Is a rhinoceros a dinosaur?
No. Rhinoceroses are mammals. Dinosaurs were a specific group of reptiles which lived during the Mesozoic era (the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods). During this time, all mammals were small – none were larger than about 5 kilos. It was not until dinosaurs became extinct that they were able to diversify and grow larger, filling the niches formerly occupied by the dinosaurs. Dinosaurs belonged to the archosaur group, which also includes crocodilians, so they were distantly related to alligators. Though the name ‘dinosaur’ means ‘terrible lizard’, this is merely a descriptive name and does not reflect the taxonomy of the animals – they were not lizards. Lizards are an entirely separate group. Rich Z, dinosaurs did not become extinct hundreds of millions of years ago. They became extinct only 65 million years ago. Muncie birder, whilst you are right in that birds are the descendants of dinosaurs, Pteranodon was a pterosaur, not a dinosaur.
