Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is a dinosaur?
A: A dinosaur is...
By Sir Richard Owen's original definition, a dinosaur is any of a group of large reptiles that are now extinct that are characterized by a number of anatomical features, primarily a fused sacrum--that is, five or six vertebrae in the hip region that are fused together. However, as time went by and more and more dinosaurs were discovered, more definitions were required to determine what is or is not a dinosaur. In 1993, it was determined that dinosaurs were all animals that were common ancestors of the common sparrow, Passer domesticus, and of Triceratops. By this definition, crocodiles, lizards, turtles, pelycosaurs such as Dimetrodon, and mammals--including prehistoric ones such as mammoths, saber-toothed cats, and ground sloths, are not dinosaurs. However, this defines all modern birds as dinosaurs. Because of this, the KT Extinction Event is now referred to as the extinction of all non-avian dinosaurs.
Q: Did people and dinosaurs ever meet?
A: I wish!
As much as I would love to see a living non-avian dinosaur, it is simply not possible. In spite of what The Flintsones may imply, non-avian dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus and Apatosaurus never existed side-by-side. Considering how weak and pathetic we humans really are, if we existed alongside dinosaurs, we would be the ones who went extinct, and not the dinosaurs. Of course, this doesn't stop people from dreaming what life would be like if Man and Dinosaur did coexist.
Q: Is T. rex still the King?
A: Sorry, but he was overthrown years ago.
Sad to say, Tyrannosaurus rex is no longer considered the true King of Dinosaurs. This title was taken a long time ago upon the discovery of Spinosaurus aegypticus, which some scientists speculate could reach up to sixty feet in length, and there are even some dinosaurs smaller than Spinosaurus that out-reach T. rex, such as Carcharodontosaurus. However, in terms of bite-force, T. rex still blows the competition away, and he was also the last of a long line of mighty predators. So, in a way, he is still the King.
Q: Is Jurassic Park a real-life possibility?
A: In one word: NO
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of implications in humans and dinosaurs coexisting through genetic engineering. In addition, even if it were possible to successfully clone a prehistoric dinosaur, it would be a nightmare trying to keep it alive. As much as we know about the skeletal anatomy of dinosaurs, we know virtually nothing about their behavior. We would have no idea of how to care for them; chances are, we'd have to breed a thousand Velociraptors to get just one to adulthood. Even the seemingly simple process displayed in Jurassic Park is, in actuality, extremely difficult if not impossible.
First of all, DNA--which was used in Jurassic Park--breaks down very quickly after an animal dies. Although the DNA of dinosaurs and even soft-tissue samples have been found, the DNA is too-far broken down to be of any use in genetic research, and there is no way to recreate lost strands of DNA as we have nothing to go off to recreate it. In Jurassic Park, this problem was solved by filling the gaps in the DNA with segments of frog DNA, but even if this process was viable, it would be smarter to fill the gaps with crocodilian or avian DNA, as those animals are much closer to dinosaurs than frogs. And, even if this could be done, the cloned animal would not be a true dinosaur; rather, it would be something of a mix between a frog and a dinosaur, or a modern bird and a dinosaur, and so on.
However, this does not mean scientists are not trying. In fact, just recently, a previously extinct species of animal was brought back from extinction, a species of European ibex that a tissue sample had been collected from. Its DNA was inserted into the uterus of a sister species, and the extinct species was born. It died soon after, but it has been proven that extinction is not forever.
