The Story of the Three Dinosaurs Created By

The Story of the Three Dinosaurs Created By QM Learning 2012

Once upon a time there were three dinosaurs who lived beside a river. They were good friends.

The smallest of the dinosaurs was Minmi. She was an ankylosaur and had lots of spikes poking out all over her back to protect her.

The middle sized dinosaur was a Muttaburrasaurus, called Mutt for short. He was very heavy and had lots of flat teeth for grinding spiky plants. He could stand on his back legs to make himself look even bigger!

George was the largest of the three friends. He was an enormous titanosaur with a very long neck. He could reach leaves at the very tops of trees.

These plants are delicious! All three dinosaurs were herbivores, so they would spend the day munching plants.

One day, there was a bush fire and lots of the plants on their side of the river were burnt. The dinosaurs were hungry and scared.

They needed to cross over the river but it was very deep and fast flowing. There was only one spot where some rocks made a bridge.

But they couldn’t cross there either! A very large and very mean carnivorous dinosaur had decided the rocky bridge belonged to him. This dinosaur ate…

… other dinosaurs!!! His name was Banjo.

After a while, the smallest dinosaur was so hungry he had to find some plants to eat. He saw Banjo run off to catch another dinosaur. “ I am so hungry that I will have to try and cross the rocky bridge”.

Come back Minmi! Please don’t go! crunch His friends begged him not to go but he set off over the rocky bridge.

When he was half way across, Banjo noticed the little dinosaur and called out in his big booming voice… crunch Who’s that crunching over my bridge!

Little Minmi was shaking in his spikes! “It’s me, little Minmi. I’m very little. I’m not even a mouthful for you so please may I cross the river? ” Minmi begged Oh okay. I’ve had my breakfast today. But watch out because I will need lunch! So Minmi hurried across the bridge.

The next day Mutt had really bad pains in his tummy. “I am so hungry. I will have to be brave like Minmi and cross the bridge” he said to George. Run fast Mutt!

Mutt saw that Banjo was having a nap. “Now is my chance, ” he thought.

He started to cross the bridge Crunch

Banjo heard the crunching and jumped up! Who’s that crunching over my bridge!

Mutt stood up as tall as he could and puffed out his chest so he looked VERY big. He made a loud sound. Honk!!

Banjo stopped. He looked at Mutt’s size. Well you are lucky I’ve had breakfast and can’t be bothered fighting you. But watch out because I will find you for my lunch! He was actually a bully and wasn’t really that brave!

George was lonely AND hungry. He decided to cross the bridge to join his friends.

He started to cross the bridge. Crunch

Banjo was in a bad mood. This time he was not going to let anyone cross his bridge! Who’s that crunching over MY bridge!!!

George could not run fast. George did not have spikes on his back. But George was enormous. He had a very long and very heavy tail. And he had a big booming voice.

George looked Banjo straight in the eyes and roared… You are a bully and we are tired of you bullying us!!!

And with that George swung his enormous tail around and knocked Banjo off his feet and into the fast flowing river.

The three friends were so happy to be together again. There was lots to eat and Banjo never bullied them again.

Australian Dinosaurs We know about dinosaurs because of the fossilised bones and teeth that have been found. The dinosaurs in this story are based on ones that have been discovered in Australia. Minmi paravertebra is a small armoured dinosaur (ankylosaur) which would have been about the size of a yearling cow. Minmi is named after Minmi Crossing, where the first fossil was discovered in the 1960 s. qm website link George and another titanosauropod called Cooper represent the largest dinosaurs to have ever been found in Australia. Based on the lengths of their leg bones compared with sauropods found overseas, the total body length of these dinosaurs to is thought to be 24 to 26 m. qm website link Above images copyright QM. All other images courtesy clker. com (creative commons)

Australian Dinosaurs Mutt Banjo Muttaburrasaurus was named after the town of Muttaburra in central Queensland. The first fossil bone was discovered by a grazier. Mutt was about 7 m long, and probably ate plants such as ferns, cycads and conifers. qm website link Banjo or Australovenator is the most complete meateating dinosaur skeleton yet found in Australia. This dinosaur was about 5 metres long, 1. 5 metres high at the hip and was many times bigger than Velociraptor. Some theropods, such as T. rex, had small forelegs but Banjo had strong forelegs each with three large slashing claws. Banjo is named after the famous Australian poet Banjo Patterson who wrote Waltzing Matilda in Winton, the place where Banjo was found. qm website link Images slides 28/29 copyright QM. Clipart images courtesy clker. com (creative commons) ppt. Narinda Sandry Creative Commons BY NC SA