If you had the chance to meet a dinosaur, which one would you choose?

[Ezikot]

A silly/funny question come to my mind this morning and I'd like to know how you would answer:
If you had the chance to travel in time to see a dinosaur - one and just one -
which one would you choose to meet? ...and why?

I'd choose a diplodocus.
Why? Well, my mind really struggles to imagine big sauropods (how they move, their colors, how they use and move their necks and their tails, ...).
Why a diplodocus? Just my favourite sauropod from childhood

[Lizerd]

Oh this is fun, I would choose a t.rex baby, mostly to see it grow and get larger and just watch as moved, breathed and ate (people I disliked, starting with the neighbors cat  )
It is just a fascinating animal that would be amazing to see as it lived for it's around 30-40 year lifespan.

[Halichoeres]

If it could be any prehistoric animal it would probably be Tullimonstrum, to see just what the hell it was and what it was doing.

If it had to be a dinosaur, it would be something upland that doesn't preserve well or often, like a pachycephalosaur.

[Jose S.M.]

There's so many possibilities! If it's Dinosaurs My main three would be Triceratops because is my favorite Dino, than Tyrannosaurus to see what's the actual deal with the feathers hehe and Brachiosaurus too, for the same reason Ezikot choose Diplo.

Early whales would be interesting too for me.

[Libraraptor]

Dinosaur: Therizinosaurus

Non-Dinosaur: Anomalocaris

[stargatedalek]

Time to be anti-climactic, but definitely a great auk.

[IrritatorRaji]

Oooh, difficult.... just for the sake of seeing how it looked, I'd love to meet Spinosaurus. But if I was choosing based on personal preference, I'd love to meet a Velociraptor. I love birds of prey and have had up close experiences with so many of them so I feel like Velociraptor would be an exciting one-up from the birds I usually handle.

[DinoToyForum]

Water... Elasmosaurus. I want to see how they swim and how they put their necks to good use.
Air... Quetzalcoatlus. I want to marvel at how they take off.
Land... Brachiosaurus. I want to see...a Brachiosaurus.

I suppose I'd need a time travelling submarine for the first.

So, when are we going? Shall we make this the next DTF meet up?

[brandem]

Never meet your heroes,

Or for that matter giant prehistoric archosaurs.

But that being said I wouldn't mind seeing a living Yi qi, what an interesting sight it could be.

[Ravonium]

If solely talking about dinosaurs,  I'd go for any member of Pennaraptora (the group that includes oviraptorsaurs, dromeosaurids, troodontids, scansoriopterygids and avialans), but if there was only 1 member of that group I could meet, I would second brandem's suggestion of Yi qi, mainly to see how it looked and behaved.

If also including non-dinosaurian prehistoric creatures, I'd either second Halichoeres' suggestion of Tullimonstrum (especially to see how it fed and what it ate), or go for either Anurognathus, Keichousaurus or Armadillosuchus, depending on which of the 3 realms you put me in.

[Neosodon]

If I could see only one prehistoric animal it would have to be a massive sauropod like Argetinosaurus. Few things could be more magnificent.

But if I could be a prehistoric animal I would have to go with Pliosaurus. I've always had the dark desire to lurk around coasts and beaches as one to terrify unsuspecting boaters and people swimming.

[Nimravus]

Dinosaur: deinonychus
Prehistoric mammal: any sabertooth
Invertebrate: Anomalocaris

[ceratopsian]

I am tempted to say a herd of Centrosaurus on the move - it must have been an amazing sight and sound of all those feet......  But actually I would go for a titanosaur nesting ground, specifically what is now called Auca Mahuevo in Argentina. I could wonder at the sheer bulk of the adults as they crowded together with their nests, see the huge size differential between the hatchlings and adults, find out if there was any interaction between the age groups; and with any luck see how the mothers managed to lay the eggs without smashing them!

[Gwangi]

Awww jeeze man, I dunno. Probably Argetinosaurus or some other big sauropod. Something so large, just walking about, it's the kind of stuff that makes dinosaurs so charismatic to begin with. Might as well go big. Of course a big theropod would be something to see too; Spinosaurus or Tyrannosaurus I suppose. And then there are the odd balls like Stegosaurus, something completely unlike anything alive today. All I know is this, not something too bird-like. I love birds, and I love Maniraptora, but I have a diverse assortment of ten thousand species I can already admire. And yes, I am a bird watcher with a life list. That said, the terror birds or moa would also end up on a longer list.

[Lizerd]

So, when are we going? Shall we make this the next DTF meet up?

DTF meet up??? Where where where
As for water; maybe a spinosaurs
air; I got my wish; a wild turkey!!!

[EarthboundEiniosaurus]

This is a hard one, If I had to choose some time and place in the Mesozoic it would be either the Hell creek formation to see some of the most famous dinosaurs in the flesh and figure out exactly what they looked like, or to the dawn of the dinosaurs in the early to middle triassic to see if the most basal dinosaurs had some kind of filamentous integument or not.
I would really love to go to the Cenozoic as well though, first to the late middle Eocene to see Uintatherium and the other fauna of the upper bridger formation and them maybe to the late Pleistocene of western North America to see the the incredible variety of megafauna that existed alongside more familiar animals that survived the end Pleistocene extinction.

If we're doing a meetup i vote for the Hell creek formation lol, something for everyone!

[australovenator]

hmmm, I think realistically I'd maybe go for something small and hopefully harmless like an Compsognathus or something similar.
That being said, seeing a sauropod or some sort of giant theropod would certainly be awe inspiring.

[ZoPteryx]

Very tough decision.  I guess I'd have to go big and pick a giant sauropod like Argentinosaurus.  For non-dinos it would have to be a pterosaur, and once again I'd have to go big and pick Quetzalcoatlus.

[Ezikot]

Oh, nice to read so many answers
While I can see why a lot of us chose to go big or "weird" (theri, spino, t.rex, trike, sauropods),
I'm a bit surprised to know that some of us would choose something small or quite small (Yi qi, Tullimonstrum, pachycephalosaur)

[Ravonium]

I'm a bit surprised to know that some of us would choose something small or quite small (Yi qi, Tullimonstrum, pachycephalosaur)

Maybe some people here would simply feel unsafe around a large predator or herbivore, and would rather be around something that doesn't have the potential to kill them