Today is International Dinosaur Day! To celebrate this dino-rrific occasion, we’ve put together some fun facts about these great beasts.

Check it out!

Did You Know?

• A variety of enormous creatures ruled the Earth for over 160 million years!
• The word “dinosaur” means “terrible lizard” in the Greek language.
• The Megalosaurus was the first one to be formally named. The year was 1824.

Fun Fact: Megalosaurus was a theropod, which means it walked on two legs. It measured around 30 feet long (9m) and ate meat!

• It is thought that today’s birds may have descended from prehistoric theropods.
• A person that studies dinosaurs is called a paleontologist.
• Some of the largest dinosaurs only ate plants (herbivores). These species include the Brachiosaurus and Apatosaurus.
• To help fight the dangerous meat-eating dinosaurs, some species of herbivores came equipped with their own weapons. These include the spikes on the tail of the Stegosaurus and the three horns attached to the front of the Triceratops head shield.

Fun Fact: Stegosaurus could weigh up to 5 tons! Some of this weight included its large back-plates. These could measure up to 2 feet tall and 2 feet wide (60cm by 60cm)!

• The biggest dinosaurs were over 100 feet long (30.5m) and 50 feet tall (15.2m). They were called Sauropods.
• The smallest dinosaurs were the size of a chicken and were called Mussaurus, or “mouse lizard.”
• No one really knows what the true color of the dinosaurs were.
• There are 330 known species of dinosaurs, but that number is still growing.

What do you think of the dinosaur? Would you want to meet one today? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section.

If you want to learn more fun facts about some cool dinosaurs, check out our dinosaur section.

Happy International Dinosaur Day!