恐龙介绍英文

dinosaur。

dinosaur，英语单词，名词，作名词时意为“恐龙；过时、落伍的人或事物”。

简介

恐龙（英文名：Dinosaur），是指三角龙，现代鸟类和梁龙最近的共同祖先及其所有后代。

为方便研究，恐龙可分为鸟类和非鸟恐龙。其中，非鸟恐龙只生活在中生代（三叠纪、侏罗纪和白垩纪），已于6500万年前全部灭绝。而本词条主要介绍非鸟恐龙。

矫健的四肢、长长的尾巴和庞大的身躯是部分非鸟恐龙的写照。它们主要栖息于湖岸平原（或海岸平原）上的森林地或开阔地带。

1841年，英国科学家理查德·欧文在研究几块样子像蜥蜴骨头化石时，认为它们是某种史前动物留下来的，并命名为恐龙，意思是“恐怖的蜥蜴”。

Dinosaurs were reptiles that lived through three periods of Earth's geologic history: Triassic (208-245 million years ago), Jurassic (145-208 million years ago), and Cretaceous (65-145 million years ago). Different species of dinosaurs flourished and then became extinct throughout these three periods.All dinosaurs were reptiles, but not all reptiles were dinosaurs. Even though the name "dinosaur" means "terrible lizard," dinosaurs were not lizards at all.Some Key Dinosaur FactsAll dinosaurs had four limbs. Some walked on all four legs; others, on their two back legs.Dinosaur legs were positioned below their bodies, making it possible for them to walk upright. Lizard legs are positioned outward from their bodies, giving them a sprawling posture.Dinosaur legs were positioned under their bodies. They were able to walk and run very efficiently.Dinosaurs lived on land. They did not fly in the air or live in water.Some dinosaurs were carnivores (meat-eaters), but most were herbivores (plant-eaters).Not all dinosaurs were large. The smallest, Compsognathus, was about 3 feet long (1 m). One of the largest, Barosaurus, reached 80 feet (24 m). Tyrannosaurus rex measured 46 feet (14 m).

Dinosaurs are very large creatures which appeared on the earth millions of years ago. They became extinct many years later because of a change in climate and they could no longer find any food to eat. Today, people know that dinosaurs had once existed because scientists discovered the remains of their bones when they dug underneath the ground. We can see the skeletons of these dinosaurs now in the museums.

The DinosauriaDinosaurs, one of the most successful groups of animals (in terms of longevity) that have ever lived, evolved into many diverse sizes and shapes, with many equally diverse modes of living. The term "Dinosauria" was invented by Sir Richard Owen in 1842 to describe these "fearfully great reptiles," specifically Megalosaurus, Iguanodon, and Hylaeosaurus, the only three dinosaurs known at the time. The creatures that we normally think of as dinosaurs lived during the Mesozoic Era, from late in the Triassic period (about 225 million years ago) until the end of the Cretaceous (about 65 million years ago). But we now know that they actually live on today as the birds. Running Deinonychus. © 1995 B. CunninghamSome things to keep in mind about dinosaurs:• Not everything big and dead is a dinosaur. All too often, books written (or movies made) for a popular audience include animals such as mammoths, mastodons, pterosaurs, plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs, and the sail-backed Dimetrodon. Dinosaurs are a specific subgroup of the archosaurs, a group that also includes crocodiles, pterosaurs, and birds. although pterosaurs are close relations, they are not true dinosaurs. Even more distantly related to dinosaurs are the marine reptiles, which include the plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs. Mammoths and mastodons are mammals and did not appear until many millions of years after the close of the Cretaceous period. Dimetrodon is neither a reptile nor a mammal, but a basal synapsid, i.e., an early relative of the ancestors of mammals.• Not all dinosaurs lived at the same time. Different dinosaurs lived at different times. Despite the portrayals in movies like King Kong and Jurassic Park, no Stegosaurus ever saw a Tyrannosaurus, because Tyrannosaurus didn't appear on the scene until 80 or so million years following the extinction of stegosaurs. The same goes for Apatosaurus ("Brontosaurus") — it's bones were already well-fossilized by the time T. rex came along.• Dinosaurs are not extinct. Technically. Based on features of the skeleton, most people studying dinosaurs consider birds to be dinosaurs. This shocking realization makes even the smallest hummingbird a legitimate dinosaur. So rather than refer to "dinosaurs" and birds as discrete, separate groups, it is best to refer to the traditional, extinct animals as "non-avian dinosaurs" and birds as, well, birds, or "avian dinosaurs." It is incorrect to say that dinosaurs are extinct, because they have left living descendants in the form of cockatoos, cassowaries, and their pals — just like modern vertebrates are still vertebrates even though their Cambrian ancestors are long extinct.