How did we switched from "Dinosaur are giant lizards" to "Dinosaur are giant birds"
How did we switched from "Dinosaur are giant lizards" to "Dinosaur are giant birds"
When I was a kid, I learned about Dinosaur being "giant lizard", and it's been may-be 10 years, that I hear "Birds are dinosaurs".
I am curious on how the concept evolve, both among paleontologists, and among the general public.
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I'm pretty sure Jurassic Park (the movie) coming out was when it became common knowledge to the general public. A few hardcore dinosaur nerds (and readers of the Jurassic Park novel) were generally aware beforehand, but it was the movie that pushed it into common knowledge. (Source: I was 14 when Jurassic Park (the movie) came out)
I saw an interesting thing where they wanted that raptor chase scene, but raptors are only knee height, which isn't very intimidating. Then, while filming, someone discovered a raptor skeleton that was human sized, so they took it. It apparently didn't look anything like the ones in the movie, but they really wanted it and had an excuse to use it.
Was that the Urahraptor? Discovered in 1993, estimated 5-6ft tall and 16-20ft long according to wiki