Dinosaur Balloon original pen and ink and watercolour illustration by Rosie Brooks

Dinosaur Balloon

Dinosaurs were a diverse group of reptiles that lived on Earth from around 245 million years ago to 66 million years ago, during the Mesozoic Era. They were the dominant land animals for most of this time, until a mass extinction event caused by a meteor impact wiped out all non-avian dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous period.

Dinosaurs are classified into two main groups: Saurischia and Ornithischia. Saurischian dinosaurs include the theropods, which were bipedal carnivores such as the famous Tyrannosaurus rex and Velociraptor, as well as sauropods, which were large, herbivorous quadrupeds like Brachiosaurus and Diplodocus. Ornithischian dinosaurs include herbivores such as the stegosaurs and ceratopsians, which had distinctive bony frills and horns.

Paleontologists have discovered thousands of dinosaur fossils, which have allowed them to study and learn about these extinct creatures in great detail. They have learned about their anatomy, behavior, ecology, and evolution. They have also used fossils to reconstruct their appearance and understand their place in the ecosystem.

Today, birds are considered to be the only living descendants of the dinosaur lineage. They evolved from small, feathered theropod dinosaurs in the Late Jurassic period and have since diversified into over 10,000 species.