Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Facts and Guess about Dinosaurs

If the last dinosaur died 65 million years ago, and the first primitive dinosaurs were on the planet 248 million years ago, then how scientists can tell a lot about dinosaurs? Even some science fiction movie, like Jurassic Park were able to show how the behavior of these animals when alive.

Facts and Guess about Dinosaurs
Actually we didn't have a lot of certainty information about dinosaurs, all the knowledge about dinosaurs were obtained on rock fragments. Everything we know about dinosaurs comes from our study of fossils. There are two kinds of fossils, the regular fossil and traces fossil. Both of them help us to learn about how dinosaurs looked and acted. The regular fossils tell us how big the beast and its shape. Trace fossils can help to show how dinosaurs walked.

But fossils can not tell us the other important things, such as color, and some behaviors. Scientists make an educated guess about these by comparing dinosaurs with other living things that are more known.

If the dinosaurs have sharp teeth and claws, so it eats meat. And if the dinosaurs have blunt teeth and strong jaw muscles, so it eats plants.

If we know the habitat where dinosaurs lived, then we can guess their color. Animals tend to have a color similar to their environment so they can blend in and not be noticed.

We can know the behavior of dinosaurs by looking at the behavior of modern animals are similar to them in terms of food, habitat, and size. By understanding how the organs and muscles are connected throughout the body, we can make conclusions about what kind of dinosaur when it was alive.

That's how scientists gain knowledge about the animals who had been dead for millions of years.


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