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.
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- How many species of dinosaurs were there?
- Deadliest dinosaurs had a variety of killing methods from slashing and tearing to biting and crushing
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.
