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SCMP Reporter

THE ground shudders as the dinosaur drags its enormous weight, teeth gnashing and claws ready to rip apart a pasty-faced human dressed in the latest mammoth skin number.

  In the next scene, the creature is seen launching an attack on a lone triceratops slowly munching away at the lush vegetation. The heavyweight battle is top of the bill - T. Rex vs. Tri Ceratops. Movements are mechanical and somewhat slow - the beasts are cold-blooded after all.

  Most first encounters with dinosaurs come via such images but they are the stuff of entertainment. For one thing dinosaurs lived more than 60 million years ago, while humans and their ancestors have been kicking around for a mere four million years or so.

  But monster movies aside, conventional wisdom about dinosaurs has seen drastic changes over recent years and the revised theories are receiving a warm welcome from the resurgence of interest in the giant reptiles.

  Dinosaurs have never been far from the popular imagination since they were named ''terrible lizards'' by British anatomist Richard Owen in 1841.

  Generations of children and scientists have been smitten by the passionate fascination these ancient masters of the Earth inspire. From Godzilla to Dino (the Flintstones' pet) they have played hero and villain in countless films.

  But Steven Spielberg is set to pull off the most spectacular dinosaur epic yet with Jurassic Park. The film, which cost millions to produce, is due for release this summer and is sure to be accompanied by a wealth of spin-off products.

  What is it about dinosaurs which drives children to roll off long Latin names with the precision of train-spotters reciting rolling stock? Or motivates learned scholars to devote their lives to carefully excavating dusty bones from plains across the world ?   Dinosaurs are the ultimate monsters. We know they existed, but our knowledge is patchy enough to allow room for the imagination to run riot. They are not here to answer their case and their appeal is a unique blend of mystery and scientific curiosity.

  A footprint here, a tooth there, and a thigh bone somewhere else - these can be the only clues we have about any particular species of dinosaur. But careful analysis and painstaking detective work can reveal details about how the creature lived.

  Dong Zhiming, of Beijing's Institute of Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, has been described as China's leading paleontologist. He prefers to describe himself simply as ''a dinosaur man''.

  In the 32 years he has devoted to dinosaur study, his expeditions have taken him across varied terrains, from deserts to mountains, all over China's vast expanse.

  More than 100 different dinosaur species have been identified in China, and many more are yet to be discovered, says Dong. ''China is very rich in dinosaur remains and there is still much to do.''   But on the whole, the fossil record is scant and scientists have to rely on studying such details as the pattern of wear on a tooth to ascertain a creature's eating habits.

  Dinosaur footprints can provide scientists with the basis to determine the speed, size, weight, and gait of a dinosaur. Every scrap of information is important, and no detail is overlooked. The limited material available makes international co-operation all the more important, says Dong.

  The work is hard, he admits, ''but I like it very much. I am very happy when I find a specimen.'' He has come across many dinosaur relics, but his favourite creature is the Stegosaurus: ''It's a marvellous and beautiful animal,'' Dong muses.

  Stegosaurs rank alongside such perennial favourites as Tyrannosaurus and Apatosaurus (Brontosaurus) as the best loved and best known dinosaurs.

  They grew to around nine metres in length and are easily recognisable from the plates running down their backs. Scientists used to believe these acted as armour against predators, but they now think they also acted as thermo-regulators - adding fuel to arguments that these dinosaurs were more warm-blooded than previously thought.

  Based on the assumption that dinosaurs were just giant lizards, earlier scientists thought them cold-blooded. However, a better understanding of dinosaur habits, including evidence of migration, suggests they were endothermic (warm-blooded) to a degree.

  It is now generally recognised that the later dinosaurs were well on the way to endothermy along mammalian and bird lines.

  In fact, far from being simple, primitive eating machines, new interpretations of the material indicates dinosaurs were more sophisticated than we thought.

   Dinosaur remains have been found on every continent, which suggests they managed to adapt to a wide variety of habitats. They were a pretty diverse bunch who managed to survive and dominate the world's land mass for around 165 million years, spanning the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.

  Contrary to some popular misconceptions, dinosaurs weren't all gigantic ferocious beasts. Some measured in at a modest one metre in length and many were grazing herbivores, although the largest sauropods are believed to have grown in excess of 40 metres.

  As we fit more pieces into the great dinosaur puzzle, the picture begins to take on new colours. Artists' impressions of the past depicted dinosaurs in drab uniform colours, but experts now see no reason why they should not have been brightly coloured and patterned.

  The connection between dinosaurs and their living relatives, lizards, has long been recognised, but there is also increasing evidence to suggest their close evolutionary relationship with birds.

  Both birds and lizards display bright colours and patterns, both for camouflage and to attract mates. And it would seem plausible that dinosaurs displayed similar features, for similar reasons.

  Despite their old image as solitary giants, discoveries of egg-filled dinosaur nests suggest otherwise. Like an increasing number of his colleagues, Dong believes dinosaurs were social creatures. ''I think anklyosaurs and hadrosaurs were social and looked after their young,'' he says.

  Dong has also speculated that some meat eaters may have nurtured their young, even going so far as to suggest that oviraptor (egg-stealer) specimens found near unhatched eggs were not waiting to gobble them up, but were actually protecting them.

  To date, no dinosaur remains have been found in the area that is now Hongkong, although dinosaur eggs from the late Cretaceous period have been found 75 km to the north of the territory, in Guangdong province.

  According to Dr Dick Martin of the Hongkong Geological Survey, there is little evidence of large land animals in the area until the latter part of the Cretaceous period between 100 and 65 million years ago.

  At the height of the dinosaur reign, in the Jurassic period, Hongkong would have been a ''very inhospitable place . . . with major volcanic activity,'' he said. His verdict is that there was a high probability dinosaurs roamed Hongkong in the later part of the Cretaceous period, but there was no evidence to indicate they were here before then.

  It was towards the end of the Cretaceous period that dinosaurs faded from the fossil record. And, just as no one can say with authority what gave rise to their prominence, no one knows for sure why they died out.

  As suddenly as they appeared, they disappeared from the scene around 65 million years ago. Many theories have been posited for their demise - from the traditional climatic change theory to vogue catastrophe theories such as giant meteors and tsunami.

  But whatever the reason, dinosaurs will continue to captivate and tease the popular imagination of human upstarts for a long time to come.



DINOSAURS earn a new place in the big picture