10 Amazing Dinosaur-looking Animals you must see.

Whether you're a Jurassic Park fan,

 Paleoartist, a Paleontologist, or a random dino enthusiast, at one point or the other in your mind, a desire to see a real living dinosaur must have come. But unless the scientists find a way to bring back the terrible lizards from extinction, we won't be able to. 

Until then, check out these awesome breathing animals from which you can catch a glimpse of dinosaurs. 

Here they are-

1.Jackson's Chameleon

 Male Jackson's chameleon via San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

Jackson's Chameleon Aka Kikuyu three horned chameleon is a chameleon species native to East Africa but can also be found in Hawaii, Florida, and California. Male Chameleons grow three horns near the nostrils and two above the eyes, which give them a close resemblance to the well-known three-horned dinosaur, namely the Triceratops.

Triceratops by Kollinger via Pixabay

Unlike males, female chameleons don't have horns but rather, female chameleons have their unique feature: they can incubate their eggs inside themselves and give live birth to their young ones. 

Both the sexes pose all the characteristics commonly found in the chameleons. (Reference) 

2. Sailfin Dragon

Sailfin dragon via Reptilescove

Meet the Sailfin dragon, a semi-aquatic agamid lizard native to Ambonia island, New Guinea, Philippines, and Celebes.  

These lizards not only have a dinosaur-like scientific name (Hydrosaurus subspecies), but they also have a sailfin, which, like the sailfin of a spinosaurus, helps them swim effectively and, like the sailfin of a dimetrodon, regulates their body temperature.

Dimetrodon by Max Bellomio via Wikimedia commons

Sailfin lizards prefer to live in a tropical forest with some water bodies, such as the shore, pond, etc., much like a habitat that a spinosaurus would have preferred. 

Aside from their prehistoric features, they also possess a rare ability, which is the ability to run on water, like a basilisk lizard. (Reference) 

3. Cassowary

Southern Cassowary by Dezidore via Wikimedia commons

While all the birds are the descendants of dinosaurs, the cassowaries are one of the few birds closest to the dinosaurs. 

These colossal birds are native to tropical forests of south-east Asia and Australia and are well-known for their lethal kicks. Each leg has three dagger-like claws that may reach a length of 4 inches, making the cassowaries " world's most dangerous bird"! (Reference 1,2) 

Corythoraptor by Zhao Chiang via Research gate

Forgot to mention that there's a recently discovered species of dinosaur named corythoraptor, which looks like a cassowary with forelimbs and a longer tail. (Further reading) 

4. Komodo Dragon

Shark scales under by Guillaume Marques via Unsplash 

Though neither a descendent nor a very close relative of dinosaurs, still the Komodo dragon shares many similar characteristics that the Carcharodontosaurus had, which are:

C.dontosaurus's saw-like tooth by Gyik Toma via Wikimedia commons

* Sharp serrated teeth: like the C.dontosaurus, Komodo dragons also have sharp saw-like teeth for compensating for their wimpy bite(more on that in the third point). (Reference 1,2) 

* Sheer size: Both animals are one of the largest species of their family. Carcharodontosaurus was one of the biggest

theropod dinosaurs ever existed, and the Komodo dragon is the largest lizard species alive. (Reference 1,2) 

* Comparatively weaker bite force than their size: Both creatures can bite forcefully, but for their large size, their jaws are comparatively less powerful to produce the bite force which an animal of their size should. (Reference 1,2) 

* Reptilian characteristics: At the end of the day, both are reptiles so they, share the same reptilian features. 

5. Alligator snapping turtle

Alligator snapping turtleby Tina Li via Wikimedia commons

It would have been nothing but stupid if I hadn't mentioned "the dinosaur of the turtle world" in the list, and FYI, I haven't made up the name on my own. 

The alligator snapping turtle's spiked shell, beaklike jaws, and thick scaled tail make them look like an ankylosaur. Keeping in view its diet, physical appearance, lifestyle, the closest ankylosaur similar to the snapping turtle is the Liaoningosaurus. 

Liaoningosaurus by Ji et al. 2016 via Blog. Scientific American

Liaoningosaurus is a unique genus of ankylosaurian dinosaurs. According to the specimens, these dinos were small in size, had unfused hips and spine, elongated fork shape teeth, and ate fish(yeah, fish remains found in place of the stomach). (Reference) 

But why are they called "Alligator snapping turtle" ? 

If you're wondering why these turtles are named Alligator snapping turtle, there are two reasons behind it.

1. They bite with the force of 1,000 pounds psi. 
2. Alligator snapping turtles have rough ridges on their carapace, which appear similar to the ridges of an alligator. 

6. Pilaeted Woodpecker

Pileated woodpecker by Joshlaymon via Wikimedia commons

A Team of Scientists led by paleontologist Li Quanguo of the Beijing Museum of Natural History and Jakob Vinther, a graduate student in molecular paleobiology at Yale University, used a scanning electron microscope to study pigment samples taken from fossil feathers from the specimen of anchiornis and compared sample pigments from modern birds. 

Anchiornis by Mkloves Bloog via Fanpop

They reported that anchiornis had a complicated pattern of reddish-brown, black, gray, and white feathers revealing that the avian dinosaur looked quite similar to the modern pileated woodpeckers. (Reference) 

7. Frill necked lizard

Frilled lizard  via The animal facts

As per the title, this post is about modern animals which resemble dinosaurs, but in this case, it is the dinosaur, which looks like a modern animal. 

Unlike the dilophosaurus we saw in Jurassic Park, real dilophosaurus was pretty big and didn't have any frills or venom glands(I know most of you already knew this). Michael Crichton got the idea of adding frill to the dilophosaurus from the frilled neck lizard.

Scientifically accurate Dilophosaurus by Wikipek via Wikimedia commons

Though I don't know about spitting venom, maybe this idea was inspired by the spitting cobra. (Reference) 

8. Dolphins

Baiji Dolphin (edited b'cause of low quality) via Natural History Museum

If you look at the image of ichthyosaurs carefully, you will observe that despite being reptile, they look considerably like dolphins(mammals) and a Li'l bit like sharks(fish). They had long snouts like dolphins, vertical tail fin like sharks, dorsal fin, flippers, and a streamlined body, all of which are characteristics shared by both species. 

Convergent evolution example by Sceptic view via Wikimedia commons

The reason behind this is a biological phenomenon known as convergent evolution, which, according to Wikipedia, "is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time" or simple: when different organisms independently evolve similar traits. Btw, I know itchyosaurs are not dinosaurs. (Reference) 

9. Hoatzins

Hoatzin chick by Mark bowler via Nature picture library

Guess the trait which the archaeopteryx and the Hoatzins have in common that other modern birds don't have? Its wings claws. 

Like the archaeopteryx, hoatzins are born with functional wing claws, which the hoatzins re-evolved to climb up the trees when they fall from their nests. But as soon as the bird becomes an adult and capable of flight, its claws disappear. 

Adult Hoatzin by Kate via Wikimedia commons

Hoatzins have another distinctive characteristic that not even the archaeopteryx possessed: a cow-like digestive tract that has evolved to digest leaves and buds, a very low competition food source in the rainforests. (Reference) 

 

10. Ostriches

Male Ostrich by Catherine Merlin via Unsplash

Here are the statements about Ornithomimus's ostrich-like features by paleontologists:

“The plumage pattern in Ornithomimus is similar to that of Struthio camelus (ostrich) and other large palaeognaths, indicating a probable function in thermoregulation,” the scientists said.

“Ostriches use bare skin to thermoregulate. Because the plumage on this specimen is virtually identical to that of an ostrich, we can infer that Ornithomimus was likely doing the same thing, using feathered regions on their body to maintain body temperature. It would’ve looked a lot like an ostrich,” van der Reest said.

Ostrich and ornithomimus skeleton via Wikimedia Commons

“There are so many components of the morphology of this fossil as well as the chemistry of the feathers that are essentially indistinguishable from modern birds.” said co-author Dr. Alexander Wolfe of the University of Alberta’s Department of Biological Sciences. (Reference) 

This post was my second blog post, but I have tried to improve it. So, if you want to have a look at the original post then, click here.