# “Did the earliest humans and dinosaurs live at the same time?” **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 7, 2026, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-earliest-humans-and-dinosaurs-live-at-the-same-time/1033636 "2026-10-07T04:24:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-earliest-humans-and-dinosaurs-live-at-the-same-time/1033636/1 "2026-10-07T04:24:28Z")
Please answer (here) just yes or no. Like it is a poll. For the first 24 hours. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-earliest-humans-and-dinosaurs-live-at-the-same-time/1033636/2 "2026-10-07T04:39:10Z")
Yes. (birds) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-earliest-humans-and-dinosaurs-live-at-the-same-time/1033636/3 "2026-10-07T04:50:16Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-earliest-humans-and-dinosaurs-live-at-the-same-time/1033636/4 "2026-10-07T05:06:32Z")
Maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-earliest-humans-and-dinosaurs-live-at-the-same-time/1033636/5 "2026-10-07T05:07:24Z")
Flintstones, I mean, no! ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-earliest-humans-and-dinosaurs-live-at-the-same-time/1033636/6 "2026-10-07T05:17:49Z")
Adhering to the OP’s request, and going with the way it’s usually meant (though Kimstu’s answer is the best!)😉 No. But IMHO no one asks that question in good faith. It’s always some sort of gotcha, either intellectual (see “birds” again) or some religious nut about to go on some tirade about human footprints and dino prints in the “same” fossilized mud. So outside places like, oh, _here_, I avoid anyone asking the sort of question and refuse to answer. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-earliest-humans-and-dinosaurs-live-at-the-same-time/1033636/7 "2026-10-07T05:48:40Z")
Yeah, no, but yes because it’s not that simple. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-earliest-humans-and-dinosaurs-live-at-the-same-time/1033636/8 "2026-10-07T06:12:24Z")
As the word “dinosaurs” is usually understood, the answer is no. Arguing that the answer is yes because birds are dinosaurs is a bit of pedantic trickery. It’s like asking if apes live in Antarctica, and saying the correct answer is yes because humans are apes. Haha, gotcha! No you didn’t, you’re just using a word in a technically correct but unusual way that’s intended to be misunderstood. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-earliest-humans-and-dinosaurs-live-at-the-same-time/1033636/9 "2026-10-07T06:50:35Z")
No. It’s not just birds though, aren’t crocodiles and alligators dinosaurs too? And Nessie? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-earliest-humans-and-dinosaurs-live-at-the-same-time/1033636/10 "2026-10-07T07:00:39Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > It’s not just birds though, aren’t crocodiles and alligators dinosaurs too? No. They’re both Archosaurs, but while crocs are closer to birds than they are to, say, lizards, they’re still part of _Pseudosuchia_, while dinosaurs and birds are _Avemetatarsalia_. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-earliest-humans-and-dinosaurs-live-at-the-same-time/1033636/11 "2026-10-07T11:05:55Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > It’s not just birds though, aren’t crocodiles and alligators dinosaurs too? Nope, as **Alessan** said. There are five distinguishing characteristics dinosaurs share. Three of them involve holes in the skull and honestly, I’ve not memorized them. The remaining two are an upright stance, as opposed to sprawling like lizards have, and a hinge ankle that flexes in only one axis. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-earliest-humans-and-dinosaurs-live-at-the-same-time/1033636/12 "2026-10-07T13:12:00Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > As the word “dinosaurs” is usually understood, the answer is no. Arguing that the answer is yes because birds are dinosaurs is a bit of pedantic trickery. It’s like asking if apes live in Antarctica, and saying the correct answer is yes because humans are apes. Haha, gotcha! No you didn’t, you’re just using a word in a technically correct but unusual way that’s intended to be misunderstood. Eh, I feel that people answer obvious riddles at their own risk. It’s perfectly legit to respond _“That’s not a sufficiently well-posed question, because the answer would be different depending on which one of several recognized meanings of ‘dinosaurs’ (or ‘apes’) you’re using. Do you mean ‘non-bird dinosaurs’ (or ‘nonhuman apes’)?”_ But if you make a guess at the questioner’s meaning and guess wrong, you can’t complain when you get caught, IMHO. Birds **are** dinosaurs, and humans **are** apes, so the answer “Yes” to either question is indeed technically correct. (And we all know what kind of correct that is! 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-earliest-humans-and-dinosaurs-live-at-the-same-time/1033636/13 "2026-10-07T13:31:39Z")
Not in any meaningful or useful sense. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-earliest-humans-and-dinosaurs-live-at-the-same-time/1033636/14 "2026-10-07T13:55:00Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Eh, I feel that people answer obvious riddles at their own risk Except this question was used in a poll to show how stupid Americans are. “Hurr durr, 41% of Americans think humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time! What a bunch of idiots!” It’s not being asked in good faith nor is it meant as a riddle (in the original poll.) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-earliest-humans-and-dinosaurs-live-at-the-same-time/1033636/15 "2026-10-07T14:19:32Z")
Without the definition of dinosaur, it is the equivalent of asking “Is a mammal bigger than a piece of wood?”. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-earliest-humans-and-dinosaurs-live-at-the-same-time/1033636/16 "2026-10-07T14:32:14Z")
Yes ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-earliest-humans-and-dinosaurs-live-at-the-same-time/1033636/17 "2026-10-07T14:34:31Z")
Yes ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-earliest-humans-and-dinosaurs-live-at-the-same-time/1033636/18 "2026-10-07T14:37:23Z")
I’ve often wondered something about people who believe humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time, and people who believe the story of Noah’s Ark to be literally true (the Venn diagram of which is probably a near-perfect match overlay). The modern ‘canon’ of the Noah’s Ark story seems to be that dinosaurs were brought onto the ark as well. The ‘Ark Experience’ museum in Kentucky claims as much, anyway. But wouldn’t the idea that the dinos didn’t make it onto the ark be the perfect cover story for ‘human-dino coexistence / Noah’s Ark / young Earth’ believers to explain away the dino extinction? It’s not as if the bible says anything about letting dinos on-- nobody knew that they even ever existed back then. I mean, why not just claim Noah forgot the dinos-- like he missed the unicorn in that Irish Rovers song? Seems like he was a [bit of a drunk](https://www.bible.com/bible/406/GEN.9.21), after all. Or maybe he thought “ain’t no way I’m bringing dinos like a T. Rex pair onto my ark-- I’m going to have enough trouble feeding the lions, tigers and bears, as it is! Not to mention, if they get loose, we’ll be in big trouble”. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-earliest-humans-and-dinosaurs-live-at-the-same-time/1033636/19 "2026-10-07T14:38:12Z")
I see the OP’s time mandate was honored for a grand total of one hour. 🙃 And yes, I’ve seen Dino living with his Flintstone family man times, so you can’t fool me. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-earliest-humans-and-dinosaurs-live-at-the-same-time/1033636/20 "2026-10-07T14:49:09Z")
No. (there were about 65 million years between the two) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-earliest-humans-and-dinosaurs-live-at-the-same-time/1033636.md?page=2)