Which dinosaur is called the "tyrant lizard king"?
Answer : Tyrannosaurus rex
Tyrannosaurus rex means "tyrant lizard king".
Questions and answers: Dinosaurs & Prehistory
Revise Dinosaurs & Prehistory: here is a selection of questions of every level, with the answer and an explanation. To test yourself without seeing the answers, play the quizzes.
Play the Dinosaurs & Prehistory quizzesVery easy
How many horns does Triceratops have on its head?
Answer : Three
Its name means "three-horned face".
What are fossils?
Answer : Remains or traces of ancient life preserved in rock
Fossils are remains of organisms from the past.
Which living animal did the mammoth most resemble?
Answer : The elephant
The mammoth was a close relative of the elephant.
About how long ago did the non-avian dinosaurs die out?
Answer : 66 million years ago
They disappeared about 66 million years ago.
Which dinosaur had plates on its back and a spiked tail?
Answer : Stegosaurus
Stegosaurus had back plates and tail spikes.
Which of these dinosaurs was a meat-eater?
Answer : Tyrannosaurus
Tyrannosaurus fed on meat.
What are scientists who study fossils called?
Answer : Paleontologists
Paleontologists study life of the past.
Easy
What is the geological era of the dinosaurs called?
Answer : The Mesozoic
Dinosaurs lived during the Mesozoic.
Where is the impact crater linked to the dinosaurs' extinction?
Answer : Yucatán, Mexico
The Chicxulub crater lies in the Yucatán.
Which Mesozoic period comes in the middle?
Answer : The Jurassic
The Jurassic follows the Triassic and precedes the Cretaceous.
To which genus does the famous "Lucy" fossil belong?
Answer : Australopithecus
Lucy is an Australopithecus afarensis.
What is fossilized tree resin that sometimes traps insects called?
Answer : Amber
Amber is fossilized resin.
What characterizes the cat Smilodon?
Answer : Very long canine teeth
Smilodon is the famous "saber-toothed tiger".
Which dinosaur was protected by armor and a clubbed tail?
Answer : Ankylosaurus
Ankylosaurus had bony armor and a tail club.
What is the single supercontinent of the dinosaur era called?
Answer : Pangaea
Pangaea joined nearly all the land masses.
Medium
Why is Archaeopteryx scientifically important?
Answer : It is a transitional form between dinosaurs and birds
Archaeopteryx combines dinosaur and bird traits.
Who coined the word "dinosaur" in 1842?
Answer : Richard Owen
The British naturalist Richard Owen coined the term.
Which of these animals was NOT a dinosaur?
Answer : Pteranodon
Pteranodon was a pterosaur, a flying reptile.
Which early human species widely left Africa about 2 million years ago?
Answer : Homo erectus
Homo erectus was among the first hominins outside Africa.
What were trilobites?
Answer : Extinct marine arthropods
Trilobites were marine arthropods of the Paleozoic.
Which period is known for giant swampy forests and huge insects?
Answer : The Carboniferous
The Carboniferous produced much of the world's coal.
About how big was a real Velociraptor?
Answer : The size of a turkey
The real Velociraptor was much smaller than in films.
In which valley was the first Neanderthal fossil found?
Answer : The Neander Valley, Germany
The name Neanderthal comes from the Neander Valley.
Hard
On what criterion are dinosaurs split into Saurischia and Ornithischia?
Answer : Hip structure
The split is based on the shape of the hip bones.
Which mass extinction is nicknamed "the Great Dying"?
Answer : The end-Permian
The end-Permian extinction about 252 million years ago was the most severe.
Which feathered Chinese dinosaur, found in 1996, is a famous case of fossil fuzz?
Answer : Sinosauropteryx
Sinosauropteryx revealed feather-like filaments.
Which of these landmasses was part of Gondwana?
Answer : Australia
Gondwana included Australia, Antarctica, Africa and South America.
On which island was Homo floresiensis, nicknamed "the hobbit", found?
Answer : Flores
Its remains were found on the Indonesian island of Flores.
About when did the Cambrian explosion take place?
Answer : 540 million years ago
The Cambrian explosion saw most major animal groups appear.
Which dinosaur had a thick, domed skull?
Answer : Pachycephalosaurus
Pachycephalosaurus means "thick-headed lizard".
What was Piltdown Man?
Answer : A scientific hoax
Piltdown Man, presented in 1912, was a forgery.
Expert
Which paleontologist, with Deinonychus in the 1960s, sparked the "dinosaur renaissance"?
Answer : John Ostrom
Ostrom showed active dinosaurs closely related to birds.
Which two American paleontologists fought the "Bone Wars"?
Answer : Cope and Marsh
Edward Cope and Othniel Marsh competed in the 19th century.
In which country was Toumaï, Sahelanthropus tchadensis, found?
Answer : Chad
Toumaï was discovered in Chad in 2001.
In which cave were the Denisovans first identified?
Answer : Denisova Cave, Siberia
They were identified from a bone fragment in Denisova Cave.
How old are the earliest known dinosaurs?
Answer : About 230 million years
The first dinosaurs appear in the Late Triassic.
In which country is the Burgess Shale, famed for Cambrian fossils?
Answer : Canada
The Burgess Shale is in British Columbia.
Which living group is Dimetrodon most closely related to?
Answer : Mammals
Dimetrodon was a synapsid, on the mammal lineage.
Who led the 1920s Gobi Desert expeditions that revealed dinosaur eggs?
Answer : Roy Chapman Andrews
Andrews led the American Museum of Natural History expeditions.
Related themes
Play the Dinosaurs & Prehistory quizzes