Hey there and welcome to Life Noggin.
Everything that you have been taught about dinosaurs is completely wrong!
Well, that’s not entirely true, but there are quite a few things that our palaeontologist
friends have been getting wrong.
Let’s take a closer look at what the dinosaurs were really like.
Just don't get too close to the T-Rex, I heard he hasn't eaten in awhile.
Calm down, Rexy.
Awww, who’s a good boy!
Speaking of the Tyrannosaurus Rex, take a second and picture the big, scary carnivore
in your mind.
Those large, sharp teeth.
Those snake-like scales.
Pretty scary right?
Well, it turns out that Rexy here and most of the other dinosaurs probably had feathers.
Scientists have recently found a new species of dinosaur, known as Kulindadromeus zabaikalicus,
which has led them to theorize that feathers were most likely a characteristic of not just
birds, but all dinosaurs.
This is because our new dino friend was an “ornithischian” beaked dinosaur, which
is distinct from past feathered dinosaurs that were of the theropod group.
See, Rexy-boy isn’t so scary when he looks just looks like a big chicken!
Not only did the T-Rex probably have feathers, but his ams weren’t as puny as you might
think.
T-Rex arms may seem small in comparison to how big their bodies are, but their arms were
still theorized as being over twice the strength of the strongest human arm based off of a
study in the 90s.
I’d love for scientists to look into this even more!
Until then, I’d still be more worried about Rexy wanting to treat you like a piece of
homo sapien bacon, but I wouldn’t challenge one to an arm wrestling match.
That goes for you too, Lou Ferrigno!
Not even the Hulk could beat a T-Rex.
But there’s another animal that the Jurassic Park films made quite a bit more intimidating
than they actually had been; the Velociraptor.
Not only did they most likely also have feathers, but modern movies have led you to believe
that these speedy little predators were as tall as humans.
In reality, they were only about as tall as a medium sized dog, or about half a meter.
You probably still wouldn’t want to keep one as a pet, but I think Chris Pratt would
have seemed far less impressive up against these smaller raptors.
Speaking of things that the Jurassic Park movies got wrong, it’s now believed that
dinosaurs didn’t have that terrifying roar that you hear in the movies.
While that may have been a great way for Steven Spielberg to make the dinosaurs even scarier,
they most likely cooed or quacked like a duck.
Some believe that they may have also grumbled like a crocodile, but not the immense roar
that sounds like an over-exaggerated lion.
Many scientists also believe that the dinosaurs probably didn’t die out because of the impact
of a giant asteroid.
It most likely played a large role, but it was just part of what led us to not seeing
dinosaurs on our morning jogs.
The impact of an asteroid surely would have killed the dinosaurs in the immediate vicinity.
However, for the rest of the dinosaurs, their decline was far more gradual due to other
effects of the asteroid like lack of food as vegetation withered away because of the
layer of ash that blackened the sky.
It’s also thought that because of things like changing climates, sea level fluctuations,
and volcanic activity, the populations of dinosaurs were already on the decline before
the asteroid even hit.
All of this together makes it pretty probable that it all wasn’t over super quickly.
So did any of this surprise you?
Do you think we’ll learn even more about our dino friends in the future?
And what’s your favorite dinosaur?
Let me know in the comments below!
If bringing dinosaurs back from the dead sounds interesting to you, think again!
Let’s explore the pros and cons of bringing back extinct animals in this video.
Make sure you come back every Monday for a brand new video.
As always, I’m Blocko and this has been Life Noggin.
Don’t forget to keep on thinking!