What If We Domesticated Dinosaurs?
It’s little wonder that the Dinosaurs were at the top of the food chain when they walked
this planet, nor that they managed to stay there for millions of years.
Many of them were apex predators, perfectly adapted to hunting and killing their prey.
But would things have been different if humans had been around at the same time?
This is Unveiled, and today we’re answering the extraordinary question; What if we domesticated
dinosaurs?
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The dinosaurs may be extinct, but they had a long reign over the earth - surviving for
around 160 million years until they were wiped out 65 million years ago.
To put that into perspective, modern humans date back only around 300,000 years… and
even the absolute earliest types of bipedal beings are only thought to have emerged four
million years ago.
The dinosaurs have us soundly beat.
Dinosaurs were as varied as any animals we can imagine.
As the dominant species across land, sea and air, some weighed over 80 tons (larger than
most whales today), while others weighed as little as eight pounds (the size of a large
chicken).
The Argentinosaurus - which, unsurprisingly, lived in what’s now South America - was
one of the biggest creatures ever to grace our world, growing to be as much or more than
65 feet tall and 130 feet long.
Meanwhile, something like the Stegosaurus is still held as one of the most bizarre animals
of all time because of its strange skeletal structure and spiked back.
If nothing else, the dinosaurs were definitely different.
Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately for us) most dinosaurs were killed off by the
K-T mass extinction, which wiped out over 75% of all plants and animals alive at the
time.
We say “most” because although all of the land-dwelling types died, not all of their
flying counterparts did - and some actually evolved into the birds we know today.
The exact cause of the extinction remains a relative mystery, although scientists have
two popular theories for how it happened.
The most famous is the impact theory that the dinosaurs were wiped out by a meteorite
that struck down where the Chicxulub crater is today.
The other, volcanic theory says that multiple, massive eruptions were the cause of the dinosaurs’
demise.
Whatever the case, their disappearance rewrote the food chain, and paved the way for “the
rise of the mammals”.
Humans and dinosaurs never coexisted, despite what “The Flintstones” implies.
But what if we did?
Humanity would certainly strive to take control over the creatures that most threatened them.
Though they were excellent predators, dinosaurs weren’t usually smarter than most animals
alive today - with most boasting notoriously small brains.
In fact, in the case of the ever-interesting stegosaurus, its brain was so small that scientists
once thought it might have had a second brain in its butt.
Using the Encephalization Quotient to measure species intelligence, and keeping in mind
that humans have a highest-on-Earth EQ of seven, some dinosaurs would’ve only clocked
in at 0.1.
So, considering the types of beasts that humans have bested in the past, it’s not too far
a stretch to suggest that we could outsmart and eventually domesticate the dinosaurs.
Having achieved that, we’d soon find that certain dinosaurs excel in certain areas...
With one of the first questions we’d sadly (but inevitably) ask ourselves being; “How
can we weaponize them?”
Whether, in this alternate reality, we existed as we do now, or as though in tribes from
the start of human history, the destructive potential of dinosaurs would offer an unparalleled
option for defence and means of attack.
If it were possible to tame a T-Rex, say, then it would be frontline fodder in most
wars.
In fact, with the likes of the Triceratops and the tank-bodied Ankylosaurs under our
control, we may never have developed regular tanks at all - because we’d never have needed
to.
Fortunately, humanity does also have a lighter side that isn’t just geared towards war.
So, what else would domesticated dinosaurs offer?
The Carnotaurus is thought to have been especially fast and muscular with a strong tail for balance
and speed….
So, it’s likely that we’d train them for transportation, much as we have done with
horses.
Then there’s the wolf-sized Guanlong, which we might’ve bred as a hunting companion,
or the herbivorous, Labrador-sized psittacosaurus, a prime candidate as a household pet.
In general, the types of dinosaurs available as pets would be even more varied than pet-options
today - with herbivores understandably being preferred inside the home.
As they were really only about the size of turkeys, even “domesticated” Velociraptors
would probably be treated as a pest - or a meal.
But they’d also be one of many breeds that dominant humans could wind up betting on.
As with dog and horse racing, we’d set up whole industries based on “which dinosaur
can run fastest?”.
A knock-on effect of that would see the hunting of dinosaurs also transform into big business
- with trainers wanting the fastest, fittest and most potentially lucrative dinosaurs to
run for them.
Along with the Velociraptor, the Sinornithoides would be another prime target - given its
reputation as quite the roadrunner.
If not for racing, then dinosaur hunts would aim to capture “beasts of burden”, to
work on farmlands, across fields, or simply to carry supplies on long journeys.
And, failing that, there’d no doubt be a demand for a “dinosaur zoo”, so the hunts
would also set out to stock the enclosures at real-life Jurassic Parks.
For various reasons, the capture and trade of tameable dinosaurs would be a major - although
quite regrettable - trend.
What of the rest of the dinosaurs?
The ones that can’t be weaponised, house-trained or put to work?
They’d meet different fates.
Just as we’ve done with a large number of today’s animals, non-essential dinosaurs
might be driven to a different extinction through human-led deforestation and habitat
destruction…
While others may well find themselves domesticated, but only to be bred as food.
Given that, in this world, humans will’ve universally mastered the dinosaurs, it’d
take just a few generations before the creatures were selectively bred for all of these purposes.
Humans would locate the most desirable traits in any given type (like speed, strength, weight,
temperament or appearance) and make sure those qualities are passed on and, if possible,
enhanced.
Before long, we’d be rearing super-dinosaurs for specific tasks, but they’d now be totally
different to what we currently imagine dinosaurs to be.
Over thousands of years, total domestication could see even the scarier dinosaurs sharing
our homes as pets, eating store-bought dinosaur food.
Their appearance may well have changed, and the predatory instinct might even have been
bred out of them (or at least significantly lessened).
With so many massive animals affecting our lives, we may never have needed as many machines.
But it’s an alternate timeline where the dinosaurs experience a totally different lifestyle
- one in which they’re hunted, they serve, and they grow to be as dependent on us as
we would be on them.
It isn’t exactly a happier history…
But that’s what would happen if humans domesticated dinosaurs.
What do you think?
Is there anything we missed?
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