{"product_id":"what-was-the-age-of-the-dinosaurs-isbn-9780451532640","title":"What Was the Age of the Dinosaurs?","description":"\u003cb\u003eTravel back to the time when the mighty dinosaurs ruled the earth.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eThe Age of Dinosaurs began about 250 million years ago. In the beginning they were quite small but over time they evolved into the varied and fascinating creatures that captivate our imaginations today. What we know about dinosaurs is evolving, too! We've learned that some dinosaurs were good parents, that dinosaurs could grow new teeth when old ones fell out, and that most dinosaurs walked on two legs. We've even discovered that birds are modern relatives of dinosaurs!Megan Stine has written several books for young readers, including \u003ci\u003eWhere Is the White House?\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eWho Was Marie Curie?, Who Was Ulysses S. Grant?, Who Is Michelle Obama?\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eWho Was Sally Ride?\u003c\/i\u003e She lives in Clinton, Connecticut.\u003cb\u003eWhat Was the Age of the Dinosaurs?\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e In 1822, a young country doctor named Gideon Mantell was living in Sussex, England. He delivered babies and treated people with serious diseases.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e But Mantell had another passion as well. Ever since childhood, he had loved to collect fossils—the ancient remains of dead plants and animals. Whenever he could, the busy doctor spent time digging near the chalky cliffs of England’s coastline. At first what he dug up were small pieces of fossil bones. But as time went on, he began to find some big bones—really big ones. The bones were too big to belong to any known animal. Even elephant bones would have been smaller.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Then one day, Mantell’s wife, Mary, found a few enormous fossil teeth. She brought them to her husband. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e What were they? What kind of animal could possibly have teeth as big as this?\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Mantell wasn’t sure what to think. He talked to other scientists. No one could agree about what they were. A man named William Buckland had once been given some huge bones. He studied them for six years and finally decided they belonged to a giant lizard no one had ever seen before. Buckland called it \u003ci\u003eMegalosaurus\u003c\/i\u003e (say: MEG-uh-lo-SORE-us), which means “big lizard.” \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Mantell asked Buckland about the huge teeth he had found. But Buckland didn’t think they had come from a creature similar to his \u003ci\u003eMegalosaurus\u003c\/i\u003e. He said they came from a fish!\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e After that, Mantell went to a museum and looked at other fossils and animal skeletons on display. The teeth he had found looked exactly like iguana teeth—only many times larger. If they came from an iguana, it would have to have been at least sixty feet long! That’s as long as a house!\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Suddenly Mantell realized something exciting. Like Buckland, he had discovered a new kind of animal no one knew about. He decided to call it \u003ci\u003eIguanodon\u003c\/i\u003e (ig-WAN-uh-don).\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Neither Mantell nor Buckland understood that they had stumbled onto a completely unknown group of animals. The word \u003ci\u003edinosaur\u003c\/i\u003e hadn’t been invented yet—and wouldn’t be for another twenty years. But that’s what \u003ci\u003eMegalosaurus\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eIguanodon \u003c\/i\u003ewere. In the early nineteenth century, no one yet realized that in prehistoric times, gigantic animals had roamed the earth. But soon, more fossils were found, and slowly scientists began to put together the pieces of a long-lost world—the Age of the Dinosaurs. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eChapter 1\u003c\/b\u003e: \u003cb\u003eThe Prehistoric World\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Two hundred thirty million years ago, the Age of the Dinosaurs began. The first baby dinosaurs poked their heads out of their eggshells and looked around for something to eat.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e The earth was a very different place then. North America didn’t exist. Neither did Africa or Europe. All seven continents we know today were clumped together into one huge landmass that we call Pangaea (pan-JEE-uh). \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Pangaea was surrounded on all sides by water. The center of the huge continent was a hot desert, where not much could survive. A giant ocean covered the rest of the earth. Near the coastlines, the ocean cooled the air. Cool air and water made it possible for fabulous life-forms to develop. Ferns grew along the coast. Moss covered the rocks. There were forests of pine trees and palm trees. Spiders and beetles crawled about.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e The ocean was full of life. There were huge swimming reptiles—animals like lizards and turtles, only bigger. Some, called ichthyosaurs (ICK-thee-oh-sores), looked much more like dolphins or fish. They were predators that hunted fish. Others, called plesiosaurs (PLEE-see-oh-sores), were more like gigantic shell-less turtles with incredibly long necks. They may have eaten baby ichthyosaurs for lunch.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Reptiles also dominated the land at that time. There were none of the animals we know today—no dogs, cats, giraffes, monkeys, or apes. There weren’t even any birds—and definitely no people! It was mostly a reptile’s world, although the ancient reptiles were not the same reptiles we know today.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e This was the beginning of a time period called the Mesozoic era. It began 250 million years ago—or 250 “mya,” as scientists say. It lasted until the dinosaurs died out, around 65 mya.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e The Mesozoic era is divided up into three parts—Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous. The very first dinosaurs appeared on earth during the last part of the Triassic, about 230 mya. Dinosaurs existed on earth for about 165 million years.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e When exactly did the first dinosaur appear? It’s hard to say for sure, because dinosaurs evolved from other reptiles over millions of years. But the earliest dinosaur was probably \u003ci\u003eEoraptor\u003c\/i\u003e (EE-oh-RAP-tor)—a small animal weighing between eight and twenty-two pounds. With jagged teeth, long legs, and long claws, it was a small, quick, deadly predator. It lived in the forest, where it chased and captured smaller creatures. It probably ate plants, too. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e As millions of years went by, different kinds of dinosaurs came into being. How did that happen? The answer lies in evolution.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Evolution is the name for changes that occur in living things over time. Charles Darwin was a scientist in the nineteenth century who studied nature. He wrote a famous book about the idea of evolution. Darwin said that, in each species, some would survive longer than others. It was not just a matter of luck. Those that survived were the best suited to thrive in the world. They lived long enough to have babies that would be born with the same strong traits. Animals of the same species without those traits didn’t live as long. In time, they died out.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Darwin explained that over thousands and millions of years, all kinds of species developed—including human beings, who evolved from ape-like creatures.","brand":"Penguin Workshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46301157097701,"sku":"NP9780451532640","price":5.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780451532640.jpg?v=1767743900","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/what-was-the-age-of-the-dinosaurs-isbn-9780451532640","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}