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Dinosaurs are the most popular group of reptiles that belong to the family of Dinosauria. Dinosaurs were first seen in the Triassic period by scientists some 233 million years ago. It must be noted that the exact timing of their origin is still not known to the scientific community. After the end of the Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction event that took place around 200 million years ago, dinosaurs emerged as the most dominant vertebrates on land. Dinosaurs remained the most dominant creatures on the face of the Earth during the Cretaceous and Jurassic periods. Scientists who study evolution as their main course have reported that modern birds are derived from extinct feathered dinosaurs that existed some million years ago, as birds have some characteristics of dinosaurs.

For that reason, the scientific community has divided dinosaurs into two main categories; non-avian dinosaurs and avian dinosaurs. The former ones are those dinosaurs that have nothing to do with modern birds, whereas the latter group includes dinosaurs that have evolved into modern birds. Dinosaurs are mostly bipedal, meaning that they use two feet for locomotion. However, some dinosaurs were quadrupled, meaning that they would use four legs for locomotion. Almost all dinosaurs possessed some visible structures like crests or horns. Most modern dinosaurs developed these structures into spines or bony armor. Non-avian dinosaurs are reportedly larger than avian dinosaurs. The first fossil of dinosaurs was discovered in the early days of the 19th century.

At the time of discovery, scientists called that fossil ‘terrible lizard’ as they had a resemblance to lizards. The name of this gigantic, extinct species was coined in 1841 by Richard Owen. The dinosaur’s literal meaning is a terrible lizard. The fantastic and monstrous nature of dinosaurs and their massive sizes earned them a special place in movies and best-selling novels. These creatures were featured in the best way in Jurassic Park.