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Two dinosaurs and a bird-sizedinsectPROBACTROSAURUS 1729MEGANEURA 1732MAJUNGATHOLUS 1733

Discover the world of prehistoriccreepy crawlies inANCIENTMINIBEASTS 1734

A parade of PREHISTORICMEAT-EATERS

‘ ‘

1742

Were meat-eatingdinosaurs theancestors of birds?Find out inBIRDSAND DINOSAURS 1744

7 HISTORY IN PIC'I'I.IRESlA ’ DAYINTHELIFE OF_STRUTHIOMIMUS 1748

Prehistric animals fromQ to S 1752

Dr David Norman of CambridgeUniversity answersmore of yourdinosaur queries BACK COVER

A herd of Probactrosaurus crossesa flooded stream I738

Gasosaurus get ready to attackan Omeisaurus family 1740

IA€tl'r.rr.IIL'=1. L' l-—

More fascinating facts and theweekly quiz 1750

7 H0 CONTIUvoun COLLECTION

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PROBAOTROSAUR!/SProbactrosauruswas China's version HEAD FIRSTof the famous dinosaur, lguanodon. 1'6 Was a great adVaI1tage for 61P1aI1t-€at€I"

to be able to rear up on its hind legs.Whenlow-growing shrubs and shoots were scarce,

s long as an elephant, Probactrosaurus could browse on leaves onProbactrosaurus was a highbranches. It stood with its head thrustpeaceful plant—eater. It forward and its back and tail held straight

probably enjoyed the lushvegetation that to avoid breaking its stiffened tail bones.grew in marshy, lowland areas and scoopedup greatmouthfuls of ferns andhorsetails ALWAYS HUNGRYas it stood quietly browsing.Probactrosaurus Probactrosaurus had a bigbody and anlookedvery like its relative, Iguanodon. appetite tomatch. Its long, flat headhad aSome scientists think they might even snout like today’s horse. It snapped offhave been the same shoots with its toothless beak, pulping them

with rows ofbroad cheek teeth. Withone bite Probactrosaurus couldfill itsmouth witha largeamountoffood.

dinosaur.

LONGER’ANDSTRONGER ,

YoungProbactrosaurus

dinosaur’s a .. .became longer anstronger. VVhen fullygrown,Probactrosauruswalked on four legsrather than two.Its feet were tippedby hoof-like claws forextra strength.

Probactrosaurushad a fairlylarge headwith a long snout,rather similar in shape tothat of today's horse.This

’

plant-eater had a toothlessbeak, but its tightly packedridged cheek teeth quicklydealtwith the shoots andleaves it lived on.

Long,horse-likesnout

NO PLACE TOHIDEProbactrosaurus was not as nimble asthe gazelle-like dinosaurs.Nor was itprotectedby heavy body armour orsharp horns like someplant-eaters.Sowhat did it dowhen attacked by

V

fierce predators?Probactrosaurushad tightly FIGHT BACKpacked cheek Experts think that

Toothless iguanodontids could fight back.As a large predator lungedtowards it, Probactrosaurusprobably reared up to its fullheight and struck out with a

spiked claw.With deep cuts to its eyes,face or neck, the predator would havehurriedaway to nurse itswound

lm

ON PATROLProbactrosaurus also ha "

weak, old and younlg In ‘

family. It probablygshaéfedresponsibilty by lifingéingr?Dinosaurs too sfhallorfeeblle tstayed in the centre of the htheir bigger, stronger relati i

guard around the edgeA

‘watchdogs’ raised thas there was any sign 6 V. f

>1a |<

( r 7that iguanodontids had

f hoofs on their hands?

I Yes... but not on every tinger. DrDavidNorman showed» that the middle three tingers

otan iguanodon’rid’s hand had broad, flattenedhoots tor walking on. Its first tinger was a stabbingspike, and its titth Finger was long and slender, morelike a real tinger.

6m

1730

0 NAME: Probactrosaurus(pro-fl-troh-gyms)means ’beForeBacfrosaurus’GROUP: dinosaur

0 SIZE: 6m long0 FOOD: plants0 LIVED: about 100million years ago in the

MidCretaceous Period inChina

When low-growingplants were scarce,Probacrrosaurus couldrear up andreach leavesthat grewon highbranches.

BABY CARELike the

hadrosaurMaiasaura,

Probactrosaurusm a y have

nu’ laid eggs inlarge nestingsites. Here the

hatchlings could becared for in thesafety of a groupuntil they were old

A j ;Aenough to be able'_to fend for

A

themselves.

1731

MEGAMEI/RAThe largest-known flying insect,Meganeura,was as big as a parrot.

his amazing insecthoveredlike a giant dragonfly abovethe lakes and swamps.

Carboniferous mosses and ferns grew onthe wet ground and the first amphibianswere crawling on to the land.

WINGEDWONDERMeganeura flew gracefully in and out of

trees and shrubs looking forsmaller insects to eat. It had twopairs ofwings and one paircould flap while the other

D stayed still.Meganeura’swingspan was threefatimes the width ofthis page.

E "

PAWSO NAME: /vleganeura (fig-ah-Ew-ra)means'big-veined'GROUP: insectSIZE: 70cm wingspanFOOD: small insectsLIVED: about 300million years ago in theLateCarboniferous Period worldwide

9%5l<-——-70cmj>l

’I=LYir»‘*g<;VFOVOD

Q.

i’

have tried to snatch the insect frgjomii.,

51:‘ the air with its large jaws. E

MAJ!/NGATlI0l.USMaiungafholuswas a rareisland-dwelling dinosaurwith cl it-‘ll

E

‘

high-c|omec| head.O NAME: Majungafholus(mah-yoon-ga-@-Ius) means ’dome fromMaiunga’. nly a small part of this

pachycephalosaur’s domed GROUP: dinosaurheadhas been discovered. It SIZE: 1_4m long

Was found in Madagascar, an island off the .FOOD: pbmscoast ofEastAfrica, in 1979. Until that LIVED, about 70mime“ years ago intime, pachycephalosaurs hadonly been Madagascarfound in northernparts of the World.Majungatholus was the first ‘thick—headed’dinosaur to be found so far south. C!’LV’POOR RELATIVELittleMajungatholus wasmuch smallerthanmost of its relatives. It was only one-sixth of the size ofPachycephalosaurus,the biggest family member, but thesedinosaurs hadmany things in common.

HERDPREFERRED ,

Majungatholuswas a plant—e“at“*erand probablymoved around inherds.About thesize ofal we.4:

Some experts think that the

beastsThe success story of insects and otherinvertebrates began hundreds ofmillions of years ago. The namemillipede

means ‘thousand feet’.In fact, most millipedes

have between ‘I00and

p

I 50 feet.'». rom ants to dragonflies andmillipedes to scorpions, our

~ planet teems withwriggling, scuttling life. Theseinvertebrates (animalsWithoutbackbones)were successful fromthe start. Some of them, like thecockroach and the dragonfly,were so well designed for their lifeon Earth that they havehardlychanged in 300million years.

FIRST ON LANDInvertebrateswere the first creatures onland. The earliest invertebrateswerecalled arthropods. They resembled today’smillipedes and certain other insects. Thearthropods fed on the leaves, stems, juicysap and seed-like spores of early plants.

SPINELESS CRAWLERS

earliest invaders of the landwere C,‘*2

tiny insect-like creatures, butfossil evidence supports the ideathat the first land animals weremillipedes,Which later gave rise tothe insects. Mostmillipedes today _munch on bits of livingand dead plantsf

4’

This fits with the picture ofmillipedeschomping on the early land plants.

1734

WEE BEASTIES MONSTERMILLIPEDESome possible millipede fossils have been 'During the Carboniferous Period,found in ancient Silurian rocks in millipedes grew bigger.Euphoberia,whichBritain.More convincing fossils of lived in NorthAmerica and Europe,wasmillipede body—parts were found in = much smaller thanArthropleura. In fact,the Old Red Sandstone rocks of at 2m long, Arthropleura was one of theRhynie, Scotland. These are biggest arthropods of all time. Thisfrom the DevonianPeriod, giant, flat millipede left impressiveabout 408-362 million fossil footprints on sandbanks.years ago. Despite its size,Arthropleura was

a plant-eater and lived on thei rottingvegetation of the' Carboniferous forest floor.

LOTSOF LEGSCentipedes are cousins ofmillipedes. They are fast moversand they have poisonous fangs forkillingtheir prey. They huntworms,

slugs, woodlice and similarmini-beasts. The biggest centipedes arearound 30cm long. Latzelia was one ofthe earliest, a Carboniferous terrorthat hunted smaller animals.

Forests during the CarboniferousPeriod (362-290 million yearsago) were filled with millipecles,centipedes and scorpions.

Insects evolved wingsduring the Carboniferous

Period. Mayflies anddragonflies (below) werethe first flying insects.

THE HUNTERSARRIVEThe first land animalswere a good sourceof food. It was not longbefore predatorsevolved to hunt them. Scorpions arecarnivores that have hardly changed sincethey first appeared on Earth. Scorpionsentered the primitive forests because therewas something for them to eat there—themillipedes.Otherwise, the early scorpions

i could have hunted in theWater and simplyrestedon land.

tug“x,s/-s ~flx".'tt§:. /l ...~s.»': .3__1' ’9f Morclvamylocrls

SCARY SCORPIONSPalaeophonuswas a Silurian scorpionWith large pincers and the usual sting inthe tail. Some Devonian scorpions wereenormous at almost 1m long.Cyclophthalamus was a Carboniferousscorpion from eastern Europe.

THE START OF THE SPIDERSThe first spider—Art_hrolycosa—appearedin the Carboniferous Period. It was ahand-sized spiderwith eight long legs,eight sharp eyes, and poisonous fangs.About 20 kinds of fossil spider have beenfound from the Carboniferous Period.

INSECT SUCCESSInsectshave been incredibly successful,almost since their first appearance in theDevonianPeriod.Today, there are so manyinsects it is impossible to count them all.The first insectswere small andWingless,like the springtails andbristletails oftoday.Rhyniella was a 1cm—long insectthat lived onidecaying plants.

¥ ' i ¥ ¥ § § § § § § $ § § § § § § § § § § § % § % §

AMBER TREASUREFlies and other insects and spiders havebeen fossilized inamber. Thousands ofamber-preserved specimens have beenfound inBolivia,South America, andaround the Baltic coasts ofnorthern

Europe. European amber, which isabout20-30millionyears old, has been foundwith fliesand earwigs trapped in it.

fifiH§$¥tiI?§fi$¥#§§i§i®§$iE§§$~i&¥§§'

FIRST TO FLY .

Insects evolved Wings and took to the airduring the Carboniferous Period. Themayfly and dragonfly insect groups werethe first to fly. Since then, almost all insectgroups have included somemembers that

TIME OF THE GIANTSThe dragonfly look—alike,Tttpus, was agiant flying insect from Carboniferoustimes. Its fossils were found in a coalminein England.Another giant wasBojophlebia,Whichwas a mayflywith aWingspan of45cm. Protodiamphipnoa, abutterfly-like insect, lived in theCarboniferous Period, too. It had eye-spotson its wings tomake it look like a largeamphibian, and so frighten offpredators.

RIGHT FIRST TIMECockroaches also arrived very early. ThecockroachMoravamylacris is themostcommon invertebrate fossil found inCarboniferous rocks. Cockroaches havehardly changed in 300 million years.

1737

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hese prehistoric animalshadVery different lifestyles; they

~ Walked on land, swam in thesea or flew through the air. But they allkilled for food or lived on the remains ofdead animals.

All these animals ate meat.Whetherthey were huge carnivoreswith teethlike steak knives or birds with sharptalons, they hunted in order to survive.

NAME: Euparkeria NAME: Dimetrodon NAME: DiatrymaGROUP: reptile GROUP: mammal-like reptile GROUP: birdSIZE: Im long SIZE: 3m long SIZE: 2m tallLIVED: EarlyTriassic LIVED: Early Permian LIVED: Eocene

NAME:Clacloselache NAME: Cynognathus NAME:SmilodonGROUP: fish GROUP:mammal-like reptile GROUP: mammalSIZE: 1.2m long SIZE: 2m long SIZE: 2m longLIVED: LateDevonian LIVED: Early-MidTriassic LIVED: Pleistocene

NAME: Deinogalerix NAME:Diplocaulus NAME:ArchaeopteryxGROUP: mammal GROUP: amphibian GROUP: birdSIZE: 35cm long SIZE: 80cm long SIZE: 30-60cm longLIVED:Miocene LIVED: Early Permian LIVED: Late Jurassic

1742

NAME: lchthyostega NAME: Henodus NAME:HallucigeniaGROUP: amphibian GROUP: marine reptile GROUP: possiblyvelvet wormSIZE: Im long SIZE: Im long SIZE: 3cm longLIVED: LateDevonian LIVED: Late Triassic LIVED:MidCambrian

NAME:Anomalocaris NAME:Dunkleosteus NAME:HylonomusGROUP: unknown GROUP: fish GROUP: reptileSIZE: up to 60 cm long SIZE: up to 9m long SIZE: 20cm longLIVED:Cambrian LIVED: Devonian LIVED: Late Carboniferous

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PERMIAN PERIOD:290-245 MYA

‘ ‘ ‘ TRIASSIC PERIOD:NAME: Queizalcoatlus NAME:Pterygotus 245404MYAGROUP: ‘:1 tile terosaur) GROUP: arthro odSIZE: winflgcpgnrelelm

(PSIZE: 2.3m longp JURASSIC PERIOD‘

LIVED:Cretaceous LIVED:Silurian 204440MYA

CRETACEOUS PERIOD:I40-66 MYA

TERTIARY PERIOD:Palaeocene Epoch 66-56MYAEocene Epoch 56-35 MYAOligocene Epoch 35-23 MYAMiocene Epoch 23-6MYAPliocene Epoch 6-2 MYANAME:Xiphactinus NAME:Morganucodon

GROUP: fish GROUP:mammal QUATERNARY PERIOD:

LIVED: Cretaceous LIVED:Triassic

1743

Birds anddinosaursMany scientists now believemeat-eating dinosaurs were

‘

the ancestors of birds.

7 MISSINGV

’ LINK1‘33 .

T

Archaeopteryx‘

s was very birdlike,but it had reptile—like features,too. It had three claws on itsWings, spiky teeth and a long,bony tail. Many scientistsbelievedArchaeopteryx wasthemissing link thatprovedwhich group ofor more than 100 years,reptiles evolved into birds.experts have thought that

irds are the closest livingrelatives of dinosaurs. But it is only in the REPTILE RELATIONSlast 20 years that they have claimed Scientists agreed that birds did evolvedinosaurs actually gave rise to birds 150 from reptiles. They havemillion years ago.

’

A many things in common.Both lay shelled eggsand today’s birdshave scaly skin on

their legs andfeet.

FIRST FEATHERThe earliest known bird isArchaeopteryx, Which lived 150millionyears ago. The first evidence ofArchaeopteryx was a single, beautifullypreserved feather found in a limestonequarry in southernGermany in 1861. Soonafterwards, quarry workers discovered acomplete feathered skeleton nearby.

Most scientists arenow convinced that birdsevolved from dinosaurs.

_g$(,,,L ARGUING EXPERTS

‘ 54" '

Experts could not agreeaboutwhich group of reptileswas

the ancestor of today’s birds. Somebelieved modernbirdswere descendedfrom the archosaurs, a very general groupof reptiles,which evolved 340 millionyears ago. Others claimed ancientcrocodiles, which livedmore than200 millionyears ago, Were the

L;true ancestors.é’ GIANT BIRDS

'—

V I

»:~ s Dinosaurs andbirds have beenlinked for a long time. The first

dinosaur footprints were discovered inSome expertsbelieve thatA"~'h°e°P’9"YX 1802.They looked so birdlike that experts(b?'°_Wl ‘f"°‘"‘° believed they must have beenmade by'“"5'“9 ""k giant birds.When scientists discoveredzfmveen h Archaeopteryx, theyIHOSCUFS,SUC foundas Deinonychus(above), andbirds.

'$L‘f

more like afeathered dinosaur

‘than a bird. That evidence

.. \ was enough to convince many of themthat birds evolved from dinosaurs.

VITAL PROOFIn the 1970s an American professor,JohnOstrom, produced even more convincingthat Archaeopteryx

COUH I10? HY? evidence. He did it by studying all the' Archaeopteryx fossils that hadbeen found.

Experts agree that ll probably could not ProfessorOstrom discovered SO manyilap energetically into the sky like most modernbirds. Instead, itmight have used itswings to flysteadily along, or glide down from the trees.Or perhaps to ilutter upwards, briefly,

from the ground.

similarities betweenArchaeopteryx andsome of the smallermeat-eatingdinosaurs, he claimed there could nolonger be any doubt that dinosaurs werethe ancestors ofbirds.

1745

SPOTl'lNGTHE LINKSWhat could a prehistoric birdand a fierce,meat-eatingdinosaurpossibly have in common? A lotmorethan youmight think! Scientists havefound amazing similarities between theskeletons ofArchaeopteryx and thedinosaur Deinonychus. Follow the clues tofind out what they were.

in the wrists andffliblllfl/ hands.Both

creatures had three long, clawed fingers. _And, even more importantly, theymusthave moved them in just the same way.Archaeopteryx andDeinonychus each hada special moon-shaped bone in the wrist.It meant they could swivel the hand andgrip with the fingers very precisely.

The mostimportant clue lay

Scientists thought this Archaeopteryxskeleton (top) was a meat-eater called

Compsognathus (right).

Ms EBIRD BLUNDER

For nearly 20 yea rs, oneArchaeopteryxskeleton was thought to bea dinosaurskeleton. The fossilwaswrongly identifiedas Compsognathus because it looked solike the small, meat-eating dinosaur.

1746

ME’_ /

A

Deinonychus hada strange lowershoulder—blade bone. Itwas quite different fromthose ofother dinosaurs.But it was just the same asthat ofArchaeopteryx. Scientistsbelieve the oddly shapedbonemeant that the breastmuscleswere extra strong.

Archaeopteryxevolved into thebirds we seetoday, suchas thepigeon(left).

Thehind le s

and feet ofArchaeopteryxandDeinonychuswere Very alike.Bothhad long, slim back legs.And they each had a shortfirst toe, Which pointedbackwards. Many modern

"~‘“ birds have a; first toe like' this.

Try to find all thesimilarities betweenthis Deinonychusskeleton and theArchaeopteryx skeleton.

GOT IT! .gs W

These are just some of the clues that «L ’ ’ A ’

convinced many scientists that birds are4‘

T

the direct descendants of dinosaurs. ’

Deinonychus Was so likeArchaeopteryx Deinonychus and /

3:; x .

that some experts have even suggested Archaeopteryx also shared athat this dinosaurmight have had peculiar hip bone. No otherfeathers, too. But not everyone agrees. meat-eater had one like it.

1747

HISTORY IN PICTURES

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imagine the scene inMiocene Nebraska, USA.Aherd ofrhinoceroses isquietlygrazing. Suddenly, avolcano erupts,spittingoutmassive amounts ofhotash. The herd is

overcome bythe ash and the rhinoceroses collapse and die.Ten millionyears later, scientistsdiscovered theirskeletons, beautifully preserved bythe hotash.

QUETZALCOATLUS75 MYADiscovered in 1971and namedafter an Aztecgod, Quetzalcoatlus (l<let-zal-co_21’t-lus) was a giganticmeat-eatingpterosaur. Itlived in Texas, USA, in the CretaceousPeriodandwas the largest flying creatureknown so far. Although only part of its vastwinghas been found, experts think thatQuetzalcoatlus had a wingspan as wide as atennis court. Like a small aircraft it soaredin the air and cast a terrifying shadowacross the land.

RRHYNIELLA 400MYAThe first knownWingless insect,Rhyniella(1"i_n-ee-e_l-a)was as small as your fingernail.It was a springtail, a creature that lives insoil andflips into the air when it is startled.Rhyniella crawled around on six short legs.It lived in the DevonianPeriod in Rhynie,Scotland. The RhynieChert was a rockformation that was once the margin of ashallow pondwhich teemedwith animal life.Alongwith many other tiny creatures, ‘

Rhyniella was probably killedwhennearby volcanoes erupted.

as Que..031,

SCAPHONYX 200MYAScaphonyx (sca-f()_n-ix)was a sheep-sized reptile that lived in SouthAfrica

andBrazil in theMidTriassic Period.

It gathered seeds in itshooked beak andcrushed themwith flat cheekteeth.Scaphonyxscratched up rootswith its clawed feet.Scaphonyx means‘trough-shaped claw’.

SCUTOSAURUS 260MYAScutosaurus (sfl-toh-sza1_w-rus) lived inRussia in the Late PermianPeriod.As longas a small car, it stood on four pillar—like legsand ate plants with its small, saw-edgedteeth. Body armour on i ts back and spikeson its headprotectedScutosaurus from itsenemies. Its namemeans ‘shield reptile’.

SIVATHERIUM 20,000 YASivatherium (sfi-vah-thee-ree-um) was a

»\ giraffe-like animal that lived in SouthAfrica" andAsia in Pleistocene times.MaleSivatherium grew two pairs ofhorns.One pair was longandbranched andSivdtherium probably used them in contestswith othermales.

MYA =MILLION YEARS AGOYA=YEARS AGO "“

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ASK THE EXPERT -yourquestions answeredby Dr David NormanAndTIME DETECTIVEHISTORY IN PICTURES3-D GALLERY

PICTURE CREDITS: Front cover: Graham Rosewarne.|GDA 1737;Natural History Museum, London 1732,l 746 TR, i746 BR, 1751;NHPA 1734TR, i736,1737, 1744EL,TR; David Norman 1730; PeabodyMuseum oiNatural History 1746-7; DrPeterWellhoier1745 L;Zoological Society ofLondon 1747TL.Artwork: Black Hat 1752;Mike Dorey 1748/9; ErinEdwards/WLAA 1736/7;Angela Hargreaves/WLAA1744 BR,1745 TL; Tim Hayward/Bernard ThorntonAssociates T738/9; DeirdreMcHc1le BC;GrahamRosewarne 1729, 1731,1733; Tracy-Anne S1ich/WLAA 1734/5;SteveWhite 1740/i . $potter'sGuide1742/3:Graham Berry; Brin Edwards/WLAA;TimHayward/Bernard Thornton Associates; PhillipHood/WLAA;NHM/JohnSiloloick; Nick Pike/WLAA;James Robins; Graham Rosewarne; Peter DavidScott/WLAA; Chris Turnloull/WLAA; ChrisWest/Black Hat.

Can youtellwhichdinosaur produced go

whichparticular fossildropping?A fossil dropping is called a coprolite. Inorder to tellwhich dinosaur produced aparticular coprolite, we would need to finda well-preserved dinosaur with coprolitesin its digestive system. So far, this hasnot happened.

Howwouldweknow ifdinosaurshad hairorfeathers?Wewould only know for certainunderexceptional conditions. Hair and featherstend to drop offor rot before fossilizationhas time to begin.Wewere able to provethatArchaeopteryx hadfeathers because

the impressionof a skeletonand its featherswas foundpreserved inmud. The fewimpressionsWe

have ofdinosaurskin show

‘ it to bethe scalycovering

typical ofreptiles.

DrDavid NormanofCambridgeUniversity answers yourdinosaur questions a

/ - 4

Why areadinosaur’sfront legs always

shorterthan itshind legs.

he main reason is that the back legs arethe ones that provide all the walkingpower.The large tailmuscles, whichmovethe legs, are attached to the back legs. Thesecond reason is that most ofa dinosaur’sWeight is carried through the hips to theback legs - because of the tail, there ismore weight at the back of the body.

Were there anyant-eatingdinosaurs?Ant— or termite-eaters usually have longsticky tongues, long snouts and few teeth.We have not found a dinosaur that fits thisdescription so it is unlikely that dinosaursate ants ortermites.This ispuzzlingbecausetermites andants are Enutritious, andWe know fromfossil recordsthat termiteslived at the

V

same time asdinosaurs.

A",A:.n-...'7 3

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