dinos
Welcome to our dinosaur learning resource page! Here you'll find out dino-tastic information about each of the prehistoric creatures found in this fun and exciting colour in dinosaur design. Watch out for swishing tails, erupting volcanoes and very big teeth!
So what's the story?
A modern-day group of scientists and their families have crash-landed on a lost island inhabited by fantastic dinosaurs and treacherous swamps!
In this prehistoric vista full of fun and fascinating detail, you can colour and name the dinosaurs, make up your own adventure story and then read on to find out more about these amazing dinosaurs!
My name means ‘broad lizard’ – that tells you a lot about what I look like!
I lived over 200 million years ago in the late Triassic period.
I was probably a herbivore so I mainly ate plants. Because I was so big (up to 10 meters in length!) I could eat tall things like conifer trees, but I might also snack on small creatures and carrion (dead stuff!).
I’m not actually a dinosaur – I’m a reptile (but don’t tell anyone!)
My name means thin-plated lizard and I lived in the late Cretaceous period
My neck was so long I would only lift it this much out of the water, and I was a very slow swimmer. I mostly ate bony fish, shell fish and squiddy things – then I ate stones to crush everything in my tummy so I could digest I all. Yum!
Our name means winged and toothless – can you guess why?!
We’re actually flying reptiles and not dinosaurs, and we had no teeth, big brains and good eyesight – perfect for catching the fish and squid we live on.
We lived near the sea and ruled the skies! Our wing span was 10m – wider than any known bird and the size of a hang-glider.
We lived in the Late Cretaceous period.
I eat meat. Lots of it. Especially other dinosaurs. Nice big ones.
My name means high-spined lizard. I was over 10m long – nearly as big and every bit as deadly as a T Rex – and I had lots of sharp teeth. Smile!
I lived in what is now North America – in the UK there was a very similar (if a bit smaller) dinosaur called becklespinax.
It means arm lizard – because our front legs are longer than our hind legs – a bit like giraffes.
We were in the Jurassic period and one of the tallest dinosaurs and 16m high. We travelled in herds, may have hatched from eggs, and lived to be 100 years old.
We were herbivores and had big nostrils to smell the tastiest tree tops for eating.
I’m an early Jurassic herbivore and my name means ‘earth claw’. I was only about 20 feet long and I started out on two legs but gradually moved to using all four.
I’m quite important because I show the development from two-legged to more moderm four-legged animal walking.
I have mostly been found in South Africs and Lesotho.
My later relatives were massive!
Can you guess why? Our name means egg-taker! People thought we were egg-snatchers because we were first discovered near evidence of a pile of eggs. Turns out they were probably our own eggs!
We were from the late cretaceous period, and lived in China and Mongolia.
We were feathered all over and only 8 feet long. We weren’t fussy eaters – we are plants and lizards and our beaks were strong enough to crack open tasty molluscs like clams.
My name means 3-horned face…you can see why! I used my horns for my defence against scary dinos like tyrannosaurus and maybe for courtship too (…hello handsome!)
I’m from the late cretaceous period and lived in what is now North America. I was about 2m high and weight as much as a truck – even though I only ate plants.
I’m probably the most recognisable dinosaur – with my horns and big bony frill on my head I look a bit like a modern day rhinoceros.
I’m sometimes called a duck-billed dinosaur (which is much easier to say!)
My name means ‘like a saurolophus’, which is another dinosaur – though I’m not much like it at all! I’m from the late cretaceous period and I ate pine needles leaves and twigs.
The big crest on my head was good for making trumpet-y sound like a fog-horn to communicate with the rest of my herd.
My name means bony lizard – because of those 17 plates on my back. And I’m from the late Jurassic period.
I was the size of a bus with a brain the size of a walnut. I had no front teeth – just small teeth in my cheeks for chewing hundreds of pounds of plants every day.
I’m also the state dinosaur of Colorado!
My name means king of the tyrant lizards – so watch out! I lived in the late cretaceous period and ate meat – in other words, I ate dinosaurs like triceratops. Tasty.
I had the strongest bite of any animal that ever lived on land! My teeth could be up to 30cm long!
And I was more mobile than other land dinosaurs – I travelled all over what is now North America.
My name means thunder lizard (cool, right!), but I’m also called an apatosaurus – scientists once thought we were two different dinosaurs, but now they realise we’re the same!
I could crack my tail like a whip to make a booming sound and scare off predators. I couldn’t keep my head and neck lifted high (unlike most pics of me) because my heart couldn’t pump blood up there!
I’m from the Jurassic period and ate mainly low plants and soft leaves from trees.
My name means two measures of teeth. My teeth were very sharp – perfect for eating fish, reptiles, tetrapods…
I became extinct before dinosaurs even existed. I lived in swamps and sunned myself all day. The big sail of spines down my back is my most memorable feature – what do you think it was for?