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THE VOCALISATIONS

OF DINOSAURS

Using bones as well as other details derived from

their fossils, paleontologists as well as other scientists

are able to piece together how dinosaurs looked.

From their sizes to mannerisms, all these are possible

to infer from the sizes of their bones, using their

structure and studies of their distant relatives alive

today, scientists can make an educated guess on how

they move and hunt.

Progressing from our initial understanding

in the mid-1800s that dinosaurs have a marked

likeliness to reptiles with scaly or green skin

much like crocodiles or lizards today to having

multi-colours as well as some possessing feathers

and even fur from discoveries made as recent

as 2010, we have made vast improvements in

understanding T-Rex and company.

However, to decipher how they sound like is another matter all together, sure

we can again take reference from their current living distant cousins and amplify

vocalisations using digital techniques but there’s no way to be sure. For all we

know, many of these extinct predators were the strong silent type, possessing

low pitch growls like leopards or screeches like eagles and not snarling booming

growls as depicted in the movies.

BBC Knowledge Magazine

Includes selected articles from other BBC specialist magazines, including

Focus, BBC History Magazine and BBC Wildlife Magazine.

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Ben Poon

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Experts in this issue...

Stuart takes us on a tour

of the icy moons in the

outer Solar System and wonders whether

they may host undiscovered life forms.

Find out more on p64.

Jheni

Osman

Catherine

Offord

Jheni is a science writer,

TV presenter and former

editor. Starting on p56, she looks at some

less talked-about ecosystems that are

vital for life on Earth.

Shamima is a professor

at UCL and has spent

20 years working with mitochondrial

diseases. She provided her expertise on

three-parent babies on p28.

Shamima

Rahman

Catherine took time out of

her PhD on the collective

behaviour of social insects to take a closer

look at some of the entries for the Nikon

Small World competition. Join her on p72.

Stuart

Clark