Press play to hear ten prehistoric animals, from a booming T. rex to the trombone call of Parasaurolophus. No one has ever heard a real dinosaur, so every sound here is a best guess. Below each one you can read what scientists actually know, then open the animal in 3D.
Meat-eating dinosaur
A deep boom, not a film roar
The famous film roar was built from the sounds of living animals. A real T. rex may have boomed with its mouth closed, a low sound you would feel in your chest, the way big birds and crocodiles call today.
Meat-eating dinosaur
Hisses, chirps and coos
The real Velociraptor was about the size of a turkey and covered in feathers. Its closest living relatives are birds, so it may have hissed, chirped or cooed. Tap more than once to hear five different calls.
Meat-eating dinosaur
A river hunter’s growl
Spinosaurus spent much of its life around rivers catching fish. Nothing is known about its voice, so this sound imagines a low, wet growl close to the water.
Plant-eating dinosaur
Grunts and bellows
Triceratops was a heavy plant-eater with a huge frill. Like big plant-eaters today, it may have grunted and bellowed to warn rivals or keep in touch.
Plant-eating dinosaur
Slow, low grunts
Stegosaurus had a big body and a very small head. Scientists can only guess at its voice, so this sound imagines slow grunts and heavy breathing. Tap again for a second clip.
Plant-eating dinosaur
Rumbles from a giant
Brachiosaurus could reach leaves about 9 metres up, roughly twice as high as a giraffe. Very large animals often make very low sounds, so a giant like this may have rumbled. Tap again to hear three different calls.
Plant-eating dinosaur
Snorts, and maybe bird-like calls
In 2023 scientists found a fossil voice box in Pinacosaurus, a close relative of Ankylosaurus. It looked more like a bird’s than a crocodile’s, a hint that armoured dinosaurs could shape bird-like calls.
Plant-eating dinosaur
A trombone-like call through its crest
Parasaurolophus is the dinosaur we know most about for sound. In 1997 scientists scanned a fossil crest, rebuilt the air tubes inside it on a computer and blew virtual air through them. Out came a low, rumbling tone.
Flying reptile, not a dinosaur
Wing flaps and a croak
Pteranodon was a flying reptile, not a dinosaur. No one knows its voice, so this sound imagines leathery wing beats and a seabird-style croak.
Sea reptile, not a dinosaur
Calls from the sea
Plesiosaurus was a sea reptile, not a dinosaur. Its voice is a complete mystery, so this sound is an imagined call from a long-necked swimmer. Tap again for a second clip.
Sound leaves no fossils, so scientists piece it together from three kinds of clues.
Birds are living dinosaurs, and crocodiles are their closest other relatives. A 2016 study found that many large animals in this family call with their mouths shut, pushing air into a pouch in the throat to make low booms and coos. Big dinosaurs may have done the same.
Some dinosaurs had air tubes inside their skulls. In 1997 a team at Sandia National Laboratories and the New Mexico Museum of Natural History scanned a Parasaurolophus crest, rebuilt it on a computer and played air through it. It gave a low, rumbling tone that could change pitch.
Voice boxes are rarely fossilised. In 2023 scientists described one from Pinacosaurus, a cousin of Ankylosaurus. It looked more like a bird’s than a crocodile’s, a hint that some dinosaurs could shape bird-like calls.
The sounds on this page were made for VisionVix to match these ideas. They are not recordings and should be taken as artist’s impressions.
No. Nobody has ever heard a living dinosaur, and sound does not fossilise. These are made sounds, each based on what scientists have learned from fossils and from the dinosaurs’ living relatives, birds and crocodiles.
Probably not like it does in films. A 2016 study of birds and crocodiles found that many large animals in this family call with their mouths closed, making low booming or cooing sounds. Big dinosaurs such as T. rex may have done the same.
Parasaurolophus. Its long hollow crest held looping air tubes. In 1997 scientists scanned a fossil crest, rebuilt the tubes on a computer and blew virtual air through them, which produced a low, rumbling tone.
Birds are living dinosaurs, so some dinosaurs probably made bird-like sounds. In 2023 scientists described a fossil voice box from Pinacosaurus, a relative of Ankylosaurus, that looked more like a bird’s than a crocodile’s. No dinosaur has yet been found with the syrinx that songbirds sing with.
No. Pteranodon was a flying reptile and Plesiosaurus was a sea reptile. They lived at the same time as dinosaurs, which is why they are in the simulator, but their voices are a complete mystery.
Every dinosaur on this page is in the free VisionVix 3D Dinosaur Anatomy simulator, where you can spin it, look inside and see its fossil skeleton. The same sound buttons are there too.
This page and the 3D Dinosaur Anatomy simulator are made by Julian Neagu, a solo founder in London, as part of VisionVix Simulators. They are free to use in the browser on desktop and phone, with no sign-up.