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Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs And People

Despite the pictures in some cartoons and science fiction movies that show cave people living at the same time as the dinosaurs, scientists know that this is not true. By dating dinosaur fossils, they can definitely state that dinosaurs lived between 230 to 65 million years ago. Humans did not evolve until about one million years ago. Nonetheless, people nowadays are very interested in these reptiles from the planet's past. Television programs, films, books, web sites, and entire museum wings are devoted to the description or study of these animals.

BRING BACK THE DINOS!

Movies and TV shows sometimes pretend that humans today can bring the extinct dinosaurs back to life by growing them from bits of their DNA found in fossils. In one such film, called "Jurassic Park," a scientist found dinosaur blood in the stomachs of prehistoric blood-sucking insects that had been preserved through the ages in tree sap. The blood contained DNA, which is found in each of a body's cells and holds the instructions for making the animal. In the film, he was able to create a dinosaur from that DNA. Although scientists do sometimes find prehistoric insects, they have yet to find any blood inside, whether from a dinosaur or not. Even if they did, any DNA in the ancient blood would most likely be in such bad shape that it would be useless.

Additional topics

Animal Life ResourceDinosaurs, Snakes, and Other ReptilesDinosaurs - Physical Characteristics, Geographic Range, Habitat, Diet, Behavior And Reproduction, Dinosaurs And People