If you believe the films, it would be a never-ending battle if dinosaurs and humans had to coexist. But, as with animals today, some dinosaurs would have been dangerous, and others would have been harmless… at least if left alone.
We would probably be a bigger threat to them than vice versa.
The most dangerous would surely have been the meat-eating theropods, like Tyrannosaurus and Giganotosaurus. These animals were the size of buses, with heads the size of bathtubs, and an average human could have fit into their jaws.
But many of them, particularly Tyrannosaurus, were also intelligent animals, with large brains and keen senses of smell, hearing and vision. Our best hope would be if they found us too small to make a satisfying meal.
Most dinosaurs, however, were plant-eaters. They wouldn’t actively hunt us, but they could still be dangerous as many of them were enormous.
Some long-necked sauropods like Patagotitan and Argentinosaurus were heavier than passenger jets. One misstep and they could crush a human like we might step on a bug.
Also, many horned and duck-billed herbivores were herd animals, which lived in big groups, and their social dynamics would probably make them wary of outsiders.
Some little dinosaurs would have looked cute and fluffy, with their feathery coats. These were the raptor ancestors of birds, like Velociraptor, no bigger than lapdogs.
Yet they would be tenacious pests, liable to slash you with their sickle-shaped foot claws and bite you with razor-sharp teeth.
This article is an answer to the question (asked by Kerry Wilkins, London) 'What dinosaur would be most dangerous to us?'
To submit your questions, email us at questions@sciencefocus.com, or message our Facebook, X, or Instagram pages (don't forget to include your name and location).
Check out our ultimate fun facts page for more mind-blowing science.
Read more: