Cretaceous Period

Hello there. My name is Rex, and I am a Tyrannosaurus Rex. That’s a big name for a big dinosaur. I have powerful legs that can stomp through any forest and a long, strong tail that helps me balance. My head is huge, and it’s filled with teeth as big as bananas. ROAR. When I let out a roar, the whole world seems to shake. But have you seen my arms. They are so tiny. It's pretty funny, I think. I lived a very, very long time ago, in a time called the Cretaceous Period. My home was a warm, steamy world full of giant green plants called ferns and trees that were taller than any building you have ever seen. Giant dragonflies, as big as birds, would buzz by my nose while I looked for my next meal. It was a wild and wonderful place to be the king.

My day usually started with a big yawn and an even bigger stomp. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. My feet would leave giant footprints in the soft mud, like huge puddles for little critters to splash in. I loved practicing my roar to make sure it was the loudest in the land. As I walked, I would see all my neighbors. Over by the bushes, a family of Triceratops would be munching on leaves. They had three big horns on their faces to protect themselves. I also had to watch out for the Ankylosaurus. That dinosaur was covered in bumpy armor like a walking tank, and it had a big, heavy club on the end of its tail. SWISH. SWOOSH. You did not want to get too close when it started swinging that tail around. Our world was full of so many different kinds of dinosaurs, all living together under the warm sun.

But one day, about 66 million years ago, everything started to change. I remember a super bright light suddenly flashed across the sky. It was brighter than the sun itself. Right after the light, a sound boomed across the land, louder than a thousand of my biggest roars. BOOM. After that, the sky began to fill with dust and ash, turning dark like a big gray blanket was pulled over the world. The warm sun couldn't shine through anymore, and our world got cold. The beautiful green plants started to fade away. It was a difficult time, and slowly, one by one, all of us dinosaurs disappeared. But even though we are gone, our story isn't over. Today, special scientists called paleontologists dig in the earth and find our bones. It's like a giant treasure hunt. They piece us back together, so you can come see me and my friends in big buildings called museums. We get to show you how amazing our world was, and that means we are never really forgotten.