Birds

 

Today, the closest thing on Earth to a Dinosaur is a bird. To date, most researchers support the view that birds are a group of theropod dinosaurs that evolved during the Mesozoic Era.

 

Birds share a myriad of unique skeletal features with dinosaurs. Moreover, fossils of more than twenty species of dinosaur have been collected which preserve feathers. There are even very small dinosaurs, such as Microraptor and Anchiornis, which have long, vaned, arm and leg feathers forming wings. The Jurassic basal avialan Pedopenna also shows these long foot feathers. Witmer (2009) has concluded that this evidence is sufficient to demonstrate that avian evolution went through a four-winged stage.

 

Crocodiles and alligators

 

Of all the reptiles living today, crocodiles and alligators may be the least changed from their ancestors of the late Cretaceous period--although the even earlier crocodiles (or "crocodylomorphs," as they're sometimes called) of the Triassic and Jurassic sported some distinctly un-croc like features, such as bipedal postures and vegetarian diets.

 

By the start of the Jurassic period (about 150 million years ago), crocodiles had mostly abandoned their terrestrial lifestyles. This is when we begin to see the aquatic adaptations that characterize modern crocodiles and alligators: Long bodies, splayed limbs, and narrow, flat, tooth-studded snouts with powerful jaws (a necessary feature, since most crocodiles feasted on large dinosaurs and other animals that ventured too close to the water). There was still room for innovation, though: for example, paleontologists believe that Stomatosuchus subsisted on plankton and krill, like a blue whale!

 

One way in which crocodiles were indeed more fearsome than their terrestrial cousins was their ability to survive the K/T Extinction, which wiped the dinosaurs off the face of the earth 65 million years ago. Today's crocodiles and alligators are little changed from their ancient ancestors, a telling clue that these reptiles were (and remain) extremely well adapted to their environment.

 

What if Dinosaurs survived?

 

It has been over 65 million years ago since the last dinosaur passed into the heaven’s above. But imagine what the world would be like if dinosaurs still roamed the earth today and remained the kings of the animal world.

 

One of the biggest problems with dinosaurs existing in this day and age is whether human beings and dinosaurs are capable to live in harmony in the same environment. Dinosaurs are huge creatures towering many metres into the sky. They have small developed brains and rely a lot on instinct. Humans are completely opposite, as they are a lot smaller than dinosaurs with an average height of less than 2 metres, but their immense intellect has led them to become the top of the food chain.

 

65 million years is a very long time. If dinosaurs still existed today it is extremely likely that they have evolved into something more suitable and capable to survive in the present day environment.

 

One thing history of the planet has shown us is that size is not important. I believe that over the 65 million years of time, dinosaurs will gradually decrease their height. A more suitable maximum height would be around four or five metres tall. We can compare the long necked dinosaurs, which in some cases skyrocketed up to 30m tall, to giraffes.