Dinosaur guide for children

Dinosaurs for kids: pictures, sizes, and facts

Choose a dinosaur to see how large it was, what it ate, when it lived, and what made its body special. Every page uses short explanations and a visual size comparison.

Slim Coelophysis with long neck, legs, and tail.

Triassic

Coelophysis

Coelophysis was a slim early meat eater with hollow bones and many fossils from New Mexico.

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Plateosaurus with long neck, strong hands, and long tail.

Triassic

Plateosaurus

Plateosaurus was a large early plant eater from Europe, with a long neck, grasping hands, and thumb claws.

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Dimorphodon with large head, long tail, and folded wings.

Jurassic

Dimorphodon

Dimorphodon was a pterosaur, not a dinosaur, with a large head and two different tooth shapes.

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Dilophosaurus with two head crests and a long two-legged body.

Jurassic

Dilophosaurus

Dilophosaurus was a large Early Jurassic predator with two thin bony crests on its head.

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Stegosaurus with back plates, small head, and spiked tail.

Jurassic

Stegosaurus

Stegosaurus was a plant eater with large back plates, a small head, and serious tail spikes.

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Brachiosaurus with high shoulders, long neck, and tall front legs.

Jurassic

Brachiosaurus

Brachiosaurus was a huge sauropod with longer front legs and shoulders that rose very high.

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Allosaurus with small brow horns, three fingers, and a long tail.

Jurassic

Allosaurus

Allosaurus was a big Jurassic predator with small brow horns, three-fingered hands, and teeth with saw-like edges.

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Apatosaurus with a sturdy body, long neck, and long tail.

Jurassic

Apatosaurus

Apatosaurus was a robust Jurassic long-neck, much heavier-looking than the slimmer Diplodocus.

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Small Compsognathus with slim body and long tail.

Jurassic

Compsognathus

Compsognathus was a very small Jurassic meat eater; fossils preserve bones of small lizards inside.

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Iguanodon with strong body, long tail, and thumb spike.

Cretaceous

Iguanodon

Iguanodon was a large plant eater with iguana-like teeth, hoof-like fingers, and a thumb spike.

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Deinonychus with long tail and large sickle claw on the foot.

Cretaceous

Deinonychus

Deinonychus was a feathered raptor relative with a large sickle claw on each second toe.

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Small Aquilops with a curved beak and long tail.

Cretaceous

Aquilops

Aquilops was a small relative of horned dinosaurs, with a sharply curved beak at the front.

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Giganotosaurus with long skull, large teeth, and powerful tail.

Cretaceous

Giganotosaurus

Giganotosaurus was a huge meat eater from Patagonia, with a long skull and blade-like teeth.

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Spinosaurus with long crocodile-like head, back sail, and powerful tail.

Cretaceous

Spinosaurus

Spinosaurus was a huge meat eater with a back sail, long crocodile-like head, and water-loving body.

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Tylosaurus with long body, flippers, and bony snout.

Cretaceous

Tylosaurus

Tylosaurus was a large mosasaur, not a dinosaur, with flippers, a strong tail, and a bony snout.

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Oviraptor with toothless beak, long legs, and tail.

Cretaceous

Oviraptor

Oviraptor was a beaked, bird-like dinosaur from Mongolia with an old name that now feels unfair.

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Feathered Velociraptor with long tail and sickle claw.

Cretaceous

Velociraptor

Velociraptor was a small feathered predator from Mongolia, with a sickle claw and long tail.

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Gallimimus with long legs, small head, and toothless beak.

Cretaceous

Gallimimus

Gallimimus was a large ornithomimosaur with a toothless beak, long legs, and long arms.

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Therizinosaurus with long neck, big belly, and enormous claws.

Cretaceous

Therizinosaurus

Therizinosaurus was a strange theropod from Mongolia, with enormous hand claws and a plant-eater body.

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Quetzalcoatlus with long neck, long beak, and folded wings.

Cretaceous

Quetzalcoatlus

Quetzalcoatlus was a giant pterosaur, not a dinosaur, with a long neck and enormous wingspan.

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Carnotaurus with short horns, deep head, and tiny arms.

Cretaceous

Carnotaurus

Carnotaurus was a fast meat eater with short horns, extremely small arms, and fossil skin impressions.

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Pachycephalosaurus with thick skull dome and small beak.

Cretaceous

Pachycephalosaurus

Pachycephalosaurus was a two-legged plant eater with a thick bony dome on its skull.

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Triceratops with three horns, beak, and broad neck frill.

Cretaceous

Triceratops

Triceratops was a large plant eater with three horns, a neck frill, beak, and strong teeth.

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Tyrannosaurus rex with large head, short arms, and powerful tail.

Cretaceous

Tyrannosaurus rex

Tyrannosaurus rex was a huge meat eater with an enormous head, powerful teeth, and short arms.

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Mosasaurus with long body, flippers, and large jaws.

Cretaceous

Mosasaurus

Mosasaurus was not a dinosaur, but a giant marine lizard with flippers, a powerful tail, and cone teeth.

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