10 myths about dinosaurs that are still common

There are many common misconceptions about dinosaurs, and with the advancement of science and the discovery of new fossils, many of these misconceptions about dinosaurs are challenged and new facts are revealed. Dinosaurs, huge and mysterious prehistoric creatures, have always occupied the human imagination. From Hollywood movies to science books, this... The post 10 Myths About Dinosaurs That Are Still Common appeared first o

0 Posted by: Maryam Mousavi on October 20, 2015 at 21:27

Dinosaurs, huge and mysterious prehistoric creatures, have always occupied the human imagination. From Hollywood movies to science books, these ancient reptiles have been depicted in many ways. But is everything we know about these amazing creatures true? With the discovery of new fossils and advanced research, much of the ancient information about the extinction of dinosaurs, their size, speed and even their appearance has been transformed.

Dinosaurs are not extinct: a common misconception

All dinosaurs are thought to have died out 66 million years ago, but that only includes the big and famous dinosaurs. Birds are actually a branch of dinosaurs (theropods, velociraptor and t-rex family). Birds are the evolved flying dinosaurs of which more than 10,000 species live today.

Not all ancient reptiles were dinosaurs

Many prehistoric giant reptiles were not dinosaurs. Dinosaurs were a special branch of reptiles that evolved to live on land. Pterosaurs (flying reptiles) and marine reptiles such as plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs were contemporaneous with dinosaurs, but they are considered different animal groups.

Were all dinosaurs giant?

Although there were giant dinosaurs such as Dardenatus, which was 26 meters long and weighed about 48 tons, not all dinosaurs were large. Some of them were crow-sized, such as Ankyurnis or Microraptor. Even the T-rex was the size of a domestic cat when it was young and then grew over millions of years.

A misconception about the speed of dinosaurs

Movies often portray dinosaurs as very fast creatures, but their speed depended on their body structure. While some smaller, lowland predators might run fast, the giant T-Rex was not as fast as it is famous for in the movies. Biomechanical studies show that he needed unrealistic leg muscles for high speed, and a full run would have seriously damaged his bones. Its movement was more like a powerful and scary walk than a fast runner.

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Dinosaurs weren't weak, they were just unlucky!

Contrary to the popular belief that all dinosaurs had dull, earthy colors, some of them probably had striking, brilliant colors like today's birds. The study of melanosomes in bird fossils has shown that dinosaurs such as Sinosauropteryx had a striped tail and a black pattern around its eyes, and Microraptor was probably shiny black with an iridescent sheen.

Mammals, contemporary with dinosaurs

The belief that mammals appeared after the extinction of the dinosaurs is false. Mammals lived together with dinosaurs since the Triassic period, more than 230 million years ago. Joramaya is one of the important fossils that show that mammals were diversifying during the Jurassic period, about 160 million years ago. Even a mammal called Rapnomamus was big enough to prey on young dinosaurs.

Dinosaurs were not necessarily cold-blooded

Contrary to the popular belief that dinosaurs were cold-blooded, fossil evidence shows that many of them had the blood-rich, fast-growing tissues normally seen in warm-blooded animals. The presence of feathers is also logical to maintain body heat. Also, some dinosaurs lived in cold regions. Dinosaur metabolisms were probably more complex and ranged from warm-blooded to somewhat warm-blooded, not simply cold-blooded.

The iconic image of the T-rex standing with its tail on the ground is incorrect. This display originates from the first skeleton installed in 1915. In fact, the T-Rex kept its body horizontal and used its heavy tail as a counterweight to maintain balance. Studies show that this horizontal position is more physical and logical, but the misconception is still common due to cultural influences.

The belief that all dinosaurs had scales has been disproved by new fossil discoveries. In China, fossils of many feathered dinosaurs have been found, including Eutyranus, which was a close relative of T-Rex and had feather-like feathers. Feathers may have been used for insulation, display, camouflage, or protection of eggs. Although not all dinosaurs were feathered and some had scales or a combination of both, the "dinosaur = lizard" image is obsolete.

We don't know all the dinosaurs

Despite the large number of fossils discovered, we only know a small fraction of the dinosaurs that have ever lived. It is estimated that only about 700 species of extinct non-avian dinosaurs have been named. Because of the long reign of the dinosaurs, the diversity of habitats, and the difficulty of the fossilization process, there are large gaps in the fossil record. Still, a new species of dinosaur is named every two weeks, suggesting that many remain unknown.