Question:
To what extent, are the realistic-looking
depictions of dinosaurs in Jurassic Park based on scientific
evidence?
Answer:
Virtually all the evidence about dinosaurs
of the Jurassic Period is deduced from fossilized imprints
of bones, teeth and excrement often found in sedimentary
rocks, asphalt deposits and coal. Palenotology, a science
developed in the nineteenth-century by Baron George
Cuviers, attempts to extrapolate the size, shape and
nature of the creatures that left these fossilized imprints,
fossilized molds and other fossilized clues, almost
all of which is inorganic material. They have been most
successful is restoring the bone structure of dinosaurs
and, from fossilized coprolites found in the same mass
sites, infer they eating habits.
Paleontologists have not been able to
determine, though they have conflicting theories, their
skin color, their skin texture, their intelligence,
or even whether they were warm-blooded or cold-blooded
animals.
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