When did dinosaurs first evolve?

JV Chamary

Email your questions to wildlifemagazine@ourmedia.co.uk WHILE THE WORD DINOSAUR STEMS from the Greek for ‘terrible lizard’, dinosaurs aren’t lizards. This distinction is based on anatomical features, notably the legs. A lizard’s legs stick out at right angles from its body, producing a sprawling stance, whereas a dinosaur’s legs are tucked underneath. Keeping a big reptile upright requires strong joints between the hips and backbone, which the ancestors of dinosaurs made by fusing together vertebrae to form a modified structure – the sacrum. The origin of dinosaurs dates back to at least 230 million years ago (MYA). A group of reptiles called archosaurs had two branches on the evolutionary tree of life, a ‘crocodile line’ (Crurotarsi) and a ‘bird line’ (Avemetatarsalia), which are distinguished by bones near the ankle. Dinosaurs emerged…

You're reading a preview of

Bbc Wildlife (Digital) - 1 Issue, August 2024

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.