The
concept of the dinosauroid is in no way a new idea. It has been around
for a while, having originated as a humanoid troodontid created by Dale
Russell in 1982. The idea is based around the possibility of dinosaurs
surviving (with or without a K/T extinction event) and developing into
intelligent beings, not unlike modern humans. Russell's dinosauroid was
highly criticized for the anthropomorphic fashion in which the creature
was designed. However, others have attempted to design more accurate and
more realistic depictions of intelligent dinosaurs, or dinosauroids.
Nemo Ramjet (the Turkish creator of the alien world of Snaiad) developed a concept for his own saurian sophont, Avisapiens saurotheos.
Rather than a humanoid form, it takes a rather more conservative
maniraptoran form with close similarities to birds. Its toothed jaws
have evolved into a manipulatory beak, an alternative to the hands us
humans use to manipulate tools and objects. Much like in human
evolution, this maniraptoran has acquired a large brain, opening it up
to the tool-making and even art. His view of the intelligent
maniraptoran is simply marvelous and utterly fantastic, especially
considering the art that supplemented the concept.
Avisapiens
was soon followed by Simon Roy's (known on deviantART as povorot)
version of an intelligent troodont. The creature is equipped with a
corvid-like beak used for manipulation much like Nemo Ramjet's. Its
evolutionary history and cultural development seem to follow a model
similar to that of mankind's. The dinosauroids have developed tools and
weapons, war masks for decoration, a form of slavery, domestication,
etc. Roy even goes as far as to document some of the various stages of
cultural development in these beasts. Not only that, but there are
various other species living in the same world as these creatures, from
hyena-like oviraptorosaurs to tyrannosaur-like dromaeosaurs.
Asher Elbein has taken a few of his own approaches to the dinosauroid concept. His first, Venatosapiens erectus,
is a dromaeosaur of the Oligocene Epoch. It is more primitive by
evolutionary standards than some of its dinosauroid counterparts, but it
has still developed tool use, language, and a knack for the arts. Venatosapiens's
more primitive nature is clearly identified by the fact that it has a
toothed jaw rather than a pointy beak (forcing the hands to be used for
manipulation). His other intelligent maniraptoran is more similar to
(and inspired by) the design by Simon Roy. The so-called "featherfolk"
are an advanced race of dinosaurs that use weapons and seem to have
developed some sort of concept of deity(ies?). They are inhabitants of
Elbein's stories revolving around Serok T'tunda.These are only a select few of the dinosauroid or dinosauroid-like concepts that have popped up in the last couple decades. As highlighted by Darren Naish on his blog Tetrapod Zoology, John C. McLoughlin and author Mike Magee each had their own ideas for big-brained dromaeosaurs. McLoughlin introduced his concept in 1984, but gave it no name (Naish took it upon himself to name the creature Bioparaptor macloughlini). Magee's creature is a environmentally destructive species known as Anthroposaurus sapiens, included in his work Whos Lies Sleeping? (1993).
Dromaeosaurs
and troodontids are not the only dinosaur species that have been
hypothesized to become intelligent. Nathan R. (who goes by the username
MicrocosmicEcology on deviantART) has developed an idea for a species of
oviraptorosaur that has become intelligent on an alien planet to the
the meddling of an advanced extraterrestrial, not-necessarily biological
race. They have mastered tools and language, as well as the
domestication of other species. The concept of oviraptorosaurs becoming
advanced beings does not necessarily require alien intervention; it
could develop just as well on an alternate Earth. The opportunistic
lifestyle, more social leanings (parents were likely active in the
raising of the young) and likely higher than average intelligence of the
oviraptorosaurs gives them a good chance of such a development.Now, it seems that an overwhelming majority, neigh, the entirety of all dinosauroid concepts are descended from small, big-brained maniraptorans. Is it possible for other dinosaur groups to produce advanced forms like the concepts above? My challenge for you (the readers) is to develop a concept for an intelligent dinosaur that is NOT like any of the ones above and from a group of dinosaurs one would not expect to produce such intelligent forms (but still with some sort of factual basis for the evolutionary development). I hope you enjoyed this overview of dinosaurian Einsteins, and here are the links to the galleries and webpages of the individuals whose concepts appear here:
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