Have fun with this list of fun facts about dinosaurs. If you're looking for dinosaur gifts, check out our Dinosaur Collection
The Smallest Known Dinosaur
The Smallest Dinosaur Egg ever found was only 3 cm long. Most dinosaur eggs tend to be either ovoid or spherical in shape and can be as big as 30cm in length. A fossilised dinosaur egg can be difficult to identify as they tend to look and feel like rocks!
The smallest fully-grown fossil dinosaur known, was the size of a chicken. It is called Lesothaurus and was a plant eater or herbivore.
The Cleverest Dinosaur
The Brainiest Dinosaur is thought to have been the Troodon. The Troodon was a hunting dinosaur, about 2 metres long, and had a brain size similar to that of a mammal or bird in today’s world. The Troodon also had stereoscopic vision, and sophisticated grasping hands.
The heaviest dinosaur ever discovered was Argentinosaurus which weighed a whopping 77 tonnes. Argentinosaurus is also the largest land animal ever discovered. It was found in Argentina, hence its name.
The least intelligent Dinosaur
Stegosaurus probably wasn’t very smart as it had a brain the size of a walnut at only 3 centimetres long with a weight of 75 grams.
The Tallest Dinosaur
The tallest dinosaurs so far discovered was Brachiosaurus from the group of sauropods. Their front legs were longer than the rear legs and they had very long necks, a bit like giraffe, which meant they could feed off leaves on high branches in tall trees. Brachiosaurus was a whopping 13 metres tall, but Sauroposeidon takes the title for tallest dinosaur, it’s thought it likely grew to a massive 18.5 metres tall.
The Fastest Running Dinosaur
The speediest dinosaurs were the ostrich mimic ornithomimids, such as Dromiceiomimus, which is thought to have been able to run at speeds of up to 60 kilometres per hour. Imagine seeing it coming racing towards you. Yikes!
The Oldest Dinosaur
The oldest known dinosaur is Saltopus, which means ‘hopping foot’. It was a small carnivore that lived 245 million years ago in some quarries in Lossiemouth, Scotland. What else might be waiting to be discovered in Scotland’s ancient rocks?
The Longest Dinosaur Name
The dinosaur with the longest name was Micropachycephalosaurus meaning "tiny thick-headed lizard". To prounounce it, break the syllables down: Micro-pake-cefal-osawrus. Its fossils have been found in China.
The Fiercest Dinosaur
Tyrannosaurus rex looked the most ferocious of all the dinosaurs, but in terms of overall cunning, determination and its array of vicious weapons it was Utahraptor that was probably the fiercest of all. Utahraptor measured about 7 metres, and was a very powerful, agile and intelligent predator.
The Largest Plesiosaur
Elasmosaurus was the longest plesiosaur at up to 14 metres (46 ft) long. It had an incredibly long neck with 75 vertebrae which measured around 7 metres. In comparison humans have around 7-8 vertebrae. Elasmosaurus had four long, paddle-like flippers, a tiny head, sharp teeth in strong jaws, and a pointed tail. Plesiosaurs were technically not dinosaurs but were marine reptiles.
