Dinosaurs — and why we didn’t have them in the Philippines

(First of two parts)

I believe that no other group of animals has captured the fascination of people more than the dinosaurs: gigantic creatures that once roamed the Earth millions of years ago. At one point in our lives we encountered the names Tyrannosaurus, Brontosaurus, Stegosaurus and other "saurus"-sounding names that we now refer to or mean dinosaurs. Although they are long gone from the face of this planet, their influence can still be seen and felt and are a plenty.

The 1993 movie, Jurassic Park, and its sequels (The Lost World: Jurassic Park in 1997 and Jurassic Park III in 2001) had combined earnings of $767.319 million. These award-winning movies take moviegoers to an island where scientists found a way to revive dinosaurs. Superb visual effects backed by scientific facts made the dinosaurs life-like and maybe the closest to seeing the real thing.

Dinosaur cartoon characters are a big hit to kids around the world these days. TV shows like Barney and Friends glue children to television screens, making them sing and dance with their favorite purple dinosaur. And who can ever forget Walt Disney’s animated movie The Land Before Time in the late 80s? Audiences were introduced to the adventures of Littlefoot, the baby Brontosaurus; Cera, the bossy Triceratops; Spike, the timid Stegosaurus; Ducky, the baby-talking Hadrosaur; and Petrie, the flying Pterodactyl. These led to the influx of various products in the market carrying a dinosaur theme. Items such as mugs, pillows, coloring books, stuff toys, clothes, etc., either are shaped like dinosaurs or have dinosaur images in them. Dinosaurs have become popular endorsers so that the products bearing them not only become salable, resulting in big profits for the businessmen but also further endear dinosaurs to children. Ask any kid and for sure, he can identify more dinosaurs than most adults can.

Facts about dinosaurs

The word "dinosaur" comes from the Greek word that means "terrible-lizard." Scientists know, however, (and you will see later on) that not all dinosaurs are terrible and certainly they are not lizards. These reptiles lived during the Mesozoic era, which started about 225 million years ago, and lasted for about 160 million years. Dinosaurs differed from present-day reptiles like alligators, crocodiles and lizards in that their hips, hind legs, and ankles were specialized which allowed the legs to move directly under the body, rather than extending out from the side of the body. This feature enabled the dinosaurs to grow very big and sometimes stand erect on two legs. Skeletal features also separate dinosaurs from other ancient reptiles, such as the marine plesiosaurs and the flying pterosaurs, such as Pteranodon and Pterodactyl (no, they are not dinosaurs).

Dinosaurs are divided into two groups: the saurischians or lizard-hipped dinosaurs, and the ornithischians or bird-hipped dinosaurs. The famous meat-eaters like the Tyrannosaurus rex and Velociraptors (the two main dinosaur villains in Jurassic Park) as well as the giant plant-eaters such as Diplodocus and Apatosaurus (often mistakenly called Brontosaurus, but children know this already!) belong to the saurischians, while the horned (Triceratops), armored (Stegosaurus) and "duck-billed" dinosaurs (Parasaurolophus) belong to the ornithischians.

We all know that dinosaurs are big. But exactly how big are they? The largest dinosaur with a complete set of bones is the Brachiosaurus (meaning "arm lizard"). It is about 23 meters in length (about two large school buses!) and 12 meters in height (about four-stories high!). On the other hand, an adult T. rex, one of the largest predators that ever lived, can reach lengths of about 13 meters and weigh over five tons. Not all dinosaurs are big, however. The smallest dinosaur, Compsognathus (meaning "pretty jaw"), is just slightly larger than a chicken.

Except for whales, elephants and giraffes, no other modern-day animal is close to the size of the largest dinosaurs. Paleontologists, scientists who study fossils (remains of animals long extinct), think that the Earth, during the time of the dinosaurs, is much different from the world today, and that the climate and food supply must have been favorable for growing to large sizes.

Because of their huge sizes and strange features, some people think of dinosaurs as terrifying creatures and even monsters. But recent discoveries suggest that several dinosaurs are social animals with some migrating in large groups or herds. Suspected nesting sites of dinosaurs, including those of meat-eaters, have been found with badly crushed eggshells and skeletons of baby dinosaurs, together with bones of other animals (possibly their prey). This suggests that some babies stayed in their nests after hatching and were probably fed by parents similar to those of modern birds. (To be concluded)

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Marietta M. de Leon, Ph.D., is currently an Associate Professor of Geology at the National Institute of Geological Sciences at the University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City. She is a micropaleontologist and a biostratigrapher. Prior to joining the UP faculty, she was connected with the Philippine National Oil Co., Department of Energy and Robertson Research Singapore Pvt Ltd.