Types of Dinosaurs

There are thousands of different types of dinosaur species that have been found worldwide. Dinosaurs can be carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores. meaning they eat meat , fruit & veg or a mix of both. Paleontologists classify the different types of dinosaur into different orders and groups. At a high level, all the different types of dinosaurs are classified into one of two orders.

The two orders that a dinosaur can be classified under is Saurischia or Ornithischia.

Saurischia

Dinosaurs with lizard-like hips are placed in the Saurischia order. The Saurischia order has two different suborders, Theropoda and Sauropodomorpha. Theropoda dinosaurs, commonly called Theropods, were carnivorous types of dinosaurs.

Ornithischia

Dinosaurs with bird-like hips are placed in the Ornithischia order.

When did they exist

When did dinosaurs start and end? Dinosaurs lived during most of the Mesozoic era, a geological age that lasted from 252 million to 66 million years ago. The Mesozoic era includes the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.

Triassic

The Triassic is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period of the Mesozoic Era. Both the start and end of the period are marked by major extinction events

Jurassic

The Jurassic is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period 201.3 million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 145 Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic Era and is named after the Jura Mountains, where limestone strata from the period were first identified.

Cretaceous

The Cretaceous is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of the entire Phanerozoic. The name is derived from the Latin creta, "chalk", which is abundant in the latter half of the period. It is usually abbreviated K, for its German translation Kreide.