Humans and birds (which are a type of dinosaur) have lived together for a long time, and this is supported by scientific evidence. However, humans and non-avian dinosaurs (which are not birds) did not live together. This idea is only found in stories and not in real history.

Some people believe that humans and non-avian dinosaurs lived together, but this belief is based on false science and is not supported by real evidence. This idea is common among certain groups, such as Young Earth creationists and cryptozoologists. Their claims often conflict with what scientists know from the fossil record and geological events. Evidence presented to support the idea that non-avian dinosaurs survived until today has often been proven to be fake. Some people claim that ancient art or descriptions of cryptids show dinosaurs, but these claims are often based on old or wrong ideas about how dinosaurs looked and do not consider the cultural or artistic context.

Scientists do not believe that non-avian dinosaurs survived until today. Examples like coelacanths (which are fish that have changed little over time) are not similar to large land animals. It would require missing evolutionary lines without any fossils for millions of years, which is not supported by the good fossil record of dinosaurs from the Mesozoic era.

Birds

Birds developed from a group of theropod dinosaurs (Paraves) during the Jurassic period. Modern birds are closely related to dinosaurs, meaning humans have lived alongside avian dinosaurs since humans first appeared on Earth. However, the word "dinosaur" is often used to describe only non-avian dinosaurs, which became extinct during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event about 66 million years ago. The genus Homo, which includes humans, appeared much later, around 3 million years ago, creating a long time gap between the last non-avian dinosaurs and the first humans.

The largest birds known to have lived with humans were the moa of New Zealand and the elephant birds of Madagascar. The tallest moa, the South Island giant moa (Dinornis robustus), could grow over 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) tall. Both the moa and the elephant birds became extinct shortly after humans arrived on their islands, likely due to human hunting. It is uncertain whether humans ever lived alongside the terror birds of South America, as most (or all) of these birds were already extinct when humans arrived. Today, the ostrich is the largest living bird, and the bee hummingbird is the smallest living bird, as well as the smallest known dinosaur.

Fiction and mythology

Speculative fiction often shows non-avian dinosaurs living with humans. Examples include The Flintstones, where Stone Age humans have dinosaurs as pets and use them for transportation, and the comic series The Cavern Clan, where the main character is a caveman who hunts dinosaurs. The comic strip Alley Oop also includes this idea. Some stories imagine dinosaurs surviving the mass extinction that ended their time on Earth, such as the 2015 Pixar movie The Good Dinosaur and the fantasy book series Dinotopia.

Some Young Earth creationists believe that non-avian dinosaurs lived at the same time as humans. These beliefs are based on the idea that Earth is only a few thousand years old, which conflicts with scientific evidence about Earth's age and the fossil record. Some Young Earth creationists think dinosaur fossils are fake or claim they were created by Satan. Others believe the fossils are from creatures that lived more recently than scientists say, which would mean dinosaurs and humans lived together. Some creationists also think dinosaurs survived the Biblical flood because the Bible says "every kind of land animal" was saved. Many creationists do not accept scientific evidence that many non-avian dinosaurs had feathers, as this supports the idea that birds evolved from dinosaurs.

Some people suggest that mythical creatures like dragons and the Behemoth in ancient stories might describe dinosaurs. While modern dragon drawings often look similar to dinosaurs, this style began in the 1800s after dinosaur fossils were discovered. Earlier dragon images were less bulky and more snake-like, with fewer dinosaur-like features.

Historical artwork and artifacts

In some cases, historical artwork has been thought to show non-avian dinosaurs. Although some artwork may look a little like certain dinosaur species, identifying them as such often ignores the meaning of the artwork and the actual biology of dinosaurs. For example, some ancient art from Ancient Rome and Egypt, which has been claimed by some people to show dinosaurs, is usually seen as pictures of crocodiles.

One example often mentioned is a small carving at Ta Prohm, which some people say shows a stegosaur. However, the "plates" along the animal's back are more likely to be stylized lotus leaves or petals, which appear in many other carvings from the same time period. The creature also has large ear flaps or horns, which are not found on real stegosaurs.

Another example is a creature called "krokodilopardalis" in a 1st century BCE mosaic from the Nile. Some people have claimed this creature is a theropod dinosaur, but it looks nothing like one. It has four legs and paws that resemble those of mammals.

Some people who believe humans and non-avian dinosaurs lived together have compared the Mesopotamian mušḫuššu, a mythical creature, to dinosaurs. Robert Koldewey, who discovered the Ishtar Gate in Babylon (which shows the mušḫuššu), thought it looked similar to how Iguanodon was imagined at the time. However, some experts disagree, as the mušḫuššu clearly combines features from different animals, not resembling a dinosaur.

One claim made by some people who believe humans and dinosaurs lived together is that dinosaur footprints have been found alongside human footprints, with the Paluxy River in Texas being a notable site. However, the supposed human footprints are actually dinosaur footprints that have been eroded into an elongated shape or are the result of deliberate hoaxes. There are records of Young Earth creationists covering parts of dinosaur tracks with sand, taking photos, and publishing these (often poor-quality) images in books and films.

During the Great Depression, some fake footprints that looked like human feet were sold to tourists near the Paluxy River. These were identified as fakes by paleontologist Roland T. Bird, but they helped him locate the original tracksite in 1940.

Many hoaxes have been presented as historical evidence of dinosaurs and humans coexisting. Examples include the Granby Stone Idol (a fake showing a sauropod with incorrect Chinese symbols), the Acámbaro figures (dinosaur-like statues made before their supposed discovery), the Ica stones (carved stones with dinosaurs, admitted to be hoaxes), and the Tucson artifacts (which include a sword with a dinosaur carving, exposed as a fake).

Even though these items have been proven to be hoaxes, some people still use them as "evidence." Some of these hoaxes reflect old, incorrect ideas about dinosaurs. For example, the Ica stones show a Tyrannosaurus rex standing nearly upright with its tail on the ground, a depiction that matches how T. rex was shown in the 1960s (when the stones were supposedly found) but not how scientists understand the animal today.

Cryptozoology

Many cryptids are thought by some scientists to be living relatives or descendants of animals that no longer exist, such as non-avian dinosaurs. However, the explanations for how these creatures might have survived often conflict with scientific evidence about Earth's history and the fossil record. These identifications are frequently based on old drawings of extinct animals, which limits them to species that appear in outdated books or ideas. For example, many reports of lake monsters are often described as living plesiosaurs, even though other groups of animals—both extinct and still alive—share more similarities in appearance and biology.

One famous example is Mokele-mbembe, a creature reported to live in the Congo River. Some scientists suggest it might be a type of sauropod dinosaur. It is described as a swamp-dweller that can live in water. This idea reflects old, incorrect beliefs about sauropods that were common in the twentieth century, likely influenced by artwork from that time. However, modern research shows that sauropods lived very differently than these descriptions suggest. Some researchers have noted that the idea of a "living dinosaur" in Africa may be connected to outdated, unfair beliefs that once supported colonial efforts, as it portrays Africa as a place frozen in ancient times, waiting to be explored by outsiders.

In a similar way, some scientists have linked Native American stories of horned water monsters to crested hadrosaurs, matching the horns to the dinosaurs' crests. This connection comes from the old, incorrect belief that hadrosaurs lived in water, an idea that is no longer accepted by scientists.