When you think of dinosaurs, you probably think they were all huge. But that’s not the case for all dinosaurs.
You may have heard that all the dinosaurs were wiped out 65 million years ago when a 15 km wide asteroid crashed into Earth and caused a mass extinction event. But that’s completely wrong. One species of dinosaur, the theropod, survived. They have feathers and hollow bones, and most of them can fly, meaning they can rise above blasts and survive them. Currently, many scientists believe that these theropods evolved into birds. So, theoretically, dinosaurs are still alive and well with us today.
But that’s not the only thing you’ve been lied to about dinosaurs.
One of the craziest things is that dinosaurs were all green scaly monsters. In fact, many of them may have feathers. Theropods may have had feathers for a variety of reasons, from providing them with warmth to helping some dinosaurs fly. And that’s not all. Dinosaurs also come in many different colors. Some fossils also preserve pigmentation, showing that not all dinosaurs were brown, black or green. They could have been more colorful.
Some of them can even camouflage, depending on their habitat. Different dinosaurs will have different textures and shapes on their skin.
When you think of dinosaurs, you probably think they were all huge. T-Rex was up to 12 meters long and the long-necked Brachiosaurus was up to 13 meters tall. But that’s not the case for all dinosaurs. Contrary to popular belief, not all dinosaurs were giants. In fact, many of them are quite small. Some were even the size of the birds we have today! A small dinosaur is the Microraptor. This tiny dinosaur was about the size of a crow.
Dinosaurs are often depicted as cold-blooded, slow-moving reptiles. But this is not entirely accurate. Scientists recently discovered that dinosaurs were not quite as cold-blooded as we thought. But that doesn’t mean they’re all warm-blooded. It’s a little more complicated. Dinosaurs may have had a metabolic system called mesothermal.
This means they are somewhere between cold-blooded and warm-blooded. Being mesothermic allows them to generate some internal heat, not as much as warm-blooded animals. Feathered dinosaurs may have been warm-blooded. Feathers often suggest ‘warm-blooded’. Of course, there were thousands of species of dinosaurs, so it’s certain that many were probably cold-blooded, but there were also warm-blooded and mesothermal dinosaurs.
Brontosaurus is one of the most iconic dinosaurs ever. With its long neck and tail, it’s probably one of the first dinosaurs you think of. But did you know that these creatures almost do not exist? In the 19th century, Brontosaurus was accidentally classified as Apatosaurus, a species with similar characteristics.
It wasn’t until 2015, after years of research, that Brontosaurus was reclassified as its own dinosaur species. Much like how Pluto came and went as a planet, the dinosaur community seems to have some difficulty deciding on the validity of the name Brontosaurus.
Movies like Jurassic Park often show the Tyrannosaurus Rex as one of the most dangerous predators, destroying everything in its path. They can only see their prey if it moves. That’s also completely wrong.
Because the T-Rex’s eyes were placed forward on its head, it had binocular vision. It can easily judge distances and see objects in three-dimensional space, similar to how humans see. Research shows that T-Rex may have had better eyesight than modern birds because it had a large optic nerve.
The Mesozoic era, also known as the age of dinosaurs, lasted more than 180 million years. There are three distinct periods – Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous. And during these periods, different species were unique to the particular era. Over the course of 180 million years, several species of dinosaurs evolved into new forms and some even became extinct. Some of the most iconic dinosaurs, like the Stegosaurus and T-Rex, never actually coexisted. They lived in completely different time periods, tens of millions of years apart.
Additionally, the T-Rex is often shown as a Godzilla-like creature that can stand upright. But how accurate is this? It turns out that was a complete misconception based on early artists’ renderings. Paleontologists have discovered that T-Rex had a more horizontal posture. Its tail is raised off the ground and its body is balanced on its hips. The upright posture of the T-rex we often see is interesting to Hollywood, but it would be unstable and impractical if the dinosaur were to move freely.
Paleontologists have identified more than 1,000 different species of dinosaurs, but there are literally so many more to discover. Some studies show that we have only found about 30% of the dinosaur species that once existed on Earth. And some of them will never be found due to gaps in the fossil record. On average, paleontologists discover about 50 new dinosaur species each year.
Dinosaurs probably didn’t make sounds like those shown in movies. In fact, we don’t really know what sound they will make. Fossils rarely preserve soft tissues such as the vocal cords. This makes it difficult for paleontologists to determine exactly what sounds dinosaurs made.
Scientists can make an educated guess that dinosaurs sound closer to birds and crocodiles because they are the dinosaurs’ closest living relatives. Researchers created models based on fossil skulls. Models suggest dinosaurs may have made low-frequency rumbling noises or bird-like calls.