• Question: If dinosoars still excisted would humans be able to survive ? And how ? :)

    Asked by niamhd to Angela, Gabriele, Karen, Maria, Shane on 18 Nov 2013.
    • Photo: Karen McCarthy

      Karen McCarthy answered on 18 Nov 2013:


      Thats a really interesting question Niamh, and its made up of a few different parts.

      Firstly, do you think humans might have evolved if dinosaurs had lived? And if so, do you think we might have evolved the same or different?

      Personally I think if we were present at the same time as dinosaurs, we would have evolved differently – I think we would have been faster runners, and I think also that humans would all have had darker skin – almost like a sort of camouflage, which you see in many animals trying to avoid a
      larger predator. We have might also have evolved to stay in more an ape-like state – faster, more agile and able to live in trees!

      What do you think?

    • Photo: Angela Stevenson

      Angela Stevenson answered on 18 Nov 2013:


      That’s a tough one! Another excellent question from you, Niamh 🙂 If dinosaurs were still present… we probably wouldn’t exist. Mammals (mice, zebras, us!, and many more) would not have had the opportunity to diversify into a lot of different species that cover a wide range of different body sizes with different diets, and most importantly we would certainly not have become the dominant creatures… since dinosaurs would definitely win that competition. During their time they dominated in every way, and probably would today also since they are such large and competitive species. Mammals and actually originated at about the same time as dinosaurs, during the Triassic, but our dino friends became dominant and mammals remained very rare for over 160 million years, until they finally got their opportunity to thrive after the dinosaurs died out. So without the unpredictable extinction of the dinosaurs, the evolution of today’s mammals – including humans – would have never been set in motion. Hope that helps!

Comments