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Paleontology keeps uncovering new findings, and a lot of what we learned about dinosaurs as kids is already outdated. Here are 5 current scientific facts.
1. Birds are, technically, dinosaurs
According to current scientific consensus, modern birds descend directly from a group of theropod dinosaurs — meaning, technically, dinosaurs were never fully wiped out.
2. Many dinosaurs had feathers, not scales
Fossil discoveries in recent decades have shown that several dinosaur species, including close relatives of T-Rex, had feathers — a very different picture from what classic movies portrayed.
3. T-Rex lived closer in time to us than to Stegosaurus
Stegosaurus lived about 150 million years ago, while T-Rex lived about 66-68 million years ago — meaning more time separates those two species than separates T-Rex from humans.
4. Not every “sea” or “flying” dinosaur was actually a dinosaur
Reptiles like pterosaurs (flying) and plesiosaurs (marine) lived during the same era as dinosaurs, but belong to different evolutionary groups — technically, they aren’t classified as dinosaurs.
5. New dinosaur fossils are still being discovered regularly
New dinosaur species continue to be identified every year around the world, including recent discoveries in South America, including Brazil.
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