Five Dinosaurs I Would Love to See
A skeleton of Gorgosaurus. From Wikipedia.
It may never be possible to create a real-life Jurassic Park, but if I were given the task of picking which dinosaurs to bring back to life, there are a few that would be at the top of my list. I would love to be able to see all dinosaurs in the flesh, of course, but here are five (in no particular order) that I would like to see more than most any others.
1) Amargasaurus
The first time I heard about it I almost couldn’t believe it. A sauropod with sails on its neck? It might sound like a fantasy cooked up by an over-imaginative paleontologist, but the early Cretaceous sauropod Amargasaurus really did have two parallel rows of long spines on its neck. The question is whether these spines were “naked” or carried sails, and something that is difficult to figure out without seeing the living animal.
This is a “new” dinosaur, having been described only in October of 2008, but it is one of the most bizarre. It was a small, feathered theropod with a set of teeth organized into a scoop, and four long feathers sticking out of its stumpy tail. As strange as it was, though, it may be one of the dinosaurs most closely related to birds, and has the potential to shake up current hypotheses about bird evolution.
3) Gorgosaurus
Gorgosaurus might not be as strange as the previous two dinosaurs, but I do have a soft spot in my heart for it. One of the first dinosaur skeletons I ever saw was the Gorgosaurus mount at the American Museum of Natural History, and this tyrannosaurid has been a favorite of mine ever since. It might not be as famous as its cousin Tyrannosaurus, but it was a much sleeker animal. It would probably be best to view this one from a distance, though.
4) Baryonyx
I know this list is getting a little theropod-heavy, but it is hard to resist Baryonyx. At the time it was discovered it represented a new kind of predatory dinosaur with heavy forelimb claws and a crocodile-like snout. Its relative Spinosaurus was discovered first, but it was only when Baryonyx was found that some previously enigmatic theropod fossils began to make sense. Given that it was probably a fish-eater, it might be a little safer to observe, too.
Horned dinosaurs were my favorites when I was a kid, and none seemed as odd as Pachyrhinosaurus. With the huge flattened bosses of bone, it stood out against more familiar forms like Triceratops, and there seemed to be a vigorous debate over whether it had a huge nose horn or a more flattened nose ornament. It seems that the latter hypothesis is more likely, but it still would have been an impressive creature to see!
There are plenty of other dinosaurs I would like to see, but these five are among my favortes. What are yours?
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Here’s my list (I know, most aren’t dinosaurs, but nonetheless they’re all extinct):
1) Dimetrodon
It has always been my favorite as a kid. I would love to see its color pattern, especially on the sail. More importantly, there are no living examples of the synapsids (or mammal-like reptiles), so it would represent an interesting scientific novelty.
2) Trilobite
These little horseshoe crab-like arthropods have had a huge impact on our understanding of prehistoric life. I fell in love with them when I found a (small) fossil trilobite as a kid on the beaches of Cape Cod. Bringing one back would finally allow us to see what they really looked like and how they acted. I also imagine that they would make great pets.
3) Liplurodon
The largest marine predator ever – need I saw more? I would love to see something this huge in the water attacking giant fish or whales. Watching one live would also allow us to see how they swam with those four flippers. I just wouldn’t want to be in the water anywhere near this thing!
4) Microraptor Gui
A four-winged dino-bird. We’re still not sure how this thing flew or what the rear wings did. With a live one, we could put it in a wind tunnel and experiment. It would advance our understanding of bird evolution markedly.
5) Dunkleosteus
We don’t have any giant armored fish in the seas anymore – they died out around 360 million years ago. However, I’ve always loved looked at their empty armor in museums, which often have hauntingly complete eye sockets and teeth. It would also be great to see how something resembling a knight in shining armor swam.
Comment by Dom — May 5, 2009 @ 11:18 am
My favs:
Gigantosaurus, Pachirinosaurus, stegosaurus, apatosaurus, and velociraptor
Comment by Iain — May 5, 2009 @ 4:57 pm
One of my favorites’ is the Nigersaurus. I found it interesting on the theory that Nigersaurus helped the dinosaur extinction although I don’t believe it.
Comment by Justin — May 9, 2009 @ 9:02 pm
Is there a really good site on the Internet to see the different dinosaurs as they would have appeared?
Comment by Sue — May 21, 2009 @ 2:22 pm
Hmmm…five dinosaurs I’d like to see?
1) Microraptor. More than one specimen, though. Supposedly there are like 30 skeletons, but I’ve only seen three or four.
2) Pachyrhinosaurus. A complete skeleton, dammit! I think there’s one up at Tyrrell now, I need to get back there (it’s been like a decade).
3) Carnotaurus. It’s my favorite dinosaur!
4) Eoraptor. No particular reason–it just seems like an awesome animal.
5) Thylacosmilus, although I don’t think there’s much postcranial material known.
Comment by Zach Miller — May 22, 2009 @ 3:41 pm