15 Fearsome Dinosaur Fossil Facts

Paultons Park is home to the Lost Kingdom, a prehistoric world where Dinosaurs roam and roar at every turn, roller coasters, and a play park. But what do you know about dinosaurs after they were extinct? Our 15 fearsome dinosaur fossil facts article below will get you ready to explore the Lost Kingdom.

Dinosaurs roamed the earth 180 million years ago, (that’s a very long time ago) and ruled the earth for a staggering 160 million years! Did you know that the dinosaurs didn’t all live at the same time?  The Stegosaurus had already been extinct for approximately 80 million years before the dinosaur the fierce T-Rex! In fact, the time separating Stegosaurus and Tyrannosaurus is greater than the time separating Tyrannosaurus and you. Wow!
 
Here is our guide to some of the best dinosaurs that you can see when you visit the Lost Kingdom. 

1. Dinosaur fossils can help us understand what dinosaurs were like. Fossilised bones, footprints, eggs, and feathers can tell us a lot about these dinosaurs’ prehistoric past. This includes what animals and plants looked like, where they travelled, ate, and more. You can put your explorer hat on and drive through the Lost Kingdom in a 4×4, learning more about fossils and dinosaurs!

2. A fossil is made of minerals from the ground, rocks and other debris turn the bones/plants into a hard fossil. Basically, a fossil is a copy of the original object.

3. A fossil is made of minerals from the ground, rocks and other debris turn the bones/plants into a hard fossil. Basically, a fossil is a copy of the original object.

4. Some of the biggest fossilised dinosaur eggs have been found in China, back in the 1990s. The eggs were about 45 cm long and weighed five kg each! Have you ever spun around in a dinosaur egg? You can when riding Boulder Dash here at Paultons!

5. One of the first complete dinosaur skeletons was found in New Jersey, USA, in 1958. What is interesting is that it was the first dinosaur to be discovered with two legs. Most scientists thought dinosaurs walked on four feet! If you want to meet more of our two and four-legged friends, you can at the ALIVE! Dinosaur Encounter!

6. Dinosaur fossils have been found in all seven continents on Earth. From the blazing heat in Africa to the freezing cold in Antarctica.

7. The biggest dinosaur fossil was found in Argentina. What kind of dinosaur was it? You guessed it – the Argentinosaurus! It was almost 34 meters big! Woah!

8. It’s not just the dinosaurs that fossilise… you can even find fossils of poo called coprolites. Yuck!

9. Palaeontologists (pay-lee-on-tolo-jists) are scientists who study fossils.

10. There are two different types of dinosaur fossils, body fossils are from living things like animals and plants. Trace fossils tell us that organisms were present, like eggs, nests, and footprints.

11. Dinosaur fossils are usually found in sedimentary rock, which is rock made from things like sand, mud, and small rocks.

12. Even dinosaur footprints have been fossilised. They have usually been filled with sediment (sand, mud, small ricks) and then eventually hardened into fossils.

13. The oldest dinosaur fossil is 3.2 billion years old! It is blue-green algae (aquatic plant) that lived in South Africa.

14. The biggest fossil discovered is a petrified tree in Thailand, which was 73 meters long. Wow.

15. Dinosaur Fossils are very rare! The bones usually decompose quickly after the dinosaur dies so there is nothing left to fossilise. It’s only when they are buried quickly so no oxygen reacts with the body, that it works. However, you can have a go at finding your own in our Little Explorers sandpit!

There you have it! Our 15 Fearsome Fossil Facts to get you prepared for your adventure in the Lost Kingdom, here at Paultons Park. Armed with your facts, you can brave our dinosaurs, see them roam and hear them roar. Have a dino-tastic time!