Palaeoart & Speculation · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Drawing a Dinosaur: Facts and Guesses

Science · Dinosaurs & Paleontology · ages 9-11
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. Palaeoartists know the exact skin colour of every dinosaur.

    Circle one:   True   False

  2. Which parts of a dinosaur do fossils usually show clearly?

    • Bones and teeth
    • Skin colour
    • Soft organs

  3. What helps artists guess what a dinosaur's soft parts looked like?

    • Guessing randomly
    • Comparing to living relatives like birds and reptiles
    • Copying old drawings

  4. A new fossil is found with a clear skin impression on a well-known dinosaur. What does this most likely do to old drawings of it?

    • It may make the old drawings need updating
    • It proves every old drawing was completely wrong
    • It has no effect on any drawings

  5. Why do we now draw many dinosaurs with feathers?

    • Artists just prefer how feathers look
    • Feathers are easier to draw than scales
    • New fossils show feather impressions

  6. Look at the sequence. What happened right after new fossil evidence was found?

    Scaly guessNew fossilNew drawing
    • Scientists ignored it
    • Artists made a new drawing
    • The scaly guess stayed the official picture forever

  7. Scientists find a new fossil with feather impressions on a dinosaur once drawn as scaly. What should a careful artist do next?

    • Update the picture to match the new feather evidence
    • Assume the fossil is fake because it changes the old picture
    • Ignore the new fossil since the old picture is popular

  8. A book claims every part of a dinosaur picture comes straight from fossil proof. What is wrong with this claim?

    • Dinosaur bones are guessed too
    • Fossils never show any real evidence
    • Soft parts like skin colour are usually guessed, not proven
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Drawing a Dinosaur: Facts and Guesses W1-mt_M8UQTURODF-s1

  1. False · Skin colour rarely survives as a fossil, so artists make an informed guess.
  2. Bones and teeth · Hard parts like bone and teeth turn to fossil easily. Soft parts usually break down first.
  3. Comparing to living relatives like birds and reptiles · Scientists look at close living relatives to make an informed guess about soft parts.
  4. It may make the old drawings need updating · New evidence lets artists update the picture rather than throw it away completely.
  5. New fossils show feather impressions · Fossils with preserved feather impressions gave real evidence for feathers.
  6. Artists made a new drawing · New fossil evidence led directly to an updated drawing, just like with Velociraptor.
  7. Update the picture to match the new feather evidence · Good palaeoart changes to fit new evidence, the same way Velociraptor pictures changed over time.
  8. Soft parts like skin colour are usually guessed, not proven · Bones give real evidence, but soft parts like colour are informed guesses, not direct proof.
Worksheet · LightMySky