The Secret Lives of Dinosaurs
Ever since we learned about dinosaurs, we’ve been thinking about the differences between dinosaur sexes. Scientists have been studying it for decades and now we know… not much. However, there is a lot of speculation.
According to Smithsonian Magazine, the fossil record doesn’t suggest any skeletal differences between a girl dino and a boy dino. However, one Tyrannosaurus rex femur bone gave us a clue. In 2005, scientists found a medullary bone, similar to those found in female birds. This bone is pivotal in female egg laying in modern birds. But that is just one type of dinosaur. Different breeds don’t show such a bone.
Of course, there are a lot of differences in body traits. Some Triceratops have more horns or shield plates. Some are bigger. But is this a sex difference or just an individual trait? Were more elaborate horns or shields attractive to other dinos? Scientists don’t know.
Unfortunately, one test is out of the question for determining dino sex: DNA. We have no dinosaur DNA, contrary to the premise of the movie Jurassic Park. Dinosaurs ruled the earth about 165 million years ago and, as far as we know, nothing preserves DNA quite that long.
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