Dinosaurs Revisited: How Modern Science Is Transforming Palaeobiology

The Conversation outlines how modern techniques have revolutionized dinosaur palaeobiology, turning trackways into speed estimates, 3D skull modeling into motion studies, and fossil evidence into color and behavior hypotheses. It highlights figures like Robert McNeill Alexander and the so‑called dinosaur renaissance of Bakker and Ostrom, while underscoring that many questions remain open and testable with new evidence. Author: The Conversation.

Overview

The article surveys the dramatic shift in dinosaur science over recent decades, tracing a line from Robert McNeill Alexander’s 1976 trackway-based speed calculations to the broader “dinosaur renaissance” of the 1970s. It explains how applying neontological toolkit methods to fossils allows researchers to pose testable questions about function and behavior, rather than relying on persuasive but untestable arguments. The piece emphasizes that modern palaeobiology uses rigorous, model-driven approaches to bring extinct life to life in a way that can be tested against new evidence, a shift that has recast dinosaurs as active animals rather than lumbering curiosities.

“Alexander measured the tracks and applied the formula derived from modern animals to estimate running speed.” - Robert McNeill Alexander, professor of zoology