Dinosaur Discoveries

See if you can cook up the answers to this quiz about the mysteries of dinosaur eggs.

Quiz

1. This discovery of fossilized dinosaur eggs was especially important because:

It proved that dinosaurs laid eggs.
No, scientists have known that dinosaurs laid eggs for a long time. The first dinosaur egg shells were discovered in France in 1869.
Many of the eggs not only had the fossilized bones of the unhatched dinosaurs, they actually contained fossils of skin fragments. It is very unusual for skin to become fossilized because it is such a delicate structure. This is the first time the skin of a dinosaur embryo has been found.
We learned about the existence of "sauropods"--very large plant-eaters.
Not quite. The dinosaurs that laid these eggs were indeed sauropods. But we already knew that sauropods existed.
Many of the eggs not only had the fossilized bones of the unhatched dinosaurs, they actually contained fossils of skin fragments. It is very unusual for skin to become fossilized because it is such a delicate structure. This is the first time the skin of a dinosaur embryo has been found.
It was the first time skin from a dinosaur embryo had been discovered.
You got it! Many of the eggs not only had the fossilized bones of the unhatched dinosaurs, they actually contained fossils of skin fragments. It is very unusual for skin to become fossilized because it is such a delicate structure. This is the first time the skin of a dinosaur embryo has been found.

2. The dinosaurs that laid the eggs found in Argentina were pretty big--growing up to about 50 feet in length. How big would the baby dinosaurs have been if they had hatched?

About four inches long.
No way! These are dinosaurs we're talking about. If they had hatched, the newborn dinosaurs would have been a little more than one foot long--that's still smaller than your average newborn human baby!
A little more than one foot long.
That's right. If they had hatched, the newborn dinosaurs would have been a little more than one foot long--smaller than your average newborn human baby!
Nearly five feet long.
No. Believe it or not, they would have actually been much smaller. If they had hatched, the newborn dinosaurs would have been a little more than one foot long--smaller than your average newborn human baby!

3. How old are the dinosaur eggs recently found in Argentina?

700-900 thousand years ago.
No. It's one hundred times that! The dinosaur eggs found in Argentina are 70-90 million years old. Believe it or not, that's pretty recent compared to some other dinosaurs. Dinosaurs became extinct about 65 million years ago, after living on earth for about 165 million years.
7-9 million years ago.
No. Try ten times that! The dinosaur eggs found in Argentina are 70-90 million years old. Believe it or not, that's pretty recent compared to some other dinosaurs. Dinosaurs became extinct about 65 million years ago, after living on earth for about 165 million years.
70-90 million years ago.
Correct. The dinosaur eggs found in Argentina are 70-90 million years old. Believe it or not, that's pretty recent compared to some other dinosaurs. Dinosaurs became extinct about 65 million years ago, after living on earth for about 165 million years.

4. What color were dinosaurs?

Most of them were various shades of green, like modern-day lizards.
Some of the models and drawings of dinosaurs you've seen may have been colored green, but no one actually knows what color dinosaurs were.
Gray and brown, like elephants and hippopotamuses.
Some of the models and drawings of dinosaurs you've seen may have been colored gray and brown, but no one actually knows what color dinosaurs were.
No one knows what color dinosaurs were.
You got it! When artists depict dinosaurs as green, brown, or gray, they are just making an educated guess. No one actually knows what color dinosaurs were.

5. What size was the smallest dinosaur?

The size of a large dog.
Nope. The Compsognathus was only the size of a chicken. Unlike the big, lumbering sauropods, the Compsognathus stood on two legs, could run pretty fast, and hunted other animals for food.
The size of a horse.
No. The Compsognathus was only the size of a chicken. Unlike the big, lumbering sauropods, the Compsognathus stood on two legs, could run pretty fast, and hunted other animals for food.
The size of a chicken.
Yes! The Compsognathus was only the size of a chicken. Unlike the big, lumbering sauropods, the Compsognathus stood on two legs, could run pretty fast, and hunted other animals for food.

1. This discovery of fossilized dinosaur eggs was especially important because:
It was the first time skin from a dinosaur embryo had been discovered.

2. The dinosaurs that laid the eggs found in Argentina were pretty big--growing up to about 50 feet in length. How big would the baby dinosaurs have been if they had hatched?
A little more than one foot long.

3. How old are the dinosaur eggs recently found in Argentina?
70-90 million years ago.

4. What color were dinosaurs?
No one knows what color dinosaurs were.

5. What size was the smallest dinosaur?
The size of a chicken.

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