Since dinosaurs were officially discovered in the early 19th century we’ve asked ourselves what it would be like to live alongside them.
This question is, of course, firmly in the realm of science fiction - as a group, dinosaurs faced extinction 66 million years ago. However, if we suspend our disbelief for a moment and imagine they weren’t wiped out by a 15km-wide asteroid, what would our world look like then?
It’s not hard to imagine what it would be like to live alongside dinosaurs. There are seven films in the Jurassic Parkfranchise alone, and each of them teaches us a simple yet important lesson: don’t mess with Mother Nature, or dinosaurs. That said, these iconic films have also taught us that ‘life finds a way’ and that, given time, dinosaurs may be able to adapt to our world - and us to theirs.
What dinosaurs would be the hardest to live alongside?
The obvious answer to this question is T.rex, the largest terrestrial carnivore that ever lived. This 4m-tall, bloodthirsty giant would quickly make mincemeat out of anyone unlucky enough to stumble across its path, but how often would that actually happen?
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If you look at populations of apex predators today you’ll see that they’re very low in numbers, at least compared to the populations of animals they typically prey on. They also tend to avoid humans, where possible. This in mind, bumping into a T.rex in the wild seems unlikely.
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It’s also worth considering our historic relationships with large carnivores such as lions, wolves, bears, and tigers. A lot of these animals have been driven out of their native ranges and confined to isolated ecosystems far away from human civilisation. Some have been hunted almost to the point of extinction - not only out of fear, but also for sport.
In reality, the most dangerous dinosaurs to live alongside would probably be the long-necked, plant-eating sauropods. These dinosaurs were massive. The largest, Argentinosaurus, stood nearly 20m tall, measured 40m from head to tail, and tipped the scales at a whopping 80 tons!
The closest living analogue are perhaps African elephants, which, despite being known as ‘gentle giants’, regularly consume and trample entire fields of crops. They’ve also been known to damage buildings and even kill humans. At more than ten times the size, Argentinosaurus would be a lot more destructive, potentially levelling entire villages in its search for food.
Other dinosaurs that would be difficult to live alongside include Triceratops, Hadrosaurus, and Parasaurolophus - essentially any large herbivores that lived in herds. It’s easy to imagine these dinosaurs as the cattle of their time, but they were actually as large, or even larger than elephants. Parasaurolophus were also incredibly noisy and would likely keep us up all night with their excessive honking.
Could we have kept dinosaurs as pets?
Not all dinosaurs were massive, meat-eating monsters; if they were alive today some would make fantastic pets.
Psittacosaurus is a distant relative of Triceratops, but at roughly the size of a German Shepherd it’s a much more manageable prospect. These dinosaurs had beaks, like their cousins, but they lacked large frills around their heads. They also sported mohicans of hair-like feathers on their tails.
Sinosauropteryx is another dinosaur that’s known to have had feathers, although its feathers covered its entire body. This slender, bipedal dinosaur belongs to a family known as the theropods, which includes the likes of T.rex, Spinosaurus, and Gorgosaurus, but also small, bird-like dinosaurs like Velociraptor and Anchiornis.
As well as being fluffy, these theropods were also relatively smart. While they may not have been capable of mastering the long list of tricks modern dogs can perform, it’s not hard to imagine them playing a game of fetch.
Some dinosaurs would also make great working animals. Gallimimus and Struthiomimus are two ostrich-like dinosaurs that are estimated to have run at speeds in excess of 55km/hr, which is just as fast, if not faster than a galloping horse. Europasaurus, a dwarf sauropod, was nowhere near as fast, but as a bulky herbivore roughly the size of a rhino, it could have effortlessly pulled a plough or cart.
Could we have farmed dinosaurs?
It’s nice to think that if we did co-exist with dinosaurs we’d do so in harmony, keeping them in large, protected national parks where they could roam free from much human interference. However, if we’re being honest it’s most likely we’d domesticate a handful of species, cram them into overcrowded, indoor environments, and farm them for their meat.
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What dinosaurs would have tasted like is a question palaeontologists are often asked, second only to ‘what’s your favourite dinosaur’? We don’t know, and likely will never know, the answer to this question, but we can make a few educated guesses by comparing them to animals alive today.
As a rule of thumb, animals that eat plants are typically tastier than those that eat meat - that’s why we eat cows, pigs, and chickens, and not wolves, bears, or lions. This is because the animal fat in the diet of carnivores gives their meat a ‘gamey’, unappealing flavour. The meat from carnivores is also notoriously lean, stringy, and tough - not to mention often riddled with parasites.
Based on this principle, we can hazard a guess that the tastiest dinosaurs would have been large, grazing herbivores such as Edmontosaurus, Stegosaurus, and Triceratops. Sauropods would have been quite tasty too, for the same reasons, and courtesy of their huge size would have been capable of feeding thousands of people. Just imagine the amount of steaks you could make from the backstrap of an Argentinosaurus!
To imagine what this meat might have tasted like, we need only think back to the last time we ate chicken, turkey, duck, or goose. These tasty birds evolved from dinosaurs, which means they’re essentially modern-day dinosaurs. As members of the same overarching group, it’s likely their meat tasted quite similar.
Is it true we live alongside dinosaurs now?
In short, yes - we live alongside dinosaurs now.
It’s often said dinosaurs faced extinction 66 million years ago. In fact, this statement was written verbatim in the introduction of this article. However, it’s more accurate to say that it was the non-avian dinosaurs that became extinct; several species of birds (which evolved from dinosaurs roughly 150 million years ago) actually survived the asteroid impact and went on to diversify in the following period.
Today, there are more than 11,000 species of birds, making them one of the most diverse groups of vertebrates. To put this into perspective, there are only 5,500 species of mammals, which is roughly the same number of species that make up a single bird order known as the passeriformes, or perching birds. This group includes lots of birds from crows, magpies, and jays, to tits, wrens, and warblers.
If you ever thought the dinosaurs were long gone, think again. They’re everywhere and arguably just as diverse now as they were millions of years ago. We may think of our era as the ‘Age of Mammals’, but this remains, in many ways, a distinctly dinosaurian world.
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