Discussion»Statements»Rosie's Corner» Dinosaurs ruled and lived at one time. Then a swift decline and decimation and disappearance for all time. Are homo sapiens next in line?
Dinosaurs as an entire group (I forget the proper taxonomic word) didn't "rule" anything - they were just animals of their Jurassic and Cretaceous time; but although individual dinosaur families and species came and went, that time spanned the best part of a hundred millions of years.
Further, though their main extinction was 65MA (at the end of the Cretaceous) by events beyond their control, they do have lingering representatives, the modern lizards and birds.
Humans though... Our species, Homo Sapiens, is thought to be well under half a million years old, though preceded by other hominids. How long we will last is another matter. Individual mammal species seem to live on average about 3M years so we've a way to go yet... only all those figures are based on fossil evidence and not human behaviour, so as we are our own worst enemy, our own span of existence is anyone's guess.
I thought Dinosaurs were the largest animals in existence and as such would indeed "rule" by size alone. What could conquer them? What could possibly win in a battle to the death? Or am I being too greatly influenced by Jurassic Park? Thank you for your thoughtful and information reply. Which brings up another question tangentiallly. You will recognize it for what it is.
I'm rather wary of answering except on face value - I have been caught out too often by totally misunderstanding subtle references.
"Dinosaur" means "terrible lizard", probably because their first fossils found were of the very big ones.
Really though, dinosaurs came in all types and sizes, just like modern animals. Some were predatory carnivores. Some were herbivores, including the biggest, the familiar long-necked, long-tailed Diplodocus lampooned in The Flintstones 65 000 000 years too late!
Yet others were probably saprophagic - carnivores but like the modern hyena and coyote, mainly helping keep the countryside tidy by eating already-dead animals.
I don't know the modern thinking on the also-familiar Tyrannosaurus Rex. That was the big, terrifying-looking beast with a hefty body between long tail and massive teeth in very powerful jaws, but with strangely stunted fore-limbs. Those front legs make me wonder if it too was a scavenger able to munch on bones, rather than a predator that might have had to fight its intended dinner.
So even the big predators were no more "rulers" than our lions and tigers. They were just part of life at the time.
Durdle 