---
title: "Real Dinosaurs vs Fiction"
description: "Distinguish real dinosaurs from fictional or commonly confused creatures — pterosaurs (flying reptiles) and plesiosaurs (marine reptiles) were not dinosaurs, and movie dinosaurs are not always accurat"
canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/real-dinosaurs-vs-fiction-mt_JednrdYqpt
source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/real-dinosaurs-vs-fiction-mt_JednrdYqpt.md
retrieved: 2026-10-19
---

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# Real Dinosaurs vs Fiction

Distinguish real dinosaurs from fictional or commonly confused creatures — pterosaurs (flying reptiles) and plesiosaurs (marine reptiles) were not dinosaurs, and movie dinosaurs are not always accurate

Subject: Science · Area: Dinosaurs & Paleontology · Ages 5 to 7
Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/real-dinosaurs-vs-fiction-mt_JednrdYqpt

## Ready when they can

- State that pterosaurs could fly but were not dinosaurs
- State that plesiosaurs lived in the sea but were not dinosaurs
- Identify at least one way a movie or cartoon dinosaur differs from the real animal

## Lesson: Real dinosaurs and their look-alikes

Long ago, real dinosaurs lived on land. Other animals lived then too. Some looked like dinosaurs, but they were something else.

Pterosaurs had wings and could fly. Dinosaurs could not fly, so pterosaurs were not dinosaurs. Plesiosaurs swam in the sea with flippers. Dinosaurs lived on land, so plesiosaurs were not dinosaurs either.

*(drawing: The pterosaur flew in the sky. It was a flying reptile, not a dinosaur.)*

**Example.** In movies, Velociraptors look huge and scaly. Real Velociraptors were small, about the size of a turkey. They also had feathers, like a bird.

**Tip.** When you see a prehistoric animal, ask if it flew or swam. Flying and swimming animals were not dinosaurs.

**Recap.** Pterosaurs flew and plesiosaurs swam. Neither one was a dinosaur.

## Practice

8 questions on this page, each with its working shown.

## Needs first

- [Famous Dinosaur Species](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/famous-dinosaur-species-mt_BnabTHkNIp)

## Opens up

- [Fossilisation: Why Sediment, Minerals and Luck All Matter](https://lightmysky.com/learn/science/fossilisation-why-sediment-minerals-and-luck-all-matter-mt_iycQEai3dK)