Mummified Dinosaurs Are Surprisingly Common, Which Can Give Us Important Insights Into What It Would Feel Like To Pet Them

The Jurassic Park movies are (mostly) very entertaining, and that is due in large part to the fact that the scientists always make the foolish decision to bring back the biggest and most dangerous dinosaurs possible.

If it ever happens in real life, the chances are that the company that does it would (at least at first) bring back the herbivores since they would be much safer to work with.

In fact, Jurassic Park in real life would likely have a very popular petting zoo where people could get up close and personal with some of the smaller dinos.

This, of course, begs the question of what it would feel like to pet a dinosaur.

While much of what we know about dinosaurs comes from theories based on things like bone structure and genetic analysis, the way many of them would actually feel is a much more hands-on study.

This is because there are a surprising number of mummified dinosaurs that have been found, which give scientists actual soft tissue and skin that they can study directly.

Mummified dinosaurs are very common, for example, in Wyoming, USA. This is because that region had flash floods and dry seasons, which would quickly kill dinosaurs and encase them in clay. That clay would harden and lock their body away until modern paleontologists found them.

Paul Sereno is a University of Chicago Professor who performed research on a pair of Edmontosaurs that were found in just this state. In an interview, he was asked about what dinosaurs would actually feel like, to which he said:

“Because the scales on the duckbilled dinosaur are so small, many modern lizards would have a comparable feel. The hooves would be similar to hooved mammals like a taper or rhino. The spikes on the back had some texture and might be similar to spikes on an iguana lizard.”

Perhaps not surprisingly, dinosaurs would have felt like a combination of several modern animals. Since modern animals are often descendants of dinosaurs, it makes sense that their skin or feathers would be similar.

While it is unlikely that there will be a real-world Jurassic Park where we can pet a dinosaur anytime soon, it is fun to know that we actually have a pretty good idea of what they would feel like if (or when) it is possible.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about the mysterious “pyramids” discovered in Antarctica. What are they?