The sweet and simple world of Styraki and his plant-eating cousins is hardly representative of the time of the Dinosaurs.
Many dinosaurs, such as the Tyranosaurus Rex, were vicious meat-eating killers.
The Tyranosaurus Rex
So when did dinosaurs exist? As shown in the following timeline, dinosaurs went extinct some 65 million years ago, which is a very, very, very long time ago. Consider that modern humans came around only some 200,000 years ago. Dinosaurs and humans, therefore, did NOT exist at the same time!
So for how long were dinosaurs on this planet? Paleontologist, who are scientist that study fossils, currently estimate that the dinosaurs came into being about 245 million years ago. This means that there were dinosaurs on this planet for about 180 million years (245 - 65 = 180). Dinosaurs, therefore, were a very successful sort of living being. Evidence suggests that they went extinct only because a huge asteroid or comet collided with Earth. Such a collision would have filled the skies with debris. Among other things, this would have blocked sunlight thereby upsetting the food chain.
Interestingly, the apatosaurus lived on Earth about 150 million years ago, while the styracosaurus lived here about 75 million years ago. Sadly, this means that Styraki and his cousins could not have possibly been together.
The apatosaurus was one of the largest dinosaurs, reaching up to 75 feet in length. Skeletal remains show that it had a long whip-like tail, which it likely used as a means of self-defense. (Maybe it was also used to keep young apatosauruses from misbehaving.) Like most plant-eating dinosaurs, the apatosaurs ate rocks, which in their bellies would help to grind up the massive amounts of plant material they would eat. These dinosaurs were so heavy that they likely enjoyed swimming in water where buoyant forces would help ease their overworked muscles.
In unkie's opinion, the styracosaurus wasn't exactly the prettiest of dinosaurs. Look for images of styracosauruses through the links shown below to see if you agree. Their ferocious and sharply pointed horns, however, served as excellent means of protection against the meat-eating dinosaurs of their time. The mouths of the styracosauruses were clearly designed for the eating of plants, which means they were much more gentle in their behavior than in their looks.
There are many fabulous websites through which you can learn more about dinosaurs. Below are some of our favorites.
1. Check out the video shorts of life-like moving dinosaurs at the Discovery Channel.
2. Looking for Dino Data? Visit Dinosaurs For Kids.
3. For a kid-friendly online hypertext book about dinosaurs, check out Zoom Dinosaurs.