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  • With the world's population growing every year, we need to find ways to produce more food.

  • So, if we could bring dinosaurs back from the dead, would you eat them? How could we bring dinosaurs back from extinction?

  • How much would they need to eat each day? And which dinosaur would be the most delicious? We're sparing no expense.

  • Things are becoming Jurassic. This is what if, and here is what would happen if we raised dinosaurs for food!

  • Dinosaurs haven't walked the Earth for 65 million years.

  • But, if we managed to bring them back, could we raise them for food and eat their meat?

  • Just like the movie Jurassic Park, we could possibly bring back dinosaurs.

  • Did you know that dinosaur DNA is most closely related to chicken DNA?

  • But, unlike in the movies, it wouldn't be easy to bring dinos back.

  • We would need to have some dino DNA that hasn't deteriorated.

  • And unfortunately, that isn't easy to come by.

  • But let's say we did stumble upon some suitable dinosaur DNA.

  • What would be the next steps?

  • Well, scientists have been trying to resurrect woolly mammoths by sequencing their DNA from a frozen specimen.

  • Then, they synthesized its genes and placed them into an Asian elephant embryo, as 99% of their genomes are similar.

  • We could do the same thing to bring back dinosaurs, but we'd use a chicken egg instead.

  • Then, we'd leave it under a heater and see if a dinosaur hatches.

  • If it were a dinosaur, we'd treat it just like other farm animals we raise.

  • And we'd need to feed that hungry dinosaur baby.

  • So, how much would a dinosaur need to eat?

  • Well, if you've watched Jurassic Park, you know that dinosaurs come in a range of shapes and sizes.

  • So it depends on what the dinosaur's diet is.

  • For instance, herbivores like the Brachiosaurus, could weigh 4 kg (8 lb) at birth.

  • And within a few months, they could easily weigh 10 times more.

  • Once it becomes an adult, this plant-eating giant would weigh in at a whopping 35 to 56 metric tons. That's about the same as 120 head of cattle.

  • And it would need to eat 400 kg (880 lb) of food per day.

  • That's how much 16 dairy cows eat in a day.

  • But let's not forget how much meat that dinosaur would give you.

  • You'd have quite a feast.

  • And speaking of meat, which dinosaur do you think would taste best?

  • Well, it's hard to know, because no one alive today has ever tried dinosaur meat.

  • But if we compare it to the meats we enjoy, the most delicious tend to be from herbivores, the plant-eating animals.

  • Like our Brachiosaurus.

  • So, something like the infamous T. rex might taste a little different.

  • We know that dinosaurs are distant relatives of birds.

  • And fast-moving dinosaurs would mainly consist of white meat.

  • So, a T. rex might taste like an ostrich.

  • Maybe you'd prefer to eat seafood?

  • Well, in that case, you might want to try eating dinosaurs that had marine diets.

  • They might have a fishier flavor.

  • And here's one thing you probably haven't even thought of.

  • Recent studies have shown that dinosaurs, like T. rex, had feathers.

  • So if we did raise them for food, imagine plucking a dinosaur that big.

  • One Tyrannosaur fossil had feathers that measured an incredible 1 m (39 in) long.

  • So, it would be a little different than plucking a chicken.

  • But before we get too carried away, we'd better say that bringing back dinosaurs is not very likely.

  • And, if we were to do it, there would be other consequences.

  • And maybe some that we couldn't handle.

  • Just like in Jurassic Park, things could get out of hand pretty quickly.

  • But, if you think about it, we're already eating dinosaurs.

  • Or at least their very distant relative, the chicken.

  • They might be smaller, but they sure taste good.

  • Now, have you ever thought about what it would be like if you lost your sense of taste?

  • That's a horrible thought and that's also a story for another What If.

With the world's population growing every year, we need to find ways to produce more food.

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