Full Text Searchable PDF User Manual
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Ta b l e o f C o n t e n t s
© Copyright 1997 Educational Insights Inc., Carson, CA (USA), St Albans, Herts. (UK).
All rights reserved. Please retain this information.
Conforms to ASTM F-963-96a, EN-71. Printed in China. EI-5176
What Is in Dueling Dino Dig? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Welcome to Tyrannosaurus’s World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Mealtime in the Mesozoic
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Tyrannosaurus Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
A Dinosaur Dig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
You’ll DIG These Fossils! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Get Ready to Dig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
Dino Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Draw Your Own . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Tyrannosaurus Fact Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
Picture Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
Making Your Tyrannosaurus Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Displaying Tyrannosaurus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
The Age of Dinosaurs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
Where Did They Go? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
What Is in Dueling
Dino Dig?
Dueling Dino Dig Guide Book—Tyrannosaurus kit:
This
book contains an exciting story featuring Tyrannosaurus, set
in the Mesozoic era. You will also find background
information and history, plus instructions on how to excavate
your fossils, assemble them, and pose your model with other
Dueling Dinos!
Clay block:
This block of clay represents a piece of earth—
millions of years old. Buried inside the clay, you will find
fossil replicas of Tyrannosaurus bones.
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3
Clay block
Fossil
Stand
Wax
Paleontologist’s tools:
Just like a paleontologist, you will
get to dig the “fossils” from the “earth.” The digging tool
will help you break apart the clay, separate the fossils from
the clay, and clean bits of clay from the fossils. The brush
will let you clean the dust from the fossils as you excavate.
Fossils:
The fossils that you excavate will be smaller than
real ones, but when you put them together you’ll have a
true-to-scale skeleton of Tyrannosaurus.
Wax:
This wax will hold your fossil parts together. It will
not harden and you can change poses or positions whenever
you wish! The flexibility of this wax allows your dinosaur to
have a little bit of movement, especially in the jaw and legs.
Then you can pose them alone or with models from other
Dueling Dino Dig kits. (See back cover of this guide book.)
Stand:
When your Tyrannosaurus model is complete, pose
it on this stand. Then attach the label (included).
Guide Book
Paleontologist’s
tools:
Welcome to
Tyrannosaurus’s World
Are you ready to find and study fossils, just like a
paleontologist?
Are you ready to dig some fossils of your own?
Are you ready to build a model of a dinosaur and pose
it in action?
Then you are ready for Dueling Dino Dig!
Let’s go back in time more than 65 million years to the
world of dinosaurs—the time of Tyrannosaurus...
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ealtime in the Mesozoic
On a warm day in a lush swamp forest, sixty-five million
years ago, a Tyrannosaurus wakes from sleep. It’s near the
end of the Mesozoic era*—the age of dinosaurs. The air is
still. A pteranodon spreads its huge wings and flies from a
treetop to the water. She swoops down and catches a fish
with her long, pointy beak.
Tyrannosaurus begins to think about eating. He watches
the pteranodon glide across the sky. In the distance, a
Troodon runs from the water. Something is dangling from
Troodon’s mouth—it’s a snake! Troodon’s eyes face partly
forward, making it easy for her to find snakes, lizards, and
small mammals to eat. Tyrannosaurus watches carefully.
Suddenly, a thundering sound fills the swampland. It is
not from the silent Tyrannosaurus, who hears it too.
This is the sound of dinosaurs in battle!
*To find out more about the Mesozoic era and the age of dinosaurs, see page 26.
M
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6
The Battle
Tyrannosaurus lifts his huge head. He uses his tiny arms
for balance as he raises his 7-ton body. When he stands,
he is more than 46 feet (14 meters) tall! Tyrannosaurus
smells the moist air. He listens. The thundering warfare
continues. Tyrannosaurus can sense the direction of the
sounds. He turns toward the swamp.
Slowly, carefully, Tyrannosaurus moves his giant body.
The earth rumbles with each step. A Parksosaurus,
heading for the water, feels the rumble and bolts in the
opposite direction!
It only takes a few long steps for the huge Tyrannosaurus
to reach the battle sounds. He peers through the brush at
the water hole, surrounded by flowering plants.
At the water’s edge, he sees the source of the battle cries—
two Triceratops, heads lowered, long horns locked in
fierce conflict.
Tyrannosaurus, the “tyrant-lizard,” watches and waits.
For a few seconds, the two Triceratops are at a standoff—
horns locked—unable to move. Suddenly, they break
loose. One Triceratops thrusts its bony horns into the neck
of the other, but even its sharp point can’t tear the other’s
tough neck frill. The second Triceratops lowers his head—
almost to the ground. Then, with a quick move, he raises
his top horn into the lower shoulder of the other, forcing
the mighty dinosaur to the ground, defeated. The battle is
over. The victor steps on his victim with a heavy foot, then
stalks away.
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8
Tyrannosaurus seizes the moment. With a bolt of speed, he
bursts through the brush and attacks the wounded
Triceratops. He uses his own body weight to pin down the
struggling animal. Then he sinks his teeth into its flesh.
Tyrannosaurus’s teeth are like knives: 7 inches (18 cm) long
and curved, with a rough, jagged edge to rip apart his prey.
The Triceratops tries to defend himself but he is trapped in
the grip of Tyrannosaurus’s tiny arms as the tyrant lizard
tears off another chunk of flesh. Tyrannosaurus twists and
turns his powerful neck as he rips away each morsel.
Finally, Tyrannosaurus is satisfied. He moves on through
the swamp grasses, leaving the Triceratops body behind.
All of a sudden the sky darkens. Dark clouds burst into
heavy rainfall. The water hits the earth fast and hard. The
water hole fills and overflows. Flood waters rush across the
lands. Plants and animals are carried away by the sweeping
flow. Tyrannosaurus, trying to keep his feet planted in the
muddy swampland, is lifted by the rushing water. He is
swept away by the newly formed river of water. He
disappears, never to be seen again...
...at least, not for 65 million years!
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10
Tyrannosaurus
Findings
Montana, 1902
Sixty-five million years after all dinosaurs had disappeared,
paleontologists gathered at a dig site in Montana, United
States of America, to study plant and animal fossils. The
year was 1902. Excitement filled the air as the scientists dug
deeper into the earth’s mysterious secrets. They found the
bones of one of the largest, most powerful animals that ever
lived (that we know of!)—Tyrannosaurus, the tyrant lizard.
The fossilized bones were in excellent condition. This is why
scientists believed he or she may have died in a flash flood.
When the flood was over, Tyrannosaurus was left buried in
tiny particles of earth, sand, and mud. Over the years, this
sediment hardened into rock. The rock lay unnoticed for
millions of years, until this day.
From this and other digs that followed, paleontologists have
found many Tyrannosaurus fossils, including a 7-inch (18 cm)
tooth. The curved tooth has a serrated, or saw-like edge.
They learned that Tyrannosaurus had three toes on its feet
and two claws on its two tiny hands. They determined that
Tyrannosaurus probably walked with its huge, heavy tail
raised to balance the weight of its large head, not lowered to
the ground as was earlier believed. Like some other animal
species, the female Tyrannosaurus may have been larger
than the male. By the 1990s, scientists had found two almost
complete skeletons of this remarkable dinosaur.
Scavenger or Hunter?
Was the great meat-eating Tyrannosaurus a terrifying
hunter or a cunning scavenger? Scientists disagree about the
evidence. Some believe Tyrannosaurus was the most vicious
meat-eating creature of the Cretaceous period—a powerful
threat to any living animal who may have been in the way.
Its long, sharp teeth could have gripped the flesh of any prey
it wanted. Other scientists say Tyrannosaurus’s enormous
size and weight would have prevented it from moving fast
enough to catch any live prey. They believe the great
dinosaur relied on the weak, sick, or dead for its meals.
One thing scientists do agree on about the Tyrannosaurus—
it was one of the last species of dinosaur to disappear from
the face of the earth.
This is a drawing of Tyrannosaurus’s front arm from the humerus, or shoulder
bone, to the finger claws.
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13
A Dinosaur Dig
Dinosaur digs require very hard work. It can take months,
even years, and a lot of work to find a fossil and remove it
from the earth. It’s worth it, though, for the excitement of
discovery and new scientific knowledge!
Let’s take a look at what happens at many fossil digs:
Fossil hunters search rock layers of the Mesozoic era
for fossils.
They use tools, such as picks and hammers, bulldozers,
and other heavy machinery, to get to the fossils.
Once a fossil is found, the area is cleared and marked.
Some of the rock and dirt is carefully removed from the fossil.
Photographs and drawings are made of the fossil while
it is still in the ground. The fossil is numbered and labeled
on a map of the site.
1
2
The fossil is uncovered with a brush. It is protected with
wrappings of plaster-soaked cloth or sprayed with a resin to
make it stronger.
When the plaster hardens, it is safe to remove the fossil
from the ground. Sometimes a whole rock is excavated to
protect a fragile fossil.
After it is removed from the ground, each fossil is care-
fully placed in a padded crate. The crates are loaded onto
trucks and shipped to the museum laboratory.
At the laboratory, the fossils are carefully removed from
their protective plaster or from the solid rock in which they
were moved.
Researchers use magnifying glasses, microscopes,
dental drills, dental picks, and even needles to free the fossil.
It may take years, but the fossils are finally reconstructed
as a whole or part of a skeleton for display in a museum.
Now, are you ready to begin your own dinosaur dig?
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8
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TYRANNOSAURUS
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You’ll DIG These Fossils!
Buried inside the Dueling Dino Dig clay block, you will
find 8 Tyrannosaurus “fossils.” Of course, these bones
aren’t the true size of Tyrannosaurus. This dinosaur
weighed about 7 tons and was about 39 feet (12 meters)
long! You will, however, discover bones that will let you
assemble a true-to-scale model of Tyrannosaurus.
This is what you will find:
skull
lower jaw bone
2 rib cages with connected
front legs and hip bones
2 hind legs
2 spines that connect
into 1 long spine
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Get Ready to Dig
Before You Begin
Set up a place to work. The area you choose must remain
undisturbed while you complete your excavation. Spread
out plenty of newspaper. Digging creates a lot of dust. Work
on a floor or table counter that can easily be cleaned off
when you’re finished.
Y
YO
OU
U’’L
LL
L N
NE
EE
ED
D::
• clay block
• digging tool
• brush
Follow These Steps
Before beginning, read all the directions carefully.
Carefully examine the surface of the clay block. Look
for bumps or dents that might show where one of your
fossils is buried.
When you see a fossil showing through the clay, be
careful not to scratch it with your tool. Carefully dig out the
clay from around the fossil. When you’ve uncovered its top
and sides, start to dig out the clay underneath it. Never try
to pull a fossil from the clay before you’ve dug completely
around it. The fossils might break if not removed gently.
Use the excavation tool to remove any big clumps of
clay from the fossil. Then use the brush to dust off the
remaining clay. Use a damp cloth or carefully rinse the
fossil in a bowl of water to clean off leftover dirt.
Do not
wash clay down the drain—it might cause a clog!
Follow these steps until you have unearthed all 8 of the
fossils. Remember, good paleontology work is slow and
methodical.
Record each fossil find by coloring that part of the
Tyrannosaurus skeleton on pages 18 and 19. When you are
ready to assemble Tyrannosaurus, turn to page 22 for
directions.
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1
SAFETY NOTE: Be careful to keep the sharp end of the tool pointed
away from your eyes, body, and other hand. Work slowly and carefully.
Remember, the fossils could be buried anywhere inside the clay.
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4
5
6
Gently start to scrape away the edge of the clay with
your excavation tool. Scraping the clay is the most effective
way to uncover fossils without breaking them.
NOTE: You won’t need the wax until you begin to assemble your model.
Be careful to keep the wax separate from the clay.
The clay dust
will harm the wax.
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19
Draw Your Own
Look at the drawing of Tyrannosaurus’s footprint. The
fossil measured 34 inches (86 cm)—that’s almost three
feet long for one footprint! It may look like a simple fossil,
but it tells us many things. For example, scientists can tell
by this footprint and others like it that Tyrannosaurus
walked about the same speed we do, 2-3 miles (4-5 km)
per hour. Footprints like these convince paleontologists
that Tyrannosaurus was a loner. It was more likely to
travel, hunt, and live alone or in pairs than in packs or
herds like some other dinosaurs.
Paleontologists make a detailed drawing of each fossil
they find. Use the box to draw one of the fossils you
excavated.
Dino Drawing
Each time you find a different Tyrannosaurus
fossil, color it on this skeleton. You may want
to use a different color for each fossil.
When the skeleton is complete,
you are ready to make your
Tyrannosaurus model! (See page
22 for instructions.)
Tyrannosaurus’s footprint
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Picture Gallery
Use this page to draw Tyrannosaurus’s environment.
Be sure to include the details you have learned about
plants, trees, and other animals that lived with
Tyrannosaurus. (You can read more about the age of
dinosaurs on pages 26-29.)
Tyrannosaurus Fact
Sheet
Use what you read about Tyrannosaurus in this guide
book to complete the fact sheet.
Tyrannosaurus
Height:
Weight:
Its Name Means:
When It Lived:
Diet:
Special Notes:
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Making Your
Tyrannosaurus Model
When you have excavated all 8
Tyrannosaurus fossils, you can build
your Dueling Dino model. Some
reminders about putting your model
together:
• Prepare a clean work space.
• Clean and dry all fossil parts.
• The wax holds the fossil parts
together.
Press a tiny
piece of wax onto
a contact point or nub. Then
push the nub into the hole.
Experiment with the wax,
adding more as you need it.
• Experiment to find the best
pose for your model. Remember,
the wax will not harden, so you
can change poses or positions.
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6
3
2
2
3
1
Connect the
spine parts.
Attach each rib cage part
with connected front leg
and hip to the spine.
Attach both
hind legs to the
hip bones.
Attach the lower
jaw to the head.
Attach the head
to the body.
Keep your model away from
direct sunlight or heat. They
can cause the wax to melt.
Pose your Tyrannosaurus on its stand. Use wax
to keep it in place. Attach the label to the stand.
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Displaying
Tyrannosaurus
When your Tyrannosaurus model is complete, you will
want to put it on display. Here are some ideas and hints:
Do you have a shelf for models or special things? It would
be the perfect place for your Tyrannosaurus model.
You may want to create a Cretaceous diorama to place
behind your model, complete with volcanoes erupting
and pterosaurs swooping down from the sky. A diorama
is a miniature scene. You have probably seen dioramas in
museums.
To create a diorama, you can use a shoe box or a long piece
of cardboard that you can bend into a three-sided display.
If you have a shoe box, cut out one of the long sides. The
other long side will be the background with the volcanoes
and mountains. The bottom of the shoe box will be the
ground. Illustrate the three sides and place your model
inside. Here are some things you might want to draw on the
background:
Mountains, volcanoes, pine trees, flowering plants,
streams, other dinosaurs, birds, and insects.
You can combine Tyrannosaurus with dinosaurs from other
Dueling Dino Digs to create a whole scene from the Mesozoic
era. There are four Dueling Dino Digs kits: Tyrannosaurus,
Triceratops, Stegosaurus, and Velociraptor.
Below is a duel between Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops.
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The Age of Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs lived on the earth millions of years ago, during
the Mesozoic era. The Mesozoic era lasted from about 248
million years ago to about 65 million years ago. Not all of
the dinosaurs lived on the earth at the same time during the
Mesozoic era. The time is divided into three periods. They
are the Triassic, from about 248 million years ago to 208 mil-
lion years ago; the Jurassic, from around 208 million years
ago to 145 million years ago; and the Cretaceous, which
lasted from about 145 million years ago until the dinosaurs
all mysteriously disappeared, about 65 million years ago.
During the Triassic period, the earth looked different than it
looks today. All of the land was connected as one continent.
This land mass is called Pangaea, a word that means “all
earth.”
Scientists believe a group of bony fishes were ancestors of
early reptiles. They lived on the earth about 370 million
years ago. By about 245 million years ago, there were
several kinds of reptiles roaming on the single land mass.
The rhynchosaurs were ancestors of mammals. These plant-
eaters had strong hind feet and curved beaks. Archosaurs,
meat-eaters that looked similar to crocodiles, later evolved
to pterosaurs (flying reptiles) and dinosaurs.
North
America
South
America
Africa
Europe
Asia
India
Australia
Antarctica
Equator
G
O
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D W
A N
A L A
N D
L
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Tethys
Sea
Equator
Tethys
Sea
Panthalassa
Ocean
Panthalassa
Ocean
Equator
P
A
N
G
A
E
A
North
America
South
America
Africa
Europe
Asia
India
Australia
Antarctica
Equator
G
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D W
A N
A L A
N D
L
A
U
R
A
S
I
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Tethys
Sea
Equator
Tethys
Sea
Panthalassa
Ocean
Panthalassa
Ocean
Equator
P
A
N
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A
E
A
Triassic
Jurassic
By about 208-213 million years ago, the single land mass
had changed. Now the earth had two large land masses.
Laurasia was in the north, and Gondwanaland was in the
south. Plant life changed, and so did animal life. The lush
vegetation became the food source for many dinosaurs.
Giant meat-eaters, such as Allosaurus, evolved during the
Jurassic period. This is the time when dinosaurs of many
sizes, shapes, and ways of surviving shared the earth’s air,
land, and food sources.
Where Did They Go?
Despite all of our developments in science and technology,
no one really knows the reason for the extinction of the
dinosaurs There are many theories. Some are:
• A comet or asteroid caused huge masses of dust to block
out the sun. Lack of sun caused plants to die. Then the
plant-eating dinosaurs died, and finally, the meat-eaters
died.
• Massive volcanic eruptions shot dust containing poisons
into the air. The poisons caused fewer and fewer eggs to
hatch, until finally no more eggs were laid or new
dinosaurs hatched.
• Changes in the climate caused genes to change so that
animals gave birth to only one gender. This would cause
a species to die out.
• A huge plague or disease wiped out a species or its food
source.
• The newly developing flowers poisoned the dinosaurs.
No one knows what
really
made the dinosaurs
disappear. What do YOU think?
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28
During the Cretaceous period, the land masses continued
to shift and break apart. Mountain ranges thrust up and
shallow seas formed. Flowering plants began to appear
along with many of the trees we know today—oaks,
walnuts, maples, and magnolias.
Many of the hadrosaurs, such as Maiasaura, whose fossils
have been found in western North America, lived and
died during the Cretaceous period. Some snakes, birds,
moths, and a few other animals that we recognize today
first appeared during this time. But many other species,
including all of the dinosaurs, mysteriously vanished from
the earth during this time—about 65 million years ago.
North
America
South
America
Africa
Europe
Asia
India
Australia
Antarctica
Equator
G
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D W
A N
A L A
N D
L
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U
R
A
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Tethys
Sea
Equator
Tethys
Sea
Panthalassa
Ocean
Panthalassa
Ocean
Equator
P
A
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E
A
Cretaceous—The Tyrannosaurus’s World
The black outline shows the world today compared to the shaded
Cretaceous period.