How do we know what dinosaurs sounded like?
In: Biology
We don’t know for certain, but we can make some pretty good guesses. Have you noticed how trumpets and trombones sound similar without being identical? This is because of their similar but not identical shapes. Had we never heard a trombone, but we had heard a trumpet, we can come up with a pretty good guess on what the trombone would sound like by comparing the shapes of the two.
We know what birds and crocodilians sound like, and these have similar bone structures (shapes) to dinosaurs. By comparing these shapes, we can make some pretty good guesses on the sounds that dinosaurs could make.
We can compare the fossils they left behind with similar structures in living beings of which we know how they sound. We still won’t ever know 100% but we can make educated guesses.
Dinosaurs did not have vocal cords. They had air sacs and a bird-like syrinx, which is similar to our larynxes. They most likely sounded similar to ostriches and cassowaries.
We don’t actually know what dinosaurs looked or sounded like. Basically every image or video of dinosaurs we have, besides skeletons, are an artist’s best guess.
Latest Answers