Nobody knew anything about dinosaurs until about 200 years ago. Ancient peoples saw dinosaur fossils in the rocks, but they did not understand what they were. After all, if you knew nothing about dinosaurs and discovered a limb-bone that was as long as you are, what would you make of it - a giant or a dragon perhaps? The first remains to be studied properly were found in England in the early 19th century. Soon, discoveries were being made in mainland Europe and in North America as well. Since then, dinosaur remains have been found on every continent, with the first Antarctic discoveries occurring during the 1980s.

Over the past two centuries, palaeontologists (fossil experts) and other scientists have been drawing together all the evidence. Now we think we have a good idea of what dinosaurs were and how they lived. But new discoveries often turn established ideas on their heads. It's because we keep making new discoveries and finding new evidence that dinosaur science is so exciting.