If Dinosaurs Were Real, Why Aren’t They Still Alive?

This time, our question comes from Haddie T. (age 10), who asks,

“If dinosaurs were real, then wouldn’t they still be alive? Like, at least the land ones? Noah would have brought them on the ark, so that’s a big question I have.”

Great question, Haddie.

It is true that, most likely, dinosaurs are extinct today. But they are not the only things that are extinct. Dodo birds, for example, are extinct, yet we know they were real. Woolly mammoths are also extinct, yet we have found fully intact skeletons, complete with hair on their skin and food still in their stomachs. So just because something is not alive now does not mean it is not real.

Further, we have good evidence of dinosaurs living with humans after the flood. There are dragon legends found all over the world, many sounding at least similar to dinosaurs. Paleoart occasionally depicts dinosaurs living with man, and the Bible even mentions a likely dinosaur, Behemoth, living around the time of Job, after the flood. So dinosaurs are real, and they did live with people after the flood.

So Why Are Dinosaurs Not Still Here?

If you think about it, many dinosaurs would not have been welcome neighbors for the post-flood humans. The large carnivores would have wanted to eat the humans, the large herbivores would have wiped out their fruit harvests, the small carnivores would have killed their livestock, and the small herbivores would have munched on their gardens. Also, the bigger dinosaurs would have been a source of meat large enough to feed a family for a month, or a village for a week.

So humans would have hunted dinosaurs, both for meat and as pests. Because they are large reptiles, they mature very slowly and reproduce slowly. It would have been very difficult for them to keep up with the hunting pressure.

The climate after the flood was likely also different than it had been before the flood, and dinosaurs may not have been as well suited for the new world.

All these things together pushed most, if not all, dinosaurs to extinction.

Have you ever had a question about created kinds but didn’t know who to ask? Have you ever wanted to learn more about your favorite kind? Well, now you can! You can ask me, Inspector Barry Mins, a question! Have your parents help you fill out this form, and you might get your question answered in my column. If you have any questions about animals and created kinds, feel free to send them my way!