Eli5: how do scientists “know” the behavior of dinosaurs without actually observing them?
In: Biology
As with most things, scientific examination is knowledge without absolute certainty. We examine data (which is real, grounded, observable) and make our best guesses to explain that data.
In the case of dinosaurs, we have three useful tools:
* Ecological niches are not going to radically change. You need primary food sources that generate their own food (read: plants, fungi, bacteria, etc.) from raw materials in the world, and then herbivores that eat those things, and then carnivores that eat *those* things, etc. This means we can make very good guesses just by comparing fossils to creatures that we know and can directly observe.
* Some fossils show physical wear and tear or injury which shows stuff about how they lived. E.g. dinosaurs with large, flat, worn-down teeth were *probably* herbivores. Dinosaurs with large, sharp, cutting teeth were *probably* carnivores. Etc.
* A few, rare, fossils contain *stomach content* fossils, which lets us see what they ate, or are things like amber or whatever that can preserve structures that would normally not be fossilized. Likewise, some rare fossils are a predator that died as it was eating its prey, so we get to see what those looked like; or a nest being tended to by a parent; etc. These are physical records that reflect behaviors.
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