Dinosaurs have long captured the imagination, not only for their towering presence and fossilized bones but also for the mystery of how they might have sounded. While no direct evidence of dinosaur vocal cords exists, scientists have pieced together clues from fossilized skulls, comparisons with modern animals, and newly discovered soft tissues to make educated guesses about how these ancient creatures may have communicated.
A key area of interest is the possible use of resonating chambers—hollow spaces in the skull or body that could amplify sound. In modern animals like birds and crocodilians (distant relatives of dinosaurs), these chambers help produce low-frequency calls that travel long distances. Some dinosaur fossils, particularly from hadrosaurs (duck-billed dinosaurs), show complex nasal passages that could have functioned as resonating tubes. These intricate structures may have allowed hadrosaurs to produce loud, trumpeting sounds used for communication, such as warning calls, mating signals, or identifying members of the same species.
The idea of vocalization in dinosaurs is further supported by the study of their closest living relatives: birds. Birds use a syrinx—a vocal organ located at the base of the windpipe—to produce a wide range of calls and songs. Although the syrinx itself hasn’t been found in non-avian dinosaurs, its presence in ancient birds suggests that at least some dinosaurs could have had similar vocal capabilities or precursors to them.
In addition to vocal calls, some paleontologists suggest dinosaurs may have used non-vocal sounds, like hissing, growling, or even body-generated sounds such as stomping or tail-thumping, as part of their communication repertoire. The combination of vocal and non-vocal signals could have played a role in complex social behaviors.
The discovery of a partial syrinx fossil in a Cretaceous bird and advanced imaging of dinosaur skulls have opened new pathways for reconstructing how dinosaurs may have sounded. By digitally modeling airflow through fossilized passages, researchers continue to refine our understanding of prehistoric acoustics.
Though we may never hear a dinosaur’s call with full certainty, studies of their anatomy, modern relatives, and resonating structures offer a glimpse into the lost soundscape of the Mesozoic era. Each fossilized clue adds depth to the growing symphony of how dinosaurs may have filled their world with sound.