Dinosaurs - Missing Links Trivia Quiz

Answer: Plateosaurus

Saurischia -> Sauropodomorpha -> PROSAUROPODA
This group consisted of large herbivores that may have had the same ancestors as the sauropods. Prosauropods lived from Late Triassic to Early Jurassic and they were spread throughout the world.

Answer: Brachiosaurus

Saurischia -> Sauropodomorpha -> SAUROPODA
Sauropods formed a large group of saurischian (lizard-hipped) dinosaurs that included the largest land animals ever. They were also herbivores, as the prosauropods and they populated most parts of the Globe from Early Jurassic to Late Cretaceous.

Answer: Dilophosaurus

Saurischia -> Theropoda -> CERATOSAURIA
This group included some of the first predators. These primitive theropods that appeared in the Late Triassic were gradually replaced by the more evolved carnosaurs and coelurosaurs.

Answer: Struthiomimus

Saurischia -> Theropoda -> Tetanurae -> ORNITHOMIMOSAURIA
The dinosaurs from this group are also known as "bird-mimics" or toothless theropods. These predators from Late Cretaceous had some features in common with the modern-day ostrich: a small head, long necks and powerful hindlimbs.

Answer: Velociraptor

Saurischia -> Theropoda -> Tetanurae -> DEINONYCHOSAURIA
This group included the "raptors", the most ferocious and efficient predators in the dinosaur kingdom. They are also believed to have been the smartest ones. Their main feature was the long, sickle-shaped claw on their second toe. They are thought to have hunted in packs, terrorizing the Cretaceous times.

Answer: Iguanodon

Ornithischia -> Cerapoda -> ORNITHOPODA
The ornithischian (bird-hipped) dinosaurs consisted only of herbivores and they were divided in five main groups.
The ornithopods may be considered the most successful group of all.
They were the most numerous and they were widespread from Late Triassic to Late Cretaceous. They ranged in size from less than a metre up to 15 metres.

Answer: Stegosaurus

Ornithischia - Thyreophora -> STEGOSAURIA
These heavy and bulky dinosaurs had a relatively short life as a group: Middle Jurassic - Early Cretaceous. Their most distinctive feature was the two rows of dorsal plates or spikes that ran along their backs.

Answer: Minmi

Ornithischia - Thyreophora -> ANKYLOSAURIA
Ankylosaurs were far more diversified than their cousins, the stegosaurs. They were also slow and heavy as they were protected from predators by an armor of bony studs, plates and spikes. They lived from Middle Jurassic to Late Cretaceous.

Answer: Pachycephalosaurus

Ornithischia -> Cerapoda -> Marginocephalia -> PACHYCEPHALOSAURIA
The main characteristic of the Late Cretaceous pachycephalosaurs or "thick-headed lizards" was, as their name tells, the extremely thick-roofed skulls of these dinosaurs which they used in head-butting contests. They were the only exclusively bipedal group from the five ornithischian groups.

Answer: Triceratops

Ornithischia -> Cerapoda -> Marginocephalia -> CERATOPSIA
The ceratopsians were probably the best protected herbivorous dinosaurs. Their defence improved durring the Cretaceous period from
small cheek horns, to the bony neck frills and the long horns which helped them keep away their enemies.