• Question: If dinosaurs still existed do you thing humans would be living?

    Asked by elliejade to Asif, Laura, Lena, Sean, Viv on 16 Mar 2012.
    • Photo: Sean Murphy

      Sean Murphy answered on 16 Mar 2012:

      Well, until yesterday I would have said no. This is because the theory was that with the extinction of the dinosaurs, mammals had the extra resources to expand and evolve, eventually creating humans. However I read an article yesterday giving evidence that mammals had started to expand and evolve before this extinction event. So now I’m not sure if the previous theory is true. That is the great thing about science, when new evidence arises we are able to adapt our theories to fit the facts.

    • Photo: Laura Waters

      Laura Waters answered on 16 Mar 2012:

      No! I doubt we would have competed very well against them as they were so diverse and they were very good at survival (apart from in the end!)

    • Photo: Lena Ciric

      Lena Ciric answered on 17 Mar 2012:

      Mammal evolution started during the time of the dinosaurs. The mammal-like reptiles were the dominant land animals on the Earth about 260 million years ago which was within the dinosaur era. The dinosaurs were around for over 100 million years and humans (as we are now) have only been around for about 100 thousand years. So it’s possible that we could have evolved with the dinosaurs around if the conditions were right. Would have been scary though! 🙁

      Have a look at this link for some examples of these animals – some are pretty scary but some a quite cute: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/life/dinosaurs-other-extinct-creatures/non-dino-reptiles/mammal-like-reptiles/index.html

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