Prehistoric overlords, dinosaurs, dominated the earth for nearly 200 million years, but why did humans only spend a few million years developing a splendid civilization, but the dinosaurs did not?
Powerful dinosaurs do not need to "evolve"
In fact, by studying the evolution rules of and , we can make some guesses. The essential purpose of
"evolution" is to help the species itself better adapt to the surrounding complex living environment , thereby helping the population to better continue the genetic gene .
Dinosaurs don't seem to need these. As we know, dinosaurs were once the overlords on the earth, and the surrounding environment did not pose much of a threat to them. .
Some people say that dinosaurs lived in the "best" era of the earth . At that time, most of the earth was covered by vegetation, and there was no need to worry about the lack of food.
In addition to plentiful food, the climate at that time was also very warm and suitable for survival. The dinosaurs did not need to worry about starving or freezing.
So the laborious "evolution" of is not worth the gain of , so why do we need to "evolve"? Isn't it good to work hard and stay calm?
Then again, does not have the development of "civilization", and the life of dinosaurs nourishes even more. If there is civilization, there needs to be rules that can check and balance all dinosaurs.
However, dinosaurs of various races have already formed an interlocking ecological circle. Every link of this ecological circle is closely connected, and every dinosaur has its place. There is no way to use certain rules to restrict the different types of dinosaurs, including carnivorous, herbivorous and omnivorous dinosaurs.
Therefore, for dinosaurs, the rules of "natural selection, survival of the fittest" are the truth, and are more conducive to the reproduction of dinosaur populations.
But this is not the case for humans. The "rules" of human society can restrict most people. Without rules and laws, our civilization will become a mess.
It can be seen that civilized society is not suitable for the development of dinosaur groups, which may be one of the reasons why dinosaurs failed to develop civilization. In addition, the lack of brains that can develop civilization also kept dinosaurs away from civilization.
Dinosaurs did not have the brains to develop civilization
Don’t look at the size of dinosaurs, but their IQ is definitely worrying.
According to research, a Poseidon with a body length of about 30 meters had a brain only as big as a tennis ball , which was definitely not a tiny bit worse than today's elephants.
Of course, there are also smarter dinosaurs, such as and duck-billed dinosaurs , which have a brain capacity of about 0.85-1.5. They are considered "highly intelligent" among dinosaurs. They can always escape predators with their smart brains.
Later, the familiar Tyrannosaurus rex , Velociraptor , etc. are also relatively intelligent dinosaurs, but their brain capacity is still insignificant compared to humans. Although can barely be considered "smart", there is still a long way to go with "wisdom".
Therefore, the various behaviors of dinosaurs are mainly driven by instinct, rather than relying on the brain . Although they are large in size, their congenitally underdeveloped brains are not enough for dinosaurs to develop civilization.
But some people believe that among many dinosaurs, there are also dinosaurs with extremely high IQs. They have the conditions to develop civilization, but they did not survive because their bodies were too weak.
"Not smart" is related to the eating habits of dinosaurs
During the period when dinosaurs lived, the earth was mostly "gymnosperms" that could thrive without blooming. Compared with the "angiosperms" we are now familiar with, the nutritional content of these plants was extremely low. Even if they were eaten in large quantities, they were not enough to maintain the "nutrients" needed for brain thinking.
At the same time, gymnosperms are more difficult to digest, which results in food staying in the digestive system for a long time, which is not conducive to absorbing nutrients and providing energy .
To give an example that you and I are familiar with, we all know that koalas feed on eucalyptus leaves, and eucalyptus leaves have extremely low nutritional content, so koalas sleep for 20 hours a day to save energy, and their brain capacity only accounts for 0.1% of their body weight.
For dinosaurs, they certainly cannot be as "sleepy" as koalas. Therefore, in addition to eating a lot, sacrificing the weight of the brain is also a good way to "save costs" for them.
Dinosaurs are egg-laying reptiles
You can use your brain to think about whether most of the "highly intelligent" animals in the animal kingdom are mammals .
Dinosaurs are indeed oviparous animals. We all know that oviparous animals are almost always born with survival instincts and do not need to learn too many survival skills from their parents.
This is not the case for mammals. Most mammals need to be "trained" by their parents to live alone, so that the life principles and wisdom crystallized can be passed down from generation to generation.
As egg-laying dinosaurs, they simply do not have the ability to inherit "civilization", let alone the possibility of developing "civilization".
Why do humans have civilization? A key factor in
is that humans and dinosaurs have different starting points than .
First of all, dinosaurs were almost the overlords of the earth when they were born. In their ecological circle, dinosaurs have always maintained the survival law of "the weak eat the strong", and the environment has very little impact on them.
This is not the case for humans. Our bodies are very weak when we are born. Compared with other animals, we have neither hard armor nor sharp canine teeth and claws . We cannot secrete toxins , and we also lack fur that can keep warm.
In front of other animals, humans are just like ants. Facing the challenges of the natural environment, humans are obviously insufficient in combat effectiveness. Therefore, we can only ensure the continuation of the group through other methods, that is, evolving the "smart brain" .
When humans emerged, we were almost destined to develop towards a higher civilization.
First, in terms of food, angiosperms occupied the earth after the dinosaurs became extinct. Angiosperms are very diverse and have higher nutrition, which can also provide us with the "cornerstone" for intelligent development.
Secondly, our ancestors lived on trees . Whether moving on branches or picking, we all need more refined operations.
So ancestors evolved the soles of their feet and palms, and learned to identify what kind of food can be put into their mouths. , and the brain responsible for fine control and memory storage became extremely important at this time.
Again, our ancestors are social animals that live in groups. Compared with solitary animals, our ancestors need to communicate with similar animals more.
We all know that mutual communication is also a major factor in promoting the development of civilization . The human ancestors who met the above conditions gradually developed a splendid and brilliant human civilization.
The extinction of the dinosaurs created opportunities for humans
It is undeniable that humans only reached the top of the food chain after the extinction of the dinosaurs , and the answer to the extinction of the dinosaurs is still a mystery .
Some people say that if the dinosaurs had not become extinct, in the course of many years of development, a certain branch of the dinosaurs would most likely develop and exhibit "wisdom" to rule the world and become the overlord.
But now all this has become empty talk. Although the debate on this matter has never been answered, 's "Earth Overlord" dinosaurs have become a thing of the past.
As successors, we should focus more on development, protecting the environment and living in harmony with nature.
It took more than 2 million years of development for our ancestors to create our current prosperity. We should pass on this splendid civilization.
Some people say that human beings' current squandering of natural resources will bring them to a dead end. So what kind of creature do you think would become the supreme ruler of the earth without human beings? Welcome to leave a message below for discussion~
Author: Bai Xiaoqi Proofreading: Chuanchuan
