(Mesozoic Era, 251 million to 65 million years ago)

251 million years ago, a super asteroid hit the earth and opened the "door" to the age of dinosaurs. The earth has entered the age of dinosaurs. The Age of Dinosaurs is the Mesozoic Era, which includes three eras: the Triassic (251 million to 205 million years ago), the Jurassic (205 million to 137 million years ago), and the Cretaceous (137 million to 65 million years ago). ). This impact event may be hundreds of times larger than the impact event that wiped out the dinosaur population 65 million years ago, because this event caused the complete extinction of 80% of species on the earth (90% of marine life and 70% of land life). This extraordinary impact event brought a huge amount of extraterrestrial matter. Some of the extraterrestrial matter may have entered the earth's organisms in extremely trace amounts (such as ions) through the food chain, and embedded itself in the genetic chain of some organisms, causing Gene sequence mutations caused certain creatures (such as primitive reptiles) to become a generation of "celestial monsters" - dinosaurs, and the earth entered the age of dinosaurs. Therefore, the age of dinosaurs can also be said to be an age of genetic mutation. If not, how can we explain the following phenomena?

6.5.1 Why did seismosaurus grow so big

Can you imagine how big seismosaurus is? ?It is actually a super dinosaur that is 52 meters long, 18 meters high and weighs 130 tons. It is as long as two train cars, 22 meters longer than the largest animal in the modern ocean, the blue whale (the largest blue whale is about 30 meters long), taller than a 6-story building (the height of a building is measured in 3 meters), and taller than 16 elephants are even heavier (the largest weighs 8 tons). When they stamp their feet, the earth will tremble, so they are called Zhenlong. Seismosaurus lived in the Late Jurassic, 162 million to 136 million years ago. The larger ones include Diplodocus, which was found in Colorado, USA, and lived in the Jurassic Period. It is 25 to 30 meters long and weighs 30 tons; Brachiosaurus, which lived in the Jurassic Period, is 24.4 meters long and weighs 55 tons. ; Brontosaurus, which lived in the Jurassic period, is 24 meters long and weighs 30 tons; Mamenchisaurus, which was first discovered in Sichuan and lived in the late Jurassic period, is 22 meters long, 3 meters wide, 6 meters high and weighs about 20 tons. ton. How do you explain why they grew so big? Can you find animals bigger than them?

Seismosaurus

Mamenchisaurus

6.5 .2 Why did Westenyx grow so small

What kind of dragon is the smallest dinosaur? It should be a transitional type from a dragon to a bird. The individual should be relatively small and may be covered with "feathers" ". Therefore, sometimes they may be mistakenly called dragon birds, but they are actually bird-like dragons. Therefore, the correct title should be Bird Dragon. In March 209, Canadian paleontologists discovered the world's smallest, chicken-like "mini" dinosaur. It was shaped like a bird, with jaws like pincers, short arms, thin legs, and large claws. It was named Xinyonychus Ishii. Westyonychus eats insects and can climb trees. It may be related to the feathered dinosaur Sinosaurus discovered in my country. Westonychus was probably not as big as a paw of Seismosaurus. In the era of gigantic dinosaurs, why did it grow so small?

Sistonychus elegans

6.5.3 Why is Velociraptor so ferocious

Although Velociraptor was small, only as big as a turkey, it had a large brain and was the most intelligent dragon at the time. Its teeth are like guillotines, serrated and extremely sharp; its four claws are curved and faster than a sickle. It is more ferocious than a hungry wolf. The moment it catches its prey, it uses its extremely sharp front claws to cut off the prey's throat and veins in the neck, killing the prey with one claw. It was the most ferocious carnivorous dinosaur in the age of dinosaurs, so it was called Velociraptor. At that time, the dinosaurs' legs trembled when they heard the cry of the Velociraptor. After regaining consciousness for a moment, he immediately fled with all his might. But no one can escape, because the Velociraptor can run faster than the wolf, with a running speed of more than 60 kilometers per hour. Velociraptor was found in Mongolia and North America and lived in the Late Cretaceous. In addition to Velociraptor, the more ferocious dinosaurs include Deinonychus. Deinonychus was found in North America and lived in the Early Cretaceous.

The four claws of Deinonychus were like high-speed cutting machines, hence the name Deinonychus. Although Deinonychus is larger than Velociraptor, its IQ is lower than Velociraptor, and its speed is not as fast as Velociraptor, so it is slightly inferior. But like wolves, they use group attack tactics. Anyone surrounded by them will be drawn into a circle of death by the Lord of Hell. Therefore, it is a secondary "killer". In addition, Giganotosaurus was also very fierce. It lived in Argentina during the Early Cretaceous. It was 13 meters long, weighed 7 tons, and had knife-like teeth, 20 centimeters long; Carcharodontosaurus was 11 meters long, weighed 7 tons, and had sharp teeth. Shark teeth are 20 centimeters long; Tyrannosaurus rex lived in the United States, Canada, China, Mongolia and other places at the end of the Cretaceous period. It is 17 meters long, 6 meters high, and weighs 7 tons. The teeth are 20 centimeters long and extremely sharp. How could there be so many ferocious dinosaurs at that time?

Velociraptor

Tyrannosaurus Rex

6.5.4 Why is Meiliosaurus so docile

Meilong was discovered in Liaoning Province, China. It lived in the Early Cretaceous. When it was discovered, it looked like a sleeping swan and was 53 centimeters long. However, it was a carnivorous dinosaur. It sleeps like a kitten and is as cute as a dog or a cat.

Meilong

6.5.5 How could Baotoulong protect itself so tightly?

Baotoulong lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous and was about 6 years old. Rice, weighing 2 tons, plant-eating. It was covered with thick armor from head to tail and had spikes, making it difficult for carnivorous dinosaurs to eat it. What's even better is that there is a heavy hammer at the end of it, like a meteor hammer. Anyone who is hit will be injured if they don't die. Therefore, when many carnivorous dinosaurs saw it, they shook their heads and left. Baotoulong also has a "brother" called Ankylosaurus, which lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous. It is 8 meters long, weighs 4.5 tons, and eats plants. Once it encounters an enemy, it will immediately lie down on the ground, its whole body like a mountain of knives, making it intimidating to powerful enemies. Herbivorous dinosaurs with strong defensive functions include Stegosaurus, which lived in North America, Europe, China and other places during the Jurassic Period. It is 12 meters long, 7 meters high, and weighs 4 tons. It has a dagger-shaped bone plate on its back and a tail The four needle-like bone spurs can hit invading enemies; Ceratopsaurus lived in America and other places during the Late Cretaceous. It was 2 to 3 meters long and weighed about 300 kilograms. It had horns on its head and a bone "shawl" on its neck. "Both can be used for defense; Shulong lived in Sichuan, my country, in the middle Jurassic period. It is 12 meters long and weighs 8 tons. Its tail hammer is as big as a child's football and is its unique self-defense weapon. Why do dinosaurs have so many advanced weapons to protect themselves?

Baocephalosaurus

Ankylosaurus

Ceratosaurus

Stegosaurus

6.5.6 Why are there so many weird-looking terrestrial dinosaurs

In addition to the dinosaurs mentioned above, there are many weird-looking dinosaurs. Such as the bison dragon with horns on its head, the oviraptor that was unjustly accused of stealing eggs, the bird-faced dragon with a bird-like head, the emu-like dragon with a head like an emu, the Styracosaurus with horns on its nose and spines on its head, wearing a The Qingdao dragon with a "crown", the Allosaurus with two rows of "cockscombs" on its head, the Hu's Yaosaurus with only four beautiful tail feathers but no feathers anywhere else on its body, and the weird-looking Chinese Hunter Dragon.

Where did their strange appearance come from?

Bisonosaurus, which lived in the late Cretaceous period, is 6 meters long and 1 meter high. It has three large horns on its head and a shield on its neck, with teeth on the edge of the shield. Bone protrusion, native to Montana, USA

Bird-faced dragon, carnivorous, about 1 meter long, native to Mongolia, like an ostrich with a long tail

Oviraptorosaurus lived in the late Cretaceous. It was carnivorous. It was about 2.4 meters long and weighed about 35 kilograms. It was originally thought that it would steal the eggs of other dinosaurs, but it was not.

It was similar to Emuosaurus and lived in the Cretaceous. In the late Era, it was carnivorous. It was 3.5 meters long and weighed about 125 kilograms. It was native to Alberta, Canada.

Styracosaurus was 5.5 meters long and weighed 2.7 tons. It was plant-eating and its nose horns could attack intruders. The neck shield can prevent the enemy from biting. It lived in the Late Cretaceous and was native to Alberta, Canada and Montana, the United States.

Allosaurus, 12 meters long, lived in the Late Pygmy Luo Shi - Early Cretaceous, with teeth like daggers, carnivorous, extremely ferocious, running speed of 8 kilometers/hour, native to China, Australia, Africa, North America and other places

Yaolong Hu's body 20 cm long, with tail feathers 20 cm long, the size of a pigeon, a carnivorous, theropod dinosaur, probably the closest dinosaur to birds, but it does not have the ability to fly and does not have the "feathers" to fly. It lived among 176 million ~Middle and Late Jurassic 146 million years ago

Chinese Hunter Dragon, 1 meter long, 5 kilograms in weight, carnivorous, possibly covered with "feathers", with transitional characteristics from dragon to bird, lived in the early Liaoning, China during the Cretaceous

Qingdaoosaurus, about 9 meters long, was a herbivore, living in Qingdao, Shandong, China during the Late Cretaceous

6.5.7 None of the living reptiles are very long Feathers, why do some dinosaurs have feathers?

In 1996, a farmer in western Liaoning, China discovered an extremely exquisite fossil. It divides the fossil into two parts: one is the positive type and the other is the negative type, and then gives them to paleontologists respectively. This fossil looks like a dragon (dinosaur), but it also has "feathers", so it looks like a bird, so it was named Sinosauropteryx. The dragon bird is 1 meter long and weighs 13 kilograms. It eats meat. The dragon bird in the fossil is kicking on the ground with its hind feet and its tail is pointing upwards, just like a rooster crowing, which is lifelike. Its discovery caused a global sensation. Because, if it is a bird, it is the oldest and most primitive bird, and should be the "grandfather" of Archaeopteryx. Archaeopteryx was discovered in Bavaria, Germany in 1861. It has been 135 years since 1996. No other origin of Archaeopteryx or similar animals has been found anywhere in the world, so some people suspect that it is a fake. The emergence of Sinosauropteryx not only "cleared the way and rectified the name" of Archaeopteryx, but also found its "ancestor". Sinosaurus resurrects the theory that birds evolved from dinosaurs. While scientists advocating the "dragon-bird" theory were high-fiving each other and staying up all night, the scientist who obtained the holotype of the fossil published an article arguing that it was not a bird, but a dragon, and a genuine dinosaur belonging to the theropod class. . Because its body shape and size are very similar to "Compsognathus", a small theropod dinosaur from Germany. It was a dinosaur that ran on two legs. The "feathers" are not feathers, but derivatives of its epidermis. — Horny setae. Since it is a dragon, can we change the name to Sinornithosaurus? No, because in the world of paleontology, there is an "International Code of Nomenclature", which stipulates: Whoever names the name first will listen, and no one can change it. , even the namer himself is no exception. If it is changed, it will be messed up and the "root" will no longer be found.

This unexpected battle between dragons and birds was quite fierce, but fruitful. It enabled our country's paleontologists to find many "feathered" dinosaurs on the land of the motherland. , found many dinosaur-bird transitional fossils, and also discovered many real bird fossils, which made my country's research on the origin of birds jump to the forefront of the world, and also made both sides of the debate become global dinosaurs and birds. To be a leader in the field of research is a century-old dream of Chinese paleontologists.

The feathered dinosaurs discovered by Chinese paleontologists are all outstanding and have attracted global attention. In addition to Sinosauropteryx, they also include Archeopteryx, Taipteryx, Beipiaoosaurus, Sinornithosaurus, Microraptor, and Dromosaurus.

Are these feathered dinosaurs birds or dragons? Paleontologists will do their best to continue research. However, there is still an important question here: Why did these dinosaurs suddenly grow feathers, while no living reptiles have feathers?

Sinosauropteryx is not a bird, but a dragon. "Feathered" theropod dinosaurs may be the transitional type from dinosaurs to birds. They can run but cannot fly. They are 1 meter long and weigh 13 kilograms. They eat meat and lived in China during the Early Cretaceous Period 145 million to 99 million years ago. Rehe, Liaoning

Beipiaoosaurus, a feathered dinosaur, is 2.2 meters long, 0.8 meters high, and weighs 85 kilograms. It is a herbivore and lived in western Liaoning, China during the Early Cretaceous 125 million years ago

Sinosauropteryx Fossils (contributed by Chen Piji)

A feathered dinosaur - Protoarcheopteryx, 1 meter long, 10 kilograms in weight, as big as a turkey, carnivorous, living in the Early Cretaceous Liaoxi, China

Feathered dinosaur-Tailbird, with wings about 1 meter long, carnivorous, lived in Liaoxi, China during the Early Cretaceous

Feathered dinosaur- —Microraptor, about 40 centimeters long, petite, carnivorous, living in western Liaoning, China during the Early Cretaceous

Feathered dinosaur-Dromosaurus, more than 80 centimeters long, made of chalk hundreds of millions of years ago

Small body, carnivorous, lived in 1.3

6.5.8 Why are there so many types of dinosaurs

Do you know how many types of dinosaurs there are? According to paleontology According to rough statistics by scientists, there are probably more than 1,000 species discovered. Dinosaur experts estimate that there were at least 500,000 species of dinosaurs living on the earth at that time, but we have not discovered them all yet. Why are there so many dinosaurs, such high species diversity, and such rich genetic diversity?

6.5.9 Are pterosaurs dinosaurs? Why can’t the ancestors of pterosaurs be found?

Pterosaurs were the second animals to fly into the sky after insects, and the first vertebrates to soar in the blue sky.

Pterosaur was the king of the air in the dinosaur era. It is often mistaken for an aerial dinosaur, but it is not. It is just a flying reptile with wing membranes that function like bird wings, and it flies on its wing membranes like a bat. There are many types of pterosaurs, at least more than 120 species. The big ones are as big as an American F-16 fighter jet, such as the 12-meter-long feathered serpent pterosaur; the smaller ones are as small as a sparrow, and the feathers of the reclusive forest pterosaur are only 25 centimeters. Pterosaurs, like dinosaurs, were born and died together. They appeared in the Late Triassic 228 million years ago and became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous 65 million years ago.

But are pterosaurs related to dinosaurs? Where does pterosaurs belong in the evolutionary chain? Does it have its place? Where did pterosaurs come from? Who are its ancestors?

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Hermit Forest Pterosaur

Quadeed Serpent Pterosaur

Himalayan Ichthyosaurus, 10 meters long, weighing 3 tons, carnivorous, lived in China in the late Triassic period Tibet

6.5.10 Is the ichthyosaur a dinosaur? Who is its ancestor?

The ichthyosaur is also mistaken for a dinosaur by many people. In fact, it is a reptile that lives in the ocean. However, some of them are different from today's marine iguanas. Today's marine iguanas must climb to the shore to bask in the sun from time to time to maintain their body temperature; ichthyosaurs do not need to, they swim like fish In sea water, it can swim at a speed of 4 kilometers per hour and dive to a depth of 500 meters. Ichthyosaurs are generally 2 to 4 meters long, with the largest reaching 15 meters, such as the Himalayan Ichthyosaurus from the Late Triassic; the smallest is 70 centimeters, such as the Guishanchaohuosaurus from the Early Triassic. Ichthyosaurs weighed several kilograms to dozens of tons and were carnivorous. It appeared in the Middle Triassic 245 million years ago, 20 million years earlier than the dinosaurs. It became extinct 90 million years ago, 25 million years earlier than the dinosaurs. Did the ichthyosaur evolve from a terrestrial reptile? How did it suddenly change from "lizard-shaped" to "fish-shaped"? How did it mutate from oviparous to viviparous? Who is its ancestor?

6.5.11 Is the plesiosaur a dinosaur? Why does it have stomach stones? Is it a distant ancestor of birds?

Like the ichthyosaur, the plesiosaur is often misunderstood They think they are dinosaurs in the sea, but in fact they are all reptiles living in the sea, and they are not dinosaurs.

But there are some differences between plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs. Ichthyosaurs are very thorough and never return to land after going to the sea. However, plesiosaurs are a bit "disconnected" and will climb to the shore to rest from time to time before returning to land. Spawning and reproduction. Plesiosaurs were carnivorous, eating fish, shrimp, crabs, sea shells and nautilus. They appeared in the Late Triassic, 228 million to 199 million years ago, and became extinct in the Late Cretaceous, 70 million to 65 million years ago.

Plesiosaurs are very different from ichthyosaurs in that their stomachs, like those of chickens, ducks, geese, and birds, also contain gastroliths. Therefore, some people speculate that they may be the distant ancestors of birds, because the transitional types of dragons and birds and primitive birds have gastroliths. Some people think this is impossible because plesiosaurs are marine reptiles that evolved from terrestrial reptiles. Therefore, it is definitely not a distant ancestor of birds. It swallows pebbles into its stomach to weigh them down so that it can dive to the bottom of the sea in search of food. Some people think that it is impossible for fish to dive and ballast and float to reduce the cabin like a submarine. It swallows pebbles when diving to the bottom of the sea and spits out pebbles when it floats to the surface. So why are there cobblestones - gastroliths - in the stomach of plesiosaurs? How to solve this mystery?

Plesiosaurs

6.5.12 Why is the petite Guizhou dragon so short-lived

Guizhouosaurus is not a dinosaur. It is a marine reptile. It may sometimes crawl into the swamps of the continental margin. Guizhousaurus is very small, with a body length of only 15 to 30 centimeters, usually about 20 centimeters. The largest dinosaur, Seismosaurus, is 52 meters long, 260 times longer than Guizhousaurus. Guizhousaurus may only be as big as one of its toes. Therefore, Guizhoulong was a very petite reptile at that time. Guizhou dragons are omnivorous, but mainly eat fish. In February 2002, a specimen of Guizhousaurus was discovered, with its fetus still hidden on both sides of the body's waist, indicating that Guizhousaurus is an ovoviviparous reptile and can directly give birth to young individuals. Guizhouosaurus appeared in the late Middle Triassic 230 million years ago, and was completely extinct by the end of the Middle Triassic 220 million years ago. It only lasted 10 million years, while other Mesozoic reptiles generally lasted 180 million years. Year, why was the "life" of Guizhou dragon so short?

Guizhou dragon

6.5.13 How could there be so many birds in the age of dinosaurs

Since the Earth From its birth 4.6 billion years ago to 161 million years ago, a long period of 4.439 billion years, there were no shadows of birds in the sky and no birdsong in the woods. It was a world where "music" could not be heard. Although it was full of life, But it lacks a lot of interest. In the Late Jurassic 161 million years ago, a large number of birds appeared like springs, such as Archeopteryx, Confucius Birds, Jinzhou Birds, Yandang Birds, Liaoxi Birds, etc. They flew and sang, playing the first movement since the birth of the earth. . How many species of birds were there at that time? We still don't know yet, because the birds were flying in the sky, and it was really a once-in-a-lifetime chance for them to fall to the ground and become fossils. However, we know that there are now more than 9,000 species of birds in the world (more than 1,300 species in my country). They are all descendants of Jurassic birds. Their "songs" have been sung to this day, with 161 million people singing them. Year. However, there have been no birds for more than 4.4 billion years. Why did so many birds suddenly appear in the age of dinosaurs?

The Sage Confucius Bird

The Long-tailed Geese

Print Stone Archeopteryx

Petite Liaoxi Bird

Sun's Confucius Bird (according to Hou Lianhai, 2003)

All of the above problems, if it were not for genes, Caused by the "fireworks" evolution caused by large mutations, what other theory can explain it? You see, the largest dinosaur, Seismosaurus, is as long as two train cars, while the smallest dinosaur, Westenyx It's only about the size of a small chicken, and probably only weighs 0.5 kilograms at most. In terms of mass, Zhensaurus is 260,000 times that of Westenyx. The same kind of species is so different, it's really unique and incredible. Let’s take a look at birds that are also very different. The largest bird, the ostrich, weighs 160 kilograms; the smallest bird, the hummingbird, weighs 2 grams. The mass (weight) of the ostrich is only 80,000 times that of the hummingbird.

Isn't the huge difference between Seismosaurus and Westenyonychus caused by a major genetic mutation?

There are also Seismosaurus and other large dinosaurs, which are herbivorous animals. How much is eaten? Won't the plants be eaten up by them? No. Because that was also an era of unusual plant development. Gymnosperms (cycads, ginkgo, conifers, etc.), ferns, and herbs were all very luxuriant. There were forests and swamps in groups, enough for dinosaurs to eat. Therefore, it was still an important coal-forming period, and many coal fields in the world were formed at that time. Other macroscopic animals such as starfish, ammonites, fish and insects, and microscopic animals such as foraminifera and ostracods have all developed greatly.