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Dinosaurs Are A Diverse Group Of: Xixianykus

Dinosaurs first appeared around 243 million years ago during the Triassic period and became the dominant land animals after the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event 201 million years ago. Birds are modern feathered dinosaurs that evolved from earlier theropods in the late Jurassic period, making them the only dinosaur lineage to survive the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago. Dinosaurs can be divided into avian dinosaurs, or birds, and non-avian dinosaurs, which are all other dinosaurs besides birds. This article focuses on non-avian dinosaurs.

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42 views1 page

Dinosaurs Are A Diverse Group Of: Xixianykus

Dinosaurs first appeared around 243 million years ago during the Triassic period and became the dominant land animals after the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event 201 million years ago. Birds are modern feathered dinosaurs that evolved from earlier theropods in the late Jurassic period, making them the only dinosaur lineage to survive the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago. Dinosaurs can be divided into avian dinosaurs, or birds, and non-avian dinosaurs, which are all other dinosaurs besides birds. This article focuses on non-avian dinosaurs.

Uploaded by

ELYAHWEH kongsi Kebenaran
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles[note 1] of the clade Dinosauria.

They first appeared during


the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago, although the exact origin and timing
of the evolution of dinosaurs is the subject of active research. They became the dominant terrestrial
vertebrates after the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event 201 million years ago; their dominance
continued through the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. The fossil record demonstrates
that birds are modern feathered dinosaurs, having evolved from earlier theropods during the late
Jurassic Period. As such, birds were the only dinosaur lineage to survive the Cretaceous–Paleogene
extinction event 66 million years ago. Dinosaurs can therefore be divided into avian dinosaurs, or
birds; and non-avian dinosaurs, which are all dinosaurs other than birds. This article deals primarily
with non-avian dinosaurs.
Dinosaurs are a varied group of animals from taxonomic, morphological and ecological standpoints.
Birds, at over 10,000 living species, are the most diverse group of vertebrates
besides perciform fish. Using fossil evidence, paleontologists have identified over 500
distinct genera and more than 1,000 different species of non-avian dinosaurs. Dinosaurs are
represented on every continent by both extant species (birds) and fossil remains. Through the first
half of the 20th century, before birds were recognized to be dinosaurs, most of the scientific
community believed dinosaurs to have been sluggish and cold-blooded. Most research conducted
since the 1970s, however, has indicated that all dinosaurs were active animals with
elevated metabolisms and numerous adaptations for social interaction. Some were herbivorous,
others carnivorous. Evidence suggests that all dinosaurs were egg-laying; and nest-building was a
trait shared by many dinosaurs, both avian and non-avian.
While dinosaurs were ancestrally bipedal, many extinct groups included quadrupedal species, and
some were able to shift between these stances. Elaborate display structures such as horns or crests
are common to all dinosaur groups, and some extinct groups developed skeletal modifications such
as bony armor and spines. While the dinosaurs' modern-day surviving avian lineage (birds) are
generally small due to the constraints of flight, many prehistoric dinosaurs (non-avian and avian)
were large-bodied—the largest sauropod dinosaurs are estimated to have reached lengths of 39.7
meters (130 feet) and heights of 18 meters (59 feet) and were the largest land animals of all time.
Still, the idea that non-avian dinosaurs were uniformly gigantic is a misconception based in part on
preservation bias, as large, sturdy bones are more likely to last until they are fossilized. Many
dinosaurs were quite small: Xixianykus, for example, was only about 50 cm (20 in) long.
Since the first dinosaur fossils were recognized in the early 19th century, mounted fossil dinosaur
skeletons have been major attractions at museums around the world, and dinosaurs have become
an enduring part of world culture. The large sizes of some dinosaur groups, as well as their
seemingly monstrous and fantastic nature, have ensured dinosaurs' regular appearance in best-
selling books and films, such as Jurassic Park. Persistent public enthusiasm for the animals has
resulted in sign

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