Stegosaurus - Tracking Dinosaurs

Author: Viciya
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: The history of the Earth can be traced back to about 4.6 billion years ago. Over such a long period of time, life began to appear in the form of tiny organic organisms and gradually evolved into new species. In the long history of the Earth, the emergence of dinosaurs undoubtedly stands out as a unique phenomenon in Earth's history. The term "dinosaur" evolved from "dinosauria." In 1842, British scientist Richard Owen first coined the term "dinosauria," which originates from the Greek words "deinos" (terrible) and "sauros" (lizard). Combined, these two words mean "terrible lizards." To better understand the history of dinosaurs, we should first grasp the division of geological eras. The history of the Earth is not measured in years like human lifespans, but in millions of years. Geology divides the Earth's millions of years of history into different eras, periods, epochs, and ages, similar to how human history can be divided into millennia, centuries, decades, and years. However, unlike human millennia and centuries, which are regular divisions, the units of geological eras are irregular. The era of dinosaurs is also known as the Mesozoic Era, spanning approximately from 248 million years ago to 65 million years ago. The Mesozoic Era itself is divided into three distinct periods: the Triassic Period (lasting 42 million years), the Jurassic Period (lasting 61 million years), and the Cretaceous Period (lasting 79 million years). In other words, dinosaurs ruled the Earth for nearly 160 million years!