Biology Stack Exchange
Biology Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [dinosaurs]

51 questions
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4 answers

Were there any flying dinosaurs?

I've seen some articles which came in contradiction with each other. The first article was talking about flying dinosaurs, dinosaurs with feathers and so on. A couple of other articles are talking about misconceptions about dinosaurs one of them…
Rotari Radu
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How did the largest/longest dinosaurs hold their head and necks up?

After seeing the images in the articles shown below, I am having a tough time understanding the mechanics of how these incredibly long and heavy necks can be supported outstretched like this. A rigid beam or tube would remain fairly straight through…
uhoh
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How compelling is the hypothesis that dinosaurs were killed by toxic plants?

A friend of mine has recently told me that dinosaurs were "killed by flowers". I was a bit surprised and so I googled. And I did find a lot of recent articles in popular media on this topic, probably based on this. To me it doesn't sound convincing…
Alexis
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The almost extinct dinosaurs

Dinosaurs split into "lizard-hipped" and "bird-hipped" dinosaurs. Of these two groups, only the "lizard-hipped" (Saurischia) survived (these names are backwards). Of Saurischia, only Theropoda survived. The diverse Sauropodomorpha clade died out…
Kevin Kostlan
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Were there any marine/aquatic dinosaurs?

Most dinosaurs were terrestrial, but there were a couple of groups of arboreal and flying dinosaurs (microraptors, birds etc). I have read that the theory that Brachiosaurids were aquatic has been largely discredited1, but that Spinosaurids were…
brazofuerte
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How did giant sauropods satisfy their daily energy needs, considering their relatively small mouths?

Gigantic sauropod dinosaurs had relatively small heads (and consequently small mouths) in comparison to their overall body mass. In the book "Dinosaur Odyssey: Fossil Threads in the Web of Life" (by Scott D. Sampson) the author says (on pp. 218-219)…
ravn
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How didn't large, highly active dinosaurs overheat?

The cube-square law seems to be the deciding factor when it comes to biological heat management. Small organisms with large surface areas relative to their volumes, like mice, need fast heartbeats and huge energy consumption relative to their size…
TheEnvironmentalist
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How much is known about dinosaur DNA condensation and crosslinking?

The conclusion section of Bailleul et al. (2020) Evidence of proteins, chromosomes and chemical markers of DNA in exceptionally preserved dinosaur cartilage is: The identification of chemical markers of DNA in Hypacrosaurus suggest it may preserve…
uhoh
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Has the most recent common ancestor of all living birds lived after dinosaur mass extinction?

I wonder if one or more phylogenetic threads of dinosaurs survived the mass extinction. In other words, are all living birds equally related to any given ancient dinosaur, or do some birds relate more to some ancient dinosaurs while other birds are…
lolmaus - Andrey Mikhaylov
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Oldest Triceratops fossil

In most books, Triceratops is listed to live between 68-66 MYA (million years ago), however some books list Triceratops as living between 70-66 MYA. The Campanian age ended about 72 MYA and then came the Maastrichtian. Many articles state that…
Triceratops
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Why are there few tetrapod dinosaur carnivores?

Today, most big carnivores are quadrupeds. Bears, Tigers, wolves. During the Jurassic and the Cretaceous, carnivores were mostly bipedal, dinosaurs mostly from the Therapod family. Why was bipedalism previously a very efficient predator mode for…
bandybabboon
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How can paleontologists identify morphologically different fossils as members of the same species?

I recently saw a documentary about Tyrannosaurus rex, which detailed the growth stages of the dinosaur. Apparently, it underwent a huge growth spurt at around 14 years of age, growing into the massive predator so well known in the popular…
Bob Tway
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Evolution of dinosaurs

What did dinosaurs evolve from? Was it the reptiles that evolved from amphibians? I have been researching this but am very confused with who their direct predecessor was. Amphibians evolved from fish...reptiles from amphibians...dinosaurs from…
Vanessa
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How does taxonomy work? The case of the Avian Dinosaurs

I recently discovered that the class Aves (or Birds) has been renamed Avian Dinosaurs. My question is when this taxonomic denomination achieved the consensus of the scientific community and through witch process, this change was made.
Marco Vicario
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Dinosaur bones found

I found a bone in 120 metres under the ground which has nuclear radiation. Can you help me to recognize this bone? It was found in a clay quarry near Odessa Ukraine.
Konstantin Lysyuk
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