Safari Toob: Dinos

Dinosaurs were a diverse group of creatures that roamed the earth for a period of roughly 180 million years, before most of them were wiped out by a mass extinction. Ironically, the world “dinosaur” means “terrible lizard,” however while dinosaurs were reptiles, they were not lizards. In fact, dinosaurs are closer relatives to modern day birds than they are to lizards! The largest land animals to ever walk planet Earth, some dinosaurs could grow up to 60 feet tall and 130 feet long!

Many popular prehistoric reptiles are often grouped with dinosaurs that are actually not dinosaurs. Some, like sail-backed Dimetrodon, were actually around long before dinosaurs and are more closely related to mammals. Others, like flying Pteranodon, lived during the time of the dinosaurs in the Cretaceous Period, but belonged to a group of flying reptiles called Pterosaurs, that were only distantly related to dinosaurs.

Travel back to the start of the Mesozoic era and beyond – when dinosaurs and prehistoric reptiles ruled the earth! This Toob includes the dinosaurs Apatosaurus, Triceratops, Iguanodon, Dilophosaurus, Stegosaurus, Ankylosaurus, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Velociraptor, Spinosaurus, and Diplodocus, as well as two non-dinosaur prehistoric reptiles – Dimetrodon and Pteranodon.