Eli5 why do we find so many dinosaur skeletons but so few skeletons of our own ancestors like Lucy?

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An actual 6 year-old asked me the question today. I was at a loss.

**Edit**: a lot of interesting answers, food for thought, and ideas on how to explain it to a child. Many thanks to the community!

If I summarize:

* Dinosaurs lived for a very (very) long time, all over the earth, and there were countless different species of them.
* There were few of our ancestors, from just a few species, and most of their existence was confined to limited geographical areas.
* The conditions for a fossil to form are extremely rare, and they may have been even rarer for our ancestors than they were for dinosaurs.

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39 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

There have been a lot more dinosaurs than humans on the planet. In terms of how long dinosaurs were on the planet compared to how long we’ve been on it, it’s like comparing how long someone’s eyes are closed while napping (the dinosaurs) vs someone blinking (us).

So there’s just a lot more dead dinosaurs to find than dead humans.

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