When dinosaurs come to your mind, do you imagine the big gray monsters that are completely extinct? Well, then you definitely believe in myths related to this topic! Examine the information that historians have shared on this subject to dispel all misconceptions once and for all.
Myth: dinosaurs are extinct
Of course, dinosaurs died out en masse sixty-five million years ago, this was due to the fact that a huge asteroid crashed into the Yucatan Peninsula. However, not all have disappeared. Modern birds are descendants of dinosaurs, paleontologists say. Bats are a good analogy. The bat is an unusual mammal that has acquired wings and the ability to fly. The bird is an unusual dinosaur that did the same. There are more bird species than other animals, so dinosaurs are still alive, and there are a lot of them.
Myth: dinosaurs were scaled lizards
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There are thousands of dinosaur fossils covered in feathers. In addition, there were dinosaurs with fluff. Feathers helped dinosaurs regulate body temperature, so it was an important feature for smaller creatures like Velociraptors. Large herbivores also had wool, for example, like mammoths. In short, it is impossible to say that all dinosaurs were equally covered with scales.
Myth: dinosaurs were cold-blooded
Scientists can tell from the microscopic structure of the dinosaur bones that they grew fast enough. Only animals like birds or mammals with fast metabolism and stable body temperature can grow like this. It also explains why dinosaurs had feathers for thermal insulation, however, there are no exact details about their body temperature. It is unlikely that the metabolism of such creatures was identical to that of modern birds or mammals, however, their blood was definitely not cold.
Myth: They were all gray-green
In fact, the dinosaurs were quite colorful. Paleontologists can tell what color some of them were because well-preserved feathers were found containing certain cells. The pigment was stored in them, and from their structure you can determine the exact color of this pigment. This is an amazing discovery! Previously, there were no such technologies, and one could only make assumptions.
Myth: all dinosaurs were giant
By far the largest dinosaur skeletons were the first to catch the attention of fossil hunters. Nevertheless, modern paleontologists find dinosaurs of all shapes and sizes. Some of the creatures were as large as a passenger plane, while others were as small as a dove.
Myth: Fossils of most species have been found
Researchers have identified more than seven hundred species of extinct dinosaurs, but this is only a small part of their actual number. Fossils are constantly being discovered, with a new species of dinosaur being found every week. This is because paleontologists are now working all over the world. Science is advancing rapidly, and the amount of information about dinosaurs is constantly growing, much remains to be learned.
Myth: mammals appeared when dinosaurs became extinct
Mammals evolved from cynodont reptiles, similar to scaled rats. These creatures lived on the planet two hundred million years earlier than the dinosaurs. Mammals split into marsupials and placentals during the Jurassic period and dinosaurs flourished. Then the size of mammals was small. After the disappearance of most dinosaurs, the number of mammals began to increase.
Myth: all large reptiles were dinosaurs
Flying reptiles like pterosaurs or floating reptiles like plesiosaurs were not dinosaurs, although they lived during the same period and also died out en masse. These animals are often confused with dinosaurs, although they belong to different categories. Only birds should be considered real dinosaurs.
Myth: dinosaurs moved very fast
Some dinosaurs were fast, like raptors, while others were slow, like large creatures with long necks. By the way, recent studies have shown that tyrannosaurs moved at about the same speed as humans.
Myth: tyrannosaurs moved vertically
In museums, the skeletons of tyrannosaurs were previously placed in this way, however, it was found that their bodies were rather horizontal. The wrong image is now prevalent in popular culture.
Not a myth: tyrannosaurs were terrifying predators
In the nineties, a theory emerged that tyrannosaurs weren't that tough and that they just ate carrion. This theory turned out to be wrong - scientists are now sure that tyrannosaurs were excellent at hunting. Triceratops bones were even found with tyrannosaurus teeth marks that had healed.
Myth: tyrannosaurs hunted stegosaurs
In fact, these species are separated by a longer period of time than between humans and tyrannosaurs. Stegosaurs lived about one hundred and fifty million years ago, while tyrannosaurs lived sixty-seven million years ago.
Myth: dinosaurs were a failed evolutionary experiment
This is a completely unfounded stereotype: dinosaurs were not an evolutionary failure, they had no problems either with intelligence or with movement. They didn't die out because of their flaws, after all, they were the creatures that ruled the world for one hundred and fifty million years. At the same time, man has existed for only about two hundred thousand years, and the first human ancestors appeared only seven million years ago. Dinosaurs, on the other hand, still thrive - you just have to listen to the birds singing outside the window to remember it.
Marina Ilyushenko