Discovery

Squad

Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs
Harry
Aisha
Riz
Blake Holly
Contents
All About Dinosaurs .............................. 1
Land, Sea and Air .................................. 3
Dinosaur Diets ....................................... 6
Meet the Herbivores ............................... 7
Meet the Carnivores ............................... 9
Meet the Omnivores .............................. 11
Spikes, Scales, Horns and Tails ............. 13
Fossil-Finders ......................................... 18
Look out for Harry, Riz and Blake Mary Anning ......................................... 21
who will tell you lots of brilliant facts
Living with Dinosaurs ........................... 23
about dinosaurs. Have a go at the quiz
at the end to see how many facts you Quiz ........................................................ 25
can remember! Glossary ................................................. 27
Index ...................................................... 29
 All About Dinosaurs
When did dinosaurs live?
Dinosaurs lived on Earth over 200 million years
ago. They were part of the reptile family and
lived for over 160 million years.
They became extinct around 65 million years ago.
Some scientists say that the dinosaurs were killed
when an asteroid hit Earth and others say they
were killed by volcanoes.
Many dinosaurs were huge but some
were only the size of a big bird.

ou Brachiosaurus
Did yw... (brack-ee-o-sor-us)
kno
? could grow up to 30
metres long.

1 2
 Land, Sea and Air
Where did dinosaurs live? Sea
Over time, the legs of some dinosaurs evolved to
Land become fins. These dinosaurs lived in the sea and
Many dinosaurs lived on dry land. Some walked were good swimmers.
on their back legs and had a long tail to help
This is the Ichthyosaurus (ick-thee-o-sor-us) or ‘fish
them keep their balance. Other dinosaurs walked
lizard’. It had large eyes for finding food and grew
on all four legs.
to the size of an adult man.

A Baryonyx (ba-ree-o-nix)
lived on land. Ichthyosaurus (ick-thee-o-sor-us)
fed on squid and fish.

3 4
Air
Some reptiles grew wings and feathers. They were
called Pterosaurs (te-ra-sors) and were the first
Dinosaur Diets
animals to fly. They were not dinosaurs. What did dinosaurs eat?
Dinosaurs and other animals can be put into three
main groups if we look at their diet.
Their wings grew
from their last finger
to their back legs. animals that only eat plants, such
Herbivores
as flowers, trees, nuts and grass

Carnivores animals that only eat meat

animals that eat both meat

Omnivores
and plants

Think about what you eat.

Pterodactyls (te-ra-dact-ul) had long beaks with Which group do you
around 90 sharp teeth. belong to?

5 6
 Plants are hard to digest so herbivores often have

Meet the Herbivores

long bodies which give lots of time to break down
their food.

Which dinosaurs were herbivores? The Argentinosaurus

ou
The first dinosaurs were herbivores or plant-eaters. Did yw... (ar-jen-teen-o-sor-us)
kno
They were short and wide. Later, other dinosaurs
developed long necks which let them eat the leaves
? was the largest
plant-eating dinosaur
and branches from the tallest trees. ever to live.

Diplodocus
Think about herbivores (dip-lod-o-cus)
today. Can you think
of one which has a
Brachiosaurus
long neck? (brack-ee-o-sor-us)
Apatosaurus
(a-pat-o-sor-us)

These dinosaurs
were all herbivores.
Iguanodon
(ig-warn-a-don)
7 8
 Tyrannosaurus rex
(tigh-ran-o-sor-us rex)
Meet the Carnivores
Which dinosaurs were carnivores?
The carnivores (meat-eaters) were fierce predators.
Many had large jaws with sharp teeth to help them
tear meat. They were very fast and powerful, which
helped them to catch other dinosaurs to eat.

Think about carnivores

today. Can you think of
one that is very fast?
Velociraptor Allosaurus
(ve-lo-si-rap-ter) (a-lo-sor-us)

The Compsognathus
(comp-sog-nath-us) was one
ou
Did yw... of the smallest carnivores.
kno
?
Carnivores had It grew to about the size
strong jaws. of a turkey. It ate small
animals and
insects.

9 10
 Meet the Omnivores ou
Did yw...
kno The name ‘Oviraptor’

Which dinosaurs were omnivores?

? means egg-taker.

There weren’t many dinosaurs that were omnivores.

The Ornithomimus (or-ni-thom-i-mus) and the
Oviraptor (o-vi-rap-ter) were both omnivores. They
were bird-like dinosaurs with feathers and beaks. Ornithomimus
They had long legs to make them fast runners. (or-ni-thom-i-mus)

They ate plants, eggs, insects, small

mammals and reptiles.

Think of animals that

are alive today. Can you
think of any that are
omnivores?

Oviraptor
(o-vi-rap-ter)

11 12
 Ankylosaurus
Spikes, Scales, The enormous

Horns and Tails

Ankylosaurus
(an-kil-o-sor-us)
was covered in
What did dinosaurs look like? hard plates like
Dinosaurs adapted to become better at surviving a suit of armour.
in the wild. Over time, they evolved to grow bigger
and faster, finding it easier to hunt for food and
catch their prey.
It had a big club on its tail to hit other
dinosaurs with.

tail club
hard plates

They also became better at defending themselves

against predators. They had different features to
protect themselves and to attack any dinosaurs that
were hunting them.
13 14
Triceratops Stegosaurus
The Triceratops (trigh-se-ra-tops) had three horns The Stegosaurus (steg-o-sor-us) was a nine-metre-
on its head to fight off other dinosaurs. long giant. Its tail had spikes which could grow up
to almost one metre.
It also had a frill around its head which protected
its neck from predators. It also had big plates made of bone that grew
three horns along its back.

rows of plates
frill tail spikes

ou
Did yw...
kno The name ‘Triceratops’
? means three-horned face.

15 16
Tyrannosaurus Rex
The Tyrannosaurus rex (tigh-ran-o-sor-us rex) had
a very large head and lots of pointed teeth. Each
Fossil-Finders
tooth was up to 20cm long. How do we know about dinosaurs?
Dinosaurs were alive millions of years before humans,
so how have we found out all of these facts?
It had two short arms with sharp claws. Its Scientists study animal and plant fossils to find out
powerful, long back legs made it a fast runner. What about the past. The proper name for these scientists
a terrifying predator it was! is palaeontologists (pay-lee-un-tol-o-jists).

sharp teeth and claws

The bite of a Tyrannosaurus

ou
Did yw... rex was three times
kno stronger than the bite of a
? great white shark.

17 18
Palaeontologists have found the remains of dinosaur Dinosaur teeth
bones and eggs all around the world. This gives us on display
important information about: in a museum
in America.
how
they looked

how
when they moved
they lived

what
where they ate
they lived
Allosaurus
fossils found
in America.

19 20
 Mary was an excellent fossil hunter and became
Mary Anning well known for her amazing finds. She found the
complete fossil of an Ichthyosaurus, the fossil of a
Who was Mary Anning? Plesiosaur (plee-see-o-sor) and many more.
Mary Anning was a famous fossil-finder. She was
Mary Anning is still
born in 1799 and lived in Lyme Regis in the south
remembered today for
of England. Mary would walk along the beaches
ou her important work as
and cliffs near this town looking for fossils with her Did yw...
kno a palaeontologist. There
brother and father.
? is a special sign on her
home and a museum all
about her in Lyme Regis.

Lyme Regis

Jurassic Coast

The beaches and cliffs

where Mary Anning found
ou
Did yw... her wonderful fossils
kno
? are now known as the
Jurassic Coast. “Rhomaleosaurus & Mary Anning plaque NHM” by Ballista is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

21 22
 Next time you are feeding the sparrows in your
Living with Dinosaurs garden or spotting seagulls at the seaside, remember
that they may have evolved from dinosaurs that
Are any dinosaurs still alive? lived millions of years ago.
Fossils of more than 20 different dinosaurs with
wings, feathers and a beak have been found. Many
scientists think that birds are related to dinosaurs.

The Archaeopteryx
(ar-kee-op-ter-ix)
had wings.

23 24
 Quiz
How well do you
remember all the
amazing dinosaur facts?

4. egg-taker 5. three-horned face 6. three times stronger 7. palaeontologists

top of trees. 3. Tyrannosaurus rex/Velociraptor/Compsognathus/Allosaurus
Answers: 1. Up to 30 metres long. 2. To eat the branches and leaves at the
1. How long could the Brachiosaurus grow? 6. How much stronger than a great white
shark’s bite was the Tyrannosaurus
2. Why the Diplodocus and Apatosaurus have
rex’s bite?
long necks?
7. What is the name of scientists
3. Can you name a dinosaur which was
who study fossils?
a carnivore?
8. What is the name of the beaches and cliffs
4. What does the name ‘Oviraptor’ mean?
where Mary Anning found the fossils?
5. What does the word ‘Triceratops’ mean?

8. Jurassic Coast
25 26
 Glossary
something which has changed the remains of an animal or
adapted
to suit its surroundings fossils plant that have been left in the
rocks for a very long time
a suit made of metal to protect
armour
the body a person that studies fossils to
palaeontologist
find out about life in the past
a chunk of rock and metal in
asteroid
space that orbits the sun an animal that hunts and kills
predator
other animals
club a heavy weapon
an animal that is hunted and
to stop someone or something prey
defend killed by another animal
getting hurt
what is left after an animal
diet what an animal eats and drinks remains
has died
to break down food to be used
digest a cold-blooded animal with dry
by the body
reptile scales or hard plates covering
evolve to develop or improve over time its body that lays eggs

extinct no longer living

27 28
 Index
Iguanodon 7

Allosaurus 10, 20 Mary Anning 21, 22

Ankylosaurus 14 omnivore 6, 11

Apatosaurus 8 Ornithomimus 11, 12

Archaeoptyrex 23 Oviraptor 11, 12

Argentinosaurus 8 palaeontologist 18, 19, 22

Baryonyx 3 Plesiosaur 22

Brachiosaurus 1, 8 Pterodactyl 5

carnivore 6, 9, 10 Pterosaur 5

Compsognathus 10 reptile 1, 5, 11

Diplodocus 8 Stegosaurus 16

fossil 18, 20, 21, 22, 23 Triceratops 15

herbivore 6, 7, 8 Tyrannosaurus Rex 10, 17

Ichthyosaurus 4, 22 Velociraptor 10

29 30
 Have you met our Blake
This is Blake. He is a great thinker

non-fiction characters?
about life now and in the past – he
would love to chat for hours about
history! When he is with his friends,
he enjoys sharing what he has
discovered.

Riz Aisha
Riz is never still! He zips around on Meet Aisha. She has a big, brave
his skateboard and loves adventures
heart and will stick up for herself
and extreme sports. He has visited
lots of different places in the world and her friends. She is interested in
and is always full of tales about finding out about beliefs, traditions
the amazing things he has done. He and cultures from around the
can’t wait to work on a ship when he world, which makes Aisha good at
grows up so he can carry on seeing understanding other people’s feelings.
the world.

Holly Harry
Holly likes to be the leader. She can Harry is fun and energetic with a
be a bit bossy but her friends know
kind, gentle side. He adores animals
this is because she likes to get a job
done properly. She loves art and DT and is fascinated by science. He
and her pockets are always full of is always asking questions and
pens, paper and glue, ready to sketch, investigating to find answers.
stick or sculpt anything. Holly likes
to follow the rules and isn’t afraid to
remind others to do the same.
 The Story Continues!
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 Millions of years
ago, our world was full
of dinosaurs. Some were huge
and some were tiny. Some had
feathers and some had horns.
Have you ever wondered which
dinosaurs were meat-eaters or why
the Diplodocus had such a long
neck? Find out in this
brilliant, fact-filled eBook!

Discover our teaching resources

Keep the story alive using our amazing linked teaching resources, all available through Twinkl PlanIt.
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