Put on your wet suit! Seventy million years ago parts of British Columbia were covered with salt water, including the area of present-day Prince George. The animals that inhabited this area at that time were marine reptiles like the Mosasaur. The mosasaur was 20–30 feet long and weighed 600–800 pounds. It never lacked weapons with which to attack its prey. The mosasaur's old, dull teeth dropped from their jaws and were replaced by new ones, much like the way a modern-day shark keeps a fresh supply of teeth. Fish, clams, snails and other sluggish mollusks made up the mosasaur's diet.
Many years later, when the ocean receded, dinosaurs were the largest animals around. They had legs that were held directly under their bodies, like humans. Therefore, the term "terrible lizard" is incorrect when describing dinosaurs since the legs of a lizard extend out from the sides of their bodies. Dinosaurs went extinct around 65 million years ago.
In the present day, paleontologists and other explorers find fossils of dinosaurs that lived millions of years ago. These fossils are really dinosaur bones that have become heavier and harder as a result of minerals seeping into the bone.
