LiveScience Topics: Dinosaurs

The subject of blockbuster films, history museum exhibits and much more, dinosaurs continue to interest people today after first appearing approximately 230 million years ago. These vertebrate animals dominated the land for more than 160 million years before experiencing a catastrophic extinction at the end of the Cretaceous period 65 million years ago. The first dinosaur was recognized in the 19th century and ever since, dinosaurs have been the source of many questions. What contributed to the rapid extinction of the dinosaur? What do the latest fossil findings reveal about the dinosaur and its way of life? How is the modern bird connected to these prehistoric creatures? Could dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus Rex and Brontosaurus really be brought back to life with mosquito DNA?

Explore Dinosaurs

Study Hints at What and How Dinosaurs Ate

Tiny scratches on fossilized dinosaur teeth suggest the animal ate low-lying grasses.
Huge Dinosaur Tooth Found in Spain

An allosaurid tooth as long as a tall man's finger has been found in Spain, making it the largest tooth of a carnivorous dinosaur ever found there.
Giant Dinosaurs Get Downsized

Dinosaurs didn't weigh nearly as much as previously thought, a new study suggests.

More Dinosaurs News and Information

Dinosaur Graveyard Suggests Feeding Frenzy

Fossilized remains of a feeding frenzy show how a raptor-like dinosaur snacked on baby plant-eating dinosaurs.
Scientists to Resurrect Ancient Gene to Replay Evolution

Aim is to resurrect a single gene from an extinct species of bacteria.
Teen Dinos Will Be Teens

Like teenagers today, some juvenile dinosaurs used to hang out together, explains University of Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno. [STORY]
The Smallest North American Dinosaur

University of Calgary paleontologist Nick Longrich explains the discovery of Hesperonychus elizabethae. [STORY]
Dinosaurs Lived in the Arctic

And they weren't lost wanderers, either.
T. Rex Relative Fills Evolutionary Gap

A Tyrannosaurus rex ancestor and an ostrich-mimic are two new dinosaur species found in China's Gobi Desert.
Digital Paleontology Reveals Dinosaur Details

Supercomputers are now helping unearth details about dinosaurs that picks and shovels alone cannot.
Long-Necked Dinos Hung Their Heads

Imagine having a 29-foot neck. You might want to hang your head.
Gang of Juvenile Dinosaurs Discovered

A new fossil find suggests that young Triceratops dinosaurs were gregarious gangsters, not solitary types.
Feathers Tied to Origin of Dinosaurs

Feather-like structures have unexpectedly been found in a new group of dinosaurs.
New North American Dinosaur Was Smaller Than Housecat

Scientists have described the smallest dinosaur in North America, and it was a carnivore.
Teen Dinosaurs Got into Trouble

Like human teenagers, some juvenile dinosaurs used to hang out together in herds.
T. Rex Gets Weighed

Laser imaging reveals what dinosaurs might have weighed.
Dinosaur's Digestion Reveals Changing Climate

Leonardo, a duck-billed vegetarian hadrosaur, evolved in a time of stress to planet Earth. Paleontologist Robert Bakker takes you on a journey through the guts of Leonardo, an exceptionally well-preserved dinosaur fossil.
Triceratops Horns Used in Battle

Scrapes and bruises preserved on dinosaur bones suggest Triceratops was a fighter.
Mistaken Identity: Texas State Dinosaur Needs Name Change

New research could give one state dinosaur a name change.
Dinosaur Wore Primitive Down Coat

Bird-like dinosaur sported the most primitive feathers known to date.
Dinosaur Dads Watched Over Eggs

Some dinosaurs turned to males for parental care.
Giant Dinosaur Fossil Found in Sahara Desert

Paleontologists claim to have unearthed a new type of pterosaur and a previously unknown sauropod.
Rare Look at Darwin and First Dinosaur Hunters

A set of 19th-century papers about to go online reveals a bunch of dinosaur-obsessed European scientists.
Dinosaur Killer May Have Been Volcanism, Not Asteroid

More evidence that volcanism, not a space rock, may be the culprit behind the dinosaurs' demise.

Welcome, Guest

Curious? Join our community!

LiveScience Topics: Dinosaurs

Explore Dinosaurs

More Dinosaurs News and Information

Dinosaurs Features

Other LiveScience Topics