Imagine yourself as a paleontologist in the middle of a dusty dig, under the scorching sun, and you brush away dirt and pebbles from what seems to be a dinosaur bone. Is it really a bone? Are those fossils of plant leaves? Where's the skull? You brush out more evidence, and you chisel out more info. CSI is not much different: paleontology rocks! Literally.

When paleontologists find some fossils, they have to ask, how did the dino die? They look at the kind of rock surrounding the bones, they note how the plant fossils seem to be strewn about. All these little details might tell a story of how the dinosaur came to rest on its grave.

Observing a bone from the outside can give researchers how the dino looked, maybe even learn about how it behaved, or even piece together its musculature and bone structure without the rest of its skeleton. However, on the microscopic level, they can find out about the dino's growth history, diet, and lifespan.

Of course, when it comes to paleontology, one popular question they ask is how did the dinos really go extinct? Was it a super volcano? Was it the breaking up of continents? Or an asteroid strike? If I could make my own postulation, I personally believe that the dinos became extinct because of Turok. Yes. He's real. [cue ominous music]