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Roger Harris \/ Getty<\/p>\nSince dinosaurs were officially discovered in the early 19th century we\u2019ve asked ourselves what it would be like to live alongside them. <\/p>\n
This question is, of course, firmly in the realm of science fiction – as a group, dinosaurs faced extinction 66 million years ago. However, if we suspend our disbelief for a moment and imagine they weren\u2019t wiped out by a 15km-wide asteroid, what would our world look like then?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not hard to imagine what it would be like to live alongside dinosaurs. There are seven films in the\u00a0Jurassic Parkfranchise alone, and each of them teaches us a simple yet important lesson: don\u2019t mess with Mother Nature, or dinosaurs. That said, these iconic films have also taught us that \u2018life finds a way\u2019 and that, given time, dinosaurs may be able to adapt to our world – and us to theirs.<\/p>\n
What dinosaurs would be the hardest to live alongside?
\nRoger Harris \/ Getty<\/p>\n
The obvious answer to this question is\u00a0T.rex<\/a>, the largest terrestrial carnivore that ever lived. This 4m-tall, bloodthirsty giant would quickly make mincemeat out of anyone unlucky enough to stumble across its path, but how often would that actually happen?\u00a0<\/p>\n If you look at populations of apex predators<\/a> today you\u2019ll see that they\u2019re very low in numbers, at least compared to the populations of animals they typically prey on. They also tend to avoid humans, where possible. This in mind, bumping into a\u00a0T.rex\u00a0in the wild seems unlikely.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also worth considering our historic relationships with large carnivores such as lions<\/a>, wolves<\/a>, bears<\/a>, and tigers<\/a>. A lot of these animals have been driven out of their native ranges and confined to isolated ecosystems far away from human civilisation. Some have been hunted almost to the point of extinction – not only out of fear, but also for sport.<\/p>\n In reality, the most dangerous dinosaurs to live alongside would probably be the long-necked, plant-eating sauropods. These dinosaurs were massive. The largest,\u00a0Argentinosaurus, stood nearly 20m tall, measured 40m from head to tail, and tipped the scales at a whopping 80 tons!<\/p>\n The closest living analogue are perhaps African elephants, which, despite being known as \u2018gentle giants\u2019, regularly consume and trample entire fields of crops. They\u2019ve also been known to damage buildings and even kill humans. At more than ten times the size,\u00a0Argentinosaurus\u00a0would be a lot more destructive, potentially levelling entire villages in its search for food.<\/p>\n Other dinosaurs that would be difficult to live alongside include\u00a0Triceratops,\u00a0Hadrosaurus, and\u00a0Parasaurolophus\u00a0– essentially any large herbivores that lived in herds. It\u2019s easy to imagine these dinosaurs as the cattle of their time, but they were actually as large, or even larger than elephants.\u00a0Parasaurolophus\u00a0were also incredibly noisy and would likely keep us up all night with their excessive honking.<\/p>\n Could we have kept dinosaurs as pets?<\/p>\n Not all dinosaurs were massive, meat-eating monsters; if they were alive today some would\u00a0make fantastic pets<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Psittacosaurus\u00a0is a distant relative of\u00a0Triceratops, but at roughly the size of a German Shepherd it\u2019s a much more manageable prospect. These dinosaurs had beaks, like their cousins, but they lacked large frills around their heads. They also sported mohicans of hair-like feathers on their tails.<\/p>\n Sinosauropteryx\u00a0is another dinosaur that\u2019s known to have had feathers, although its feathers covered its entire body. This slender, bipedal dinosaur belongs to a family known as the theropods, which includes the likes of\u00a0T.rex,\u00a0Spinosaurus, and\u00a0Gorgosaurus, but also small, bird-like dinosaurs like\u00a0Velociraptor\u00a0and\u00a0Anchiornis.<\/p>\n As well as being fluffy, these theropods were also relatively smart. While they may not have been capable of mastering the long list of tricks modern dogs can perform, it\u2019s not hard to imagine them playing a game of fetch.<\/p>\n Some dinosaurs would also make great working animals.\u00a0Gallimimus\u00a0and\u00a0Struthiomimus\u00a0are two ostrich-like dinosaurs that are estimated to have run at speeds in excess of 55km\/hr, which is just as fast, if not faster than a galloping horse.\u00a0Europasaurus, a dwarf sauropod, was nowhere near as fast, but as a bulky herbivore roughly the size of a rhino, it could have effortlessly pulled a plough or cart.<\/p>\n Could we have farmed dinosaurs? It\u2019s nice to think that if we did co-exist with dinosaurs we\u2019d do so in harmony, keeping them in large, protected national parks where they could roam free from much human interference. However, if we\u2019re being honest it\u2019s most likely we\u2019d domesticate a handful of species, cram them into overcrowded, indoor environments, and farm them for their meat.<\/p>\n What dinosaurs would have tasted like is a question palaeontologists are often asked, second only to \u2018what\u2019s your favourite dinosaur\u2019? We don\u2019t know, and likely will never know, the answer to this question, but we can make a few educated guesses by comparing them to animals alive today.<\/p>\n As a rule of thumb, animals that eat plants are typically tastier than those that eat meat – that\u2019s why we eat cows, pigs, and chickens, and not wolves, bears, or lions. This is because the animal fat in the diet of carnivores gives their meat a \u2018gamey\u2019, unappealing flavour. The meat from carnivores is also notoriously lean, stringy, and tough – not to mention often riddled with parasites<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Stegosaurus.jpg\")
Stegosaur dinosaurs. Roger Harris\/ Getty Images<\/p>\n