This is why you drink dinosaur pee every day

Every glass of water you drink was once dinosaur urine, scientists at YouTube channel Curious Minds have explained.

In their video, the team ask the question: How much dinosaur pee is in the water we drink?

The video explains how the total mass of water on Earth has been fairly consistent since life first emerged on land about 500 million years ago.

Most of this is saltwater in the oceans. About half of the remainder is locked in ice and most of the other half is stored as groundwater – the tiny proportion left is in lakes, rivers, the soil or atmosphere and this is what most living things on land consume.

This water is constantly moving and "by measuring the inflow and outflow of each reservoir, we can calculate the amount of time a water molecule resides there".

"The ongoing flux of water between reservoirs means that all water will periodically cycle between all reservoirs, including the stomachs of land-dwelling animals that drink fresh water," the video says.

"So how much dinosaur pee is in our water? Humans consume a lot of water, but our species hasn't had the numbers or time to process a large portion of the Earth's water. Dinosaurs on the other hand had a long time to drink water.

"The Mesozoic Era – the reign of the dinosaurs – lasted for 186 million years. That gave them time to drink a lot of water. So while most molecules in your 8oz glass have never been drunk by another human, almost every single molecule has been drunk by a dinosaur."