Anna Claybourne - I Can Be a Dinosaur Detective

A long, long, LONG time ago, strange, monstrous creatures roamed the Earth the dinosaurs. There are no dinosaurs alive todaythey died out long before humans first appeared. Yet we know quite a lot about them, thanks to dinosaur detectives. The dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex Dinosaurs belonged to the reptile family of animals, like todays lizards, crocodiles, snakes, and turtles. The dinosaurs lived from about 252 million years ago to about 66 million years ago. Dinosaurs are famous for growing to huge sizes, but they werent all big. Dinosaurs are famous for growing to huge sizes, but they werent all big.

The biggest dinosaur was almost bigger than a blue whale, and the smallest was the size of a chicken! In order to discover living things from long ago and find out more about them, scientists dig fossils out of the ground and study them. This type of science is called paleontology.

To start with, try matching these prehistoric reptiles to their fossilized bones. Fossils are strange things. They show the shape of an old bone, tooth, leaf, or shell, but most fossils are actually made of stone. Most of its body was rotted away or eaten, leaving a skeleton. Over time, layers of sediment (mud, soil, or sand) collected on top. As more layers pressed down, the sediment hardened into rock. The bones slowly dissolved, leaving spaces that were filled in with minerals which hardened into stone. Shifts in the Earth mean that paleontologists can find fossils near the Earths surface. You can make model fossils using plaster of Paris, which you can get cheaply from anywhere that sells craft or hobby materials. Plaster of Paris powder Old, cleaned-out disposable tubs or pots, such as ice cream tubs A disposable stick or spoon Clay or putty Seashells, model dinosaur skeletons, or toy insects 1. Plaster of Paris powder Old, cleaned-out disposable tubs or pots, such as ice cream tubs A disposable stick or spoon Clay or putty Seashells, model dinosaur skeletons, or toy insects 1.

Press some clay into the bottom of a tub. 2. Press a shape, such as a seashell or animal toy, into the clay. 3. Then carefully pull it out. 4.

In another tub, following the instructions on the packet. Mix the plaster of Paris powder with water using the stick to make a runny mixture. 5. Pour the mixture into your tub, on top of the clay. 6. 7. 7.

Pull off the tub and peel the clay away to reveal your fossil.

If you find a fossil, how do you know if its a dinosauror what kind of dinosaur it is? Dinosaur detectives learn to spot the bones that belong to different types of dinosaurs, even if they dont have a whole skeleton, but only one or two bones. There are two main groups of dinosaurs. Paleontologists tell them apart by the different shapes of their pelvis bones. Dinosaurs are vertebratesanimals with backbones. A dinosaur skeleton always has a spine or a backbone, with the head, tail, and limbs attached to it.

Ornithischian Dinosaurs Stegosaurus pelvis shape Humans are also vertebrates, but we have a different shape and no tail.

The dinosaur detectives have found several bones belonging to a Ceratosaurusbut which bones are they? See if you can work out where in the dinosaurs body they each belong. Next page