Palaeontology for Kids Trivia

1. From which ancient European language the word 'Palaeontology' come?

From Quiz Here Be Monsters! - Palaeontology For Kids

Answer: Greek

The term 'palaeontology' is taken from the Greek language and has its roots in three Greek words. The first part of the word 'palae' means ancient or old, the second part, 'onto' means animal and the last 'logy' means to study; so basically it means the 'study of ancient animals'... in a back-to-front sort of way! As a general rule, scientists called palaeontologists study animals that are older than twelve thousand years in age.

From Quiz Dinosaurs in the Bathtub

Answer: Tyrannosaurus Rex

Tyrannosaurus rex (T-rex) is one of the most famous of dinosaurs from the many creatures that developed during the 200 million years dinosaurs were around on earth. An ancestor of T-rex from 100 million years ago may have waded through water based on the claw marks in an old riverbed in China. T-rex may also have gone into the water to cool off, hunt prey, or to get to the other side of a river or lake.

From Quiz Here Be Monsters! - Palaeontology For Kids

Answer: Utahraptor

The Utahraptor, whose name means 'Utah Predator' and is pronounced 'You-taw-rap-TOR', was first discovered in 1975. This animal, like all of the meat-eating dinosaurs, is known as a theropod dinosaur. Utahraptor was a fearsome beast that weighed in at just less than two thousand pounds, was surprisingly large for this type of dinosaur at nearly twenty five feet in length and lived in the area that is now the US state of Utah, from which it takes its name, during the early Cretaceous period. The other dinosaurs are all names that I have made up!

From Quiz Dinosaurs in the Bathtub

Answer: Megalodon

Megalodon lived about 28 to 1.5 million years ago and fossils of this huge shark-like creature have been found all over the world in the oceans and even in the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean. Many people used to think that its fossils of teeth were those from dragons. Its name means "big tooth". No one knows why it went extinct or even if it really did!

From Quiz Here Be Monsters! - Palaeontology For Kids

Answer: Iguanodon

The Iguanodon, pronounced 'Ig-WAN-oh-don', was a creature that lived in the Cretaceous period. It is believed that its large spike-like thumbs were used as defensive weapons to fight off predators. Iguanodon remains have been mainly found in Europe although some have been discovered in the United States. This animal grew to up to just over thirty feet in length and weighed up to six tons.

From Quiz Dinosaurs in the Bathtub

Answer: Velociraptor

Velociraptors probably did not hunt in packs as shown in the "Jurassic Park" movies; they were also feathered. It looked a lot like a very big chicken except for sickle-like back toes. Wonder if it tasted like a chicken too?

From Quiz Here Be Monsters! - Palaeontology For Kids

Answer: Pterosaurs

Rhamphorhyncus, Quetzalcoatlus and Dimorphodon are all species of flying reptiles. These creatures are sometimes referred to as Pterodactyls which is the name given to this group that existed during the age of the dinosaurs. Pterosaurs are not strictly dinosaurs but they are closely related; in a similar way that you are related to your own cousins.

From Quiz Dinosaurs in the Bathtub

Answer: Parasaurolophus

The parasaurolophus had very heavy boned front legs which would have helped it with wading into rivers to get away from a T-rex-like dinosaur. Its snorkel-like tube on the back of its head had no hole and they probably spent most of their time on land when not using water for running away from meat-eating dinosaurs.

From Quiz Here Be Monsters! - Palaeontology For Kids

Answer: Diplodocus

Diplodocus, pronounced 'Dip-lo-do-KUSS', was a species of animal known as a sauropod. The first fossilised partial skeleton of Diplodocus was discovered in the US state of Colorado in 1877. The vast majority of the skeletons that can be seen in museums today are casts taken from an almost complete specimen discovered by scientists working for the American businessman Andrew Carnegie in 1901. Diplodocus lived during the late Jurassic period, was almost one hundred feet long and weighed in at sixteen tons. You need to eat a lot of plants to reach sixteen tons!

From Quiz Dinosaurs in the Bathtub

Answer: Pterosaur

Pterosaurs were flying reptiles. Many of the fossils of pterosaurs were found by what had been seashores or other places in water. These creatures would swoop down and pick up fish from the surface of the water.

From Quiz Here Be Monsters! - Palaeontology For Kids

Answer: Plaster of Paris

Some fossils are very rare and some could be said to be unique. One characteristic that they all possess is fragility. Fossils are usually found in the more remote areas of the world and need to be transported safely back to the laboratory museums where they can be cleaned, identified and catalogued. The best material to use for this has always been Plaster of Paris although other, newer and lighter materials, are beginning to appear for this purpose.

From Quiz Dinosaurs in the Bathtub

Answer: Bear

Baryonyx's name means "heavy claw". It ate fish mostly as is proven by fossilized fish found in one of these dinosaurs' stomach. It probably waded into water and would scoop up fish with its hook like claws into its crocodile-like mouth.

From Quiz Dinosaurs in the Bathtub

Answer: Flippers

Kronosaurus had a very thick head with a short neck and very big flippers which it probably flapped up-and-down like a penguin to move. It had a fairly small tail. It is named after a Greek god-- Kronos.

From Quiz Here Be Monsters! - Palaeontology For Kids

Answer: Dilophosaurus

Pronounced 'Di-loh-fo-SORE-uss', this small theropod dinosaur lived in the areas now part of North America and China. It takes its name from the pair of thin, sheet-like prominences on the top of its skull. There have been lots of examples of fossilised tracks being left by this creature that range from North America to southern Europe, but only a very few actual specimens have been discovered. Dilophosaurus was an early Jurassic dinosaur that grew up to twenty feet in length and which weighed up to eleven hundred pounds.

From Quiz Dinosaurs in the Bathtub

Answer: Tyrannosaurus Rex

Triceratops probably ate palm fronds as its teeth were not made for crushing nuts, leaves, and fruits. It lived at the same time as T-rex and would battle this ferocious giant with its horns. Triceratops also battled with each other according to wounds found in triceratops fossils. These dinosaurs probably were not big swimmers as their heads were fairly close to the ground.

From Quiz Here Be Monsters! - Palaeontology For Kids

Answer: Feathers

Tyrannosaurus Rex was the undisputed king of the dinosaurs. The animal lived in the area that is now covered by the North American continent but many similar contemporary species have been found in other parts of the world such as the frightening Tarbosaurus which lived in China and Mongolia and Carnotaurus which lived in South America. Although T-Rex had tiny front arms it had did have an extremely well developed sense of smell and it is this which has led to some theories that this ferocious animal wasn't so much a predator, but a scavenger. T-Rex also had eyes that faced partially forward which gave it binocular vision and depth perception; characteristics that would be essential for a predator. This creature was also armed with some of the most fearsome teeth ever developed with some being upwards of twelve inches long. The 'tyrant lizard' grew to a size of about forty five feet in length, stood around fourteen feet in height and weighed up to seven tons... That's an awful lot of meat to be eaten!

From Quiz Dinosaurs in the Bathtub

Answer: Stegosaurus

Living from 156 to 140 million years ago, the stegosaurus had a number of different species under this name. Some had four almost three foot spikes on its tail for defense. Other stegosaurus species had eight three foot tail spikes. This dinosaur had hind feet which were much longer than its short front feet making its head stay quite close to the ground where it ate low lying ferns. Its name means "covered lizard".

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