We already brought you part one of our list of 10 things you didn’t know about dinosaurs, and now we’re back with part two! Check out five more fascinating facts about the prehistoric creatures that you definitely (probably) didn’t know below. You might be surprised by what you find out!
Number Five: Some Experts Believed Dinosaurs Had a Second Brain…in Their Butts. It’s true! For awhile, some experts believed that some dinosaurs may have had a second brain located in their buttocks. Thankfully, scientists were smart enough not to waste years or entire careers studying dino butts in search of a brain…we think.
Number Four: The Bone Wars Were Very Real. From 1877 to 1892, two paleontologists engaged in the Bone Wars, in which they sabotaged each other’s work by stealing the other’s bones, destroying the other’s bones, or both. Though the wars were admittedly responsible for destroying valuable evidence, it also helped to motivate them to discover 142 new species.
Number Three: Pterosaurs Are Not Dinosaurs. Though many people believe that pterosaurs are a species of dinosaur, they actually are not. Pterosaurs are the largest animal that has ever been able to fly. The largest pterosaur had a wingspan of 40 feet, which is larger than an F-16 fighter jet.
Number Two: Dinosaurs Still Roam the Earth. We mentioned in part one of our list of 10 things you didn’t know about dinosaurs that 41 percent of Americans still believe that dinos and humans existed at the same time, but technically, it’s sort of true! Birds are part of the dinosaur group if you break it down into technical speak. However, experts call them birds and not dinosaurs so laypeople do not become confused.
Number One: The First Dinosaur Bone Found Was Named After a Human. The very first dinosaur bone found was named Scrotum Humanum. In case you haven’t used your imagination to deduce what it looked like, it resembled a pair of human testicles. One final fun dino fact – there once existed a dinosaur named Rapetosaurus, which translates to “mischievous giant lizard.” We hope you enjoyed our list of 10 things you didn’t know about dinosaurs!