These giants dominated our planet for more than 160 million years, but at the end of the Cretaceous they completely disappeared as a species. Until now, scientists are finding the remains of dinosaurs, which completely disappeared as a species about 66 million years ago. And even now, their size is amazing!

In total, paleontologists count more than 1000 species of dinosaurs, but only ten of them can be distinguished by a special feature. They do not have outstanding size, are not bloodthirsty, but just very strange.

10 Amargasaurus

This species was first described in 1991, after José Bonaparte discovered the remains in the La Amarga quarry. Distinctive feature this dinosaur - two rows of spikes on the neck and back, about 65 centimeters long. There are no other outstanding qualities in Amargasaurus.

Scientists are still arguing why there were spikes on the back of this lizard. This design significantly reduced the dinosaur's mobility, so protection from predators was in doubt. We can definitely say that the male amagazaurus had longer spikes, which means it used them for mating games.

9 Concavator

This carnivorous dinosaur was first discovered in 2003, and scientists are still arguing over its strange skeleton. The concavator had a small body about 6 meters long and a strange feature - a hump between the 11th and 12th vertebrae of the skeleton.

The hump did not carry any useful function, just like the bumps in the bones of the forearms of the concavenator. But paleontologists were able to take a fresh look at the theory of the relationship between birds and dinosaurs, because before that, no rudiments of feathers were observed in any relative of this dinosaur.

8 Cosmoceratops

Another strange representative of this species belongs to the horned dinosaurs. Perhaps this is where all its advantages ended. The name Kosmoceratops does not come from the word kosmos, but means richly decorated in ancient Greek.

And it really is very richly decorated! Cosmoceratops had 15 horns, and by their number it is the most equipped dinosaur. True, there was no point in them, except that beautiful horns came in handy during mating games.

7 Kulindadromeus zabaikalsky

This miracle animal, as the name implies, was discovered in Russia, in the Kulinda valley in 2010. Since then, the minds of scientists have not stopped digesting information, because culindadronius has violated every conceivable theory about dinosaurs.

It belongs to the group of ornithischian dinosaurs, but does not have wings (or their rudiments). All previously found representatives of this group did not even have the beginnings of feathers, which caused discussions in scientific worlds. So far, it has been possible to establish that feathers were used by this dinosaur to keep warm and for mating games.

6 Notronich

This wonderful dinosaur belongs to the genus of therapods (predators), but is a herbivore. His remains were discovered in 1998 on a ranch in New Mexico. It had a rather impressive weight - 5.1 tons and a height of about 5 meters.

Now imagine a giant sloth standing on the ground. This is exactly what this dinosaur looked like, which greatly surprised paleontologists. Its huge claws were a completely unnecessary accessory given its herbivory. Nootronichus was very, very slow because of the claws…

5 Oryctodromeus

This ornithischian dinosaur had a very unusual property for its species. Small, only 2.1 meters long and 22 kg in weight, he looked like a modern mole or rabbit.

Yes, the oryctodromeus dug minks and hid in them from predators. It looks like a pretty cute wombat, only many times larger. The sight, obviously, was funny - a dinosaur that lives in a hole and digs the ground with its claws!

4 Ganzhousaurus

This species was discovered in the province of the same name in China in 2013. Scientifically, it is called Qianzhousaurus, and in everyday life - "pinocchio dinosaur". In fact, he is a tyrannosaurus rex, only slightly modified.

The fact is that the ganzhousaurus has a very long jaw, the structure of which defies explanation. Their cousins, tyrannosaurs, have a very massive skull that can withstand powerful blows. Why would a Pinocchio dinosaur with the same body structure have a long jaw that cannot withstand the load is a real mystery.

3 Rhinorex

This species belongs to the genus of herbivorous hadrosaurids, but differs from them in one feature in the structure of the skull. Rhinorex has just a huge nasal plate, which defies any explanation.

The purpose of such a nose in this dinosaur has been discussed by scientists for many years. Like his relatives, he did not have a special sense of smell, so such a growth on his nose is meaningless from the point of view of convenience. The duck-billed dinosaur is still studied and researched by paleontologists.

2 Stygomoloch

Oh, his name is already intimidating - in translation it is "horned demon from the infernal river." This herbivorous dinosaur had a domed skull with horns on the back.

The name Stygimoloch comes from mythology - Moloch (Semitic deity) and Styx (nymph in Hades). Scientists are still arguing why he needed such a strange skull and came to the conclusion that these are again mating games. Stygomoloch fought with rivals with the help of a convex forehead and horns.

1 Yutyrannus

This type of dinosaur was related to the tyrannosaurus rex, although the difference is immediately visible. It was covered with short, chicken-like feathers, about 15 centimeters long. He was a predator, although at first glance, he did not look at all intimidating in these feathers.

At the same time, he had a considerable weight of about two tons. The findings of such dinosaurs are increasingly leading scientists to the idea that all representatives of this species first had feathers, and then lost them during evolution.

Mankind is lucky that these powerful creatures died out many millions of years ago. Even the strangest and most ridiculous of them could destroy a person with one blow.

- †Dinosaurs Skeletons of various dinosaurs ... Wikipedia

When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth ... Wikipedia

This article is proposed for deletion. An explanation of the reasons and the corresponding discussion can be found on the Wikipedia page: To be deleted / August 8, 2012. While the process of discussion ... Wikipedia

- ? † Dinosaurs Tyrannosaurus Rex Skeleton Scientific Classification Kingdom: Animals ... Wikipedia

Barnum Brown Barnum Brown D ... Wikipedia

- ? † Edmontosaurus ... Wikipedia

English Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs ... Wikipedia

- ? † Dinosauromorph Dromomeron ... Wikipedia

- ? † Psittacosaurus ... Wikipedia

"Bird" redirects here; see also other meanings. Birds 18 ... Wikipedia

Books

• Giant Children's Illustrated Dictionary, Alekseeva Varvara Konstantinovna, Likso Vyacheslav Vladimirovich, Vaitkene Lyubov Dmitrievna. What kind of encyclopedias have not been written - about technology, animals, space, great people, grandiose historical events. And much more! But there is a special type of universal encyclopedias, in ...
• A large children's illustrated dictionary about everything in the world, Mernikov Andrey Gennadievich, Likso Vyacheslav Vladimirovich, Vaitkene Lyubov Dmitrievna, Alekseeva Varvara Konstantinovna. What kind of encyclopedias have not been written - about technology, animals, space, great people, grandiose historical events. And much more! But there is a special type of universal encyclopedias, in ...
• A large children's illustrated dictionary about everything in the world, Alekseeva V.K.. What kind of encyclopedias have not been written - about technology, animals, space, great people, grandiose historical events. And much more! But there is a special type of universal encyclopedias, in ...

Can you imagine what the dinosaurs looked like when they ruled this land many years ago? Let me answer this question. Some species of dinosaurs, once the largest creatures on the planet, were as tall as a four-story building and weighed more than the combined weight of a hundred cars.

Interested? Much more is known about dinosaurs. interesting facts. As you may have guessed, it is these prehistoric reptiles that we will talk about today on the site about animals. We will tell you what groups dinosaurs are divided into, about their evolution, and also about hypotheses why dinosaurs became extinct.

These giant creatures get their name from the Greek and Latin. talking in simple terms, dinosaur means "terrible lizard".

They are usually named according to their body features, the location where they were found, or after the person involved in their discovery. The name usually consists of two Greek or Latin words or a combination of both.

Types of dinosaurs. All dinosaurs were not alike. Their eating habits were different, they were of different sizes, the walking style of some was different from others, there were many more features.

Dinosaur groups

sauropods- a group of herbivorous dinosaurs, which was distinguished by the most impressive size among the rest - a large body, a long tail and a neck, which, like a giraffe, helped to get tree foliage for food.

Theropods- carnivorous dinosaurs. This group of predators had excellent eyesight, sharp teeth and no less sharp claws, which were very helpful in hunting.

Large herbivorous dinosaurs with huge bone plates located along a long spine. It is believed that these spikes served not only as a deterrent for predators, visually increasing the size of the dinosaur, but also participated in the processes of thermoregulation due to the huge number of blood vessels located in them.

Brachiosaurus- huge dinosaurs that lived in herds. Their dimensions can be compared with two double-decker buses stacked on top of each other. Like all sauropods, they had a long neck that helped them get juicy foliage from tall trees.

Some dinosaurs preferred to move exclusively on two legs, so they were called bipedal, while others walked only on four. But there were species that could freely move both on two and on four legs.

Dinosaur evolution

Dinosaurs appeared about 230 million years ago, their ancestors are reptiles that inhabited the water expanses of the Earth. In the process of evolution, terrestrial dinosaur species arose. Their appearance very different from the more primitive reptiles. Even now, no one can say for sure why such changes occurred. But one thing is clear - as a result of evolution, the strongest survive. And only a small percentage is due to chance.

The first dinosaurs were small (about 10 to 15 feet long) and slender in build. They moved quickly on two legs. For the first time their remains were discovered in the last century in Madagascar, not far from the coast of South Africa.

Eoraptor is one of the very first dinosaurs, which appeared about 228 million years ago. It is no larger than a dog in size, but, nevertheless, it was a predator that moved quickly on two legs.

Not all prehistoric animals were dinosaurs. In addition to them, there were many other representatives of the fauna.

Dinosaurs lived exclusively on land. None of them lived in the sea or flew. True, some carnivorous species developed feathers over time and evolved into birds.

Not all dinosaurs were huge. Among them there were also small specimens. The smallest was about the size of a chicken, which is why it was called compsognathus.

Birds are the only surviving descendants of dinosaurs. Humans themselves, as most experts suggest, never coexisted with dinosaurs.

The number of teeth in each species of dinosaur was completely different. Some did not have them at all, others had 50-60 thick teeth resembling a cone in shape. But hadrosaurs had the most teeth - about 960. An interesting fact is that if an animal lost or broke a tooth, a new one always grew in its place.

The life span of different types dinosaurs were very different. large species could live up to 100 years, while more small dinosaurs it was significantly shorter.

Why did dinosaurs become extinct?

Extinction is the process of extinction of entire animal species. This occurs when the death rate exceeds the birth rate and is considered a natural result of evolution. That is, if organisms cannot adapt to the conditions of existence in environment, they disappear.

Dinosaurs died out about 65 million years ago as a result of drastic climatic changes that appeared after a large asteroid collided with the Earth. This is the most popular theory explaining the death of dinosaurs.

It is believed that a large asteroid crashed into the Earth at great speed. Its dimensions were about 10 km in diameter. Because of this, a wave of earthquakes passed, raising clouds of dust, which caused the death of dinosaurs.

According to another theory, a severe cooling set in on Earth, and animals, having no feathers or fur, could not survive in such climatic conditions.

To date, it is believed that only birds have retained some characteristics inherent in the distant past dinosaurs.

Fossil bones have been found on every continent without exception. It is quite possible, it may even be somewhere near you.

It is no secret that during the existence of our planet the world of flora and fauna has changed several times. Dinosaurs did not survive to our times, but their existence is confirmed by numerous excavations.

This article is intended for persons over 18 years of age.

Are you over 18 already?

Types of dinosaurs, their classification

Paleontologists claim that dinosaurs inhabited our planet for over a hundred million years. Scientists came to such conclusions after many years of excavations, which allowed them to invade the bowels of the earth and find numerous remains of giant birds and animals there. What was the reality in those days, one can only guess.

Today we will take a closer look at what varieties of dinosaurs are, and what information about them is available today. In general, when you start to be interested in these animals, it is amazing how much paleontologists know, and no one has ever seen these animals with their own eyes. Now these are the heroes of horror films, fairy tales for children, and so on, it is thanks to the artists that we have a clear idea of ​​​​how such unusual creatures really looked like. Very often different dinosaurs are compared to dragons.

Scientists, unfortunately, have not been able to come to a unanimous conclusion why dinosaurs suddenly died out on our planet. Although in that era not only dinosaurs disappeared, but also many inhabitants of the underwater world. One theory says that it is not the Earth that has changed dramatically climatic conditions, and dinosaurs could not live in a new environment, so one by one they began to die. The second theory (more realistic) says that 65 million years ago a huge asteroid crashed into our planet, which destroyed many earthly creatures.

We will not go into details about why huge creatures disappeared from the face of the Earth, it will be much more interesting to talk about what paleontologists know today. And they know a lot, from the remains they managed to establish which dinosaurs existed, to report approximately how many species there were, and also to give them certain names.

For the first time, the English biologist Richard Owen spoke about dinosaurs, it was he who called animals by this term (by the way, “dinosaur” is translated from Greek as a terrible lizard). Until 1843, scientists did not put forward theories about the existence of dinosaurs. Their remains were attributed to either dragons or other giant mythical animals.

Now the list of species is simply huge and each genus has its own name. For example, you will be interested to know what are the two largest and most ancient groups of these animals. Maybe the names will seem funny to someone, but these are lizard and ornithischian creatures. Next, we list the most famous and, in our opinion, the main species or types of dinosaurs. Do not be surprised that representatives of the most famous breeds could perfectly swim, fly, and not just move on land. A lot of information was studied by scientists before they could draw conclusions that dinosaurs can be divided into such groups:

• predatory;
• herbivores;
• flying;
• water.

Paleontologists knew exactly how to distinguish one type from another, they carried out more and more research, as a result of which the world learned about trinosaurs, ichthosaurs, pliosaurs, tyrannosaurs, ornithocheirs and so on.

The exact number of species of dinosaurs that existed cannot be established, and it is unlikely that this will ever be known. There are many nuances in the study of fossils. The number of varieties is said to range from 250 to 550 and these numbers are constantly changing. For example, some species have only been identified from the excavation of a single tooth or vertebra. Over time, scientists realize that some species that were previously considered different can actually be attributed to the same thing. So no one can draw firm conclusions. Perhaps most types of dinosaurs exist only in the fantasy of paleontologists and other sensationalists. But since these huge creatures have disappeared from our planet, it means that it was necessary. Nothing happens by chance, and especially the extinction of real giant predators.

Swimming dinosaur: myth or reality?

Paleontologists say that aquatic dinosaurs did exist. To be honest, the population of the seas and oceans in those days was not so harmless. Aquatic fish dinosaurs would happily eat everyone. And they can not even compare with the most dangerous sharks today. The sizes of monsters exceeded the sizes of modern whales. Huge animals could happily eat, for example, another dinosaur, which, by chance, was at the wrong time in the wrong place. Some fish grew up to 25 m (for comparison, a standard nine-story building is 30 m).

Sea monsters were classified as follows:

• plesiosaurus (a long-necked creature that lived all the time under water, sometimes surfaced to breathe air or grab a flying bird);
• elasmosaurus weighed about 500 kg, had a small but movable head on a huge (8 m) neck;
• mosasaurs lived in the seas and oceans, but moved a little like a snake;
• ichthyosaurs are very warlike and bloodthirsty animals that lived and hunted in packs. There were practically no insurmountable obstacles for them;
• the notosaurus led a dual lifestyle (on land and in water), eating small creatures and fish;
• liopleurodons lived exclusively in the aquatic environment, could hold their breath for several hours, dive to the depths and hunt there;
• Shonisaurus is a completely harmless reptile that was an excellent hunter and fed on mollusks, octopuses, and squids.

Very little is known about the existence of two-headed creatures, many types of dinosaurs were with long claws that helped them move faster. Some types of large marine inhabitants were:

• with a collar around the neck;
• with a hood;
• with a crest on the back (sometimes with two crests);
• with spikes;
• with a tuft on his head;
• with a mace on the tail.

Herbivorous dinosaurs: their classification

This is most likely the most peaceful view huge creatures. They quietly chewed weed, were happy and entered the fight solely for the purpose of self-defense. Rarely have herbivorous creatures attacked first. At the same time, dinosaurs of this type were not at all weak, defenseless animals. A powerful skeleton, huge horns, a tail with a mace, unrealistically huge sizes, strong limbs that could immediately strike on the spot - all these are the characteristics of completely peaceful animals.

There were several types of herbivorous creatures:

• stegosaurus - they had peculiar combs on their bodies, chewed grass, from time to time swallowed stones to improve digestion;
• euplocephalus, which was covered with spikes, a bone shell and had a mace on its tail. This is a truly terrible monster;
• brachiosaurus - could eat about a ton of greens in just a day;
• triceratops had beaks, horns, lived in herds, easily defended themselves from enemies;
• hadrosaurs were quite large, but very vulnerable, it is still a mystery how they survived.

This is not a complete list of species of grass dinosaurs.

carnivorous dinosaurs

Yet most dinosaurs were predators by nature. They had a powerful body structure, huge teeth, horns, shells. All this allowed animals to rise above other living beings, often dinosaurs fought with their relatives. The strongest always won, there was no question of any family ties. Tyrannosaurus was considered the most popular predator, you can find a lot of interesting information about it, watch a video. Tirex is the hero of many horror films, because this born hunter was really scary, disgusting, ruthless, bloodthirsty.

Dinosaur with a long neck (name and species)

Among herbivorous, marine and predatory species, there were breeds that were distinguished by unrealistically long necks. For example, diplodocus is a herbivore creature whose neck consisted of 15 vertebrae. He could easily get branches from the tallest trees.

Flying species or dinosaur birds did indeed have wings, scales, sometimes even feathers. A feature of these creatures were huge very sharp teeth, which cannot be said about modern birds. These are pterodactyls, pterosaurs, archeopteryxes. Ornithocheirus was the size of a small plane, had a light skeleton, a crest on its beak. Such "birds" lived near large reservoirs.

Quite informative, and also interesting to read about the inhabitants of the Jurassic period, isn't it? At that time, the population of the Earth was completely different, terrible and incomprehensible to us, its modern inhabitants.

Dinosaurs, which in Greek means terrible (terrible) lizards (lizards), are a superorder of aboveground vertebrates that existed and led an active lifestyle throughout the Mesozoic era. Dinosaurs are considered the first vertebrates that settled throughout the planet, while their ancestors - amphibians were forced to live only near water bodies, to which they were tied due to the specifics of reproduction. The finds of the first representatives of dinosaurs date back to 225 million years BC. e. During the history of its existence, which lasted for 160 million years, this superorder multiplied extremely, giving a huge number of varieties. Scientists assume that the number of genera of dinosaurs at the time of the peak of their prosperity could reach 3400, although so far, as of 2006, only 500 of them have been confidently described. Each genus had an indefinite number of species. As of 2008, 1047 varieties of these ancient vertebrates have been described. And on this moment, as a result of new archaeological discoveries, this number is increasing.

On the border of the Mesozoic and Cenozoic, a certain global upheaval occurred, which served mass extinction of dinosaurs, after which only miserable units remained from the reptiles that dominated throughout the Mesozoic.

Classification of dinosaurs according to the method of pelvic bones

Dinosaurs can be classified in different ways. It is convenient for some people, due to the specifics of their works and literary works, to sort the ancient vertebrates of the Cretaceous period by size, for others, according to their habitat, since at that time there were aquatic reptiles, and land and aeronautical ones. Someone prefers to divide dinosaurs into bipeds and quadrupeds. But the main accepted form of classification is classification of dinosaurs according to the method of pelvic bones, proposed back in 1887 by the famous English paleontologist G. Seeley.

Rice. 1 - Classification of dinosaurs

Despite the fact that the ancestors of all dinosaurs without exception is considered a group of ancient reptiles archosaurs, at the beginning of the Triassic, their development went in different ways. Since that time it has happened division of reptiles according to the principle of the structure of the pelvis on the:

• lizards;
• ornithischian.

But this does not at all mean that all lizards originated from lizards, and birds from ornithischians. These are conditional names associated only with the fact that in lizards the pubic bones of the pelvis were initially directed forward, in the manner of the current crocodiles, while in ornithischians they were directed backwards, in the manner of a bird.

In appearance, it would be difficult to determine to which group this or that dinosaur belongs. These groups differ much more clearly in the structure of the jaws. Lizards possessed jaws, the rows of teeth in which were located strictly along the edges in one row, reaching the tip of the muzzle. All teeth had a conical or chisel-like shape and each was located in its own separate cell. Ornithischians had lower jaws ending in the anterior part with a predentary bone. Often had no teeth in the front and the upper jaw. Often, the front part of ornithischian dinosaurs simply looked like a massive horny turtle beak.

Lizard dinosaurs

Lizard dinosaurs(Fig. 2) were subdivided into:

• theropods- appeared on the borders of the Cretaceous and Jurassic and are the largest representatives of predatory carnivorous reptiles that existed until the end of the Cretaceous period and the worldwide cataclysm that caused mass extinction types.
• Sauropodomorphs- also originated in the late Triassic, some of which were the most gigantic creatures in the entire history of the Earth. All of them were herbivorous and, in turn, were subdivided into two more subgroups, namely, prosauropods living in the Late Triassic - Early Jurassic and later and developed sauropods that replaced them closer to the middle Jurassic.

Rice. 2 - Lizard dinosaur

Theropods were mostly bipedal predators, but there were also omnivores among them, for example, such as therizinosaurus or ornithomimids. Some of the theropods, such as the Spinosaurus, reached 15 meters in height. These predatory representatives lizards had three advantages over other dinosaurs, which consisted in:

• extreme agility and speed of movement;
• unusually developed vision;
• freedom of the front paws, since they ran on two unusually developed hind legs, and thus they could freely perform any other functions with their front legs.

Gigantic growth often had detrimental consequences for theropods. For example, a Tyrannosaurus rex, catching up with its prey, had to be very careful when running, because with its impressive dimensions (one hind limb reached a height of 4 meters), any wrong step, any bump or uneven ground could cause a fall, which often led to tangible, and sometimes fatal injuries. In its turn, theropods are classified on the:

• coelurosaurs, small and nimble bird-like pangolins such as ornithomims and velociraptors;
• carnosaurs, predators of large sizes, examples of which were the already mentioned tyrannosaurus and allosaurus.

Sauropodomorphs were the owners of the sacral brain, which exceeded the head in size by 20 times. Despite their enormous weight and size, they became frequent victims. predatory dinosaurs. The huge size of these ancient reptiles was the result of the buildup of intestinal mass necessary for the digestion of hard-leaved plants. As a result, along with the stomach, the rest of the body was forced to increase in size. Examples of such lizards were camarosaurs, giraffatitans, brachiosaurs, etc.

Let's take a closer look at theropods using the example of one of the most numerous predators of that Middle Jurassic - allosaurus(Fig. 3). On average, these predators reached 3.5 meters in height at the withers and 8.5 meters in length from muzzle to tail. Their habitat was the North American, South European and East African parts of the ancient mainland Pangea.

Rice. 3 - Allosaurus

Allosaurus had a fairly large skull, their jaws were equipped with a huge number of sharp teeth. In order to balance the body when moving, in contrast to the massive head, there was an equally massive tail, with which the animal often knocked its victims down. A massive head often served the same purpose. Compared to other large terrapods, allosaurs were relatively small, but this gave them more maneuverability and mobility. There is also evidence that large dinosaurs such as some representatives of sauropods, like brontosaurs and thyrophores, like stegosaurus, they hunted in a herd way, like today's wolves. Although many scientists are skeptical that these animals could coexist in packs. In their opinion, for this they had too primitive mental development and extremely strong ferocity and aggressiveness.

Ornithischian dinosaurs

Despite their name, scientists proved that it was not they, but the lizard-hipped dinosaurs that later became avian ancestors. But, returning to ornithischian dinosaurs(Fig. 4), note that they classified into two main suborders, namely:

• thyreophores;
• cerapods.

Rice. 4 - Ornithischian dinosaur

TO thyreophores include such herbivorous dinosaurs as ankylosaurs and stegosaurus. A distinctive feature of these lizards was that their body was partially covered with shell armor, and there were huge shield-like growths on their backs.

In discharge cerapods includes marginocephalians, such as ceratopsians and pachycelosaurs, and all ornithopods, the most massive representative of which was iguanodon(Fig. 5).

Iguanodons had their peak of distribution in the first half of the Cretaceous, and inhabited vast expanses of the European, North American, Asian and African parts of Pangea. 12-meter and 5-ton iguanodons moved on two massive hind legs, in front of the muzzle they had a massive beak, with which they plucked the plants they needed. Next came rows of teeth, more similar to those of iguanas, only much larger.

Rice. 5 - Iguanodon

The forelimbs of Iguanodons were a quarter of the size shorter than the hind limbs. The thumbs were equipped with spikes, with which the animal defended itself from predators. The most mobile of the fingers of the forelimbs were the little fingers. It should be noted that iguanodons could not run, their hind limbs were adapted only for unhurried walking, which is why they often became victims of such predators as allosaurs, tyrannosaurs, etc. The hind limbs had three fingers, like current chickens, and their spine and massive tail were supported by strong tendons.

Dinosaur Classification Problems Today

Many scientists insist that a large number of previously described dinosaurs did not exist, since some of the described varieties were nothing more than twins of previously described species. The difference between them consisted, allegedly, only in the fact that they were either at an earlier or at a later stage of development. Also, a fairly large group of scientists insists that about 50% of all dinosaurs found were classified and named incorrectly.

Thus, the current paleontologists are divided into two camps. While some continue to further divide the bulk of the found remains of ancient reptiles into all new species based on the identified both significant and not very distinguishing features, others even doubt the correctness of the species described earlier.