Are turtles dinosaurs? | Homework.Study.com (2024)

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Are turtles dinosaurs? | Homework.Study.com? ›

Answer and Explanation:

They're more like cousins than siblings. Before we dive in deeper, it's important to clarify that turtles are not dinosaurs. This common misconception stems partly from the fact that both groups are reptiles and share a prehistoric past. They're both reptiles, they're both creatures that evolved a long time ago.

The tough turtles of the Cretaceous know a bit about that; they seem to have survived the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs because of their slow metabolisms and aquatic lifestyles, researchers now say.

Tortoises are descended from the dinosaurs

These creatures eventually evolved into the turtles, tortoises and terrapins we would recognise today. The “body plan” of modern tortoises, with squat limbs and a strong shell, was laid down in the early Jurassic period, about 200 million years ago.

Description. Archelon did not have a solid shell like most modern turtles, but a skeletal framework supporting a leathery or bony carapace. It had a pointed tail, a thin skull, a relatively narrow, high-vaulted shell, and a strong overbite. The live weight of an Archelon ischyros was at least 4,900 pounds.

While birds are the closest living descendants of dinosaurs, crocodilians are their closest living relatives, highlighting the diverse and complex tree of life that connects modern species with their ancient ancestors.

4. Sharks. In a way, it's an insult to sharks to consider them modern day dinosaurs because they're much older. Their ancestors evolved into recognisably shark-like shapes over 450 million years ago, during the Silurian period.

Modern animals that lived alongside dinosaurs, like crocodilians and the tuatara, help scientists understand prehistoric ecosystems by providing insights into the evolutionary adaptations and survival strategies that have persisted through time.

Tardigrades have been around a long time.

Fossils date their existence on Earth to more than 500 million years ago. This means tardigrades have survived the planet's last five mass extinction events. They owe their longevity to some special characteristics.

The DNA hypothesis suggests that turtles were a sister group to the archosaurs (the group that contains the dinosaurs and their relatives, including crocodiles and their ancestors and modern birds and their ancestors). A second hypothesis posits that turtles were more closely related to lizards and tuataras.

Is a rhino a dinosaur? ›

No, a rhino is not a type of dinosaur. A rhino, short for rhinoceros, is an ungulate or hoofed mammal. Dinosaurs, on the other hand, are a group of reptiles classified as archosaurs. With the exception of modern birds all the dinosaurs went extinct about 65 million years ago.

This means that scientists found the particular order of their DNA. Doing this helped provide more evidence for scientists to confirm that the chicken is currently the closest living relative to the T-Rex.

Despite their resemblance to dinosaurs, crocodiles are not directly related to them. However, crocodiles and dinosaurs do share an ancient family member from a group called archosaurs. Interestingly, modern birds are also members of the archosaur group, making them distant relatives of crocodiles.

The research, published Monday in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Nature Communications, reconstructs the likely genome structure of a common ancestor of birds, turtles and dinosaurs.

Answer and Explanation:

Yes, turtles lived at the same time as dinosaurs and at least 80 percent of all turtle species alive at the time of the mass extinction of 65 million years ago survived the conditions that killed the dinosaurs.

Turtles have been on Earth for about 260 million years, making them older than dinosaurs. They can live almost anywhere and scientists can learn a lot about the environments they thrived in and the water quality of those environments, according to Arizona State University PhD student Brenton Adrian.

Sea turtles are ancient species, having been around since the time of the dinosaurs — about 110 million years. All six sea turtle species found in U.S. waters are protected by the Endangered Species Act. They are the green, hawksbill, Kemp's ridley, leatherback, loggerhead, and olive ridley.

In fact, birds are commonly thought to be the only animals around today that are direct descendants of dinosaurs. So next time you visit a farm, take a moment to think about it. All those squawking chickens are actually the closest living relatives of the most incredible predator the world has ever known!

Now we know for sure that there were aquatic turtles in the Jurassic period, around 164 million years ago.