ScienceAges 8+15 questions

Dinosaur Quiz

Dinosaurs ruled the land for more than 160 million years, and they still fascinate everyone from young fossil hunters to grown-up science fans. This quiz covers famous species, the periods they lived in, what they ate, how they disappeared and how birds fit into the story.

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The questions

  1. 1.What does the word "dinosaur" mean?

    • ATerrible lizard
    • BGiant dragon
    • CAncient bird
    • DOld monster
    Show the answer

    Terrible lizard. The name comes from Greek words meaning "terrible" and "lizard". It was coined in 1842.

  2. 2.How many horns did Triceratops have on its face?

    • AOne
    • BTwo
    • CThree
    • DFive
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    Three. Triceratops means "three-horned face": two long horns above the eyes and a shorter one on the nose.

  3. 3.Some dinosaurs had feathers.

    True or false?

    Show the answer

    True. Many fossils, especially from China, show dinosaurs with feathers or feather-like fuzz.

  4. 4.Which of these dinosaurs ate plants?

    • ATyrannosaurus rex
    • BVelociraptor
    • CAllosaurus
    • DBrachiosaurus
    Show the answer

    Brachiosaurus. Brachiosaurus was a huge long-necked plant-eater that could reach leaves high in the trees.

  5. 5.In which period did Tyrannosaurus rex live?

    • ATriassic
    • BCretaceous
    • CJurassic
    • DIce Age
    Show the answer

    Cretaceous. T. rex lived at the very end of the Cretaceous period, around 68 to 66 million years ago.

  6. 6.Pterosaurs, the flying reptiles, were dinosaurs.

    True or false?

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    False. Pterosaurs were close relatives of dinosaurs, but they belong to a separate group of reptiles.

  7. 7.What did Ankylosaurus have at the end of its tail?

    • AA bony club
    • BA sharp sail
    • CA long feather
    • DA poison stinger
    Show the answer

    A bony club. Ankylosaurus was covered in bony armour and could swing its heavy tail club to defend itself.

  8. 8.Which group of animals alive today is descended from dinosaurs?

    • ACrocodiles
    • BLizards
    • CBirds
    • DFrogs
    Show the answer

    Birds. Birds evolved from small meat-eating theropod dinosaurs, so scientists class them as living dinosaurs.

  9. 9.Which dinosaur had a large sail on its back and is thought to have eaten fish?

    • AStegosaurus
    • BDiplodocus
    • CIguanodon
    • DSpinosaurus
    Show the answer

    Spinosaurus. Spinosaurus had long spines on its back forming a sail, and its crocodile-like jaws suit catching fish.

  10. 10.Roughly how big was a real Velociraptor?

    • AAbout the size of an elephant
    • BAbout the size of a turkey
    • CAbout the size of a bus
    • DAbout the size of a giraffe
    Show the answer

    About the size of a turkey. Velociraptor was much smaller than in films: about 2 metres long including its tail and around 15 kg.

  11. 11.Scientists think a giant asteroid hit Earth 66 million years ago. Where is its crater?

    • AMexico
    • BAustralia
    • CIceland
    • DSouth Africa
    Show the answer

    Mexico. The Chicxulub crater lies under the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and is linked to the mass extinction.

  12. 12.Non-bird dinosaurs and humans lived at the same time.

    True or false?

    Show the answer

    False. The last non-bird dinosaurs died out about 66 million years ago, millions of years before the first humans.

  13. 13.Non-bird dinosaurs lived during which geological era?

    • APalaeozoic
    • BCenozoic
    • CMesozoic
    • DPrecambrian
    Show the answer

    Mesozoic. The Mesozoic Era, from about 252 to 66 million years ago, is often called the Age of Reptiles.

  14. 14.Which period of the Mesozoic Era came first?

    • AJurassic
    • BTriassic
    • CCretaceous
    • DCarboniferous
    Show the answer

    Triassic. The order is Triassic, then Jurassic, then Cretaceous. The first dinosaurs appeared in the Triassic.

  15. 15.Which was the first non-bird dinosaur to be given a scientific name, in 1824?

    • AIguanodon
    • BTyrannosaurus
    • CDiplodocus
    • DMegalosaurus
    Show the answer

    Megalosaurus. William Buckland named Megalosaurus from fossils found in Oxfordshire, England, in 1824.

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