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Orpheus

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Contents Introduction4 What were the first

living things?

6 When did reptilesfirst appear?

8 How did plant-eatingdinosaurs live?

10 What was it like to bea baby dinosaur?

12 Why did some dinosaurshunt in packs?

14 How did dinosaurs defendthemselves?

16 Did some dinosaurs havefeathers?

18 How did some reptiles fly?

20 Did reptiles live underthe sea?

22 How did a Tyrannosaurusrex hunt?

24 Why did the dinosaursdie out?

26 Which bird hunted horses?

28 Which animals livedduring the ice ages?

30 How did fossils form?

32 Index and glossary

Come on a journey with us to

meet some of the oldest life on

Earth. Follow the story of how

the dinosaurs came to rule the

Earth for 160 million years—long before there

were any people. Listen to a Tyrannosaurus

rex as he tells you how he hunts down

his prey. Find out

which dinosaurs had

feathers and what it

was like to be a

baby dinosaur. We can show you why these

great reptiles went extinct and what

happened after they were gone. You will

meet a bird large enough to eat a horse, and

watch early humans like you hunt woolly

mammoths. But first, take a dive with us into the

warm waters of the Cambrian ocean, and see how it all

began...

First published in 2006 by Orpheus Books Ltd.,6 Church Green, Witney, Oxfordshire, OX28 4AW, England

Copyright © 2006 Orpheus Books Ltd

Created and produced by Julia Bruce,Rachel Coombs, Nicholas Harris, Sarah Hartley, and

Erica Simms, Orpheus Books Ltd

Text Julia Bruce

Illustrated by Peter David Scott (The Art Agency)Other illustrations by Nicki Palin and

Alessandro Rabatti

Consultant Chris JarvisThe Oxford University Museumof Natural History, England

All rights reserved. No part of this book may bereproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted inany form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,

photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the priorwritten permission of the copyright owner.

ISBN XXXXXXXXXX

Printed and bound in China

4 5

what were the firstlarge living things?

The hard spines onWiwaxia’s back make themdifficult to eat.

Iam Anomalocaris, the largestpredator here in the warm

seas of the Cambrian period. I’mas long as your arm. I eatalmost anything.I grab my prey with my armsand push it into my spine-rimmed mouth.

Some creatures try to defendthemselves against me and otherpredators. Hallucigenia’s long, sharpspines are pretty scary. I think I’ll tryfor easier prey, like those soft, juicyAysheaias feeding on the pink sponges.

Opabinia has five eyes, and along trunk, like an elephant’s.

I am a trilobite. I have ahard shell and many legs.My large eyes are made upof lots of lenses, so I cansee all around me. If I seedanger coming, I quicklyburrow and hide in the softsand of the ocean floor.

Jellyfish look justthe same as inyour time.

when did reptiles first appear?

6

There is plenty of life onland now. It’s the

Carboniferous period. Theworld is warm and wet.Plants have been growingon land for millions ofyears. There are hugetrees and fernseverywhere. I am Eryops,an amphibian. I live partof my life in the waterand part of it on land,but I can’t move veryfast on land. I canbreathe air, but I haveto lay my eggs in thewater. I eat fishand I alsocatch insects.

I am a Hylonomus. I am oneof the few reptiles living herein the forest. I look a bit likethe amphibian Eryops downthere, but I’m different becauseI lay my eggs on land. Theyhave hard shells. I bury them tokeep them warm and safe fromenemies. I am about as long asa human hand. I spend most ofmy life in the trees, keeping outof harm’s way.

After living in the water for years,we lobefin fish have begun lookingfor food on land. With our strong,fleshy fins, we crawl ashore to eat.

There are lots of giant insects to eat inthese swamp forests. This dragonfly haswings that are two feet across! Some ofthe centipedes are more than three feetlong and as thick as your arm.

how did plant-eatingdinosaurs live?

8

These little pterosaursare helping me by pickingbugs off my skin.

Our large herd has to keep movingto find more food. Moving aroundis dangerous for young, very old,

and weak members of our herd.Predators can easily attack them.They also get hungry and tired.

My babies like to eat softfern leaves. Thesebabies will grow upto have the longestnecks of anydinosaur in theworld—at least50 feet long.

Iam a Mamenchisaurus,a plant-eating

dinosaur. It is theJurassic period and I livein what is now China.With my long neck, I canreach high into thebranches for the bestleaves. My big, flat teethare good for chewingleaves. I have to eatmany, many leaves tostay alive. So many, infact, that I also have toswallow stones to helpmy body grind the leavesup and digest them.

what was it like to be a baby dinosaur?

10 11

66 I am now old enough to jointhe herd and find food bymyself. The herd will travelacross the country until we find a good place to graze.

22 My mom laid 25 eggs.They are each the sizeof a melon and havehard shells. My brothersand sisters and I grewinside them. This is me,almost ready to hatch.

33 Even with my motherstanding guard, sneaky,egg-eating dinosaurssometimes try to stealeggs from the nest. I wasa lucky one!

Iam a duck-billed dinosaurcalled Maiasaura. My namemeans “good mother lizard.”Before she laid her eggs, mymother found a safe place fora nest close to many othernests. We now live together in a large herd. Here, I amjust a few months old.

11 My mothermade her nestfrom mud. Thenshe covered oureggs with

leaves and deadplants to keep them warm.

44 This is us hatching. We brokethe tops off our eggs and wiggled free. We couldwalk around as soon as wehatched. Boy, was I hungry!

55 Luckily, our mother had some juicyferns ready. We duck-billed dinosaurs onlyeat plants. We’ll probably grow ten timesbigger than we are now.

did dinosaurs hunt in packs?

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Our strong backlegs and long,stiff tails help usto balance as wetwist and turnwhile running

Today’s victimis old and alone,separated from itsherd. We are allaround it. I race infirst and leap on toits back, digging inmy claws. The othersare right behind me,closing in from allsides.

This is our secretweapon, a razor-sharp, curved clawon each of our backfeet. It is so largethat we have to holdit up out of the waywhile we are walkingor running. When weattack our prey, wepush it forward tostab our victim. Theclaw can tear flesheasily and kill withone blow.

Even an old Tenontosauruslike this one could defenditself against just one of us.It could strike out with itstail or stamp with its feet.But together we can bringdown this large, slow plant-eater in a very short time.We can feast for days onsuch a large, fleshydinosaur.

We areDeinonychus,

which means“terrible claw.” Weare only about yourheight, but we caneasily attack andkill prey muchlarger than we are.That’s becausewe’ve learnedhow to hunttogether.

When we spot ourprey, like thisTenontosaurus, wehide in the bushesaround it. Then we

jump out andattack!

how did dinosaurs defend themselves?

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A little Ornitholesteslike me has only onechoice: run away!

I amStyracosaurus. I have a sharphorn on mynose. Spinesaround myhead protectthe back ofmy neck.

The plates on my back are notactually armor. When I’m cold,I stand in the sun. Blood insidethe plates warms up and thengoes through my body.

With so manypredators like

Allosaurus around, we plant-eaters needto defend ourselves. I am Stegosaurus. I live in the LateJurassic period in North America. I’m very slow, butmy spiny tail is agood weapon and

my skin istough.

I am Iguanodon. I’m a big,strong plant-eater.

Acrocanthosaurushas justattacked me,so I stab oneof my sharp,bony thumb-spikes into itsneck. I won’tgive up easily!

I am a Talarurus. I have bony armorall over my body. I also have a heavyclubbed tail to strike out at predators.

did some dinosaurs have feathers?

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Like Archaeopteryx,I, Confuciusornis,am a bird too.Males like me showoff our tail feathers to impress females. I use my wing clawsto move around inthe trees.

We Caudopteryxeshave featheredtails. We look likebirds, but we’rereally dinosaurs.

Iam one of the strangestdinosaurs you’ll ever meet. Myname is Therizinosaurus, and Ilive in China. I am covered infeathers, but I can’t fly. I have asmall head and a large beak. Ialso have huge claws on myfront wings. I eat plants, usingmy claws to pull down branchesand eat the leaves.

I am one of the very first birds. My name is Archaeopteryx. Like adinosaur, I have sharp teeth, clawson my wings, and a bony tail. But Ialso have feathers and can fly.

I’m aVelociraptorfrom China. Likea bird, I’m actuallywarm-blooded. Myfeathers keep me warm. I cannot fly, but I’m a fastrunner. I have razor-sharp teeth. I also use the curved claws on myback feet to stab my prey. But thisProtoceratops here is heavier andstronger than I am!

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how did some reptiles fly?

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We Eudimorphodons are pterosaursliving in the Jurassic period. We eatfish, too, but with our sharp teeth.

The large crownon my headshows that I ammale. Femalecrowns aremuch smaller.

We Pterosaurshave an extrabone in our armsthat no othercreature has. Ithelps to supportour wings andmakes it easierfor us fly.

I spend most of mytime gliding in theair with my wingsstretched out. I can stay in theair for hours. It’smuch easier for meto fly than to walkbecause my legsare very weak.

From tip to tip,my wings arealmost 30 feet long!

I am Quetzalcoatlus, thelargest flying creature of alltime. My wings stretch to morethan 50 feet across! Like PteranodonI have no tail and spend most of mytime flying or gliding. I’m big, but mybones are very light and slender.

I am a Rhamphorhyncus. My teethare long and pointy and stick outfrom my jaws. They are just theright shape for catching fish. Isnatch fish easily from just belowthe water’s surface. I also have athroat pouch to store fish in if Idon’t want to eat now, or tosave them for my babies.

Iam Pteranodon. I live in LateCretaceous North America. Ilive at the same time as thegiants Tyrannosaurus rex andTriceratops. I am neither adinosaur nor a bird. I amactually a pterosaur, or flyingreptile. I eat by flying low overthe sea and scooping fish up inmy jaws. Unlike otherpterosaurs, I don’t have anyteeth, so I swallow the fish, orsave them for later in a pouchunder my bill.

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did reptiles live under the sea?

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Iam Kronosaurus, one of thelargest predators in the warmseas of the Jurassic period. I amnot a dinosaur but a pliosaur, agiant sea reptile. Likedolphins, I have tocome to the surfaceto breathe.

I have a short tail and four large,powerful flippers for swimming.When I swim, I look like I’m flyingunderwater. My flippers are alsouseful when I breed. We femalepliosaurs have to lay our eggs onbeaches. So we pull ourselves ontobeaches with our flippers and layegg in the sand.

Ichthyosaurs are also sea reptiles. Theyprey on fish and shellfish.

Plesiosaurus isrelated to me, butit has a muchlonger neck andsmaller head. Itcatches smallfish, plankton,squid, andammonites in thewater throughrows of long,needle-like teeth,just like somewhales do.

These ammonites aredelicious! They are like littlesquids in a coiled shell. Theyoften float around in groupsmaking them easy to catch.

My jaws are lined withsharp teeth at thefront for catching fish,squid, or ichthyosaurs,and dull teeth at theback for crushing theshells of my favoritefood, ammonites.

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how does a tyrannosaurus rex hunt?

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Iam T-rex, themost fearedhunter of myday. I havevery long,sharp teethand giantclaws tokill prey.

My eyes aresmall but Ihave verygood vision. Ican also hearvery well. I am theperfectpredator!

I have a huge nose and a very powerful sense of smell. I can pick up the scent of meat frommany miles away. I can’trun fast or for very long and I don’t want to wasteenergy chasing my prey. So I often find food byscaring other predatorsaway from their kill.

At the right moment, I pounceon this young Triceratops. Ihold it down with my feet.

With my long, knife-like teeth I killed thisdinosaur easily. Fewdinosaurs would daretry to steal a mealfrom under my nose—except maybeanother T-rex. Weeven sometimes eateach other if we havea chance!

My armsare reallytiny. But mysharp clawscome inhandy if Ineed to pindown my prey.

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why did the dinosaurs die out?

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Birds and these furryanimals pick thebones of the deaddinosaurs clean.

Things were changing even beforethe bright light. There once wasenough food and water, but then the waterhole dried up, it rainedless, and the world got hotter.

No plants have grown since theexplosion. We have been walking forweeks now looking for more food. Butit’s the same everywhere. Lots of ushave died. Worst of all, it’s so cold.Without sun shining through theclouds to warm us, I don’t think wecan go on much longer.

Ithit the

earth with a huge explosion.

There was astreak of lightacross thesky. The world has changed. When I

was a young Edmontosaurus,there were plants and water here,and the sky was blue above us.But then one day there was abright light in the sky, followedby a huge explosion. Since thenthe sky has been thick with darkclouds.

Meat-eaters can eatdead dinosaurs. Weplant-eaters areweak from lack offood and easy preyfor meat-eaters. Butwhat will they eatwhen we’ve all gone?

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Which bird hunted horses?

These funny little horses arecalled Hyracotheriums. Theyare only a foot and a half talland can’t run very fast. Theylive together in herds and eatplants and grass.

I look large andbulky, but mybones are verylight. This is how I run so fast.

I am a bird, with a beak andfeathers, but I’m bigger than anybird you’ve ever seen. I am tallerthan the tallest man and weigh asmuch as a car! I am too big to flywith my small wings, but I do havestrong legs. So I can run fast enoughto catch my prey.

It is now the Tertiary age andthere are no more scaryTyrannosaurs or big plant-eatersaround. But there are lots ofwarm-blooded furry creaturescalled mammals living here. I amDiatryma, also called Gastornis.I am the biggest, fiercestpredator now.

My large beak isvery strong, too. Ican crush my preywith a single bite.

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which animals lived during the ice ages?

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We cave bears hibernate throughthe winter, sleeping in caves. Weeat as much as we can during theshort summer and autumn to buildup fat under our skin. This willkeep us warm and nourishedthroughout our long sleep.

We mammoths live about 70 or 80years. It will be about 10 yearsbefore my son is as big as me. Oncethe males are grown up, they liveon their own, not in herds withfemales and young.

We use ourtrunks topick grassand plants.

We woolly mammoths livein a very cold world now.

The ice cap at the north pole has spread a long way south. The ground is frozen. This isthe tundra, where only grassesand short plants can grow inthe thin soil. There are notrees. I am about the size of an

elephant, but my thick hairand long, curving tusks makeme look bigger. I use my tusksto dig for grass in the snow.Males also use them in fights.I am the herd’s leader, thelargest and most experienced

These strange, two-legged animalsmay look small and harmless nextto me, but they’re very smart. Theyknow how to make fire and usesharpened sticks to hunt animals.Actually, they look a little like you! Like me, this rhinoceros is also used

to life in the cold. He has two layers of fur: dense, woollyunderneath, and long, shaggy, hairon top. His fur keeps him warm andalso stops the rain and snow fromgetting through to his skin. His hornsare made of tough hair, not bone.

We are sabre-toothed cats. We live inSouth America. The climate here ismuch warmer than in the cold northernlands. There is plenty of food around

for hungry predators like us to eat. Thisherd of Macrauchenias looks tasty.They are like today’s llamas, but theyhave long trunk-like noses.

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how did fossils form?

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33 My skeleton lay buried deep in the rock for millions ofyears. The river dried up and the land turned to desert.Very slowly, wind and rain wore away the layers of rockon top of me. Some of my bones began to appear on thesurface. One day, a boy looking for fossils found me.Scientists carefully dug up my skeleton. My bones willgive them clues about how I lived.

Another type ofamazing fossilcontains insectspreserved in a

sticky sap, calledresin, that came from

prehistoric trees. The resinoozed out of the tree bark. Unluckyinsects landed in it and got stuck.This fossilized resin is called amber. This is a fossil of a footprint,

made when adinosaur steppedinto some softmud. The layerhardened andlater turnedinto rock.

My story is a long one. It startswith a terrible disaster 160

million years ago. I was aMamenchisaurus, a large plant-eating dinosaur. I lived in a largeherd. Each year we migrated acrossthe country in search of food...

22 Over time,layers of mudand sandfrom theriver slowlypiled on topof me, untilmy bonesturned intohard rock.

11 One year, we tried to cross a stream in a deep canyon. Beforewe could all cross, a great floodswept through the valley. Those ofus still crossing were swept away and drowned. My body was buriedin mud. My flesh rotted away untilonly my bones and teeth were left.

32

ABAcrocanthosaurus 14Allosaurus 14-15amber 31ammonites 20-21amphibians 6-7Anomalocaris 4Archaeopteryx 16-17armor 14-15Aysheaia 4bear, cave 29birds 16-17, 26-27, 32

CCambrian period 4-5, 32

Carboniferous period 6-7, 32

centipedes 6-7China 8, 16-17 Confuciusornis 17Cretaceous period 18, 32

DDeinonychus 12-13Devonian period 32Diatryma 26-27digestion 8

dinosaursbaby 10-11defence 14-15duck-billed 10-11egg-eating 10end of the 24-25, 32feathered 16-17hunting 12-13, 22-23plant-eating 8-9, 14- 15, 16-17, 24-25

dragonflies 6-7

EFEdmontosaurus 24-25eggs 6-7, 10-11, 21Eryops 6-7Eudimorphodon 18extinction 32fish 6, 18-19, 20, 32fossils 30-31

GHGastornis 26-27Hallucigenia 4hibernation 29horses 26-27humans 28Hyracotherium 26-27

IJKLice ages 28-29, 32ichthyosaurs 20

Iguanodon 14insects 6-7, 8, 31, 32jellyfish 4Jurassic period 8, 14, 18, 20, 32

Kronosaurus 20-21

MMacrauchenia 29Maiasaura 10-11Mamenchisaurus 8-9, 30-31

mammals 24, 26, 32mammoth, woolly 28- 29

meteorite explosion 24-25, 32

migration 30, 32

NOnest 10North America 14, 18Opabinia 5Ornitholestes 15

PQplankton 21plates 14-15Plesiosaurus 21pliosaur 20-21Protoceratops 17Pteranodon 18-19

pterosaurs 8, 18-19Quetzalcoatlus 19

Rreptiles first 6-7, 32flying 18-19sea 20-21

Rhamphorynchus 18rhinoceros, woolly 29

Ssabre-toothed cats 29South America 29Stegosaurus 14-15Styracosaurus 15

TTalarurus 14-15teeth 8, 16-17, 18, 20-21, 23, 30

Tenontosaurus 12-13Tertiary period 26, 32Therizinosaurus 16-17Triceratops 18, 22-23 trilobite 5Tyrannosaurus rex 18, 22-23, 26

VWVelociraptor 17Wiwaxia 4

Cambrian The periodof Earth history about540–500 million yearsago when advancedlife first lived.

Carboniferous Theperiod of Earth historyabout 355–295 millionyears ago whenreptiles first appeared.

Cretaceous Theperiod of Earth historyabout 135–65 millionyears ago when thelargest dinosaurs lived.

Devonian The periodof Earth history about410-355 million yearsago when land plants,insects, and fish firstlived.

Extinction The dyingout of living things.

Dinosaurs becameextinct at the end ofthe Cretaceous period.This was probablybecause of climatechange, a meteorite (arocky object in space)striking the Earth, andvolcanic eruptions.

Ice ages The time inEarth’s history whenice sheets spread outfrom the poles and theEarth was colder.

Jurassic The period ofEarth history 203–135million years ago whendinosaurs ruled andthe first birds lived.

Migration Themovement of animals,to and from wherethey eat or breed.

Tertiary The period ofEarth history 65–1.75million years ago whenmammals ruled.

Index

Glossary