Random Mind-Blowing Facts About Dinosaurs That Make Us Question Everything (27 items)

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  (#26) Stegosaurus Didn't Have A Second Brain In Its Tail

  Researchers initially believed Stegosaurus, a member of the Stegosauridae family of spiked dinosaurs, had a walnut-sized brain. This dinosaur sometimes stretched more than 30 feet in length and had massive spikes and a deadly tail; thus, the brain-to-body ratio was puzzling. 

  Scientists once posited that Stegosaurus may have had a second brain in its rear end, but that notion was disproved. Now, the working theory is the dinosaur had one brain closer to the size and shape of a hot dog.
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  (#1) Some Dinosaurs May Have Had 300-Year Lifespans

  The lifespans of dinosaurs vary significantly. For example, some scientists believe Apatosaurus could live for 300 years. The typical lifespan for dinosaurs is thought to be much shorter, averaging 30 years for carnivores and 70 to 80 years for herbivores. Carnivores like T-Rex would have had to fight for its food and survival much more often than its plant-eating counterparts.  

  Based on the size of certain mature dinosaurs, some scientists believe the growth rate could have occurred over hundreds of years. 
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  (#4) Sauroposeidon May Have Been Six Stories Tall

  Sauroposeidon, whose name means "earthquake god lizard," has been identified as the tallest dinosaur on record. Researchers at the University of Oklahoma discovered this sauropod in 1994. Fossils from Sauroposeidon, found in Oklahoma, Texas, and Wyoming, revealed its neck was one-third longer than the next largest brachiosaurid. 

  Scientists estimate Sauroposeidon weighed more than 60 tons, stood more than 60 feet tall, and was about 100 feet long. 
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  (#8) Humans Have Lived About 1% As Long As Dinosaurs Did

  Dinosaurs and humans never coexisted, and humans have been around for a small fraction of the time dinosaurs roamed the Earth. The Mesozoic Era occurred roughly 66 to 252 million years ago and is broken down into the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous periods, all of which featured dinosaurs.

  Alternatively, the earliest humans appeared about six million years ago during the Miocene Epoch. Homo sapiens emerged roughly 300,000 years ago, a mere hiccup in time compared to the almost 200 million years dinosaurs dominated the planet. 
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  (#24) Majungatholus Was A Cannibal

  There is evidence that Majungatholus Atopus ate its own kind. These carnivores lived on Madagascar during the Cretaceous period and could grow to more than 25 feet in length. Based on skull fossils excavated from Madagascar, teeth marks in the skull of one Majungatholus matched those from a fellow Majungatholus nearby. 

  The Majungatholus didn't only eat each other; they also ate other types of dinosaurs. This instance of cannibalism may have been an act of desperation more than aggression. 
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  (#10) Nigersaurus Had 50 Rows Of Teeth

  Associated with the Sahara Desert in modern-day Niger, Tunisia, and Algeria, Nigersaurus was a herbivore that lived 100 to 120 million years ago. Paleontologists discovered that Nigersaurus had more than 500 teeth, arranged in rows of 50 in the front of its squared-off jaw. With its weak spine, Nigersaurus was unable to hold its head up, so it roamed like a grazing cow. 

  This dinosaur presumably replaced its teeth every 15 days or so. 

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