To celebrate National Dinosaur Day on Sunday 15 May, Mattel has unveiled fun new research that found a third of kids are convinced dinosaurs are still alive – while 49 per cent think some can still be found in the UK.

The research was commissioned by Mattel to launch the new Jurassic World Dominion Mattel toy range, which is inspired by this year’s highly anticipated summer film – Jurassic World Dominion – coming to cinemas on June 10, 2022.

A poll of 1,000 children aged 6-10 shows that 33% of kids would love to have a dinosaur as a pet. The T-Rex comes out on top as kids’ favourite dinosaur, with most kids opting for a T-Rex as the one they’d most like to housetrain.

To showcase the new Mattel Jurassic World Dominion toy range alongside the research, Mattel used ‘forced perspective’ photography to make it look as though dinosaurs were exploring old and new London landmarks. The Quetzalcoatlus dinosaur toy made its way to the Natural History Museum, where many prehistoric dinosaur skeletons now remain, while the Therizinosaurus toy was seen to be grasping the London Eye in its claws, and the T-Rex visited the Houses of Parliament.

Kelly Philp, Marketing Director Mattel UK, says: “Dinosaurs are endlessly fascinating to children, and they probably always will be. This National Dinosaur Day, we thought there was no better way to celebrate than to find out what kids think about all things dinosaur.

“Dinosaurs may not still be roaming the earth as kids would hope, but the new Jurassic World Dominion Mattel toy range means kids can play out endless adventures – and is a much more parent-approved pet!”