Did Dinosaurs REALLY Exist?
By Olivia Barney
Have you ever wondered if dinosaurs really exist or how scientists know that they existed? If so, you wouldn't be the first to ask. Yes, dinosaurs really existed. In fact, dinosaurs still exist. But, how do we know dinosaurs really lived?
This is a question our paleontology team gets asked with surprising frequency — and we get it. It’s hard to comprehend such massive and unique animals roaming the Earth millions of years before us. And yet, the fossil record provides an overwhelming amount of evidence that tells us they existed. To learn more, we sat down with NHMU's Curator of Paleontology, Randy Irmis, Ph.D. This is what he had to say.
The Natural History Museum of Utah’s paleontology collections are filled with real dinosaur fossils. These are sometimes in the form of “trace fossils,” like footprints or skin impressions, or they can be “body fossils” such as bones and teeth. Both types of records have fossilized over millions of years, preserving them into the future.
Though DNA breaks down relatively quickly (within a couple million years), paleontologists can study this fossil evidence to learn more about the species that lived long ago. They can even look at thin slices of bone under microscopes to figure out where blood vessels used to be, if injuries to the bone occurred before or after death, and the approximate age of the specimen when it died.
Paleontologists can also compare physical bone shapes to roughly identify what a species looked like, and how it might have related to similar species. With the help of new technology, we can even see evidence of muscle attachments, feather attachments, and the general size and shape of dinosaur brains.
We can also study the ancestors of dinosaurs to get an idea of behavior patterns and evolutionary developments. Although the non-avian (non-bird) dinosaurs went extinct 66 million years ago, there are more than 10,000 species of birds flying around the world today, and they are dinosaurs!
If you'd like to learn more about the existence of dinosaurs, we encourage you to visit your local natural history museum, ask paleontologists your questions, and come see NHMU’s collections for yourself. Each year, during DinoFest weekend, the NHMU paleontology collections are open to the public, where guests can interact with real fossils and ask our experts their questions. It’s our biggest event of the year, taking place each January. Check out our DinoFest program page to learn more. In the meantime, plan a visit to NHMU and take a walk through our Past Worlds exhibition, which explores millions of years of our planet’s history and has both fossil casts and real fossils on display!
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Kosmoceratops richardsoni, means ‘ornamented horned face’, and this horned dinosaur lives up to its name! With a horn on its nose, a horn over each eye, a horn out of each cheek, and ten horns on its frill (the back of the skull), this dinosaur has been nicknamed the “horny-est dinosaur ever!” It was discovered in 76 million year old rocks in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. UMNH VP 17000
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This fossil of Sphenacodon is ~295 million years old, and is a close relative of the more familiar sail-backed Dimetrodon. The main difference is Sphenacodon had only a low crest along its back. Both species were carnivorous early synapsids – part of the lineage that eventually gave rise to mammals. This specimen was collected from Bears Ears National Monument. UMNH VP 29724
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When you find one fossilize track, you feel pretty lucky. When you find 4 different trackways on the same sandstone slab, you’ve hit the jackpot! This trackway in this image preserves reptile tracks named Evazoum (from a dinosaur relative). Not pictured but on the same slab are tracks of Brachychirotherium (from an aetosaur), Rhynchosauroides (from an unidentified small reptile), and Gwyneddichnium (possibly from a tanystropheid)! UMNH VP 26000
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This is a microscope slide, or thin section, of an upper leg bone of the meat-eating dinosaur Allosaurus. Cutting up a dinosaur bone to create a thin section can help paleontologists learn more about the dinosaur’s life. Like trees, bone tissue lays down rings that record the life history of the animal. The bone tissue preserves clues to the animal’s metabolism, the rate of growth, the age of sexual maturity, and how old the animal was when it died. UMNH VP 7883.1
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This exquisitely preserved fossil bird is approximately 50 million years old, from ancient lake deposit famous for their fossil fish. This specimen is preserved from the chest up, including tracheal rings, or windpipe, running down its neck. It’s rare for soft tissue like this to fossilize. This specimen is likely a new species of bird unknown to science, related to modern swifts and hummingbirds. UMNH VP 29429
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This is a truly spectacular fossil. It is an upper leg bone of the meat-eating dinosaur Allosaurus that has been fossilized with amethyst crystals inside, like a geode! Usually fossils infill with clear/white quartz crystals, but this fossil fossilized with trace amounts of iron in the quartz, forming the pretty purple variety called amethyst. Fossils have also been found with calcite, pyrite, turquoise and opal. UMNH VP 21351
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Paleontology at NHMU
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Authors
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By Olivia Barney
Olivia serves as NHMU’s Marketing Copywriter/Coordinator, where she collaborates across departments to craft engaging stories that help bring groundbreaking research projects to life. She might be the Oxford comma’s number one fan.
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By Randall Irmis, Ph.D.
Joining the Museum staff in January 2009, Randall Irmis received his PhD in Integrative Biology in December of 2008 from the University of California, Berkeley. In 2004, he received an Extended B.S. in Geology with an Emphasis in Paleontology, graduating Magna Cum Laude from Northern Arizona University. Irmis' research asks how vertebrate animals living on land evolved through deep...
