Wonder what dinosaurs were like? So did Tinkle reader, Shreyas Mandagani! Check out these awesome facts to learn about them. 

1. Scientists divide dinosaurs into two large groups based on their hip bones. Ornithischia are dinosaurs whose hip bones were arranged like those of birds’. Triceratops had bird-hipped bones. Saurischia are dinosaurs whose hip bones were arranged like those of lizards’. Archaeopteryx had lizard-hipped bones.
2. It is believed that dinosaurs used feathers to stay warm and to fly. Flying dinosaurs were early birds who are believed to have survived when the other dinosaurs perished. A popular theory states that dinosaurs died out when a giant meteor crashed on Earth.
3. Experts have discovered remains of a small dinosaur, microraptor, which was small enough to fit in an adult human’s hands. Its flight feathers helped it glide from branch to branch.
4. In 2022, palaeontologists found the first evidence of a non-flying dinosaur with breathing problems. This dinosaur had broccoli-shaped growths in its neck bones.
5. For almost 180 million years, various dinosaur species existed and went extinct at different times. When T-rexes lived, all the apatosauruses and stegosaurs had already turned into fossils.
6. Baby T-rexes may have looked like skinny turkeys with a long tail. They are believed to have been as big as ducklings. However, when they turned 20, these dinosaurs may have been over 12 metres long!
7. The tallest dinosaur that ever lived was the giraffatitan. It was named after its giraffe-like neck.
8. Ankylosaurus was a plant-eating dinosaur that had a spiky plate of bone to protect it from predators. It also had a huge tail with a bony club at the end that could be swung at attackers.
9. Citipati was a toothless dinosaur that had a big plate of bone on its head. Citipati eggs were bigger than the human hand.

Sources: 

DK 

National Geographic 

Britannica Kids