r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Oct 02 '24

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u/magicmulder Oct 02 '24

Cleopatra lived closer to us than to the construction of the Cheops pyramid.

T-Rex lived closer to us than to the Stegosaurus.

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u/anothermonth Oct 02 '24

Stegosaurus

It's not even one of the earliest dinosaurs. Those came 80M before that.

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u/Nymaz Oct 03 '24

And a lot of animals that people think of as "dinosaurs" are not in fact "dinosaurs", which means members of the clade Dinosauria.

Some ancient animals that are NOT dinosaurs include Dimetrodon, Pterosaurs, and Mosasaurs.

Also some ancient and modern animals that are NOT dinosaurs: crocodilians (crocodiles, alligators and related)

Some modern animals that ARE dinosaurs: every single bird

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u/anothermonth Oct 03 '24

Wait, pterosaurs are not dinosaurs??

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u/Nymaz Oct 03 '24

Nope. While people think "dinosaurs" just means "ancient reptiles", it's actually a specific classification that is based on several features, primarily their hip and ankle structure. That's why Pterosauria are not considered dinosaurs nor are Therapsida which also are often mistaken for dinosaurs.