Carnosaurus is the largest carnivorous dinosaur. The smallest predatory dinosaurs What is the most dangerous dinosaur in the world

Dinosaurs were the dominant living creatures on planet Earth for tens of millions of years, from the Triassic period to the Cretaceous. A huge number of animals living today came from these giants. The creatures amazed us both with their size and habits. Which one is the best big dinosaur of those who lived on Earth?

Supposedly, this is the largest dinosaur in the world, but some scientists question even the very existence of this species, since its skeleton was reconstructed from a single vertebra found. According to paleontologist Edward Cope, the dinosaur was enormous in size - up to 60 meters in length and more than 150 tons of weight.

The find was discovered by scientist Edward Cope in 1878. The vertebra was in a deplorable condition, so the scientist hurried to sketch it and did the right thing: in the process of clearing the remaining soil, the vertebra crumbled. This is why many scientists have not seen this find and believe the vertebra is just Cope's invention. If Amphicelia really existed, then there is no doubt that it was the largest dinosaur in the world. Only Seismosaurus could compete with Amphicelia in size, but - what an irony! – and scientists have doubts about the existence of this animal.

Like most large dinosaurs of the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, the diet of this species was herbivorous in nature - grasses, leaves, roots, etc. For other species, the tallest dinosaur did not pose a threat, but could successfully defend itself from predators, in particular thanks to its huge tail.

Incredible growth allowed amphicelia to easily reach upper leaves trees

The name of this species was given by Chinese paleontologist Y. Tsongkhian two years after the discovery of its remains. The translation of the name sounds like “dinosaur from Mamencha,” according to the location of the find. It has been established that Mamenchisaurus lived on Earth 150 million years ago, during the Jurassic period, and was very similar in appearance to Diplodocus, but with several significant differences. Chinese sauropod dinosaurs have a completely different tooth structure than North American dinosaurs. Their teeth are stronger and wider, while in diplodocus they are cone-shaped.

Mamenchisaurus had an incredibly long neck, reaching a length of fifteen meters. To prevent the neck from being too heavy, there was also a long and thin, whip-like tail. The total length of the animal’s body was approximately 22 meters, with particularly large specimens up to 27. The skeleton of this dinosaur is distinguished not only by its strength, but also by its extraordinary lightness. After all, he could not raise his head if the vertebrae in his neck were too heavy. Thanks to its long neck, Mamenchisaurus had no competitors for food in its territory.

Of the creatures living in modern world, could only compete with him in size blue whale

At the end of the 20th century, Argentina was a kind of supplier of valuable fossils to the whole world. Among the discovered animal remains, both herbivores and carnivorous dinosaurs. One of them is an Argentinosaurus that lived about 35 million years ago. For the first time, his remains were found on a typical farm in the Argentine province of Neuquén. The farmer let the museum know about the find, and the visiting specialists removed the entire drumstick of this dinosaur from the ground. Unfortunately, this part is not enough to reconstruct the appearance of the dinosaur with certainty, but a tentative reconstruction exists.

Judging by the design, the Argentinosaurus had a height of 13 meters, a body length of 30 meters, and its weight reached 70 tons.

The animal walked on four thick, stocky legs for about equal length. Walking was quite slow due to the impressive weight. However, due to its highly developed muscles, the heavy giant could maintain a more or less stable speed, because the herds regularly had to move from devastated pasture to fresh one. The massive structure of the animal’s body was supported by a powerful spine - one vertebra one and a half meters long. An equally strong tail provided adequate protection from carnivorous species.

In the entire history of science, only a few parts of the skeleton of one of the tallest dinosaurs called Sauroposeidon have been found. He lived in the Cretaceous period and grew up to 17 meters in height and 30 in length. They ate exclusively plant foods and most often settled near large bodies of water (this explains the name, Poseidon is the sea god in Ancient Greece). The neck length of this dinosaur reached 10 meters. Thanks to the mobility of its neck, Sauroposeidon could lower it down to the ground in order to feast on low vegetation if desired. And he had to eat almost around the clock to maintain life in his gigantic body. According to scientists' research, most of the young animals died due to lack of food. For the kids serious danger predators also represented.

Out of several hundred eggs laid, only 3-4 individuals survived to adulthood.

The remains of the lizard were first discovered in 1994 in Oklahoma. It was immediately clear that this species was new, previously unstudied. Large dinosaurs had vertebrae more than a meter long each. For a long time people believed that the species lived only in the United States, but later another similar vertebra was found in Mexico. It seems that the animal periodically changed habitats in order to provide itself with fresh food.

Like most dinosaurs, this lizard lived throughout the Cretaceous period. Its remains were first found in 1915 in Egypt, and today six species of spinosaurs are known to man, although none of them have been properly studied due to the paucity of data available for research.

With the help of the first skeleton found, it was possible to establish the approximate dimensions of the creature: 5 meters in height, 12 in length, and weight 65,000 kg. According to the reconstruction, this animal had the longest snout and head.

Most distinguishing feature of this type - a crest, or so-called sail in the back area. This growth is quite long, up to one and a half meters. The functions of the sail are ambiguous: on the one hand, it is a demonstration, thanks to which representatives of the species distinguished each other; on the other hand, it is an excellent organ of thermoregulation.

Another version is that fat accumulated in the sail, similar to camel's hump. In front of everyone beneficial properties the crest also had a significant drawback: in a fight, the dinosaur easily toppled over if it was grabbed by the sail.

Its habitat corresponded to modern Egypt and other states North Africa

This flying dinosaur was a member of a species of pterosaur that was very common in the Cretaceous period. The span of its giant wings reached 12 meters. In addition, this is the largest predatory dinosaur; it fed by analogy with the cranes and other wading birds known to us. The basis of the animal’s diet was small creatures - fish, reptiles or amphibians. Quetzalcoatl could fly vast distances without any problems thanks to its powerful and muscular wings, which allowed it to soar for a long time, almost without wasting energy.

This dinosaur did not disdain carrion. Thanks to its sharp, strong beak, it easily tore the prey into pieces and got to the tasty flesh. But he had no teeth; apparently, his diet allowed him to do without them.

According to some scientists, the lizard attacked even smaller land dinosaurs

The seventh dinosaur on the list is the largest aquatic view, living in the water column and reaching an incredible weight of 100 tons. Upon reaching mature age the dinosaur could not be afraid of any of the creatures living at that time; none of them could pose a danger to it. Liopleurodon's main weapon is its huge carnassial teeth; suffice it to say that each of them was 30 centimeters in length and resembled a sharp dagger. Ate giant predator all living creatures that came his way, mainly aquatic lizards of those times or land dinosaurs grazing in shallow waters.

The size of the jaws of Liopleurodon was amazing: each of them reached a length of 4 meters from the base of the skull. There were teeth in the front of the jaws. Having caught up with the prey, the lizard grabbed it with a death grip and held it until it stopped resisting. For the first time, the remains of this animal - three teeth - were dug up in France in late XIX centuries. Soon the dinosaur got its name, which means “fierce”. Then the finds continued, and not only in France, but also in England. Nowadays, the dinosaur is known by several combined parts of the skeleton.

The lizard was practically invulnerable, well armed and very formidable

Unfortunately, due to the long history of events, it is quite difficult to reliably know everything about these mysterious giants. But what humanity has managed to find out is extremely interesting and exciting. Perhaps with development modern technologies we will be able to acquire much more knowledge about the past of our planet.

Theropod dinosaurs are members of the order of bipedal carnivorous dinosaurs. But this is also a suborder of lizards. They lived in prehistoric times, V Mesozoic era, starting from the Triassic period. The heyday of their life occurred in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, the latter being the end of the life of all dinosaurs.

Predatory "beast-footed" dinosaurs

Theropods differed from all other dinosaurs in that they walked on two legs. The front paws were very small, no more than half a meter. Theropods hardly used them. Scientists still cannot decide on their purpose.

Among them there were both predatory and

Predatory dinosaurs ranged from huge to very small in size. The most ancient ones were discovered in the Triassic period. Scientists believe that their ancestors were some coelurosaurs from the group of carnosaurs, including tyrannosaurs. Birds are also believed to have their origins in theropods.

The oldest predatory dinosaurs include: the record holder for length and weight - Alivalia (8 meters / 1.5 tons), Staurikosaurus, Coelophysis, Herrerasaurus, Herrerasaurids. The latter appeared at the very beginning of the Triassic period and died out even before or at the beginning Jurassic period. They were relatively small in size, only 2-3 meters in length and about 80 centimeters in height.

Tyrannosaurus rex - a ferocious theropod predator

Tyrannosaurs have existed since the beginning of the Jurassic period. The only well-studied predator of the Late Cretaceous is Tyrannosaurus rex. The theropod had a nasty bloodthirsty character, sharp teeth and a brutal appetite, as well as a strong body, powerful legs and neck.

The huge head, about 1.5 meters long, was held on a short neck. In addition, it weighed almost seven tons and was 12-14 meters long. With his ferocious appearance he terrified all herbivores, even the largest dinosaurs. He did not disdain anything in his diet, even small relatives.

Rex mainly fed on herbivorous dinosaurs, but could take prey that had already been killed from small predators. If he was very hungry, he could eat carrion.

Tyrannosaurus Rex's Neighbors

Tyrannosaurus wasn't the only one with such a ferocious temperament. Other predatory dinosaurs also lived nearby. Here is a description of the predatory dinosaurs that lived next to the tyrannosaurs.

This is a seratosaurus (North America) with a whole ridge of horns on its head. The eight-meter-long Metriacanthosaurus wore an incredible sail on its back and loved to snack on herbivorous dinosaurs.

Ornitholestes, a small predator, could run on both two and four legs. Megalosaurus is up to nine meters in length, a strong, muscular predator with sharp teeth (remains found in Europe). The Dilophosaurus had two bone crests on its head, and its body length was six meters. He moved quickly and skillfully on two legs.

Allosaurus is another Jurassic nightmare. An 11-meter long bloodthirsty reptile with strong strong hind legs, short three-fingered forelimbs with claws and a toothy mouth. He terrified all the inhabitants of the forests where he lived. Some scientists consider it an ancestor of the Tyrannosaurus rex.

Another medium-sized (three meters long) formidable killer predator is the “monstrous claw” Deinonychus. He had two deadly claw-blades growing on both of his hind legs, which popped out like spring-loaded bandit knives.

Small carnivorous theropods

For example, the egg-eating dinosaur oviraptor (translated as thief) lived in East Asia. The small dinosaur Troodon (USA) had well-developed both hind and forelimbs, with which it could rake leaves and sand poured to cover eggs. He would sneak up to the nest, grab the egg and throw it into his mouth, where he would pierce it with his sharp teeth.

The fastest predatory dinosaurs walking

Fast, medium-sized dinosaurs include segisaurs - with lightning-fast movements and the embodiment of speed, with a huge, for their small stature, mouth with sharp teeth, allowing them to quickly swallow small prey.

Another fast walker is the Podocesaurus (translated as a fleet-footed lizard) - fast as lightning, grabbing scurrying small prey under its feet. Compsognathus is the tiniest, 60 cm long from nose to tail tip, and the height of a medium-sized chicken, but the most ferocious dinosaur.

It was because of such small carnivores that the life of herbivores, especially small cubs, became deadly.

Herbivorous dinosaurs from the Triassic period

The most ancient herbivorous dinosaurs, also called prosauropods, lived in Triassic (South America). There were not very large ones, for example, Masaurus, about three meters in length, but Riohasaurus, found there, turned out to be much larger and more massive.

The remains of another ancient dinosaur Nyasosaurus was found in Africa, its length was only two meters. The tecontosaurus found in England turned out to be even older. All representatives were similar to each other. They had small heads long necks and tails, short forelimbs are most often five-fingered and with claws. They could not raise their heads high (due to problems with the cervical vertebrae), they had to collect leaves (as food) from the ground or be content with shoots and twigs that grew lower.

Herbivorous theropods of the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods

Descendants from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods were called "ornithischians", they were very different in their huge size from ancestors. They became larger, more massive, there were three toes on the front paws instead of five.

None of the animals living on earth could and can be compared with herbivorous dinosaurs. By creating them, nature has surpassed itself.

Apatosaurus (brontosaurus), diplodocus and brachiosaurus are real record holders in height and weight. This large group dinosaurs were called "sauropods".

• The most massive was the brachiosaurus, its weight was about 50 tons.
• The longest-necked one was Mamenchisaurus; its neck was about 15 meters long.
• The longest tail grew in diplodocus - as much as 12 meters.
• Shanosaurus turned out to have the most unusual tail; a bone growth in the form of a club grew at its end.
• Those who did not have very long necks: Camarasaurus, Vulcanodon, Ouranosaurus with its magnificent sail on its back, which served for cooling.

Relatively small dinosaurs: Iguanodon, Psittacosaurus and Protoceraptos with their beaks did not suffer much from a lack of food. Vegetation in the Jurassic period was enough for everyone, because trees and shrubs grew in abundance.

Caring mothers and their offspring

Dinosaurs, like most modern reptiles, laid eggs. This is confirmed by many finds of fossilized ovipositions; they differed in size and arrangement. Some dinosaurs laid their eggs in a circle, others in a spiral, and others in a line. Interesting fact: in the entire history of excavations, archaeologists have never found Tyrannosaurus rex eggs.

Having made a nest in an earthen hole, the female laid eggs there, then covered them on top with leaves and small debris so that predators would not notice. Some dinosaurs placed dry twigs and leaves on top not only for protection, but also to maintain a certain temperature.

The mothers did not leave the nests with eggs for long; they were constantly nearby to save the cubs from attacks by various predators. They only left to eat and drink. Scientists concluded that the sex of future dinosaur babies depended on the temperature in the nest. But in any case, there were almost always more “girls” than “boys”.

At first, newborn cubs stayed close to their mothers until they became large and strong enough to get food for themselves and run away or defend themselves from enemies.

Carnosaurs were and remain the largest bipedal predators that have ever existed on Earth. All carnosaurs, even those that ate carrion, had to be very strong to be able to separate meat from bones. The sharp teeth and claws of predators were necessary not only for hunting, but also for protection from fellow tribesmen.

Carnosaurs - huge predatory dinosaurs

A typical representative of the infraorder carnosaurs is the dinosaur Allosaurus — "different" or "strange" "lizard") that lived approximately 154-144 million years ago. Allosaurus grew up to 12 meters in length and weighed up to 5 tons. Yes, it was a huge animal, which, most likely, was not capable of moving quickly over long distances.

The short but powerful front legs of the Allosaurus dinosaur helped to hold prey. The three fingers were armed with sharp claws that could tear the skin and flesh of the victim. And they did not serve for movement - allosaurs walked only on their hind legs.

The Allosaurus skull was almost a meter long. The mouth was full of teeth with jagged edges.

The Allosaurus dinosaur had a long tail. This helped balance the weight of the torso when walking. Lower limbs ended in three long fingers with sharp claws.

The skull and teeth of the Allosaurus were not very large relative to the body. If we compare the proportions of the Allosaurus dinosaur with those of humans, then if a person were 8 m tall, the length of his skull would be 85 cm.

One of the largest skeletons of the Allosaurus dinosaur was found in 1991. The skeleton is 95% preserved and is nicknamed "Big Al" (MOR 693). "Big Al" was about 8 feet long at the time of death. The remains were excavated in Wyoming by a team from the Museum of the Rockies and the University of Wyoming Geological Museum.

Allosaurus

Dimensions:

• length - 10-12 m;
• height - up to 5 m.

They lived approximately 155 -144 million years ago.

Diet: large herbivorous dinosaurs.

Habitat: North America, Europe (Portugal).

Some of the most dangerous dinosaurs. May 17th, 2018

Hello dears.
Coming soon, very soon more screens New film from the Jurassic Park franchise. I think it will be, as always, at least impressive :-) And in order to be more or less prepared for meeting giant prehistoric monsters, I suggest remembering them. More precisely, about the most terrible and dangerous of them. Moreover, it is interesting that some of them looked scary, but in fact they were practically harmless. Like Pteranodon or Diplodocus. But the rest are the opposite.... And I hope that you will be interested :-))

So...

Allosaurus aka “Big Al” (lat. Allosaurus, from ancient Greek αλλος - “different; strange” + σαυρος - “lizard”). These individuals lived during the Jurassic period approximately 155-145 million years ago.

Allosaurus were predators that walked on powerful hind legs, while the forelimbs were relatively small. Allosaurus reached an average of 8.5 meters in length and 3.5 meters in height.


Add to this that it was an agile dinosaur - the running speed of the Allosaurus is estimated at 30-55 km/h and you will understand that it was extremely dangerous.

No wonder he appeared in many feature films: lost World"1925, "And Thunder Rolled" 2005, "The Ballad of Big Al" and many others.

Was a relatively small dinosaur Deinonychus(Deinonychus from Latin translates as " terrible claw"). Lived in the mid-Cretaceous period 121-98 million years ago.

It reached a length of 3-3.5 meters and weighed about 70 kg. It got its name from the large claw on the second toe of the hind limbs. The claw was located on the second toe of the hind limbs.

It was strong, quite smart, and most importantly, a very fast lizard. He could probably run at speeds of over 50 km/h. There is reason to believe that the lizard was warm-blooded, and its body was covered with feathers, like modern birds.

Utahraptor(lat. Utahraptor; lit. “kidnapper from Utah”) is a medium-sized carnivorous lizard-hipped dinosaur (up to 5 m in length) from the dromaeosaurid family, who lived in the Early Cretaceous period about 130 - 125 million years ago in the territory of the present North America.

The remains were discovered in Utah, (USA), hence the name. Utahraptors were medium in size, but they had the largest brain of all dinosaurs, they were the smartest, and therefore extremely dangerous.

And here, all over the place, they hunted large herbivorous dinosaurs and even predators. Brains are always power :-))

The most famous and “promoted” among all dinosaurs is, of course, Tyrannosaurus aka "T-Rex" aka Tirex (lat. Tyrannosaurus - "tyrant lizard", from ancient Greek τύραννος - "tyrant" and σαῦρος - "lizard, lizard"). It is a large, strong carnivorous dinosaur from the group of coelurosaurs of the theropod suborder that lived in western North America during the Cretaceous period, about 67-65.5 million years ago.


Tyrannosaurus was a bipedal predator with a massive skull that was balanced by a long, heavy, and stiff tail. Length up to 12.3 meters, height to the hip - 4 meters, weight about 10 tons.

The Tyrannosaurus rex gained great fame after the success of the film Jurassic Park. You can also remember “T-Rex: Disappearance of the Dinosaurs”, “Theodore Rex”, “Tammy and the T-Rex”.

Even larger, which means dangerous predator was Spinosaurus(Latin Spinosaurus, literally - spiny lizard) is a representative of the spinosaurid family (Spinosauridae), which lived in the territory of modern North Africa in the Cretaceous period 112-93.5 million years ago.


A distinctive feature of this dinosaur is its dorsal spine, which has elongated long processes that reach two meters in height - a kind of sail. Why the truth is not clear.


These lizards reached a length of 18 m. The Spinosaurus had a long narrow snout and moved on two or four limbs. IN popular culture it is presented as something similar to a T-Rex, but in reality it was most likely some kind of huge crocodile.

Well, number 1 apparently was Giganotosaurus from the Late Cretaceous period. Like the same T-Rex, he moved on two legs.


But it reached a length of 13.2 m. But at the same time it had very powerful jaws and strong teeth.

Even if he was dumber than T-Rex and had worse eyesight, I think in a potential one-on-one fight he would have done both T-Rex and even Spinosaurus just at once.

These are the pies :-)
Have a nice time of day.