Dinosaur Trivia In Honor Of The New Jurassic Park Movie

Dinosaur Trivia In Honor Of The New Jurassic Park Movie

Jun 11

With the recent release of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Ira Riklis thought it would be a good idea to go with a dinosaur-themed trivia post this month. The original Jurassic Park was one of my favorite 90s movies, and I’m sure I’m not alone in being thrilled by the release of another sequel.

Depending on your age, you may have developed a love for these ancient reptiles as a kid. I know that when my kids were growing up, they couldn’t get enough dinosaur knowledge. But how much do you remember learning, and how much have scientific theories changed since your youth? Find out with a read through these 5 trivia questions:

Did Most Dinosaurs Eat Meat?

While the Tyrannosaurus rex, velociraptor, and other carnivores may be some of the best-known dinosaurs, their dietary habits are not indicative of dinosaurs as a whole. Research has found that most dinosaurs were actually vegetarian.

This isn’t an ironclad rule, but you can usually tell which dinos ate meat and which stuck to veggies by considering how they walked – those who moved on two legs were usually carnivores, while those who walked on all fours were usually vegetarians.

However, a 2010 study found that most theropod dinosaurs (a group of bipedal dinosaurs including t-rexes, velociraptors, and other species) were likely vegetarians.

 How Big Was The World’s Largest Dinosaur?

The skeleton of what was likely the largest dinosaur to roam the earth was only recently discovered in 2013. An elderly Argentinian shepherd found a fossilized bone sticking out of a rock while he was working. He called local paleontologists to come to examine the site, but passed away before they arrived – never knowing that he had just made a historical discovery.
The fossil he found was so massive that it took two weeks before it was completely unearthed. It turned out to be an 8-foot long thigh bone – the largest ever found. Researchers estimate that this dinosaur, which belonged to a group of sauropods known as titanosaurs, likely stood 130 feet from tail to nose and weighed a whopping 69 tons.

When Were The First Bones Found?

The first dinosaur bones were likely discovered thousands of years ago in Ancient China, but the Chinese thought that they were dragon bones and recorded them as such. Hundreds of years ago, Europeans believed dinosaur fossils were the remains of giants and biblical creatures.

Paleontology, as we know it today, began in the late 17th century in England. The earliest scholarly descriptions of what we know today as dinosaur bones were recorded during this time period. The term “dinosaur” was coined in 1842 by English paleontologist Richard Owen.

The first dinosaur skeleton discovered in the United States was found in 1858 in Haddonfield, New Jersey.

What Killed The Dinosaurs?

While there are some widely-accepted theories and explanations for the extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs about 66 million years ago, no one knows for certain. However, there are two main theories: either a massive asteroid that struck the Yucatan Peninsula or a period of extreme volcanic activity. Some scientists have postulated that a combination of both events may have led to the dinosaur’s downfall.

Are There Any Dinosaurs Left?

Wait a minute, didn’t we just say that all of the dinosaurs were wiped out 65 million years ago? Yes, this is technically true, however, there are still descendants of the dinosaurs flying through skies across the world today. The current scientific consensus classifies birds as a group of theropod dinosaurs which originated during the Mesozoic Era.