Last Days of the Dinosaurs 9781642802580, 9781642801897

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by Ruth Owen

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by Ruth Owen Consultant:

Dougal Dixon, Paleontologist Member of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology United Kingdom

Credits Cover, © Herschel Hoffmeyer/Shutterstock and © Warpaint/Shutterstock; 3, © Warpaint/Shutterstock; 4–5, © James Kuether; 6, © Allie Caulfield/Creative Commons; 7, © Andrej Antic/Shutterstock; 8, © solarseven/Shutterstock; 9, © Science Photo Library/Alamy; 10–11, © James Kuether; 12, © Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library; 13, © Science Photo Library/Alamy; 14–15, © James Kuether; 16–17, © D. Van Ravenswaay/Science Photo Library; 18–19, © Alex Mustard; 20, © Michael Rosskothen/Shutterstock; 21T, © Ryan M. Bolton/Shutterstock; 21BL, © Glass and Nature/Shutterstock; 21BR, © Stockphoto Mania/ Shutterstock; 22T, © twiggins/Shutterstock; 22C, © solarseven/Shutterstock; 22B, © Michael Rosskothen/ Shutterstock and © Panu Ruangjan/Shutterstock; 23T, © James Kuether; 23C, © Nadezda Murmakova/ Shutterstock; 23B, © Romolo Tavani/Shutterstock. Publisher: Kenn Goin Senior Editor: Joyce Tavolacci Creative Director: Spencer Brinker Image Researcher: Ruth Owen Books

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Owen, Ruth, 1967– author. Title: Last days of the dinosaurs / by Ruth Owen. Description: New York, New York : Bearport Publishing, [2019] | Series: The dino-sphere | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2018049813 (print) | LCCN 2018053175 (ebook) | ISBN 9781642802580 (Ebook) | ISBN 9781642801897 (library) Subjects: LCSH: Dinosaurs—Extinction—Juvenile literature. Classification: LCC QE861.6.E95 (ebook) | LCC QE861.6.E95 O94 2019 (print) | DDC 567.9—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018049813 Copyright © 2019 Ruby Tuesday Books. Published in the United States by Bearport Publishing Company, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. For more information, write to Bearport Publishing Company, Inc., 45 West 21st Street, Suite 3B, New York, New York 10010. Printed in the United States of America. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Contents

Lots of Dinosaurs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Gone Forever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Asteroid Attack!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Impact. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 A Dark Land. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Doomed Dinosaurs. . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 A Giant Hole. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Not Extinct!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Dinosaurs All Around. . . . . . . . . . . 20 Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Read More . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Learn More Online. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 About the Author. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Lots of Dinosaurs A Tyrannosaurus rex chases after a Triceratops.

The T. rex snaps its huge jaws. Will it catch its meal?

Dinosaurs, like T. rex and Triceratops, lived on Earth millions of years ago.

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Tyrannosaurus rex (ti-ran-uh-SOR-uhss REKS)

Triceratops (trye-SER-uh-tops)

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Gone Forever

Today, there are no more living dinosaurs on Earth. What happened to them? Triceratops fossil

We know that dinosaurs once lived on Earth because people find their fossils. 6

Scientists think they know the answer.

Tyrannosaurus rex fossil 7

Asteroid Attack! About 66 million years ago, a giant asteroid was flying through space. It sped toward Earth.

asteroid

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One day, the asteroid crashed into Earth. Boom!

The asteroid was about 6 miles (10 km) wide! 9

Impact

When the asteroid struck Earth, it landed near the sea. It made a giant hole in the ground. It also created giant waves in the sea. Many dinosaurs were killed.

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The waves were higher than a 25-story building!

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A Dark Land

Rocks, dust, and smoke filled the sky. The Sun’s light was blocked, and the land became dark.

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Most of the plants died because there was no sunlight.

volcano

The asteroid shook the whole Earth. The land cracked open, causing volcanoes to erupt. 13

Doomed Dinosaurs Soon, many more dinosaurs died. The plant-eaters died because there was no food to eat.

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Then, the meat-eating dinosaurs died. Why? Eventually, there were no plant-eaters left to eat!

After the asteroid struck Earth, most kinds of dinosaurs became extinct.

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A Giant Hole

How do we know an asteroid killed the dinosaurs? Scientists found the remains of the giant hole. It’s about 90 miles (145 km) wide. It’s now under the sea, near Mexico.

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The giant hole made by an asteroid is called a crater (KREY-ter.)

crater

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Not Extinct!

Lots of different animals lived on Earth with the dinosaurs. Some of them survived the disaster.

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Crocodiles lived at the same time as T. rex and Triceratops. Today, crocodiles still live on Earth.

crocodile

Scientists have found crocodile teeth and T. rex fossils together. This proves that they lived at the same time. 19

Dinosaurs All Around

Before the disaster, a group of dinosaurs related to Velociraptors evolved. These dinosaurs became birds. Some of the birds survived the asteroid strike. Velociraptor (vuh-LOS-uh-rap-tawr)

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Eventually, they became the birds of today!

All birds are related to dinosaurs. 21

Glossary asteroid (AS-teh-royd)  a large rock traveling through space

disaster (duh-ZASS-tur)  something terrible that happens suddenly and causes lots of damage

evolved (ih-VOLVD) changed gradually over a long period of time 22

extinct (ek-STINGKT) gone forever

fossils (FOSS-uhlz) the rocky remains of animals and plants that lived millions of years ago

volcanoes (vol-KAY-nohz) openings in the Earth’s crust from which burning, melted rock can erupt 23

Index

asteroid  8–9, 10, 13, 15, 16–17, 20 birds  20–21 crocodiles  18–19 extinction  14–15, 18 fossils  6–7, 19

scientists  7, 16, 19 Triceratops  4–5, 6, 19 Tyrannosaurus rex  4–5, 7, 19 Velociraptors  20 volcanoes  13

Read More

Bowman, Donna H. Did Dinosaurs Eat People? And Other Questions Kids Have About Dinosaurs. Minneapolis, MN: Picture Window Books (2011).

Woolley, Katie. The Story of the Dinosaurs (Dinozone). New York: Rosen (2017).

Learn More Online

To learn more about dinosaurs, visit www.bearportpublishing.com/dinosphere

About the Author

Ruth Owen has been developing and writing children’s books for more than ten years. She first discovered dinosaurs when she was four years old—and loves them as much today as she did then!

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Take a step back in time to explore all things dinosaur—from fossil hunters to baby dinosaurs! Read all the books in this series: