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(#1) Large Dinosaurs May Have Had Air Sacs Inside Their Bodies That Decreased Their Overall Weight
From Redditor u/MrJoestar42069:
TIL the reason some dinosaurs were able to get so large was that they had "air sacs" in and around their bones, which prevented them from being crushed under their own weight and allowed them to grow to enormous sizes.
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(#2) Pterosaurs (Such As Pterodactyls And Pteranodons) Are Not Dinosaurs
From Redditor u/orangebob999:
TIL Pterodactyls were not dinosaurs; they were just flying reptiles that hung out with dinos.
Sources
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(#3) The 'Montana Dueling Dinosaurs' Is A Preserved Battle Between A Tyrannosaurus And Triceratops
From Redditor u/NihilsticEgotist:
TIL of the Montana Dueling Dinosaurs, an incredibly well-preserved fossil of a Tyrannosaurus and a Triceratops locked in combat. Despite the important nature of the fossil, it remains obscure due to a land rights controversy preventing it from being studied, cleaned up and/or put on display.
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(#4) Brontosaurus Was First Classified As Its Own Genus, Then A Species Of Apatosaurus, And Is Now A Separate Genus Again
From Redditor u/marmorset:
TIL that the Brontosaurus was [initially established as its own genus in 1879], then considered a species of Apatosaurus, a previously discovered dinosaur, and it should have had that name. Now it's been discovered that they actually are two separate animals, and the Brontosaurus exists again.
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(#5) It Is Now Believed That Most Dinosaurs Had Some Type Of Feathers
From Redditor u/geuis:
TIL almost all dinosaurs probably had feathers.
From Redditor u/InfinitelyThirsting:
TIL that dinosaur feathers aren't just visually apparent in fossils, but have actually been found preserved in amber.
From Redditor u/Mycatissnootsy:
TIL T. rex babies were fluffy.
Sources
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(#6) The Head Of A Tiny Dinosaur Has Been Preserved In Amber For 100 Million Years
From a Redditor:
TIL the head of a tiny dinosaur that lived nearly 100 million years ago was found trapped in amber. The head of Oculudentavis khaungraae ("eye-tooth bird") is 14mm long, with large eye sockets like modern lizards, and upper and lower jaws full of sharp teeth.
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(#7) The Stegosaurus's Spiked Tail Is Called A 'Thagomizer,' Thanks To Gary Larson
From Redditor u/damojr:
TIL the "thagomizer," the spiked tail on a stegosaurid dinosaur, didn't have an official name until the cartoonist Gary Larson [of Far Side fame] did a comic about it, named it, and the scientific community accepted it and started using it, too.
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(#8) The 'Bone Wars' Was A Wild Rivalry Between Two Paleontologists In The 19th Century
From Redditor u/derstherower:
TIL of the Bone Wars. In the late 1800s, two rival paleontologists sought to disgrace each other, resorting to bribery, theft, attempts to cut off funding, and destruction of bones. Both paleontologists were ruined financially, but their efforts led to the discovery of many new species of dinosaurs.
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(#9) The Formal Naming System For Dinosaurs Can Be Traced Back To One Ridiculously-Named Fossil
From Redditor u/geekteam6:
TIL the naming system for unearthed dinosaur fossils didn't start until 1758. The first named bone was called Scrotum humanum - because it was originally believed to be the [testicles] of an ancient, giant man.
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(#10) 'Dreadnoughtus,' One Of The Largest Dinosaurs To Ever Exist, Weighed Nearly 60 Metric Tons
From Redditor u/0h_myg0ssh:
TIL of Dreadnoughtus, one of the largest dinosaurs that ever existed. The fossil skeleton of the individual was 85 feet, but was not even a fully grown adult - and it was expected to grow even larger!
[Editor's Note: Sixty metric tons is equivalent to 132,277 pounds. What's really exciting is that scientists discovered about 70% of Dreadnoughtus schrani's "key" skeleton, providing much more physical evidence of this dinosaur than others of its size.]
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(#12) 700 Species Of Dinosaurs Have Been Discovered
From Redditor u/WSchultz:
TIL that even though they existed for about 165 million years, only about 700 species of dinosaur have been discovered to date.
[Editor's Note: According to the United States Geological Survey, "Approximately 700 species [of dinosaur] have been named. However, a recent scientific review suggests that only about half of these are based on fairly complete specimens that can be shown to be unique and separate species. These species are placed in about 300 valid dinosaur genera... Recent estimates suggest that about 700 to 900 more dinosaur genera may remain to be discovered.]
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(#13) During The Age Of The Dinosaurs, Volcanoes May Have Been Erupting On The Moon
From Redditor u/alf_shearing:
TIL when the dinosaurs were alive, there were erupting volcanoes on the moon.
[Editor's Note: The Los Angeles Times' Amina Khan writes, "The large dark patches on the lunar surface that give shape to the moon’s 'face' are called maria, and they’re thought to be the remains of volcanic activity on the moon that started 3.5 billion years ago. [...] The researchers found that scores of these features were less than 100 million years old – which would put them in range of the Cretaceous period on Earth, which was the dinosaurs’ heyday. [...] That means there could have been regular volcanic activity all around the moon in very recent times – not like the dramatic volcanism that produced the enormous maria, but still significant and widespread."]
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(#15) A Dinosaur 'Mummy' Was Discovered With Its Skin And Stomach Contents Intact
From Redditor u/looser_name_connor:
TIL of the "Dinosaur Mummy," Borealopelta, whose remains were discovered with the protective armor, skin, and partial stomach intact. It's been so well preserved that scientists deemed it closer to a mummy than a fossil.
[Editor's Note: The Archaeology News Network has some great photos of the dino.]
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About This Tool
Most people know that the world experienced a mass extinction about 66 million years ago, and the dinosaurs became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous. There are intense discussions about the reasons for the extinction of dinosaurs. The most common theory is that an asteroid hit the earth. This conclusion is strongly supported by various pieces of evidence. However, some people insist that dinosaurs are not extinct, but have evolved and changed in many ways.
Human beings are addicted to the research of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals for many years. Some new discoveries and scientific research have given people new inspirations in recent decades. Some theories may sound a bit crazy, the random tool explained 15 fascinating facts about dinosaurs that most people may not know.
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