. Dinosaurs were oviparous and differed from reptiles in that they laid their eggs on land rather than in water. Baby dinosaurs hatched from eggs already fully formed and ready for a full life. An example would be the young of modern crocodiles.

Dinosaurs gradually adapted to various environmental conditions. Some became predators, others ate only plants. Dinosaurs crawled and ran, lived in forests and deserts. There were several groups of dinosaurs. One of them consisted of animals that were very similar to modern crocodiles. These dinosaurs were called thecodonts. They lived near water bodies, hunted insects, frogs and small lizards. Over time, thecodonts learned to run on their hind limbs. This made it possible to develop greater speed, and therefore, to hunt more efficiently. Thecodonts began to dominate other lizards. Thecodonts are considered the ancestors of all dinosaurs.

Thecodonts include crocodiles, pterosaurs (lizards that could fly), and some dinosaurs themselves.

Thus, the term "dinosaurs" refers to all fossil pangolins, regardless of their belonging to a particular order or group.

Pages:

Dinosaurs This very word has a bewitching effect on us. We immediately imagine prehistoric animals. Unusual giant monsters amaze our imagination. Information in the press, dinosaurs in various forms on colorful illustrations and postcards, exhibitions with moving dinosaurs - all this brought these animals closer to us. However, no one can say with complete certainty what their coloration really was or what they ate, because man has never seen dinosaurs with his own eyes. The last dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago. Only a few traces of their stay on Earth have survived to this day: fossilized bones and eggs, prints of the skin and legs of these reptiles.

Despite the painstaking work of scientists, there are many gaps in our knowledge about dinosaurs. I was interested in the question "Why did the dinosaurs disappear?"

About 150 million years ago, strange creatures lived on Earth, which we call dinosaurs. In those days, people did not yet exist, however, we know a lot about dinosaurs thanks to their bones found in the rock masses.

Anna McChord, British Museum of Natural History, London, England.

The time period of the existence of dinosaurs includes three prehistoric eras: the Triassic, Cretaceous and Jurassic periods (see glossary). Throughout these periods, dinosaurs reigned supreme on land. The era of dinosaurs began in the middle Triassic, 230 million years ago. At that time, the continents were shifted and formed a single whole. In the Jurassic period, 210-145 million years ago, the continents gradually moved apart, shallow seas formed between them. In the Cretaceous period, 145-65 million years ago, the continents moved apart more and more, the seas between them became deeper and deeper. This was the last period of the existence of dinosaurs.

After analyzing the scientific data on the existence of dinosaurs, we can say that dinosaurs dominated our planet for 150 million years.

Dinosaur habitat.

Scientists believe that once the continents were connected into one continent, called Pangea. During the Triassic period, this huge island was formed from the drained lands. Its name means "solid land". The climate during this period was hot and dry. On the humid lowlands in the river valleys and along the coasts of the oceans, ferns and horsetails grew, and in the forests - tree-like and coniferous trees. The animal world was represented by insects, frogs, numerous lizards. The first representatives of dinosaurs were bipedal predators of medium size, then herbivorous dinosaurs appeared on four legs.

During the Jurassic period, Pangea split into two parts: Laurasia in the north and Gondwana in the south. Then Gondwana also split into large pieces - the territories of South America, Africa, India, Australia and Antarctica. Gondwana and Laurasia were separated by the Tethys Sea. Perhaps the Mediterranean Sea is what is left of it. The climate became humid and warm, and vast areas were covered with lush vegetation, primarily a variety of forests. Favorable habitat conditions contributed to the unprecedented flourishing of the world of dinosaurs: numerous new species arose that spread throughout the Earth. Of the living creatures on land, dinosaurs now dominated everywhere, and not other lizards.

During the Cretaceous period, the first continents broke away from Gondwana. The seas between the continents became wider and deeper, and the climate became a little cooler. This led to the emergence of regions with a rich flora, in which new changes took place. Flowering plants appeared. The very first flowers were magnolias, then roses appeared. Next - birches, poplars, plane trees, oaks, changing their outfit at different times of the year. Palm trees, papyri, water lilies, cereals grew. Ponds became the place of residence of the first birds. They were water birds with webbed feet and sometimes even toothy ones. The first insectivores and marsupials, such as the opossum, appeared. No larger than a large rat, it looked like animals that still live in Australia to this day.

Thus, during the time of the dinosaurs, there was rich vegetation. Also, some species of plants and animals have survived to the present.

Types of dinosaurs.

Dinosaurs are a group of reptiles that lived many millions of years ago. Paleontologists have managed to find fossils that can be used to judge the appearance and lifestyle of these animals. The very word "dinosaur" means "terrible lizard". A huge number of dinosaur species lived on Earth, but not all of them lived at the same time.

Scientists have described over 500 different types of dinosaurs. There are large and small predatory dinosaurs, bird-footed and fat-headed dinosaurs, prickly, armored and horned dinosaurs. The most numerous family was made up of carnivorous dinosaurs. The smallest are spiny dinosaurs. There was a whole "arms race" between carnivorous and herbivorous dinosaurs. For example, herbivorous ankylosaurs resembled crawling tanks. Their body was completely covered with horny scales and plates, often merging into a solid shell. In the huge herbivorous Iguanodons, the thumbs of their front paws resembled sharp daggers. Stegosaurs had a series of bony plates on their backs that protected their spine. Triceraptors had three long horns. Larger lizards survived in fights. For example, the length of the brontosaurus reached 20 meters, and the mass was about 40 tons. Among the predatory dinosaurs were small and fast-running species that could attack large lizards in a flock. Ornithomimus were similar to modern ostriches. There were swimming dinosaurs. They are called ichthyosaurs (lizard fish). Plesiosaurs had the head of a crocodile and the body of a whale with four legs. There were flying dinosaurs - pterosaurs. With their leathery wings, they resemble modern bats. Some ancient species - turtles, crocodiles, lizards - live on our planet today, almost unchanged in 300 million years.

Thus, the world of dinosaurs was very diverse. Dinosaurs looked very strange to our eyes. That's why I'm so curious to explore their world.

5. Conditions for the existence of dinosaurs.

A dinosaur is a living organism. For its existence, certain conditions are necessary: climate, the presence of a feeding and reproduction environment. The climate of our planet during this period was favorable for the existence of dinosaurs: warm and mild. Dinosaurs mastered land, water and air. They had a huge planet at their disposal. The flora was quite rich and varied. All kinds of plants, from low-growing ferns to giant trees, were available to feed dinosaurs. Carnivorous dinosaurs had long and sharp claws with which they finished off their prey. And also - sharp teeth, tearing prey to pieces.

Herbivorous dinosaurs had to look for ways to protect themselves from predators. Many types of dinosaurs led a herd lifestyle. This gave them protection from enemies. But predatory dinosaurs ate not only their herbivorous relatives. They also hunted small animals - insects and lizards. There was no shortage of food for dinosaurs of any kind.

Scientists have proven that dinosaurs laid eggs. The cubs could stay in the nest for a long time under the protection of the mother who fed them. The cubs lived in the nest with their parents until a certain age. Thus, nestling and brooding behavior of young animals was observed in dinosaurs, which were cared for by females.

The life expectancy of dinosaurs was different: from 10-20 years in some species - up to 300 years in others. Therefore, dinosaurs could raise more than one offspring during their lifetime.

So, the conditions for the existence of dinosaurs were: a mild and warm climate, the presence of a variety of flora and fauna, and care for their offspring.

6. Reasons for the extinction of dinosaurs.

For 150 million years, dinosaurs dominated our planet and then disappeared. This happened at the end of the Cretaceous period 65 million years ago. Ever since the dinosaurs were discovered, scientists have been puzzled by the question of why the dinosaurs disappeared so suddenly. Many hypotheses have been put forward in this regard.

There is a hypothesis about the global flood that claimed the lives of dinosaurs. I do not agree with this hypothesis, because.

marine animals (plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs) also died out. In the conditions of the global flood, they could survive.

I also consider the hypothesis of the extermination of dinosaurs by primitive man to be incorrect. It has already been proven that primitive people appeared 60 million years ago, and dinosaurs no longer existed by that time.

Some scientists have suggested such reasons for the death of dinosaurs as huge growth and sluggishness. But the smallest and fastest dinosaurs also died out.

The assumption that predatory dinosaurs destroyed the herbivores, and then they themselves died of hunger, I think is incredible.

Why did predatory dinosaurs not touch other reptiles that have survived to this day?

The most unpopular version in the scientific world explains the disappearance of dinosaurs by the appearance of new "hungry" predators - the first mammals that possibly feasted on dinosaur eggs and the dinosaurs themselves.

Suppose a huge celestial body with a diameter of 10 kilometers has fallen to Earth. The impact sent up a large amount of dust, ash and dirt, and the sky over the entire Earth darkened for many months. Plants that needed sunlight died. Then herbivorous animals and predators perished. There was a cooling, because the sun's rays did not reach the earth's surface. The upper layers of the air warmed up, and warming came again. If some species of dinosaurs managed to survive the catastrophe, they still died as a result of its consequences. The consequences dragged on for years, and perhaps for centuries. Gradually, living conditions worsened. Dinosaurs were adapted to a warm and humid climate and rich flora and fauna. As a result of a terrible catastrophe, they lost all this. Cold nights and winters adversely affected breeding. The cubs grew more slowly, certain types of dinosaurs became rarer and gradually began to die out.

Scientists have proven that a collision with a huge celestial body (comet, meteorite or asteroid) can have devastating consequences and endanger the lives of billions of species of creatures. I believe that a meteorite impact could significantly disrupt the conditions for the existence of dinosaurs and cause the process of their extinction. Therefore, this hypothesis seems to me the most truthful.

7. Conclusion.

Having found out the time period of the existence of dinosaurs, determining their habitat, having studied the conditions for the existence of dinosaurs, we can conclude about the possible causes of the death of these animals. Of all the existing hypotheses about the extinction of dinosaurs, I consider the most correct hypothesis about the extinction of dinosaurs due to a meteorite collision with planet Earth.

Life on our planet originated about 4.5 billion years ago, but for more than 4 billion years it existed as very primitive, tiny single-celled creatures that could not yet be divided into animals and plants.

Gradually, organisms became more complex and diverse. In the Cambrian period, about 550 million years ago, algae, sponges, mollusks, worms, coelenterates and many other new forms of life appeared. This time has been called the "Cambrian Explosion". Millions of years passed. In the ancient seas, the first vertebrates arose - fish-like and brush fish.

The turning point in the evolution of life on Earth was the emergence of animals from water to land. This process took a long time - about 100 million years. At first, the lobe-finned fish came out on land only for a short time. True terrestrial vertebrates - armor-headed amphibians, or stegocephals - appeared in the Devonian after their ancestors learned to forage on land. In the Carboniferous period, stegocephals began to be replaced by the first reptiles that appeared - cotylosaurs, which became the ancestors of all other groups of reptiles. In the middle of the Permian period, cotylosaurs died out, giving way to more developed animal-like vertebrates - therapsids, among which were both herbivorous and predatory species. Animals remained the most common reptiles even in the early Triassic. At the end of the Permian period, thecodonts, or archosaurs, the most ancient lizards, appeared. The evolution of reptiles was very fast and violent. The real kingdom of reptiles was the Mesozoic era. It began about 235 million years ago and continued for about 160 million years. The Mesozoic is divided into three periods: Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous. The first two periods were much shorter than the third, which covers about 70 million years. At that time, there were no rivals from other animals for reptiles, therefore, under the influence of a variety of living conditions, a variety of reptile species appeared. They have adapted to the most diverse conditions of the terrestrial environment. Subsequently, many of them secondarily adapted to life in water (ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs). Some became aerial animals (pterosaurs). At the end of the Triassic period, the first terrestrial turtles and crocodiles appeared, which survived all natural disasters and survived to this day. Dinosaurs also appeared in the Triassic period. The oldest known dinosaurs were Eoraptor and Herrerasaurus.

Major groups of dinosaurs

Dinosaurs descended from thecodonts, namely, from slender, swift-footed ornithosuchians, which are considered the direct ancestors of dinosaurs. There are two groups of dinosaurs: ornithischians and lizards. The pelvis of the first group is similar to the pelvis of birds, and the second - to the pelvis of modern reptiles. Ornithischians also had an additional bone at the end of the lower jaw that covered the jaws in the form of a horny beak. There was another group of dinosaurs - segnosaurs. In their structure, there were features of both ornithischians and lizards, and some features are generally characteristic only of segnosaurs.

In the Jurassic period, lizards flourished. The first of them were predators, they ran on strong hind legs, and grabbed prey with their front legs. Later, herbivorous species evolved from carnivorous dinosaurs. They needed a huge amount of food, their body weight was constantly increasing. While walking, they used all four limbs. According to the structure of their legs, they were called lizard-footed dinosaurs, or sauropods. This group includes 40 genera. Bipedal predators were called mammal-footed dinosaurs, or theropods. They number 150 genera.

Lizard dinosaurs Theropods

These dinosaurs moved on their hind legs with three toes armed with sharp claws. Some of them were ferocious hunters, others scavengers. All theropods had recurved teeth. They did not know how to chew food and swallowed whole pieces of prey. They came in all shapes and sizes, from a sixty-centimeter saltop to a fourteen-meter tyrannosaurus rex.

At the end of the Triassic period, small and very graceful coelurosaurs existed. They had light hollow bones. They ran very fast on long hind legs, the front ones were half as long. For hunting, coelurosaurs gathered in packs, so they could attack large animals. This group includes a three-meter coelophysis ("hollow form") and a five-meter halypicosaurus ("agile lizard"). Even more graceful types of coelurosaurs lived in the Jurassic period. This is a two-meter ornitholest (“bird predator”) and compsognathus (“graceful jaw”), only 60 cm long and weighing 3 kg. According to one hypothesis, Archiopteryx descended from coelurosaurs. The descendants of coelophysis also became powerful predators (Allosaurus, raptors, tyrannosaurus).

In the sediments of the late Jurassic period, 60 skeletons of an allosaurus ("another reptile") were found. The largest of them reached 12m in length and weighed 1-2 tons. On the front paws of the Allosaurus there were three fingers with curved claws. Its teeth had sharp, serrated trailing edges that sawed through hide and bone like a saw.

Its close relatives, even more gigantic (up to 13 m in length and weighing up to 7 tons), lived in the Late Cretaceous period. These are Giganotosaurus ("giant southern lizard") and Carcharodontosaurus ("huge shark-toothed lizard"). The skull of a carcharodontosaurus reached one and a half meters in length, and its mouth was so large that it could swallow an adult human whole. One of the most dangerous predators of the Late Cretaceous was the tyrannosaurus ("tyrant lizard"). Its height reached 5 m, length - up to 14 m, and weight - up to 5 or more tons. The meter-long skull of this bloodthirsty lizard, flattened from above and from the sides, had a huge mouth armed with fifteen-centimeter teeth.

In the late Cretaceous period, a nine-meter Gorgosaurus also existed. Outwardly, he resembled a tyrannosaurus rex, but weighed about a ton or a little more. In his monstrous mouth were 60 sharp ten-centimeter teeth. Scientists suggest that the Gorgosaurus was clumsy, and therefore probably a bad hunter. The most accessible food for him could be sluggish animals, carrion and the remains of meals of other predators.

Even larger (14m and more in length, 6m in height) was the tarbosaurus (“terrifying lizard”), which also looks like a tyrannosaurus rex.

Albertosaurus (length 9 m, weight 2.5 tons) and Megalosaurus (length up to 9 m, weight 1 ton) were not inferior to these dinosaurs in bloodthirstiness.

Dromaeosaurs, or raptors, were among the most feared predators of the Cretaceous period. They were distinguished by a huge sickle-shaped claw on each hind leg. They hunted in herds, so they could attack animals that were larger than them. Before biting the victim, the raptors used their grasping hands and long claws on their feet.

Velociraptor was the most ancient raptor, it lived in the late Jurassic period. Its length was from one and a half to 4 m, weight up to 100 kg. Its sickle-shaped claw reached 15 - 20 cm. Deinonychus ("terrible claw") had similar claws. Its height did not exceed one and a half meters, and its length -3 -4m. The average weight of these lizards was 70-80kg. The largest in this group was the Utahraptor ("kidnapper from Utah"), who lived in the early Cretaceous period. It reached 6m in length and weighed about 900kg. By the end of the dinosaur age, in the late Cretaceous period, some raptors became more and more bird-like. This is reflected in their names: avimim (“imitating a bird”), strutomim (“imitating an ostrich”), dromscheomim (“imitating a chicken”). They could eat not only meat, but also fruits and soft parts of plants, and also caught insects. Instead of teeth, they had keratinized jaws. And the oviraptor (“the thief of eggs”) had only one tooth for cracking the shells of large mollusks, the meat of which he ate. A bone appeared on the wrist of these lizards, thanks to which the raptors could move their forelimbs to the sides, just like birds spread their wings. These long-legged animals apparently ran faster than other dinosaurs and still remained predators. For example, Troodon ("ripping teeth") had large eyes and keen hearing. Obviously he was a good hunter. Ostrich-like dromaeosaurs were an intermediate link between Archiopteryx and birds.