DINOSAURS, EVOLVED?

It is hypothesized that dinosaurs are extinct because of a meteor impacting Earth, which altered the climate and brought about massive amounts of dust. As a result, it obscured the sunlight which led to the withering of vegetation. If this theory is correct, then dinosaurs are unable to survive on Earth during present day circumstances due to lack of resources and other factors.

 

It is unlikely for dinosaurs to live again on Earth as their time has already passed. Birds are proven to be a genus, descendant of the dinosaur, which has evolved by natural selection in order to adjust and survive to the changing environment. Birds will not evolve back into dinosaurs. This is because dinosaurs will be unable to thrive in present day environment. Due to the dinosaur’s high demand of resources, all of Earth’s species would be depleted if they were to exist and there will likely be a relapse of their extinction. Much of Earth’s environment has changed since the Triassic period. As stated by Charles Darwin, genetic mutations that help an organism survive better in an environment and produce more fertile offspring, will eventually change the overall genotype of a population. However, as the dinosaur species are unlikely to thrive in current conditions, this natural selection will not take place.

 

In addition, not all genetic information can be recovered to create a dinosaur as DNA breaks down after death. Despite the presence of natural forms of preservation found in that time period, it is still impossible to salvage all the dinosaur DNA. Due to the loss of genetic information, the recreation of dinosaurs is highly unlikely. Today, with the limited amount of genetic information that exists in the fossilized remains, scientists are able to compare the similarities of proteins and other genetic characteristics. This genetic information, however, is not enough to recreate the dinosaurs of the past.

 

Though the recreation of dinosaurs would be very exciting for all, it is highly impractical and impossible. The closest one can get to dinosaurs is studying their salvageable DNA and comparing it to present day species. Even though the fascinating creatures of the past cannot be brought back, we are able to study their previous existence and evolved relatives with the genetic information provided.