Buzz
9. Pterosaurs and Marine Reptiles are not dinosaurs
This might seem like splitting hairs, but the term 'dinosaur' is used specifically to refer to reptiles with a specific hip and thigh structure along with other characteristic anatomical features. While some large-sized species like Quetzalcoatlus and Liopleurodon could fly like Pterosaurs and swim like Plesiosaurs, Ichthyosaurs, and Mosasaurs, none of them are considered dinosaurs. Some of them have no relation to dinosaurs whatsoever, being classified solely as reptiles.
Pterosaurs (Flying reptiles or Pterodactyls): Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to evolve the ability to fly. Their wings were composed of a membrane (similar to bat wings), muscles, and other elongated cells extending from the legs to the elongated fourth finger.
Marine Reptiles: This group of reptiles was the first to adapt to the marine environment during the Mesozoic Era. They were large-sized and often referred to as the rulers of the ancient oceans.
10. Dinosaurs... are not intelligent creatures
Despite their relatively gigantic bodies, dinosaurs weren't exactly the sharpest tools in the shed due to their tiny brains. For instance, despite weighing from 2 to 3 tons, the Stegosaurus dinosaur only had a brain the size of a walnut. And if we're talking about the most intelligent among them? Troodon would likely take the cake, with a brain the size of a chicken egg. Perhaps, this is why Troodon is described as relatively agile, cunning with a predatory lifestyle, while the Stegosaurus is seen as a dinosaur with relatively slow reactions?
Basically, the brains of dinosaurs were on par with those of present-day reptiles like turtles, lizards, or crocodiles.
11. Initially, people once thought dinosaurs were... elephants
In 1677, Professor Robert Plot from England discovered a gigantic bone buried in the ground, at a stone quarry in Oxford. At that time, other scientists were quite puzzled, and they quickly concluded that it must be the bone of... an enormous-sized elephant. Yes, at that time, no one imagined that there were giant creatures like dinosaurs that once existed on this Earth, which is why they thought of the largest land animals existing at the time.
Gradually, new scientists discovered more. In 1842, the zoologist William Buckland caused a stir by asserting that these bones belonged to a giant reptile species that had gone extinct, through finding many other bones similar to what Robert found in the past. He called it 'dinosaur'.
12. Some dinosaur species could regulate body temperature
Normally, this would seem impossible because dinosaurs are reptiles. This means they all have cold blood like lizards and need to bask in the sun to warm up. But for Sauropod dinosaurs, because they were so large, it's believed that if they absorbed heat from the Sun, they wouldn't have enough time to release this heat. Therefore, the idea that they could regulate body temperature is the most plausible hypothesis.
Additionally, based on bone cross-sections of some small carnivorous dinosaurs, scientists have realized that if some dinosaurs had cold blood, then others must have had warm blood. This is a characteristic of birds - believed to be the descendants of dinosaurs.
13. Dinosaurs caring for eggs uniquely
According to fossils found by scientists, dinosaurs laid eggs and arranged them evenly in a circular nest dug deep into the ground. But initially, scientists believed they only laid eggs, without caring for them like most reptiles. However, they eventually realized that dinosaurs exhibited egg incubation behavior when they found dinosaur bones covering their nests.
Furthermore, one common feature of dinosaurs is that their front legs are always shorter than their hind legs. Thus, theoretically, all dinosaurs could walk upright on their hind legs. However, why do most herbivorous dinosaurs not do so? The answer lies in the factor of 'weight'. Essentially, the development of bodies to a point of becoming excessively large and heavy forced them to revert to walking on all fours instead of standing on two legs.
14. Dinosaurs grow big as adults, but tiny as hatchlings
Even for the largest dinosaur species as adults, there are tiny hatchlings, quite different from human imagination. Some dinosaur hatchlings weigh less than 3kg and measure only 40-50cm long. The reason why dinosaur hatchlings are so small is because they hatch from eggs that are on average only 45cm long, with the largest eggs found by scientists measuring only about 60cm long.
Naturally, in that case, dinosaur eggs cannot be any larger. Increasing their size would lead to the hatchlings being unable to break through the eggshells when hatching, potentially causing them to become trapped inside.
On the contrary, dinosaur hatchlings grow rapidly, as they need to develop quickly to gain enough strength to defend themselves against other dangerous predators.
