10 Surprising Dinosaur Facts

Do you love dinosaurs? Paleontologist Dale Russell walks you through ten amazing things you should know about our prehistoric pals.

1. Some dinosaurs were as small as a hen, but the typical dinosaur weighed about as much as a hippopotamus or an elephant.

2. Dinosaur eggs are smaller than those of modern birds (relative to the weight of the mother). In fact, the largest known dinosaur eggs are much smaller than those of the extinct elephant bird of Madagascar.

3. Instead of chewing their food, some sauropods ground their food between stones in a portion of the digestive tract, much like the gizzard of a modern bird.

4. The earliest dinosaurs resembled two-legged, short-headed crocodiles, but later dinosaurs were oddly reminiscent of giant mammals and birds.

5. Some dinosaurs spent time in the water, but no dinosaur could swim very well.

6. Dinosaur bones have been found on all of the continents, but the fossil record is most complete in North America and Asia.

7. Dinosaurs had tiny (or completely absent) outside fingers and toes.

8. It's easy to tell a dinosaur skeleton from that of a modern reptile because dinosaur skeletons have a strong joint between the backbone and hips.

9. Small, two-legged dinosaurs could turn rapidly by swinging their tail abruptly in a direction opposite to where they wished to turn.

10. Some dinosaurs had feathers.

Learn more about dinosaurs and their world in Encarta Encyclopedia's Dinosaur article.

Dale Russell is a research professor at North Carolina State University, and Senior Curator of Paleontology, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. Professor Russell's major focus of research interest is dinosaurs and their world. He is one of the world's leading experts on dinosaurs.