Imagine this: you step out of your house, looking around the street — cafes, buses, traffic lights. And suddenly, in the distance, a dinosaur's head appears! I wonder, could dinosaurs coexist with us if they hadn't gone extinct millions of years ago?
Dinosaurs exist today: they are birds. These feathered creatures descended from dinosaurs and are part of their family tree, so technically some dinosaurs did survive the asteroid impact 66 million years ago. Moreover, they are even thriving! Currently, there are about 14,000 species.
But if we talk about “real” fierce and giant dinosaurs, could they survive today?
Dinosaurs in the modern world
Dinosaurs ruled the Earth for 150 million years, surviving periods of heat and cold, volcanic eruptions, and changes in sea level. There is nothing in the modern world that could be fatal to them.
That said, the main difference between the age of dinosaurs and our time is that modern Earth is significantly colder, with ice caps at the poles. In a cooler climate, larger animals have the advantage as they retain heat more easily. However, smaller animals with insulation in the form of fur or feathers can also successfully endure the cold. This means that both huge dinosaurs like long-necked sauropods and smaller, feathered ones like velociraptors and their kin could adapt well to modern conditions. Smaller featherless dinosaurs would likely be the most vulnerable.
Undoubtedly, it would be difficult for animals to inhabit limited territories, as even smaller species today suffer from deforestation. However, that is a completely different story...
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