Zoom Dinosaurs DINOSAUR QUESTIONS

Question #11: How many dinosaurs were there?

Answer: There are over dinosaur 500 genera (the plural of genus) that have been found, named and scientifically accepted.

There are about an additional 100 genera that are dubious (these are frequently referred to as nomen dubium). These dinosaurs, usually represented by very incomplete fossils, may actually be examples of other, already named genera.

There are also almost 100 newly-discovered genera whose names have not been through the formal naming process (these are frequently referred to as nomen nudem). This process is done by the ICZN (the International Committee on Zoological Nomenclature) in which it is decided that a specimen represents a new genus.

Then the really tricky part has to be considered. People have only probably found only a small fraction of all the dinosaurs that ever existed. There are a lot more dinosaurs that people are finding all the time. Also, there are probably many, many types of dinosaurs that didn't fossilize at all and are lost forever. The actual number of dinosaurs genera that lived is unknown. The population numbers of the dinosaurs (that is, how many individuals of each genus existed) are also unknown.

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