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dinosaurs are awsome

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How Did Dinosaurs Become Extinct?

Want to know more information about dinosaur extinction?

We ask "How did dinosaurs become extinct?" and do some 'digging' for answers!

Based on different research we outline some theories about why they became extinct. Share them with your kids and see which they think really happened.

Dinosaurs became extinct about 65 million years ago at the end of the cretaceous period (see what cretaceous dinosaurs were around at this time).

About 70% of all animal life on earth died out. Scientists call it a mass extinction - it wasn't the first mass extinction in earth's history and it probably won't be the last!

Having existed for 165 million years, why did dinosaurs die out?

There are many different theories about why this happened. We will probably never know exactly what happened, which means that scientists will continue to disagree and come up with different dinosaur extinction theories.

Here are some of them:

Asteroid Impact

A massive asteroid hit the earth at Chicxulub on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico about 65 million years.
The meteor crater is 180 km from rim to rim and scientists have worked out that the asteroid must have been 10 km across. It is thought that the impact would have caused massive damage, including a giant dust cloud which lead to massive changes in the climate.

This would have destroyed lots of the cretaceous plants, so herbivorous dinosaurs starved and the meat eating ones were left with nothing to eat either.

Ice Age Theory

Now and again, the earth cools into periods we call ice ages. As dinosaurs were thought to be cold blooded, it would have been hard for them to cope with such cold conditions.

For example, if large parts of the planet were covered in ice, then there would have been little or no plants for herbivorous dinos to eat. However, there is no real evidence of an ice age at this time.

Volcano Theory

There was massive volcanic activity between 63 and 67 million years ago, particularly on the Deccan Plateau in western India. This, again, would have caused a massive change in climate, which dinosaurs would have found hard to adapt to.
Disease

It is possible that a disease spread through the dinosaur population causing their extinction.

Competition from Other Animals

Fossils of small mammals have been found from 65 million years ago. It is possible that these small cretaceous animals started to compete with dinosaurs, for example stealing and eating dinosaur eggs. However, no-one is sure whether mammals caused dinosaur extinction, or they thrived because dinosaurs were no longer around.

Gradual Extinction

The number of dinos declined throughout the cretaceous period. Maybe a number of factors contributed to their eventual extinction and they just died out.

Dinosaur extinction is a big mystery, as although dinosaurs died out at this time, many species survived, including similar animal types like crocodiles.

New Discoveries

Scientist have come up with some strange ideas but none of the theories really explains everything, so we will probably never be sure what happened.

To help you keep up with the news and discoveries about this, I have set up a news page on Why are Dinosaurs Extinct?

So what do you think? Have you got a theory? Why not invent a story about how you think dinos became extinct and share it with us here at Kids-dinosaurs.com. You can even upload a drawing to go with it!

I am happy for your class to submit their theories, but PLEASE send only one compiled submission under your school name - not individual ones. Then I will put up a class page for you.

See other sent stories:

Click below to see stories from other visitors.

More of your dinosaur extinction theories.

Some of your ideas were short, so I have pulled them together into one page.
Go to Kids Dinosaur Home from Dinosaur Extinction

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Dinosaur Extinction - Facts and Theories for Kids

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Want to know more information about dinosaur extinction? We ask "How did dinosaurs become extinct?" and do some 'digging' for answers! Based on different research we outline some theories about why they became extinct. Share them with your kids and see which they think really happened.

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Add reflections on here after each day.  How was it? What did you learn? Did you enjoy it? 

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Add reflections on here after each day.  How was it? What did you learn? Did you enjoy it? 

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Dinosaur Facts for Kids

Enjoy our fun dinosaur facts for kids and learn about everything from the ferocious Tyrannosaurus Rex to the enormous Diplodocus.

While dinosaurs came a long time before us humans, fossils and modern technology have helped us piece together what dinosaurs may have looked like and even how they might have behaved. Read on for a wide range of cool dinosaur facts that are perfect for kids.

The word dinosaur comes from the Greek language and means 'terrible lizard'. The word was coined by English paleontologist Richard Owen in 1842 and was meant to refer to Dinosaurs impressive size rather than their scary appearance.

Dinosaurs ruled the Earth for over 160 million years, from the Triassic period around 230 million years ago through the Jurassic period and until the end of the Cretaceous period around 65 million years ago.

The time period from 250 million years ago until around 65 million years ago is known as the Mesozoic Era. It is often referred to as the Age of the Dinosaurs because most dinosaurs developed and became extinct during this time.

It is believed that dinosaurs lived on Earth until around 65 million years ago when a mass extinction occurred.

Scientists believe that the event leading to the extinction may have been a massive asteroid impact or huge volcanic activity. Events such as these could have blocked out sunlight and significantly changed the Earth's ecology.

The first dinosaur to be formally named was the Megalosaurus, back in 1824.

A person who studies dinosaurs is known as a paleontologist.

Rather than being carnivores (meat eaters), the largest dinosaurs such as the Brachiosaurus and Apatosaurus were actually herbivores (plant eaters).

To help fight meat eaters such as the Allosaurus or Spinosaurus, many plant eaters had natural weapons at their disposal. Examples of this include the spikes on the tail of the Stegosaurus and the three horns attached to the front of the Triceratops's head shield.

Pterodactyls are not dinosaurs, they were flying reptiles that lived during the age of dinosaurs but by definition they do not fall into the same category. The same goes for water based reptiles such as Plesiosaurs.

Birds descended from a type of dinosaurs known as theropods.

Despite being long extinct, dinosaurs are frequently featured in the media. One of the more memorable examples of this is Michael Crichton's 1990 book Jurassic Park. Adapted to movie in 1993, the story features cloned dinosaurs brought to life with the help of DNA found in mosquitoes trapped in amber.

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Dinosaur Facts for Kids Enjoy our fun dinosaur facts for kids and learn about everything from the ferocious Tyrannosaurus Rex to the enormous Diplodocus. While dinosaurs came a long time before us humans, fossils and modern technology have helped us piece together what dinosaurs may have looked like and even how they might have behaved.

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Dinosaurs for Kids - Everything for kids from neat dinosaur facts to coloring pages and pictures. Find some games, or try our printables.

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Take photos of your work to share on your powerpoint!

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Take photos of your work to share on your powerpoint!

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Create a powerpoint to present your work to the class. 

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Create a powerpoint to present your work to the class. 