Taking fossil evidence and turning it into a ‘reconstruction’ (an estimate of what a living dinosaur might look like) is challenging work! Often, fossils are not fully complete and are missing lots of key pieces. Usually organs, skin, and feathers do not fossilize as easily as bones and teeth. Special artists try their best to use the ‘clues’ left by fossils to imagine what living, breathing dinosaur species would look like!
These ideas change over time, with more information and more fossils. Check out what Scientists used to think dinosaurs looked like below!
Above: an early sculpture of life-sized iguanodons in Crystal Palace Park.
Below: a more recent artist’s reconstruction of an iguanodon.
Who knows what we will learn about dinosaurs in the next 10, 50, or even 100 years!