(print version for Introduction) pdf

Dinosaurs. Everyone has heard about them. Everyone has, at one time or another, read about them or seen them on TV. These large prehistoric beasts have captured the imagination of so many people. But what do we really know about them?

The study of dinosaurs began in the early 1800s. British anatomist Sir Richard Owen was among the first scientists to study them, and in 1842, he named them “dinosaurs” after the Greek words deinos, meaning “marvellous” or “terrible”, and sauros, meaning “lizard”. At that time, the only known species were Hylaeosaurus, Megalosaurus and Iguanodon. As of today, scientists have described more than 1,300 species of dinosaur in almost 500 genera!

What did Dinosaurs look like?
We know that there were many species of dinosaurs, but we do not know what many of them looked like. Fossilized bones can tell us their size and general shape but not the details of individual appearance. Fortunately, some skin impressions have been discovered, giving scientists more clues about what dinosaurs looked like. Dinosaur skin types ranged from bumpy (like the tread of a bicycle tire) to scaly (similar to a modern-day lizard) to leathery (like the texture of a football). Some scientists believe that several species may have been at least partially covered with feathers.

Unfortunately, fossil skin impressions give no indication of colour. At first, scientists believed that dinosaurs were coloured much like the largest animals living today – like elephants and whales, dinosaurs would have been grey, brown or muted earth tones. Today, the dinosaur palette boasts a wide range of pigments and a variety of colour combinations. Some scientists believe that if dinosaurs are the ancestors of modern birds, then they too may have worn bright colours. Most agree that species would have been coloured to suite their environment: dinosaurs living in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert were likely tan or sandy coloured to blend into the background, and those that lived in the forests probably wore green and brown. Still, dinosaur colouration is pure speculation – no one really knows what colour they were.

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