Human–dinosaur coexistence
Belief that non-avian dinosaurs and humans coexisted, rejected by science.
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Humans and non-avian dinosaurs have never coexisted at any point in Earth's history.[1] The belief that they did coexist is rooted in pseudoscience and is common among Young Earth creationists and cryptozoologists.[2] Since birds are classified as dinosaurs in cladistic terms, avian dinosaurs and humans have shared the planet from the time the first humans emerged.[3]
Quick Facts
- Field
- Pseudoscience and pseudohistory
- Known for
- Belief that non-avian dinosaurs and humans coexisted
- Associated groups
- Young Earth creationists, cryptozoologists
- Scientific consensus
- No coexistence; non-avian dinosaurs extinct 66 million years before humans
- Status of evidence
- Often hoaxes or misinterpretations
Facts from the source article.
Biology and range
Non-avian dinosaurs died out in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction about 66 million years ago.[4] The genus Homo emerged only about 3 million years ago, leaving tens of millions of years between the last non-avian dinosaurs and the first humans.[4] A 2014 study concluded that humans were solely responsible for the extinction of all moa species in New Zealand.[5] Theropod dinosaurs from the Paraves group are the ancestors from which birds evolved during the Jurassic.[3]
After human arrival on their islands, both moa and elephant birds became extinct, with hunting by people being the probable cause.[6] The ostrich is the heaviest dinosaur currently living, while the bee hummingbird is the lightest.[6] If non-avian dinosaurs existed today, they would require ghost lineages with no fossil evidence spanning tens of millions of years, which is unprecedented.[7]
What the specialist sources record
A 2009 survey found that only 59% of American adults know that the earliest humans and dinosaurs did not live at the same time.[8] Archeological evidence suggests humans ate moa at all stages of their life, making it very difficult for the birds to reproduce.[5] The moa extinction is documented as the most rapid, human-facilitated megafauna extinction known.[5] Creationists also believe that Behemoth and Leviathan of the Old Testament were actually dinosaurs.[9]
References
- Wikipedia, "Human–dinosaur coexistence" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Did Humans and Dinosaurs Ever Live Together?", Discover Magazine (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Human–dinosaur coexistence" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Senter, "Fire-Breathing Dinosaurs? The Hilarious History of Creationist Pseudoscience at Its Silliest", Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2019, p. 72–73, 77–78; Randle, "Alien Mysteries, Conspiracies and Cover-Ups", Visible Ink Press, 2013, p. 32; Naish, "Sea serpents, seals and coelacanths: an attempt at a holistic approach to the identity of large aquatic cryptids", Fortean Studies, 2001, p. 75–94; Senter, "Fire-Breathing Dinosaurs? The Hilarious History of Creationist Pseudoscience at Its Silliest", Cambridge Scholars Publish en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Human–dinosaur coexistence" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Prum, "Who's Your Daddy?", Science, 19 December 2008, p. 1799–1800 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Human–dinosaur coexistence" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "American Adults Flunk Basic Science", Science Daily, March 13, 2009 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Yirka, "DNA evidence suggests humans hunted moa to extinction", phys.org, 18 March 2014. facts only, no text reused. phys.org
- Wikipedia, "Human–dinosaur coexistence" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Zalasiewicz, "Skeletons: The Frame of Life", Oxford University Press, 2018; Roots, "Flightless Birds", Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006, p. 14; Lovette, "Handbook of Bird Biology", John Wiley & Sons, 2016, p. 584; Zalasiewicz, "Skeletons: The Frame of Life", Oxford University Press, 2018; Zalasiewicz, "Skeletons: The Frame of Life", Oxford University Press, 2018; Roots, "Flightless Birds", Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006, p. 14; Yirka, "DNA evidence suggests humans hunted moa to extinction", phys.org, 18 March 2014; Zalasiew en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Human–dinosaur coexistence" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Naish, "Sea serpents, seals and coelacanths: an attempt at a holistic approach to the identity of large aquatic cryptids", Fortean Studies, 2001, p. 75–94 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "American Adults Flunk Basic Science", Science Daily, March 13, 2009. facts only, no text reused. sciencedaily.com
- Black, "Feathered Dinosaurs Drive Creationists Crazy", Slate, 2012-09-19. facts only, no text reused. slate.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Human–dinosaur coexistence (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Human–dinosaur coexistence (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Word definitions: the , each quoted from its Wikipedia article.
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