VoodooJunkie: DINOSAURS

DINOSAURS

Dinosaurs, named after some ancient Greek words meaning "Terrible Lizard", were an order of lifeforms that walked this Earth between 250-65 million years ago. They encompassed a very large range of shapes and sizes, and occupied most ecological niches of their day. Despite the extensive evidence contained in the fossil records, surprisingly little is actually known about these creatures, many of which were the largest land-based animals the world has ever given rise to. Nonetheless, since their discovery in the 18th century they have captured the imaginations of people all over the world and from all walks of life. This is very apparent when it comes to the incredible imagery associated with the names many of them have been given, such as Triceratops (meaning "three horned face"), Thecodontosaurus (meaning "socket toothed lizard"), and the ultra creative Psittacosaurus (meaning "Parrot Lizard", because it looked a bit like a parrot and a bit like a lizard).

A chart showing the relative sizes of some dinosaurs, and which era they lived in. Woot.

Unfortunately, most of the dinosaurs were wiped out millions of years before the human species evolved, so the possibility of riding an ankylosaurus into battle is extremely remote. It is thought they were destroyed by a large meteor strike that occurred at the end of the Cretacious period around 65 million years ago, wiping out a very large percentage of all life on Earth like some rather wet Bruce Willis film. It may be, however, that one group of dinosaurs survived to the present day and that these theropods gradually evolved into what we now know as birds. If this is the case, it means that every time you scrape your windshield clean, you're actually wiping dinosaur feces off your car. Given the high value of fossilised dinosaur feces these days, this could be construed as rather wasteful. Happily, it also means we can say with absolute certainty that dinosaurs tasted exactly like chicken.

Did a meteorite strike kill the dinosaurs? Yes. Yes it did.

Dinosaur Pages

For information on a specific species of dinosaur, feel free to browse through some of the pages below. There's not much up yet, but more will be coming soon!

Coming Soon

Allosaurus - 'Allo Allosaurus! - a sitcom set in nazi occupied France, 65 million years ago.
Deinonychus - Raptors for real people.
Dilophosaurus - No spitting, no frills. Bigger than they were in Jurassic Park. Your illusions will die here.
Diplodocus - Tastes like Big.
Iguanadon - Is it a thumb, is it a horn... OH GOD MY EYES!!!
Stegosaurus - Like spikes? Like useless plates? Like Stegosaurus.
Velociraptor - Door-opening badass, or silly little turkey-looking thing? Let SCIENCE decide...