How Long Did Dinosaurs Actually Live?

🕐 4 min 6 sec 👦 Ages 6–8 🌍 English
Koko and Owlo discover how long different dinosaurs lived and how scientists use bone rings to find out.
Different dinosaurs had different lifespans Scientists read bone rings like tree rings Larger dinosaurs generally lived longer Palaeontologists study prehistoric life
📖 Story Script
                    Koko:
                    Owlo, look what I found in the library this morning! It is this giant book with the most amazing pictures.
                
                    Owlo:
                    My goodness, Koko. That is "The Big Book of Dinosaurs." It is one of my absolute favourites.
                
                    Koko:
                    There is a picture here of a T-Rex, and it says it lived millions of years ago. But how long did one single dinosaur actually live?
                
                    Owlo:
                    That is such a wonderful question. Scientists have spent years trying to figure that out.
                
                    Koko:
                    But the dinosaurs are all gone now. How do scientists even know how old they got?
                
                    Owlo:
                    Great thinking. They study dinosaur bones. Inside the bones, there are tiny rings, just like the rings inside a tree trunk.
                
                    Koko:
                    Oh, I know about tree rings! My dad showed me a tree stump in the park, and we counted the rings together.
                
                    Owlo:
                    Exactly right. Each ring means one year of growth. Scientists count the rings in dinosaur bones the same way.
                
                    Koko:
                    That is so cool. So, how old did dinosaurs actually get?
                
                    Owlo:
                    Well, it really depended on the type of dinosaur. Smaller ones lived for around ten to twenty years, a bit like a dog or a cat.
                
                    Koko:
                    And what about the really big ones, like the T-Rex?
                
                    Owlo:
                    The T-Rex is a fascinating case. Scientists think it lived to about twenty-eight or thirty years old.
                
                    Koko:
                    Wait, only thirty years? My grandma is way older than that, and she is still dancing at parties.
                
                    Owlo:
                    Your grandma sounds wonderful, Koko. You are right, thirty years is not very long for such a huge creature.
                
                    Koko:
                    So the T-Rex was big but did not live very long. What about the really long-necked ones?
                
                    Owlo:
                    You mean the sauropods, like the Brachiosaurus. Those enormous dinosaurs may have lived for seventy or even eighty years.
                
                    Koko:
                    Eighty years! That is older than most grandmas and grandpas. How did they live so long?
                
                    Owlo:
                    Scientists believe their giant bodies grew slowly and steadily. Living longer gave them time to grow so incredibly huge.
                
                    Koko:
                    So bigger usually means longer life. Is that always true?
                
                    Owlo:
                    It is a good pattern, but not always a perfect rule. Some smaller animals today also live very long lives.
                
                    Koko:
                    Owlo, can we go to the science lab? I want to see if you have something that shows what those bone rings actually look like.
                
                    Owlo:
                    Wonderful idea. I have a cross-section of a fossil sample there. Let us go take a look together.
                
                    Owlo:
                    Here we are. This is a thin slice from a dinosaur leg bone. Can you see those faint rings inside?
                
                    Koko:
                    Yes! They are so tiny. They kind of look like the rings in my hot chocolate when I swirl it around.
                
                    Owlo:
                    That is a lovely way to picture it. Scientists use a special microscope to count them precisely.
                
                    Koko:
                    So scientists are basically detectives, but for dinosaurs. That is the coolest job ever.
                
                    Owlo:
                    It really is. The scientists who study prehistoric life are called palaeontologists. That is quite a long word.
                
                    Koko:
                    Pa-lee-on-tol-o-gists. I am going to practise saying that all the way home today.
                
                    Owlo:
                    Before you go practising, why don't you tell me what you learned today? I would love to hear it in your own words.
                
                    Koko:
                    Okay! So, dinosaurs did not all live the same amount of time. Small ones lived around ten to twenty years, and big ones like the T-Rex lived about thirty years.
                
                    Koko:
                    But the really giant long-necked ones could live up to eighty years. And scientists figure all this out by counting tiny rings inside dinosaur bones, just like tree rings.
                
                    Koko:
                    Oh, and the scientists who do this are called palaeontologists. Next I want to find out what dinosaurs actually ate every day, because I bet a T-Rex had terrible table manners.
                
                    Owlo:
                    Perfect summary, Koko. You never stop making me smile. Same time tomorrow?
                
                    Koko:
                    Same time tomorrow, Owlo!