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Caption: More than 40% of Americans believe humans and dinosaurs once coexisted on Earth. The survey found that 27% of Americans said humans and dinosaurs “probably” liv… more More than 40% of Americans believe humans and dinosaurs once coexisted on Earth. The survey found that 27% of Americans said humans and dinosaurs “probably” lived at the same time, while 14% believed this “definitely” happened. Just 25% rejected the idea outright, saying it was “definitely” not true, while 18% said it “probably” wasn’t. Another 16% said they weren’t sure. Religious identity appeared to play a significant role in shaping beliefs. Among self-identified “born-again” Christians, 56% believed humans and dinosaurs lived together, compared to only 22% who did not. In contrast, 51% of non-born-again respondents rejected the coexistence claim. These numbers may reflect the influence of Young Earth Creationism, which interprets the Earth as only 6,000 to 10,000 years old. From a scientific perspective, this belief is inconsistent with the overwhelming body of evidence. Earth formed around 4.5 billion years ago, and non-avian dinosaurs went extinct approximately 66 million years ago following the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. The human genus, Homo, emerged between 2.5 and 3 million years ago, while Homo sapiens evolved only about 200,000 to 300,000 years ago. While it’s true that birds are descended from feathered theropod dinosaurs, and are technically considered avian dinosaurs, this is not what most respondents had in mind when they said humans and dinosaurs lived together. For more on this developing story and other major news, follow @news less
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