When most people think about dinosaurs, they think about the t-rex or what is commonly referred to as a longneck. They also tend to think about the Jurassic Park movies or the Land Before Time cartoons. These are fabulous for entertainment, but they leave the question, “what was life like for dinosaurs?”. The Earth was much different when dinosaurs existed. The land was different, the waters were different, even the plants were different. If it were possible for a human to travel back in time to see dinosaurs in person, they would find the world to be a vastly different place. These differences have been proven by science in the form of archeological digs, mapping, tests, and many other events. Many different branches of science have come together time and again to research what happened to the Earth during the time of the dinosaurs. While it has become well known that the land changed, the climate changed, and the waters changed, it is not so prominently known what daily life was like. This is not to say that the research has not been done, rather than the information is not as prominently featured among the public eye. While many people never give it another thought, many others are curious to know what life was like for dinosaurs. They wonder about basic interactions, diets, mating, pack interaction, and so much more. Here, you will find information, facts, and even some speculation about the daily life of an average dinosaur.
The first thing to consider is that there were many different types of dinosaurs. There were the ones that most people are familiar with, triceratops, tyrannosaurus rex, pterodactyl, and Brachiosaurus. These were only a small sampling of the many different creatures that roamed the Earth. Just like today’s animals, the dinosaurs came in a variety of shapes, colors, and types. There were predators and prey, the weak and the strong. There were creatures that flew and those who could swim. Some creatures spent part of their time in the water and the other part on land. There were carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores. There were creatures with scales, some with fur, some with feathers, and others with a combination. Some of the animals remained within a pack and some that preferred solitude. Every creature had its place in the hierarchy and the ecosystem. It is important to understand that, in this regard, the world was much the same as it is now.
Beyond the basics of everyday life, one of the biggest questions many people ask is, what killed the dinosaurs? There have been several theories over the years. Some people believe that diseases were introduced to the dinosaurs and it slowly killed them off. Many religions believe that the great flood depicted in the bible and many other ancient texts is what wiped them out. Among the scientific community, the most popular theory is that an enormous asteroid hit the Earth and caused the extinction of the dinos. Regardless of the way, it is a fact that every single dinosaur went extinct.
Some animals that we do not think twice about today are thought to be direct descendants of the dinosaurs. Some of these animals are difficult to think of as being related to a dinosaur, but others are quite easy. The animal that is the easiest, at least in most people’s eyes, to see the relationship, is alligators and crocodiles. These animals grow to be incredibly large, have thick scales protecting their bodies, have enormous teeth, and are generally quite frightening. Another thing these creatures have in common with their ancestors is the relative size of their brains. The largest crocodile is has a brain that’s size equivalent is a walnut. A t-rex was an incredibly huge creature, but its brain is believed to have a fraction of the size. This leaves little room for higher intelligence. A t-rex, like a crocodile, is believed to have been a slave to its baser urges, eat, sleep, mate, and protect its domain. Also, many animals that we know today were around during that time, the difference being how large they would grow. Over the years, many fossils have been found. These fossils give today’s society a look at what some animals were like many years ago. A fossil can be anything from a footprint to a skull indentation, to a full body imprint. Each and every fossil is important and incredibly valuable to learning about these amazing creatures and what life on Earth was like when dinosaurs ruled. fossils have also been able to help identify how large certain animals would grow during this time. Keep in mind that this was a time when everything grew to be much larger than what we know today. This includes insects such as worms and caterpillars. Some years ago a fossil was discovered that turned out to be that of a caterpillar often referred to as a woolly worm. The fossil was measured in feet rather than inches.
With all of the knowledge that has been gathered over time regarding the dinosaurs, it is somewhat easy to imagine a typical day during that time. There have been quite a few depictions of the everyday life of dinosaurs over the years. Many of these have been in the form of children’s movies. The most popular example would be the Land Before Time series. There is a multitude of these movies and at one point there was even a television series. There is also the incredibly popular Ice Age series which depicts a woolly mammoth that believes he is the last of his kind. You see quite a few different dinosaurs and other animals during these movies, each with an important role to play. During the first few movies in the series, the characters believe that most dinos are gone, until they wildly discover that they are not while on a fast-paced adventure. There have been many other examples such as Walking With Dinosaurs and The Good Dinosaur. There is even a series of movies based off of a book by the same name, that detail what would likely happen if scientists were able to bring dinosaurs back in modern times, Jurassic Park. Regardless, it can be fun to think about life on Earth when dinosaurs were everywhere.