{"id":24113,"date":"2023-02-12T19:00:29","date_gmt":"2023-02-12T18:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sciencefocus.com\/?p=135128"},"modified":"2023-02-12T20:35:15","modified_gmt":"2023-02-12T19:35:15","slug":"dinosaurs-didnt-roar-why-many-were-likelier-to-chirp-like-birds","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/rss_feed\/dinosaurs-didnt-roar-why-many-were-likelier-to-chirp-like-birds\/","title":{"rendered":"Dinosaurs didn\u2019t roar: Why many were likelier to chirp like birds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Birds did evolve from dinosaurs, after all… <\/p>

By Dr Stephen Brusatte\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Sunday, 12 February 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

In films and television documentaries, dinosaurs<\/a> often roar like lions. But in fact, there is no evidence to suggest that they made such noises. On the contrary, the existing evidence suggests they didn\u2019t, for a couple of reasons.<\/p>\n

First, a lion\u2019s\u00a0roar is made possible by\u00a0the big cat\u2019s\u00a0vocal cords: folds of tissue in their\u00a0throats. We also have vocal cords, as do many animals, but those of lions are fine-tuned to make loud and intense noises, and there\u2019s no direct fossil evidence\u00a0that\u00a0dinosaurs had these same structures.<\/p>\n

Second, dinosaurs were the ancestors of birds, so it\u2019s likely some made more bird-like noises. One 2016 study argued that some dinosaurs made closed-mouth vocalisations<\/a> like the \u2018booms\u2019\u00a0ostriches\u00a0make. Modern-day birds\u00a0have a\u00a0voice box, called a syrinx<\/a>, that allows them to\u00a0chirp. A syrinx was recently found fossilised in a bird that lived in the Cretaceous, raising the possibility that some non-bird dinosaurs had syrinxes too.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n