Celebrating dinosaurs: their behaviour, evolution, growth, and physiology

Abstract

Dinosaurs have attracted varying degrees of scientific and public interest since their initial description in 1824. Interest has steadily increased, however, since the late 1960s when the Dinosaur Renaissance began, and when the Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences started to publish. Since then, there has been a feedback system (international in scope) promoting increased scientific activity and ever-increasing public attention. This has led to ever more dinosaur discoveries internationally; increased numbers of museums and parks displaying dinosaurs; more publications, blogs, and other media on dinosaurs; and (most importantly) increased numbers of people and institutions doing research on dinosaurs. About 30 new species of dinosaurs are now being described every year, adding to the more than 1000 species already known. Furthermore, it is now acknowledged by most biologists and palaeontologists that modern birds are the direct descendants of dinosaurs, and that they are classified as part of the Dinosauria. Recognizing that there are more than 11 000 species of living dinosaurs has given us a better understanding of many aspects of the biology of nonavian dinosaurs. Along with technological improvements, this has revealed new—and often surprising—facts about their anatomy (bones, soft tissues, and even colours), interrelationships, biomechanics, growth and variation, ecology, physiology, behaviour, and extinction. In spite of the intensity of research over the last six decades, there is no indication that the discovery of new species and new facts about their biology is slowing down. It is quite clear that there is still a lot to be learned!