Dinosaur Detectives DK READERS

7/30/2019 Dinosaur Detectives DK READERS

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/dinosaur-detectives-dk-readers 1/51

Dinosaur

Detectives

PETER CHRISP

READERS



Shark Attack!Titanic

Invaders from Outer SpaceMovie MagicTime TravelerBermuda TriangleTiger TalesZeppelin: The Age of the AirshipSpiesTerror on the AmazonDisasters at SeaThe Story of Anne FrankAbraham Lincoln: Lawyer, Leader, LegendGeorge Washington: Soldier, Hero, PresidentExtreme SportsSpiders’ SecretsThe Big Dinosaur DigSpace Heroes: Amazing AstronautsThe Story of ChocolateSchool Days Around the WorldPolar Bear Alert!Welcome to ChinaMy First Ballet ShowApe Adventures

Greek MythsMLB: Home Run Heroes: Big Mac, Sammy,

and JuniorMLB: World Series HeroesMLB: Record BreakersMLB: Down to the Wire: Baseball’s Great

Pennant RacesStar Wars: Star PilotStar Wars: I Want to Be a JediStar Wars: The Story of Darth VaderStar Wars: Yoda in ActionStar Wars: Forces of DarknessMarvel Heroes: Amazing PowersThe X-Men SchoolAbraham Lincoln: Abogado, Líder, Leyenda

en español Al Espacio: La Carrera a la Luna

en español Fantastic Four: The World’s Greatest

SuperteamPokemon: Become a Pokemon TrainerWolverine: Awesome PowersIron Man: Friends and Enemies

Level 3

READERS

Volcanoes and Other Natural Disasters

Pirates! Raiders of the High SeasMicromonstersGoing for Gold!Extreme MachinesFlying Ace: The Story of Amelia EarhartBlack BeautyFree at Last! The Story of

Martin Luther King, Jr. Joan of ArcSpooky SpinechillersWelcome to The Globe! The Story of

Shakespeare’s TheaterSpace Station: Accident on MirAtlantis: The Lost City?Dinosaur DetectivesDanger on the Mountain: Scaling

the World’s Highest PeaksCrime BustersThe Story of Muhammad AliFirst Flight: The Story of the

Wright BrothersD-Day Landings: The Story of

the Allied InvasionSolo SailingThomas Edison: The Great InventorDinosaurs! Battle of the BonesSkate!

MLB: Strikeout KingsMLB: Super Shortstops: Jeter, Nomar,

and A-RodMLB: The Story of the New York YankeesMLB: The World of BaseballMLB: October Magic: All the Best

World Series! JLA: Batman’s Guide to Crime and Detection

JLA: Superman’s Guide to the Universe

JLA: Aquaman’s Guide to the Oceans JLA: Wonder Woman’s Book of Myths JLA: Flash’s Book of Speed JLA: Green Lantern’s Book of InventionsThe Story of the X-Men: How it all BeganCreating the X-Men: How Comic Books

Come to LifeSpider-Man’s Amazing PowersThe Story of Spider-ManThe Incredible Hulk’s Book of StrengthThe Story of the Incredible HulkTransformers: The AwakeningTransformers: The QuestTransformers: The Unicron BattlesTransformers: The UprisingTransformers: Megatron ReturnsTransformers: Terrorcon AttackStar Wars: Galactic Crisis!Star Wars: Beware the Dark SideStar Wars: Epic BattlesStar Wars: Jedi AdventuresMarvel Heroes: Greatest BattlesFantastic Four: Evil AdversariesGraphic Readers: The Price of VictoryGraphic Readers: The Terror TrailGraphic Readers: Curse of the Crocodile GodGraphic Readers: Instruments of Death

Graphic Readers: The Spy-Catcher GangGraphic Readers: Wagon Train AdventureLos Asombrosos Poderes de Spider-Man

en español La Historia de Spider-Man en español Wolverine: The Story of WolverineThe Rise of Iron Man

Level 4



A Note to Parents

DK READERS is a compelling program for beginning

readers, designed in conjunction with leading literacyexperts, including Dr. Linda Gambrell, DistinguishedProfessor of Education at Clemson University. Dr. Gambrellhas served as President of the National Reading Conference,the College Reading Association, and the InternationalReading Association.

Beautiful illustrations and superb full-color photographscombine with engaging, easy-to-read stories to offer a freshapproach to each subject in the series. Each DK READER isguaranteed to capture a childÕs interest while developing hisor her reading skills, general knowledge, and love of reading.

The five levels of DK READERS are aimed at differentreading abilities, enabling you to choose the books that are

exactly right for your child:

Pre-level 1: Learning to readLevel 1: Beginning to readLevel 2: Beginning to read aloneLevel 3: Reading aloneLevel 4: Proficient readers

The ÒnormalÓ age at which a child begins to read can beanywhere from three to eight years old. Adult participationthrough the lower levels is very helpful forproviding encouragement, discussingstorylines, and sounding outunfamiliar words.

No matter which level you select, you can be surethat you are helping yourchild learn to read, thenread to learn!



LONDON, NEW YORK, MUNICH,

MELBOURNE, AND DELHI

Project Editor Susan MalyanArt Editor C. David Gillingwater

Illustrator Peter DennisUS Editor Adrienne Betz

Production Siu Chan Jacket Designer Natalie Godwin

Editor, this edition Anneka WahlhausArt Director Rachael Foster

Publishing Manager Bridget Giles

Dinosaur Consultant Angela Milner,

The Natural History Museum, LondonReading Consultant

Linda Gambrell, Ph.D.

First American edition, 2001This edition, 2009

09 10 11 12 13 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Published in the United States by DK Publishing375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014

Copyright © 2001 Dorling Kindersley Limited

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American CopyrightConventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, storedin a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,

electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

Published in Great Britain by Dorling Kindersley Limited

DK books are available at special discounts when purchasedin bulk for sales promotions, premiums,

fund-raising, or educational use.For details, contact: DK Publishing Special Markets375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014

[email protected]

A catalog record for this book is availablefrom the Library of Congress

ISBN: 978-0-7566-5597-6 (pb)ISBN: 978-0-7566-5598-3 (plc)

Printed and bound in China by L. Rex Printing Co. Ltd.

The publisher thanks the following for their kind permissionto reproduce their photographs:

c=center; t=top; b=bottom; l=left; r=rightCM Studios: 32-33c; Corbis UK Ltd: Bettmann/Corbis 20tl, 25tr,

26cl; Corbis 25cr; James L. Amos 41tr; Tom Bean/Corbis 28bl; Mary Evans Picture Library: 4bl, 18tl, 20bc; Robert Harding Picture

Library: 7tr; Royal Society: 14t; Kobal Collection: 47tr;

Dreamworks/Paramount 45br; The Natural History Museum,London: 4bc, 5br, 23b, 27tr, 40tl; Topham Picturepoint: 24bl. Front jacket: Corbis: Louie Psihoyos crb.

DK Images: Senckenberg Nature Museum, Frankfurt t.All other images © Dorling Kindersley Limited.For further information see: www.dkimages.com

4 Dinosaur detectives

6 The fossil woman

14 The strange tooth

20 Dinner in a dinosaur

24 The bone hunters

32 The great bone rush

34 The biggest bone dig

38 Dating the dinosaurs

40 Baby dinosaurs

44 End of the dinosaurs

46 TodayÕs detectives48 Glossary

Contents

Discover more at

www.dk.com



READERS

Written b

y Peter Chrisp

DINOSAUR DETECTIVES

DK Publishing

READERS



4

Dinosaur detectivesLong, long ago, people all over

the world began finding huge bonesburied in sand or stone. Sometimes,

these findings gave rise to stories

about giants and dragons.

Today, we know these bones

belonged to enormous beasts wholived millions of years ago. Some

of them were land reptiles, called

dinosaurs. Dinosaurs walked the

Earth for over 160 million years.

Mary Anning One of the first

fossil hunters, she discovered her first prehistoric creature when she was just 11 years old.See page 6.

Richard Owen This brilliant scientist invented the word ÒdinosaurÓ, and held a party inside a concrete model of one.See page 20.

Gideon Mantell This English doctor found a huge tooth. It led him on the trail of a beast he called Iguanodon. See page 14.



5

The dinosaurs died out

65 million years ago.

In this book, you can read aboutsome of the people who first

discovered the truth about these

huge bones. Like detectives, they

worked to collect evidence and put

together clues.What they learned gives us a

picture of life in the far distant past,

when our world was the home of

the dinosaurs.

Othniel Marsh This rich Americanand his rival Edward Cope hunted for fossils in the Wild West. They

discovered and named many new kinds of dinosaur.See page 28.

Jack Horner This American scientist dug up dozens of dinosaur nests, many still containing eggs and babies.See page 40.

Werner Janensch This German scientist traveled to Africa to dig for dinosaurs.What he discovered changed the way we see our world.See page 34.



6

The fossil woman

Fossils

Fossils are theremains of plants andanimals,preserved inrock. Manyfossils are boneswhich havegraduallyturned tostone.

Welcome to my fossil shop!

My name is Mary Anning. IÕve livedhere in Lyme Regis all my life. I was

born in 1799 above this very shop,

where my father was a carpenter.

For six days of the

week, Father workedhard, making furniture.

But on Sundays, he would

take me for walks

along the beaches

to look for fossils.



7

He sold them to the ladies and

gentlemen who come to the

seaside every summer.Father taught me how to tap

a rock in just the right place with

a hammer, to make it split open.

Often there would be nothing

inside it. But sometimes we wouldfind the skeleton of a beautiful fish,

or a curly shell. We call the shells

ÒsnakestonesÓ because they look like

curled up snakes. Scientists call

them ammonites.

The best time to find fossils is

after a storm, when the wind and

waves batter and chip away at

the cliffs. When a storm hits LymeRegis, all sorts of strange creatures

just fall out of the cliffs.

Father said that we were Òfishing

for curiosities.Ó It was a bit like

fishing because we never knew what

we would catch. But our ÒfishÓ were

made of stone.

AmmonitesThese ancientrelatives of

the squid livedin the sea andcaught foodwith theirtentacles.

Lyme RegisLyme Regis, onthe south coastof England, is

still one of thebest places inthe world tofind fossils.

Fossil sellerMary Anning(1799Ð1847)was the firstperson to makea living byselling fossils.



8

ToolsMary usedsimple tools,like this

hammer andchisel, to splitopen rocks andchip out fossils.

FishingMany peoplein Lyme Regismade theirliving fromfishing inthe sea.

My poor father died in

1810, when I was just ten

years old. Mother made somemoney by selling fish, but it was not

enough for us to live on.

I knew that I had to work to

help feed my family. I decided that

I would spend all my time lookingfor curiosities to sell.

One day, I was looking for fossils

with my brother Joseph. Walking

along the beach, I looked at the cliff

and saw something wonderful

staring back at me.

It was the skull of

a strange animal.

And what a skull!It must have been

about four feet (one

meter) long, with

a big round eye

hole and jaws

stuffed with

sharp teeth.



9

Seashells

MaryÕs fossildiscoveries

made herfamous. Thetongue twister,ÒShe sellsseashells onthe sea shoreÓis thought torefer to her.

ÒItÕs a sea dragon, Mary!Ó said

Joseph excitedly.

We hammered at the rocks untilwe could free the skull. Although it

was very heavy, we managed to

carry it home.

Joseph and I looked at pictures of

animals in a book, to see if we coulddiscover what it was. We decided

that it must be a crocodile.



10

I was sure that the rest of the

crocodile was still there, buried in

the cliff. All I had to do was waitfor another rock slide. So after

every storm, I would go back to

the spot where we found

the skull, hoping to see

the rest of the skeleton.It was almost a year later, in

1812, that the rocks finally fell

away. There was my creature! But

it wasnÕt a crocodile. Instead of legs,

this animal had short paddles. It

looked more like a fish!

I chipped the skeleton

free with my hammer, and

we carried it carefullyback to our shop.

Ichthyosaurus This creatureÕsname meansÒfish-reptileÓin Greek.

GeologyGeology, thestudy of theEarth and its

rocks, was anew science inMaryÕs time.



11

News quickly spread that the

Annings had found a Òsea dragon.Ó

Everyone wanted to have a look,and we were able to charge visitors

some money to see it. Then we sold

the skeleton to a local nobleman for

£23 Ð more money than IÕd ever

seen before.At this time, I met my first

geologists Ð scientific gentlemen

who came to see the creature and

argue about what it was. One of

these geologists, Mr. Knig, gave

my creature a name: Ichthyosaurus .

ReptilesReptiles arethe group of animals thatincludes lizardsand snakes.Ichthyosaurus was a reptilethat swam likea fish.

NamingScientists gaveall plants andanimals Greekor Latin names.



12

ArtistÕs view

This etchingfrom MaryÕstime showsthe seaswarming withichthyosaursand plesiosaurs.

When I was 22, I found

an even stranger creature

in the cliffs. It had a tinyhead, an amazingly long

neck, and four flippers.

It took me months to

chip it free from the rocks, but it

was time well spent. I was able tosell it to the Duke of Buckingham

for £100.

I showed the skeleton to a

geologist called Mr. Conybeare, who

visited me. His mouth dropped open

in astonishment.Sold for

£100

In MaryÕs time,£100 was a

huge sum of money. Anordinary familyof five wouldbe lucky toearn £1 in aweek. Many

people earnedmuch less.



13

ÒI have never seen

anything like this before!Ó he

said. ÒIt has the head of a turtleand the paddles of a whale.

But its neck is like a giant snake.

I shall call it Plesiosaurus , which

means Ôalmost a reptileÕ.Ó

Plesiosaurus made me famous,although some geologists accused

me of having created a fake fossil

to make money.

Then last year, I discovered a

reptile with wings! A fossil expert

called Professor Buckland has

named it Pterodactylus macronyx .

He says that the poor beast must

have drowned in the sea.Of course, finds such as these are

very rare. Mostly, I live by selling

ammonites. Would

you like to buy one? W

Flying reptilesPterosaurswere flyingreptiles whichlived at thesame time asthe dinosaurs.

ÒAlmost a reptileÓWilliamConybearepublished adescription of the Plesiosaurus in 1821. Heapologized forgiving it such aÒvague name.Ó



14

The strange tooth

Busy doctorGideon Mantell(1790Ð1852)visited up to60 patients aday. But he stillfound time tocollect fossilsand write abook calledThe Geology of Sussex .

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you

for coming to my lecture! My nameis Gideon Mantell. Today, I am

going to tell you about a remarkable

discovery that I made in 1822.

At the time, I was a doctor in the

English county of Sussex. AlthoughI practiced medicine, my real

interest was in geology. Between

visits to patients, I would always find

time to collect fossils.

One spring day, I was visiting a

patient with my wife, Mary Ann.

She had come with me to enjoy the

fine weather. While I was busy, she

strolled down the lane and saw apile of rocks, used by workmen to

repair the roads.

In one of the rocks, my wife

noticed something brown

and shiny. Looking closely,

she saw that it was a very

large tooth.

Mrs. MantellMary Anneventually lostpatience withher husbandÕshobby. She leftGideon whenhis fossilcollection tookover their

whole house!



15

And here is that tooth! As you

can see, it is worn away on the

side from chewing, like the toothof a plant-eating mammal. But

it is an odd shape, with ridges.

I had never seen anything like it.

The workmen took me to the

quarry, where I was amazed to learnthat the tooth had come from a very

old layer of rocks.

No mammal fossil

has ever been found

in such rocks.

TeethTooth shapesshow what ananimal eats.Plant-eatershave shortteeth forchopping andchewing leaves.Meat-eatershave sharp,jagged teeth.

Rock layersDifferent typesof fossils arefound in

different layersof rock. Theoldest layers arethe lowest in arock face.

A fossilised

Iguanodon tooth



16

Buckland

WilliamBuckland wasthe scientistwho namedMary AnningÕspterosaur.

I knew of one man who might be

able to help me solve the mystery of

the tooth. Only Professor Bucklandhas a bigger collection of fossils than

I do. He has spent years collecting

them from quarries around England.

I traveled to the professorÕs home

in Oxford, and showed him theenormous tooth.

ÒRemarkable, sir!Ó said

Buckland. ÒI fear I cannot help you

to identify it. But let me show you

a fossil!Ó

He led me to his desk,

piled high with a jumble of

rocks. Buckland pulled out

a large bone and handedit to me.

I could see that

it was a jaw, for it

held a long, sharp,

curved tooth. ÒIt looks

like a flesh eater,Ó I said,

Òa very big flesh eater!Ó

Clever horse

BucklandÕshorse alwaysstopped whenshe passed a

quarry. ShewouldnÕt moveuntil he got off and looked forfossils.

Eccentric

Buckland kepta pet bear andoften didchickenimpressions inthe middle of his lectures!



17

Megalosaurus Buckland

published adescription of Megalosaurus bucklandii (ÒBucklandÕsbig lizardÓ) in1824. It was the

first dinosaur tobe named.

ÒIt was found in a slate

quarry not far from here,Ó said

Buckland. ÒAs you will observe,it is shaped like a lizardÕs jaw.

Yet from the size of the tooth,

this lizard must have been more

than 40 feet (12 meters) long.

Think of that, sir Ð a 40-foot(12-meter) long flesh-eating lizard

roaming around Oxfordshire!Ó

I shuddered at the thought of it.

The professor went on, ÒI am

going to call this great lizard a

Megalosaurus .Ó

Jaw of Megalosaurus



18

Buckland invited me to

stay for dinner, but I made

excuses and left. I had heardthat the professor ate odd

things, like hedgehog meat.

As I traveled home, I thought

about BucklandÕs discovery.

I already knew of the giant seareptiles discovered by Miss Anning

at Lyme Regis. Now Buckland had

found a huge land reptile.

Perhaps my tooth also came from

an ancient reptile. Was it possible, I

wondered, that before the time of

the mammals, there had been an

age of reptiles?

I found my next clue in 1825, atthe museum of the Royal College

of Surgeons in London.

Age of reptilesIn 1838,Mantellpublished a

book calledThe Wonders of Geology .It included thispicture of aMegalosaurus attacking anIguanodon.

Strange mealsBuckland wasfamous foreating unusualanimals.He always saidthat a molewas the mostrevolting thinghe had evertasted Ð untilhe ate a

bluebottle!



19

Looking through the collection

of skeletons, I came across a

South American lizard calledan iguana. Its teeth were

shaped just like the one I

had found, with the same

ridges. The only difference was that

my tooth was 20 times bigger.This convinced me that I had

indeed found a reptile. I decided to

call my reptile Iguanodon, or

Òiguana tooth.Ó W

Iguana

The SouthAmericaniguana growsup to five feet(1.5 meters)long. Mantellpictured hisIguanodon likean iguana, but20 times bigger.

Iguanodon Mantellpublished his

description of Iguanodon in1825. It was thesecond dinosaurto be named.



20

Dinner in a dinosaurI will never forget the party I

went to in London on New YearÕsEve in 1853. We ate our dinner

inside an Iguanodon!

It was not a flesh-and-blood

Iguanodon, of course. It was a brick

and concrete model, built to showthe public what these remarkable

beasts might have looked like.

My name is Prestwick and, like

most of the guests on that

evening, IÕm a geologist.

At the head of

the table sat our

host, Professor

Richard Owen,an expert

on animal

skeletons. He

had designed

the splendid

creature in

which we sat.

SkeletonexpertRichard Owenwas able to

study manydifferentskeletonsby cuttingup animalsthat died atLondon Zoo.

Crowd-pleaserIn 1854, hugecrowds wentto the CrystalPalace inLondon, to seethe concretemodels of Iguanodon andMegalosaurus .

Exhibition

OwenÕs modelswere theworldÕs firstdinosaurexhibition.



21

Owen rose to his feet and said,

ÒFellow scientists! Let us drink to

the memory of Gideon Mantell,discoverer of Iguanodon!Ó

We raised our glasses and cried:

ÒMantell!Ó There was a brief silence,

as we each remembered the good

doctor, who had died the previous year. It was sad indeed that Mantell

was not there, to see his discovery

brought to life.

Nose horn?

The concreteIguanodon hada horn on itsnose. Mantelland Owenhad bothmisunderstoodthis bone. Itwas really thedinosaurÕs

thumb!

Thumb



22

As midnight approached, my

friend Professor Forbes thanked our

host for the splendid meal.Forbes said, ÒWe owe Owen a

great deal, gentlemen. Dr. Mantell

and Professor Buckland thought

of their discoveries as overgrown

lizards. But in the 1830s, more bonesof these huge reptiles were found,

and Owen studied them closely.

ÒThe Professor has a great

understanding of skeletons.

Straight legsStraight legsare betterat bearingweight thanthe sprawlinglegs of lizards.It was thanksto their straightlegs thatdinosaurs couldgrow so muchbigger thanany otherreptiles.



23

He could see that,

unlike lizards, these

creatures held their bodies off the ground on straight legs. They

were not giant lizards. They were

a separate group of animals, which

Owen has named Dinosauria .

And now, if I may,Ó Forbesadded, ÒI would like to read you

a poem that I have

written. It is about this

magnificent Iguanodon

in which we are sitting.

A thousand ages underground

His skeleton had lain;

But now his bodyÕs big

and round And heÕs himself again!

The jolly old beast

Is not deceased,

ThereÕs life in him again! Ó

At this, we all let out a

huge roar like a bellowing

herd of Iguanodons . W

Two legsor four?Owen

mistakenlybelieved thatall dinosaurswalked on fourlegs. Later findsshowed thatmany walked

on their hindlegs, like thisGiganotosaurus .

DinosaursIn 1841,

Owen inventedthe nameÒdinosaur.ÓIt meansÒterrible lizardÓin Greek.



24

ExpeditionsIn the 1870s,OthnielCharles Marsh

(1831Ð99) ledhis studentson fourfossil-huntingexpeditionsto the West.

The bone huntersMy name is Matthew Randall,

but all my friends call me Matty.Let me tell you about my young days

out in AmericaÕs Wild West.

Back in 1868, I found work on

the building of the Union Pacific

Railroad. Laying those iron railswas hard work, and it was

dangerous too.

RailroadIn the 1860s,the UnionPacific Railroadwas built acrossthe U.S.A., tolink the citiesof the Eastwith the West.



25

This was the homeland of the Sioux

Indians, who hated the railroad.

Without the protection of theU.S. cavalry, we wouldnÕt have

lasted very long.

For months on end, we lived on

fried buffalo steaks, provided by our

own hunter, ÒBuffalo BillÓ Cody.One day, a group of strangers

rode into our camp. There were

about a dozen youngsters led by

an older fellow, who was short

and plump.

ÒGood day,Ó said

the older man. ÒI am

Professor Marsh of

Yale University, andthese are my students.

We are on a bone-

hunting expedition!Ó

This struck me as

an odd occupation,

although I was too

polite to say so.

Sioux

The Siouxdepended onbuffalo for food,clothes, tools,

and tents. Thesettlers andrailroad ruinedSioux huntinggrounds.

Buffalo Bill

William Codyearned his

nickname bysupplying therailway workerswith buffalomeat. He wasfamous for hisskill as a scout.



The professor had come to our

camp to meet up with Buffalo Bill,

who had offered to be his guide onthe bone-hunting expedition.

Next morning, the bone-hunters

rode off. Buffalo Bill led the way

and Marsh rode beside him. They

had an escort of cavalrymen andsix wagons. We wished them well

and then went back to our work

on the railroad.

More than a month later, we

met up with the professor again.

His students now looked like real

westerners, with tanned faces and

well-worn clothing.

Marsh was full of stories of hisadventures. He said that heÕd shot

an angry bull buffalo which was

charging at him. HeÕd also made

friends with some Sioux, who

called him ÒBig Bone Chief.Ó

Then he showed us the

wagonloads of bones heÕd collected.

26

Darwin

In 1859,Charles Darwinsuggested thatanimals are notfixed in onepermanentform, or species.They change

over time,to producenew species.He called thisÒevolution.Ó

Museum

Marsh wasthe nephewof millionaire

banker, GeorgePeabody. Heused his uncleÕsmoney to buildthe PeabodyMuseum at Yale, to house

his fossils.



Bird with teeth

DarwinÕsfollowersbelieved thatone group of dinosaurs grewfeathers andtook to the air.They evolvedinto birds. Earlybirds kept somereptile features,such as teeth.

He handed one of them around.

ÒHereÕs a real treasure,Ó he

said. ÒItÕs a birdÕs skull with teethin its beak! This shows that birds

must have evolved from reptiles.

It proves that Darwin was right

about evolution!Ó

We had no idea what he wastalking about.

27

Proof

DarwinÕssupportershoped to findfossils thatwould provehis theory.

This was whyMarsh wasexcited to finda birdÕs skullwith teeth.



28

The professor said that if we ever

found any strange bones, we should

write to him at Yale. Then he wenthome with his students and his

collection of bones. I guessed that

this was the last I would hear of

bone-hunting.

Over the next years, big changescame to the West. The railroads I

helped to build brought thousands

of settlers from the East. New towns

sprang up all over the place.

In 1874, gold was discovered in

the Black Hills in Sioux territory.

Soon, we had a real gold rush, with

trainloads of easterners arriving, all

hoping to strike it rich. The Siouxfought to defend their land, but

were forced to move to reservations.

Headdress

Sioux warriorswore eaglefeatherheaddresses.

Black Hills

The Siouxfought for theBlack Hills.They won avictory at theBattle of theLittle Bighorn

in 1877, buteventually theylost theirterritory.



29

IÕd found a job looking after the

train depot at a little place called

Como Bluff in Wyoming. I hadplenty of free time and IÕd often

walk up into the hills. There wasnÕt

much to look at there Ð just a lot of

dry, bare rocks.

But one day in 1877, I found abone sticking out of the rocks that

was bigger than

I was! Nearby,

there was

another huge

bone, and

another. These

bones seemed to

go on for miles.

TeepeesBefore they

were forcedto stay onreservations,the Sioux madegood use of portable homescalled teepees.These weremade of buffalohide stretchedover woodenpoles.

Bare rocksThe rocky hillsof Wyominghave been wornaway by rivers,rain, andwind. Theseareas, called

badlands, arewonderfulplaces to findfossils.



I was going to send a letter to

Marsh, but then I heard that a rich

bone-hunting professor had arrivedin Canon City, not far away.

I traveled there, expecting to

find Marsh. But I was surprised to

see a different fellow. He said his

name was Edward Drinker Cope.I asked him if he knew Marsh.

ÒMarsh!Ó shouted Cope, turning red

in the face. ÒThe man is a fraud and

a thief!Ó It seemed that Cope hated

Marsh worse than poison.

When I told him about the bones

I had found, he offered me $100.

30

Cope

Edward

Drinker Cope(1840Ð97)wrote over1,400 booksand articlesand namedmore than a1,000 newanimal species.

Spies

Both Marshand Cope hiredspies to keep aneye on what theother one wasdoing. Theyalso used bribesto win overdiggers fromthe rivalteam.



I had to show him the place, and

keep it a secret from MarshÕs spies.

Cope soon had a team of diggersat work, blasting the rock with

gunpowder and prying the bones

out with crowbars. Many bones

shattered and were thrown away.

But Cope couldnÕt keep his secretfor ever. One day a team of MarshÕs

diggers showed up. It was just like

the days of the gold rush, only these

fellows were after bones. W

31

Broken bonesEventuallythe diggersinvented waysto protect thebones they dugup. MarshÕsmen wrappedthem in stripsof cloth, soakedin flour andwater. CopeÕsmen usedboiled riceinstead of flour.

UsefultechniqueThe practice of wrapping fossils

in cloth andplaster of Parisis still usedon somedigs today.



The great bone rushCope and Marsh each had teams

of diggers working all over theWest. It was a race to describe and

name the new species. As a result of

this Òbone rush,Ó they discovered

almost 130 new kinds of dinosaur.

Cope worked alone, but Marshhad a team of expert assistants to

help him put the skeletons together.

MarshÕs dinosaurs came in many

shapes and sizes. There was the

flesh-eating Allosaurus (Òdifferent

reptileÓ) and gigantic plant-eaters

like the Barosaurus (Òheavy reptileÓ).

32

FeudMarsh andCope fell outwhen Marsh

pointed outthat Cope hadreconstructed asea reptile withits head on theend of its tail.This humiliatedCope, whonever forgaveMarsh.

Heavy reptileBarosaurus belonged to thesauropod familyof dinosaurs,which were thelargest animalsever to walkthe Earth.

Triceratops



There were also dinosaurs with

horns, such as the Triceratops

(Òthree-horned faceÓ).The strangest dinosaur of all

was one Marsh called Stegosaurus

(Òroofed reptileÓ). It had rows of

mysterious bony plates all along

its back.Meanwhile, Cope and Marsh

attacked each other in newspaper

articles. Their squabbling made both

of them look silly, but it also made

ÒdinosaurÓ a household word. W

33

Roofed reptileScientists stillargue aboutwhat the

Stegosaurus used its platesfor. Some thinkthey helped theanimal controlits temperature.Others believe

they were usedto signal toother dinosaurs.

Allosaurus

Stegosaurus



The biggest bone digMy name is Dr. Werner

Janensch. IÕve just come home toGermany after spending three years

in Africa, leading a huge dig.

Back in 1907, I heard that some

giant bones had been found at a

place called Tendugaru in EastAfrica. I raised the money for an

expedition and sailed to Africa

in 1909.

I hired hundreds of local workers

to do the digging. Tendugaru lies

far inland, and there are no roads.

All our food and supplies had to be

carried on foot from the coast.

The bones we dug up had to becarried back in the same way.

I was expecting to find new

dinosaurs in Africa.

34

LifeÕs workWerner Janensch

(1878Ð1969)spent the rest of his life workingon the bones hebrought backfrom Africa.

Leg boneBrachiosaurus was so big thatits femur (upperleg bone) wasas long as aperson!



35

Brachiosaurus

JanenschÕsBrachiosaurus isnow on displayin Berlin. At39 feet (11.8meters) highand 74 feet

(22.5 meters)long, it is theworldÕs largestcomplete

dinosaurskeleton.

WeÕve come back with more

than 80,000 dinosaur bones. Now

IÕve got to try to sort them out!The baffling thing is that my

bones belong to the Brachiosaurus

and other species that have also

been found in America. Africa and

America are separated by the wideAtlantic Ocean. How did these

lumbering beasts get from one

continent to the other?



In Berlin, I showed my

Brachiosaurus skull to some of our

geologists. ÒThis is an Americandinosaur,Ó I explained. ÒHow did it

end up in Africa? ItÕs a mystery!Ó

Most of them were puzzled. But

a young man called Alfred Wegener

said, ÒItÕs not a mystery at all. Thisis exactly the type of dinosaur I

would expect to find in Africa!Ó

Wegener pulled out a world map.

ÒLook at the coastlines of Africa

and South

America.

36

WegenerIn 1912, AlfredWegenersuggested thatthere was onceonly one hugeland masswhich he calledÒPangaea.Ó Hebelieved that ithad split intopieces. Thepieces slowlydrifted apartto form thecontinents thatwe know today.

Wild theoryAt the time,few scientiststook WegenerÕstheory of Òcontinental

driftÓ seriously.It was notuntil the 1960sthat he wasproved right.



Their shapes match exactly. I

believe that they must have once

been joined. Somehow, they havedrifted to their present positions.

This is why you found the same

dinosaurs in Africa and America.

When your Brachiosaurus was alive,

there was no Atlantic Ocean!ÓWe were all startled by this wild

theory. ÒAre you seriously suggesting

that continents can roam around

the EarthÕs surface?Ó I asked.

ÒHow is this possible?Ó

ÒI donÕt know,Ó said

Wegener. ÒBut your

Brachiosaurus is

the proof that Iam right!Ó W

37

DriftingcontinentsWe now knowthat the EarthÕs

surface is madeup of severalenormousplates floatingon top of molten rock.Forces inside

the Earth movethe platesslowly. This iswhat made thecontinentsmove and splitapart.

270 million years ago

130 million years ago

Present day

SouthAmerica

Africa

P a n g a e a



Dating the dinosaursLike detectives, early geologists

collected evidence to piece togetherthe story of life on Earth. Using

fossils, they were able to place

different periods of the

EarthÕs history in order.

They gave these periodsnames based on the type of rocks in

which the various fossils were found.

The age of the dinosaurs was

divided into three periods: Triassic,

when dinosaurs first evolved;

Jurassic, when they became the

main land animals; and Cretaceous,

when new sorts, such as the horned

dinosaurs, appeared.Geologists knew that Triassic

dinosaurs must have lived

before Jurassic ones.

38

Triassic(248Ð205 millionyears ago)

Early dinosaurs,like this small

Herrerasaurus,evolved inthe Triassicperiod.

Jurassic(205Ð144 millionyears ago)

Dinosaurs likeDiplodocus reached theirlargest size and

dominated thewhole Earth.



39

Cretaceous(144Ð65 millionyears ago)

This was theage of the

horneddinosaurs,such as thisProtoceratops .

Elements

Elements arethe basicsubstances,such as carbonand iron,that all thingsare made of.

Radioactiveelementsincludepotassiumand uranium.

But they could only guess how long

ago that was.

It was not until the 1920s thatscientists were able to work out the

age of rocks. This was thanks to

the study of radioactivity.

Many rocks are made up

of elements which areradioactive. These

elements slowly decay,

or break down, to form

other elements. Scientists

measure the amount of a

radioactive element in a

rock. They can then work out how

long the decay has been going on

and so when the rock was formed.Radioactive decay is like a clock,

ticking away inside the EarthÕs

rocks. Using this clock, scientists

were able to date the rocks holding

the dinosaur fossils.

This told them when the

dinosaurs had lived. W



Baby dinosaursIn 1978, a paleontologist named

Jack Horner was visiting a fossilshop in Montana, U.S.A. He found

the bones of a baby dinosaur. This

was an important discovery. Few

baby dinosaurs had ever been found!

Horner traced the fossil back tothe rocky hillside where it had been

discovered, and began to dig. Soon

he had uncovered a huge nest.

It was over 6 feet (2 meters) wide

and contained 15 baby dinosaurs

and lots of crushed eggshells.

In the 1980s, HornerÕs team

found more nests at the site.

Some of them containedeggs and newly

hatched babies.

Horner knew

that the soil

around the

nests could

hold clues.

40

Jack HornerDr. Jack

Horner (1946Ð)is one of theworldÕs leadingexperts ondinosaurs.He was thetechnicaladviser for thefilms Jurassic Park and The Lost World .

PaleontologyA moderndinosaurdetective iscalled apaleontologist.Paleontologyis the studyof ancient life.

It comes fromthe Greekword, palaios ,which meansÒancient.Ó



By sifting the soil and examining

it under a microscope, he

discovered the remains of chewed up leaves and berries.

He also found dinosaur droppings,

containing woody debris from conifer

trees. Can you work out what he

discovered?Horner used these clues and other

evidence to build an amazing picture

of the lives of these dinosaurs.

Fossilized babyHornerÕsteam chippedaway the rockto discoverthis fossilizedeggshellcontaining ababy hatchling.



Jack HornerÕs most

important discovery was that

the babies were being lookedafter by their parents. He

called this dinosaur Maiasaura ,

which means Ògood mother lizard.Ó

The evidence for parental care

was the size of the 15 babies. Sincethey were three times bigger than

newly hatched ones, they must have

stayed in their nest for weeks after

hatching.

42

Herds

Fossil footprintsare furtherevidence thatsome dinosaurs,such as theseGallimimus ,traveled inherds. The young stayed inthe middle of aherd, while theadults walkedon either side,for protection.



They had crushed the eggshells in

their nest as they moved around.

The chewed up leaves and berrieswere food brought by the parents.

The mystery is why the babies

died. Perhaps something happened

to their parents and the babies

starved to death in the nest.In 1984, HornerÕs team made

another discovery. They found the

bones of 10,000 Maiasaura

that had been killed by a

volcanic eruption. Finding

so many animals

together shows that

they lived in

huge herds. W

43

Like modern

animals

Jack Hornersays, ÒDinosaursbasically arenÕtany differentfrom animalsalive today.They just lookeddifferent.Ó

Nest site

Horner thinksthat theseMaiasaura returned tothe same nestsite year after year, just likemany birdsand turtlesdo today.



44

End of the dinosaursSixty-five million years ago,

the dinosaurs disappeared. Noone knows for certain why this

happened, nor why some other

animals, such as mammals and

fish, survived.

Scientists do know that theEarthÕs climate was cooling

down at the time. If dinosaurs

were cold-blooded, like

modern reptiles, they may

have been unable to cope

with the cold weather.

Cold-blooded

Lizards andother cold-blooded

animals dependon outside heatto controltheir bodytemperature.They have tobask in thesunshine towarm up.



45

Warm-blooded mammals could

have taken over.

In 1990, a huge crater about124 miles (200 kilometers) across

was found on the seabed off Mexico.

It was formed 65 million years ago

when a massive object, such as an

meteorite, crashed into the Earth.The impact of such a large

meteorite would throw up a huge

cloud of dust and gases. This would

block out the SunÕs light for months.

Without sunlight, plants would die,

followed by the animals

that ate them. Perhaps this

is what led to the end

of the dinosaurs. W

Warm-blooded

People, lemurs,and otherwarm-blooded

animals controltheir bodytemperatureby convertingfood into heat.They needmore food thancold-bloodedanimals.

Meteorites

Meteoritesare rocks

which hurtlethrough space,occasionallysmashing intothe Earth.



46

TodayÕs detectivesWhen Mary Anning went fossil

hunting, her only equipment wasa geological hammer. But todayÕs

dinosaur detectives have many more

tools at their disposal.

In 1998, scientists in California

used computers and X-raysto study the skull of a

Tyrannosaurus rex .

They scanned it

for 500 hours.

They produced

hundreds of

computerized images. These

pictures revealed that the dinosaur

had huge olfactory lobes Ð the partsof the brain used for smell. T.rex

clearly had a powerful nose!

Dinosaur modeling has come

a long way since the concrete

Iguanodon in 1853. Today, experts

examine fossils for marks where

muscles were attached.

Tyrannosaurus

rex

T.rex (Òkingtyrant lizardÓ)

was a hugemeat-eatingdinosaur, upto 20 feet(6 meters) highand 40 feet(12 meters)

long. It livedin the lateCretaceousperiod.

Smell

T.rex used itssense of smellto track downfood Ð eitherliving animalsto hunt, oranimals thathad alreadydied.



47

These show the modelers

how to shape the body and

how the animal moved. Evenso, much is guesswork: fossils

canÕt show us the color of

skin or eyes.

People are still hunting for

dinosaurs and new species are beingdiscovered. Perhaps, lying in the

rocks beneath your feet, there are

the bones of unknown dinosaurs. W

ComputersThanks tocomputeranimation,we can seehow dinosaursmoved infilms such as Jurassic Park and in museumdisplays aroundthe world.



Ammonite

A prehistoric sea creaturewith a coiled shell.Ammonites are amongthe most common fossils.

Cold-bloodedTo have a bodytemperature that varieswith the surroundings.Reptiles and fish are

cold-blooded.

Continental driftThe theory that thecontinents were oncejoined together, but splitapart and slowly driftedto their present positions.

Cretaceous

The third period in theage of the dinosaurs,144Ð65 million years ago.

DinosaursLand reptiles that livedbetween 248Ð65 million

years ago. Manydinosaurs were very big.The name dinosaur

means Òterrible lizardÓin Greek.

ElementsThe basic substances,such as hydrogen,carbon, and iron, thatall things are made of.

Evolution

The theory that speciesof animals and plantsgradually change overlong periods of time toproduce new species.

Extinction

The complete dyingout of a species.

FossilsTraces of animals andplants, preserved in rocks.Fossils include bones,skin, and footprints.The name meansÒdug upÓ in Latin.

GeologyThe study of the Earthand its rocks.

JurassicThe second period inthe age of the dinosaurs,205Ð144 million

years ago.

MammalsA group of warm-bloodedanimals with hair.Mammals give birth tolive young, which theyfeed on milk. Mice,whales, horses, andhumans are mammals.

MeteoritesLarge rocks that hurtlethrough space andoccasionally smashinto the Earth.

NaturalistA scientist who studiesanimals and plants.

PaleontologyThe study of ancientlife, from the Greekword, palaios , whichmeans Òancient.Ó

Pterosaurs

Flying reptiles that livedat the same time as thedinosaurs.

QuarryA place where stone isdug out of the ground.

RadioactivityThe energy released

by elements, such asuranium, as they slowlybreak down, or decay.Radioactivity can be usedto date rocks.

ReptilesA group of cold-blooded,egg-laying animals withscaly skins. They include

lizards, snakes, tortoises,and crocodiles.

SauropodsA group of huge, long-necked dinosaurs thatincluded Barosaurus .

SpeciesA group of animals or

plants that can breedtogether and that differonly in minor details.

TriassicThe first period in theage of the dinosaurs,248Ð205 million yearsago.

Warm-bloodedTo have a body thatstays constantly warm.Mammals are warm-blooded.

Glossary

48



IndexAllosaurus 32

ammonites 7Anning, Mary 4, 6–13

Barosaurus 32, 33birds, with teeth 27body temperature 44, 45Brachiosaurus 34–37Buckland, William 13,

16

Buffalo Bill 25, 26

cold-blooded animals44

computers 46, 47continental drift 36, 37Conybeare, William

12, 13Cope, Edward Drinker

5, 30–33

Cretaceous period 38,39

Darwin, Charles 26, 27dating dinosaurs 38–39dinosaur models 20, 47dinosaurs 22, 32

baby 40–43bones 29, 31eggs 40–43

footprints 42herds 42, 43horns 33jaws 16, 17legs 22, 23, 34nests 40–43parents 42plates 32, 33skeletons 10, 35

skulls 8, 9teeth 15, 16h b 21

disappearance of

dinosaurs 44–45

Earth 38, 39plates 37

elements 38evolution 26

films 40, 47Forbes, Professor 22

fossils 6wrapping 31

Gallimimus 42geology 10Giganotosaurus 22

Herrerasaurus 38Horner, Jack 40–43

Ichthyosaurus 10, 11iguana 19Iguanodon 19, 20–23

Janensch, Werner 5,34–37

Jurassic period 38, 39

land mass 36lizards 17, 19, 44

Lyme Regis 6, 7, 8

Maisaura 42, 43Mantell, Gideon 4,

14–19, 21Marsh, Othniel Charles

5, 24–33meat-eaters 15Megalosaurus 17

meteorites 45

i l d

Owen, Richard 4,

20–23

paleontology 40Pangaea 36Peabody Museum, Yale

26plant-eaters 15Plesiosaurus 13Protoceratops 39

Pterodactyl macronyx 13pterosaurs 13

radioactivity 39railroads 24, 25reptiles 11, 18

age of 18flying 13

reservations 29

rocksage of 38, 39layers 15splitting 7

Stegosaurus 32, 33Sioux 25, 28

tools for fossil hunting7, 8, 46–47

Triassic period 38, 39Triceratops 33Tyrannosaurus rex

(T. rex) 46, 47olfactory lobes 47sense of smell 47

warm-blooded animals45

Wegener, Alfred36–37

Documents

Dinosaur Detectives DK READERS