Foreword

Perhaps every one of us, at some point of time in our lives, has been obsessed with dinosaurs. Thanks to Michael Crichton and Steven Spielberg, dinosaurs became popular in the common household. And who would not be fascinated by these enormous, enigmatic creatures that roamed on the earth hundreds of millions years ago? Even today Jurassic World smashes box office record, showing their popularity till date. But it is also true that the image of dinosaurs among most of us is limited to their celluloid portrayal, which often resorts to fiction rather than fact; but the truth about them, as we know it, is no less surprising and captivating. In this series of articles, we will embark upon a journey to explore these remarkable creatures— what they actually were, where and when they lived, how they lived, how they became extinct and most importantly, how we came to know about them.

If there are things more frightening than the dinosaurs themselves, it is the mostly unpronounceable names they bear and the terms used to describe them. For the shortage of better ones, we will use those terms and also learn what they actually mean; believe me, those terms are really important.

I have gathered information from several texts, articles and websites. The figures accompanying the writings are also collected from these sources. I intend to mention a full reference at the end of this writing.

Let the journey begin!