Other Planets May Have Real-Life “Jurassic World” Dinosaurs

A real-life Jurassic World on other planets? Wouldn’t that be exciting! But we will have to wait for extraterritorial traveling for that because that is literally in another world. That is what a study suggests anyway. According to researchers of Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society journal there might be other planets with dinosaurs living in them. And according to the famous movies, people would love to see them. Would you?

The Study of Jurassic World on Other Planets

A study published in the journal of the Royal Astronomical Society other planets, far away from our reach, might have conditions that would allow species similar to dinosaurs to exist.

In a statement to The Sun, study author Lisa Kaltenegger claimed: “Modern Earth’s light fingerprint has been our template for identifying potentially habitable planets, but there was a time when this fingerprint was even more pronounced — better at showing signs of life,” 

Researchers suggest that to find extraterrestrial life, we can look for substances that were around during the time of dinosaurs but are not found on Earth today. This is because when dinosaurs roamed, our planet had higher oxygen levels, around 30%, compared to the 21% that Earth has currently.

Kaltenegger is hopeful of finding planets that have more oxygen than Earth because that would be an indicator of forms of life there. “And, who knows, maybe there are other dinosaurs waiting to be found,” she says optimistically. In other words, real-life Jurassic World may be a reality on other planets.

The researchers propose that elevated oxygen levels, like those present during dinosaurs’ time, could indicate potential extraterrestrial life on distant planets. They suggest using specialized telescopes to identify similar conditions to those experienced by dinosaurs millions of years ago.

How to Identify Such Planets?

Scientists propose that a possible method to identify dinosaur-like species on other planets is by utilizing sophisticated telescopes on Earth. A key factor in this exploration is determining whether a planet is in a Phanerozoic stage. Planets in the Phanerozoic stage are capable of supporting large and complex life forms, potentially resembling the conditions that led to the existence of dinosaurs.

Cornell University scientist Rebecca Payne told The Sun; “The Phanerozoic is just the most recent 12% or so of Earth’s history, but it encompasses nearly all of the time in which life was more complex than microbes and sponges,” According to her, hopefully, this will make things easier to find life in cosmos other than earth, “even large, complex life.”

Interesting Facts About Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles that appeared around 243 to 233 million years ago. They became the main land animals after a mass extinction event about 201 million years ago, ruling the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Birds are actually a type of dinosaur, evolving from earlier ones. There are two groups of dinosaurs: avian dinosaurs (birds) and non-avian dinosaurs (extinct ones).

Dinosaurs varied in type, shape, and habitat. Birds are the most diverse vertebrates today, with over 10,700 species. Paleontologists have identified over 900 genera and 1,000 species of non-avian dinosaurs. Dinosaurs lived on every continent and included both current species (birds) and fossils.

In the past, people thought dinosaurs were slow and cold-blooded, but recent research suggests they were active with high metabolisms and social behaviors. They had various diets—some ate plants, while others were carnivores. All dinosaurs laid eggs and many built nests.

Dinosaurs were mainly bipedal (walked on two legs), but some groups had quadrupedal (four-legged) species. They displayed features like horns and crests, and some had skeletal modifications like armor. While modern birds are generally small, many ancient dinosaurs are large. The biggest sauropods reached lengths of about 130 feet and heights of 59 feet. Contrary to the idea that all dinosaurs were huge, many were small, around 20 inches in length.

Sir Richard Owen coined the term “dinosaur” in 1842. Since then, dinosaur fossils have been showcased in museums globally. Dinosaurs are a popular part of culture, featured in books and films like Jurassic Park and Jurassic World. Public interest supports dinosaur science, leading to regular media coverage of new discoveries.

You might also want to read: Is This Prehistoric Bird Still Alive? – New Zealand Says Yes!