With so many discoveries and advancements happening around the world for the past several decades, it can be tempting to believe there’s nothing else out there.
The truth is, I doubt the Earth will ever give up all of its secrets.
But are there more dinosaurs?
While there’s no way to know for sure, most experts agree that yes, there are more dinosaur fossils out there, just waiting to be discovered.
They do try to make estimates, based on how many species they believe existed.
Paleontologist Steve Brusatte told CNN he thinks we’re nowhere close to discovering them all.
“We’ve only found a tiny fraction of the dinosaurs that have ever lived. Birds today are the descendants of dinosaurs. There are over 10,000 species of birds that live just right now. And of course, dinosaurs probably lived for well over 150 million years. So do the math. There were probably thousands, if not millions, of different species of dinosaurs.”
Paleontologists Steve C. Wang and Peter Dodson tried to pin down an actual number, and came up with around 1,850 dinosaur species. At the time (2006), around 527 had been discovered.
That leaves 71% out there, still waiting.
A 2016 study estimated around the same amount, using a sampling model that led to the conclusion that around 1,935 different dinosaur species existed.
So, if we can find them, there are around 900 species still waiting to be found.
Not everything makes it into the fossil record, but even so, Wang and Dodson estimate that around 75% of the discoverable species will be found in the next 60 to 100 years.
In 100-140 years, they think 90% will be known.
So, the golden age of paleontology is yet to come!
If you think that’s impressive, check out this story about a “goldmine” of lithium that was found in the U.S. that could completely change the EV battery game.