Domestication is the process of adapting wild animals from their natural habitat to a tamed state, usually by breeding an animal that exhibits traits that are beneficial to humans for the purpose of living in close proximity to them.

Cats, dogs, goats, and guinea pigs are just a few of the animals that have been domesticated, adapting to life in environments that humans control. It is possible that dinosaurs could have just as easily adapted to manmade structures, roadways, and climate changes as they did to oceans rising and falling, the eruption of super-volcanos, the breaking apart of the supercontinent Pangaea, and temperature changes for more than 150 million years.

Even so, certain dinosaur species would have been challenging to domesticate. As is the case with lions, bears, and other predators of our modern world, dinosaur domestication would have been dangerous for humans. It stands to reason that if dinosaurs existed today, a T-rex or two could be found in zoos, but walking them on a leash through suburbia would have been nearly impossible. Other, smaller dinosaurs possibly could have been domesticated in the same manner that humans have domesticated many mammals that are common as pets or livestock today.

Some dinosaurs actually have been domesticated, and still coexist with us today. Evolving from ancient dinosaurs, birds live both in the wild and in our homes. Chickens have been domesticated for food, parrots have been domesticated for pets, and falcons have been domesticated for hunting. Some birds can even be trained to wear a leash and sit on your shoulder as you walk through your neighborhood, making the idea of taking your pet dinosaur for a walk less preposterous than previously imagined.