Dinosaurs Report

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What Killed the Dinosaurs?

A new report reveals that more than an asteroid wiped out Earths former
rulers
JUL 30, 2014 | By Cameron Keady with TIME Reporting
DE AGOSTINIGETTY IMAGES
Drastic climate changes made Earth a difficult place for dinosaurs to survive.
Planet Earth would be a scary place for humans if dinosaurs still ruled the world.
Though there are still some traces of life from the Jurassic period, like certain
mollusks and types of reptiles, the Age of Dinosaurs ended more than 65 million
years ago. Dinosaurs and many other creatures died off, never to return again.
This mass extinction is believed to be the result of an asteroid hitting Earth. A
new report by the journal Biological Reviews called The Extinction of Dinosaurs
concludes that this impact was, indeed, the cause of the dinosaurs demise. But
the space blast wasnt the only reason these creatures arent still around today.
A Break in the Food Chain

Dinosaurs depended on each other to survive. Meat-eating monsters like the
Tyrannosaurus Rex were at the top of the food chain, and fed off of plant eaters
like the horned Triceratops. These herbivores were decreasing in population at
the time of the asteroid, which left the carnivorous species less food to survive
on. In any ecosystem where you remove links to key species, that community
has problems, Richard Butler, one of the reviews authors, told National
Geographic.
While the herbivore population was going down, Earths temperatures were
rising. Years before the impact, the planet began experiencing a period of
volcanism. These eruptions caused climate changes that affected both dinosaur
and plant life, and further disrupted the food chain. Hot vapors and gas emitted
by the volcanoes began wiping out some of the dinosaur population and
weakening the survivors.
Deadly Climate Changes

These environmental factors made the asteroids impact especially powerful. It
caused more volcanoes to erupt, heated up Earth's atmosphere, and led to a
sharp drop in the level of oxygen in the oceans. For an already weak population,
dinosaurs were helpless at the time of collision. If the asteroid hit a few million
years earlier, when dinosaurs were more diverse, or a few million years later,
when they had a chance to recover as they often had done before after diversity
losses, then dinosaurs probably wouldnt have gone extinct, said University of
Edinburgh paleontologist and evolutionary biologist Stephen Brusatte, who led
the study.
The ancient collision triggered more than a thousand years of destruction. With
the dinosaurs gone, mammals began to evolve into bigger and more diverse
species. Many animals we see today, like birds, sharks, and even some cats and
dogs, emerged after the asteroid. But none rule the Earth quite like the dinosaurs
did.
Source : www.timeforkids.com
Tr. Ana Magbag

(Science Teacher)
Good morning Tr. Ana and to my fellow classmates! Im here
to report to you about the dinosaurs particularly the newest
discovery about what killed the dinosaurs. First let me

discuss some facts about the dinosaurs.
Dinosaurs were one of several kinds of prehistoric reptiles that
lived during the Mesozoic Era, the "Age of Reptiles."
Although the word dinosaur means "terrible lizard", the name is
somewhat misleading, as dinosaurs are not lizards. Instead, they
represent a separate group of reptiles that did not exhibit
characteristics
traditionally
seen
as
reptilian,
such
as
sprawling limb posture.
Most dinosaurs were plant-eaters or herbivores. An example, of

this is the Triceratops.
Some dinosaurs were meat-eaters or carnivores. For example the

T. rex.
The largest dinosaurs were over 100 feet or 30 meters long and
up to 50 feet 15 meters tall. However, the smallest dinosaurs
were about the size of a chicken. But most dinosaurs were inbetween.

Dinosaurs were reptiles and most hatched from eggs. No
dinosaurs could fly and none lived in the water.
There were lots of different kinds of dinosaurs that lived at
different times.
Some walked on two legs or bipedal, some walked on four or

quadrupedal but others could do both.
Some were speedy (like Velociraptor), and some were slow and
lumbering (like Ankylosaurus).
Some were armor-plated, some had horns, crests, spikes, or

frills.
Some had thick, bumpy skin, and some even had primitive
feathers.
The dinosaurs dominated the Earth for over 165 million years during
the Mesozoic Era, but mysteriously went extinct 65 million years
ago at the end of the Cretaceous period, which was a time of high
volcanic and tectonic activity. There are a lot of theories why the
extinction occurred. The most widely accepted theory is that an
asteroid hit the planet Earth that caused major climactic and
environmental changes to which the dinosaurs couldn't adapt. But
the space blast wasnt the only reason these creatures arent still
around today. Dinosaurs depended on each other to survive. Meateating monsters like the Tyrannosaurus Rex were at the top of the
food chain, and fed off of plant eaters like the horned Triceratops.
These herbivores were decreasing in population at the time of the
asteroid, which left the carnivorous species less food to survive on.
While
the
herbivore
population
was
going
down,
Earths
temperatures were rising. Years before the impact, the planet

began experiencing a period of volcanism. These eruptions caused
climate changes that affected both dinosaur and plant life, and
further disrupted the food chain. Hot vapors and gas emitted by the
volcanoes began wiping out some of the dinosaur population and
weakening the survivors. These environmental factors made the
asteroids
impact
especially
powerful.
For
an
already
weak
population, dinosaurs were helpless at the time of collision.

To sum it up, the recent studies show that dinosaurs were not just
killed by the asteroid impact on Earth but they went to extinction
because years before the impact, the planet began experiencing a
period of volcanism. These eruptions caused climate changes that
affected both dinosaur and plant life, and further disrupted the food
chain.
This ends my report on the dinosaurs and the new discovery on

what killed them. I hope you learned some additional knowledge.
Again this is Kaela, now signing off.

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w

What Killed the Dinosaurs?

A Break in the Food Chain

Deadly Climate Changes

Tr. Ana Magbag

discovery about what killed the dinosaurs. First let me

sprawling limb posture.

Most dinosaurs were plant-eaters or herbivores. An example, of

Some dinosaurs were meat-eaters or carnivores. For example the

Some walked on two legs or bipedal, some walked on four or

Some were armor-plated, some had horns, crests, spikes, or

temperatures were rising. Years before the impact, the planet

population, dinosaurs were helpless at the time of collision.

This ends my report on the dinosaurs and the new discovery on

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