Who doesn’t like dinosaurs?
This month will see the auction of the largest dinosaur skeleton ever to be sold in such a way, an apatosaurus nicknamed Vulcain, in France. The 145 million year old skeletal remains had by mid-October already reached a sale price of £12.5 million, although this is still some way off the most expensive fossil, a stegosaurus skeleton which sold for £34 million earlier this year.
While few Britons can afford to fork out such sums, there is nonetheless much love for dinosaurs among the wider public.
Now a new YouGov survey shows that half of Britons say they either love (15%) or like (34%) dinosaurs. Only a tiny fraction of people actively dislike or hate dinosaurs (3%), with most of the remainder saying they don’t feel strongly either way (47%).
Younger Britons in particular are far more likely to be ‘dino-sseurs’, with 63% of 18-24 year olds and 58% of 25-49 year olds saying so, compared to only 29% of the over-65s.
Men are also more likely to appreciate dinosaurs, by 54% to 44% among women.
But the real question, asked in schoolyards and natural history museums the world over, is: which dinosaur is the best? In order to finally settle the matter, YouGov asked the half of Britons who have an appreciation for the ancient beasts which is their favourite.
Fittingly for an animal whose name means “king of the tyrant lizards”, the Tyrannosaurus rex tops the public’s list of dinosaurs, with 30% of dinosaur fans saying the T-Rex is their favourite.
The T-rex is the most popular dinosaur among every social group, but is especially popular among older dino-fans (42% of the over-65s), and is the more popular choice among male dinosaur admirers (35%) than female fans (25%).
Despite its famously small brain, the heavily armoured Stegosaurus nevertheless managed to capture the hearts of 12% of dino-sseurs, taking second place.
Fittingly, the three-horned Triceratops comes in third place, with 11% naming it their favourite, followed by the long-necked Diplodocus on 10%.
Rounding out the top five is the Velociraptor, made famous by Jurassic Park, which is the most-loved dinosaur for 7% of dino-fans. These Britons may feel differently if they knew the truth about Velociraptors, which were approximately the size of a turkey – the appearance of those depicted in Jurassic Park are actually based on the much larger and related genus Deinonychus.
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Photo: Getty
