Table of Contents
What are the closest living relatives to dinosaurs?
Dinosaurs are classified as reptiles, a group that includes crocodiles, lizards, turtles, and snakes. Of this large group of animals, other than birds, crocodiles are the closest living things to dinosaurs.
Are there dinosaurs that lived in the ocean?
The most notable of these reptiles were the ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, mosasaurs, and sea turtles. Although they lived at a similar time as dinosaurs, marine reptiles were not dinosaurs since they evolved from a different ancestor.
What is the only living descendant of dinosaurs?
Birds and crocodilians are each others closest living relatives, united in a group called Archosauria. From there, archosaurs diverge into two separate lineages: crocodile-line and bird-line archosaurs. Dinosaurs and modern birds are on the bird line, along with the flying reptiles, the pterosaurs.
What was the largest sea creature to ever exist?
Blue Whale
#1—Blue Whale Not only is the blue whale the largest animal to live on the Earth today, they are also the largest animal to have ever existed on Earth. A blue whale can grow up to 100 feet long and weigh upwards of 200 tons.
What’s bigger blue whale or megalodon?
A blue whale can grow to up to five times the size of a megalodon. Blue whales reach a maximum length of 110 feet, which is far larger than even the biggest meg. Blue whales also weigh significantly more compared to the megalodon.
Are there any living descendants of the dinosaurs?
Chickens may be the rightful descendants of dinosaurs, but we also know that crocodilians like crocodiles and alligators share common ancestors with dinosaurs too.
Are there any dinosaurs that live in the ocean?
While the oceanic reptiles from the mesozoic that are often mistaken for dinosaurs were in fact other animals entirely, there were and are some dinosaurs with aquatic adaptations. While many did not live entirely in the ocean, they did have adaptations that could have lead to total aquatic lives.
How big did plesiosaurs live in the ocean?
Plesiosaurs inhabited the seas from around 200 million to 65 million years ago. They were not dinosaurs, despite living at the same time as dinos. It is thought that plesiosaurs fed mainly on fish, breathed air and laid their eggs on beaches. The largest of these sea monsters reached 15 meters (49 feet) in length.
Are there any animals that live in the sea?
The animals that lived in the sea that are often confused with dinosaurs are reptiles of a different sort. Mosasaurs are marine lizards while Icthyosaurs and Plesiosaurs and yet another branch of reptiles only very distantly related to dinosaurs.