At each stage of the conquest of planet Earth, these or other animals existed, becoming a kind of "elite" of their time. These creatures were the last word of evolution, as well as the most perfect, most intelligent and energetic at that time. In this article we will talk about dinosaurs - reptiles that reign on Earth 200 million years ago, or rather, their names.
Heyday of the dynasty
The name of the dinosaurs can be translated from Greek as "terrible pangolin." The ancient reptiles at one time were the real crown of creation, the pinnacle of the development of reptiles. They ruled the ball for more than 100 million years, remaining the permanent rulers of the land. These creatures were numerous, diverse. No living soul of that time could compare with the terrible lizards.
The drama of the emergence, flourishing and extinction of dinosaurs has excited the imagination of mankind since people learned about the existence of the so-called Great Era of reptiles. These animals are still carefully studied, collecting materials and finding more and more fossil remains. Until recently, there was no unanimous opinion on the causes of the death of the dinosaur dynasty, and nowadays, scientific disputes constantly flare up on this subject.
A little taxonomy
Dinosaurs (pictures with names are presented in the article), like modern animals, cannot be considered randomly by scientists. In order not to get confused in the variety of mice, snakes, elephants, cats, frogs, bugs, zoologists eventually distributed all the animals into certain groups, so to speak, sorted them “into shelves”. Each of these groups combines creatures that are similar to each other in structure and origin.
The main group of animals is their species, combining many identical individuals. Related species are combined into genera, or superfamilies. Genus, in turn, unites into families; families - in detachments; detachments into classes, and classes into types. For example, our species is a reasonable person, representing the race of people from the family of anthropoids. We belong to the order of primates, the class of mammals and represent a subtype of vertebrates of the chordate type. Here is such a simple logic!
It is worth noting that it is simply impossible to do without taxonomy. Otherwise, you can get confused, because now on the planet there are several million species of various animals: this is an amoeba, and a worm, and a fly, and a person. Similarly, taxonomy works with reptiles called dinosaurs. The types and names of these creatures who lived in different eras are also different. All of them briefly reflect the essence of the behavior or activity of the animal, as well as the features of its structure.
Just not to break the tongue!
As a rule, the scientific names of various animals sound unusual for a simple layman, and some of them cannot be pronounced at all. It is understandable: traditionally they are given in Latin or Ancient Greek. For example, the name of the dinosaurs usually reflects the features of the external structure of these reptiles or the family ties of animals, so that the specialist (zoologist, veterinarian, paleontologist) immediately understands what kind of species he is dealing with.
Fisherman and giant pangolin
The name of dinosaurs in most cases has an integral part - “zavr”: allosaurus, brontosaurus, ichthyosaurus, tyrannosaurus, etc. For example, the name “brontosaurus” translates as a giant, huge lizard (see picture below). In addition, the Brontez was called one of the Cyclopes - the ancient Greek mythical giants. The name "ichthyosaurus" is translated from the ancient Greek language as a fish hunter: "ichthios" is a fish, and "zavr" is a lizard. In this case, the name of this marine reptile indicates to us its appearance.
Dogtooth
Sometimes in the names of terrible lizards you can find the word "dont", or "don." It translates as a tooth. For example, one of the most famous dinosaurs of this group are cynodonts. These are animal-like lizards, which are the ancestors of modern mammals. The name of these dinosaurs reflects the essence of the structure of their dental system, and translates as a dog tooth: “cynos” - a dog, “dont” - a tooth.
Flying dinosaur
The name of the dinosaurs that ascended into the sky has an unusual component - dactyl. Translated from the Latin language, the word "dactylos" means a finger. The most famous flying dinosaur is, of course, pterodactyl. Translated into Russian, it is a finger-wing: the ancient Greek word "pteron" is a wing.
Who are zuhii?
Often the name of the dinosaurs includes the strange word "zuhia." In principle, there is also nothing complicated. This component is often included in the names of fossil reptiles: mesosuchia, eosuchia, pseudosuchia, pastosuchia, etc. So they call ancient crocodiles or animals similar to them, since the ancient Greek word "zuhos" is a crocodile.
Tyrant among the dinosaurs
Of course, it is impossible to ignore the most popular dinosaur in the world - a tyrannosaurus. He and many of his other kinsmen are predatory dinosaurs. The names of these reptiles speak of their superiority over other animals, as if crowning these dinosaurs. The word "tyrannosaurus" is translated from the ancient Greek language as a lizard-lord: "tyranos" - master, lord.
Reptile family tree
As you already understood, reptiles are a separate class of vertebrate animals, subdivided into various subclasses. The oldest and most primitive group of reptiles is the Anapsid subclass. Paleontologists have come to the conclusion that not a single Anapsid representative has survived to this day, and their last representatives died out 200 million years ago!
A branch called synapsids was separated from the root of the anapsid. To this subclass of ancient reptiles, paleontologists include our ancestors - the ancestors of modern mammals, to which humans belong. Unfortunately, the synapsids also died out, and did not live up to the heyday of their descendants.
This is another subclass of ancient reptiles, separated from the base of the ancient trunk - anapsid subclass. This branch was divided into two others - archosaurs and lepidosaurs. The former include crocodiles, flying and land dinosaurs, and the latter include the now surviving hatteria, snakes and lizards. Lepidosaurs also include extinct aquatic dinosaurs with long necks, called plesiosaurs.