The three different types of dinosaurs were Theropods, Sauropods, and
Ornithischia.
Although about 500 dinosaus species have been identified in the
world, there are many more to discover. It has been estimated that
about 1500 species have existed on the planet, but no-one has confirmed
that there weren't more.
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Theropods are the smallest of them, and
they are the
only carnivorous group of dinosaurs. It's still a big group which
includes Herrerasaurs, Coelophysoidea, Neocerathosaurs, and Tetanurae,
which include Carnosauria, Spinosauria and Coelurosauria
(Compsognathidae, Troodontidae, Ornithomimosauria, Oviraptorosauria,
Alvarezsauria, Deinonychosauria, and Tyrannosauroidea). They had three
fingers; and we know that at least some of them were warm blooded. Some
of them also had hair or feathers. Kronosaurus
were marine.
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Sauropods were plant eaters, and they were the largest
animals that have ever existed on the Earth. They had heavy elephantine
bodies, small heads, long necks and long tails which often ended in a
whip which they could use as a weapon. Their heavy weight meant almost
all of them were walking on four legs, although their front feet were
shorter showing their ancestors had been two-footed at some stage.
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The third group, Ornithischia, included
Ornithopods
and armoured dinosaurs. All the members of the group were plant eaters,
but they were much smaller than sauropods,
and they had much shorter necks. But the main difference between the
two were their hips (sauropods are "lizard-hipped" while Ornithischia
are "bird-hipped").
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While the carnivorous Theropods had three fingers, Ornithopods
had five. They evolved relatively early in the dinosaur history, and
despite being plant eaters (with large, compex digestive systems which
made their bodies heavy), most of Ornithopods species walked on two
legs. Ornithopods included Hypsilophodontidae, Iguanodontidae,
Hadrosaurides, Lambeosaurinae, Hadrosaurinae, Edmontosaurini,
Maiasaurini, Saurolophini, and Hadrosaurini.
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Armoured dinosaurs belonged to the groups
called
Thyreophora and Marginocephalia. Thyreophora,
such as
stegosaurs and ankylosaurs,
had large spines or plates on their back. Because these impressivly
large weapons added to the weight of their body, these animals walked
on four legs. Marginocephalia, such as
ceratopsians,
had horns on their heads, some quite impressive. Chasmosaurinis had two
large horns attached to where mooses have their horns, while
Centrosaurinae had one single horn on the nose, like today's rhinos.
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