Dinosaur Basics
The 10 Most Important Dinosaurs You've Never Heard Of
Sometimes, the dinosaurs the public happens to latch onto--Apatosaurus, Velociraptor, Tyrannosaurus Rex--are less important to paleontologists than they are to fiction writers and movie producers. Here's a list of 10 dinosaurs you've probably never heard of, but which have made substantial contributions to our knowledge of prehistoric life...
The Dinosaur Encyclopedia
Paleontologists have named over a thousand dinosaur species, but a mere handful have saturated popular culture to the extent that they're instantly recognizable. Here's everything you need to know about the 10 most popular dinosaurs, ranging from Allosaurus to T. Rex.
Dinosaur Encyclopedia - Stegosaurus
Facts, figures and news about the famous herbivorous dinosaur Stegosaurus.
Dinosaur Encyclopedia - Argentinosaurus
A collection of articles about Argentinosaurus.
Dinosaur Encyclopedia - Archaeopteryx
A collection of articles about Archaeopteryx.
Dinosaur Encyclopedia - Giganotosaurus
A collection of articles about Giganotosaurus.
Dinosaur Encyclopedia - Allosaurus
A collection of articles about Allosaurus.
Dinosaur Encyclopedia - Brachiosaurus
A collection of articles about Brachiosaurus.
Dinosaur Encyclopedia - Apatosaurus
A collection of articles about Apatosaurus.
Dinosaur Encyclopedia - Diplodocus
A collection of articles about Diplodocus.
Dinosaur Encyclopedia - Spinosaurus
A collection of articles about Spinosaurus.
Dinosaur Encyclopedia - Pterodactyl
A collection of articles about Pterodactylus and Pteranodon.
Dinosaur Encyclopedia - Triceratops
With its three horns, Triceratops was one of the most distinctive dinosaurs of the Mesozoic Era. Here's everything you need to know about this plant-eating dinosaur, complete with links to additional information.
Dinosaur Encyclopedia - Velociraptor
Thanks to the Jurassic Park movies, Velociraptor is one of the most popular dinosaurs in the world. Here's everything you need to know about this small, vicious raptor, complete with links to additional information.
Dinosaur Encylopedia - Tyrannosaurus Rex
Tyrannosaurus Rex (or T. Rex, as it's often called) is the most popular dinosaur in the world. Here's everything you need to know about this fearsome dinosaur, complete with links to additional information.
The Three Ages of Dinosaurs: The Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous
What does it mean to say that a dinosaur lived in the Triassic, Jurassic, or Cretaceous period? Here's a description of these three stretches of time, and the plants, animals, climate and geologic features that set them apart.
How Smart Were Dinosaurs?
Did all dinosaurs have a brain the size of a walnut? Here's a look at modern views of dino intelligence.
What Is a Dinosaur?
The scientific definition of what constitutes a "dinosaur" is a lot more involved than you might think. Here's a brief explanation.
How to Translate Dinosaur Names: Greek Words Used to Name Dinosaurs
Sometimes it can be hard to distinguish a Micropachycephalosaurus from a Brachytrachelopan, especially if you don't happen to know Greek. Here's a list of the Greek words most commonly used to name dinosaurs, along with their English equivalents.
Dinosaur Life Spans - How Long Could Dinosaurs Live?
Did dinosaurs live for hundreds of years, like modern tortoises, or did they have "mammalian" life spans that could be measured in years or decades? Here's what we currently know about how long dinosaurs lived, and the issues that complicate calculations of dinosaur life spans.
What Did Dinosaurs Look Like?
Years ago it was fashionable to depict dinosaurs with scaly, grey, reptilian skin; now the trend has swung toward plush feathers and bright, primary colors. But what did dinosaurs really look like, and how can paleontologists tell for sure?
10 Frequently Asked Dinosaur Questions
When did dinosaurs live, and why did they go extinct? What did dinosaurs look like, and what did they eat? Here's a list of the 10 most frequently asked dinosaur questions, complete with links to additional information.
Dinosaur Habitats
Like modern mammals, dinosaurs occupied a wide range of habitats, ranging from deserts to tropical jungles to polar regions. Here's a list of the 10 most important habitats prowled by dinosaurs during the Mesozoic Era.
How Much Did Dinosaurs Weigh?
Paleontologists have a long history of overestimating the weight of dinosaurs, meaning those 100-ton sauropods and 10-ton theropods may have weighed significantly less than was once thought. Here's a look at how experts determine dinosaur weight.
How Fast Could Dinosaurs Run?
Could Tyrannosaurus Rex run fast enough to catch a modern-day human? Were ornithomimids really as speedy as ostriches? Here's what we know, and don't know, about the running (and walking) speeds of dinosaurs.
Dinosaur Encyclopedia - Dilophosaurus
A collection of articles about Dilophosaurus.
How Big Were Prehistoric Animals?
It's one thing to know that a dinosaur was 40 feet long and weighed seven tons, and another to grasp just how enormous that was compared to the average full-grown human. This photo gallery will show you just how enormous some prehistoric animals were!