Discovering Dinosaurs

Discovering Dinosaurs

Finding Fossils How do we know dinosaurs lived on Earth? Scientists discover fossils in rocks all over the world. Studying fossils helps them learn about dinosaurs. They study what dinosaurs looked like, where they lived, and what they ate.

Fossils are the remains of plants or animals from long ago that have turned to stone. Scientists have found many different types of dinosaur fossils, including bones, footprints, teeth, nests, and eggs.

These scientists are excavating, or carefully digging, fossils out of the ground. After recording information about the fossils, the scientists will wrap them to keep them safe. Then the scientists will take them to a museum. Scientists will study the fossils. They'll examine the shape and color of the fossils. They'll also consider where the fossils were discovered and how deep underground they were discovered.

Scientists can sometimes fit bone fossils together to form a complete skeleton. Most dinosaurs had hundreds of bones, so it is difficult to find all of them. Scientists use other dinosaur skeletons to help them piece together the fossils and understand the missing bones.

Learning from Fossils Although dinosaurs are extinct, the skeletons of other animals help scientists understand dinosaur skeletons. Some dinosaur bones may be bigger than those of animals alive today. However, many are still shaped the same.