Sorry dinosaur fans, it turns out that the sleek lizard-like predators of the Jurassic Park films are as fictional as the park itself – instead, dinosaurs looked like overgrown chickens.
New research has suggested that dinosaurs were actually covered in brightly coloured feathers, and resembled birds far more than humongous lizards.
Not only did they look like birds, this latest research also suggests they sounded like pigeons, cooing and mumbling rather than roaring.
The somewhat disappointing research, published in journal Evolution, was examining how the ancestors of birds – dinosaurs – make their distinctive noises.
And the scientists involved believe that by studying birds they can work out exactly what dinosaurs sounded like.
Professor Julia Clarke who co-authored the paper said:
To make any kind of sense of what non-avian dinosaurs sounded like, we need to understand how living birds vocalize.
This makes for a very different Jurassic world. Not only were dinosaurs feathered, but they may have had bulging necks and made booming, closed-mouth sounds.’
Kind of ruins Jurassic Park a bit, doesn’t it?
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.