|
||||||||
The Palaeontology thread |
![]() |
| Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
|
#326 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: The Sixth Circle of Hell
Posts: 20,172
|
Quote:
Keyser may I ask you a couple of questions.
Firstly: How do you know so much? and where do you find all your info and links. Its amazing and thank you very much. Secondly: (Off Topic)- Strange question, but are you a motorsport fan? Its just I am a member of a Motorsport forum and a few years ago there was a poster with a username amazingly similar if not the same as yours. I just wonder if it was you. Anyway thanks for your efforts. ![]() Firstly I have always been interested in many subjects (astronomy, archaeology, the natural world, sharks etc) but dinosaurs and palaeontology are some of my very favourites so I always like to keep abreast of all the latest discoveries. Earlier in this thread I have posted some of the best sites on the net for the various topics in palaeontology. But I am afraid I am not a motorsport fan - so it will just have been someone with a similar forum name (it is from the sinister criminal mastermind in the film 'The Usual Suspects'). Again thanks for your posts.
|
|
|
|
|
Please sign in or register to remove this advertisement.
|
|
|
#327 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: The Sixth Circle of Hell
Posts: 20,172
|
The brilliant palaeontologist, leading Pterosaur expert and illustrator Mark Witton's site.
http://www.markwitton.com/ And here is his blog with superb articles and illustrations - the posts are a real pleasure to read and highly thought provoking as well. http://markwitton-com.blogspot.co.uk/ This is the state of the art book he has written on those incredible flying machines the Pterosaurs - which I am going to treat myself to shortly. ![]() http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pterosaurs-N.../dp/0691150613 |
|
|
|
|
|
#328 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: The Sixth Circle of Hell
Posts: 20,172
|
Nice little article from Nature on the rise of the sauropods which I had not seen before (from 2011).
http://www.nature.com/news/2011/1107...l/475159a.html And the interactive graphic that accompanies it. http://www.nature.com/news/2011/1107...b/475159a.html |
|
|
|
|
|
#329 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 646
|
In that article in mentions browsing through the tree tops.
Obviously Brachiosaurus would have, but I always thought the design of Diplodocus, was believed to allow shrub and ground foraging. Or am I out of date now? I mean the long neck and design of the bones, last I heard did not allow upwards movement of their necks, but rather side to side. |
|
|
|
|
|
#330 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: The Sixth Circle of Hell
Posts: 20,172
|
Quote:
In that article in mentions browsing through the tree tops.
Obviously Brachiosaurus would have, but I always thought the design of Diplodocus, was believed to allow shrub and ground foraging. Or am I out of date now? I mean the long neck and design of the bones, last I heard did not allow upwards movement of their necks, but rather side to side. The 'straight beam' posture is now well out of date. The best site on the net about these gigantic animals is the 'Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week' - http://svpow.com/ - which has an entire section devoted to their incredible necks. http://svpow.com/category/necks/ And here are some more nice articles on the subject. I hope this answers your question. ![]() http://www.plosone.org/article/info:...l.pone.0078572 http://www.miketaylor.org.uk/dino/pu...ck-posture.pdf http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzool...d-necks-erect/ http://www.miketaylor.org.uk/dino/ne...ure/#gsc.tab=0 |
|
|
|
|
|
#331 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 646
|
Quote:
There was a variety of feeding strategies amongst the sauropods but just because some were ground feeders that does not mean they could not move their necks in a wide range of positions.
The 'straight beam' posture is now well out of date. The best site on the net about these gigantic animals is the 'Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week' - http://svpow.com/ - which has an entire section devoted to their incredible necks. http://svpow.com/category/necks/ And here are some more nice articles on the subject. I hope this answers your question. ![]() http://www.plosone.org/article/info:...l.pone.0078572 http://www.miketaylor.org.uk/dino/pu...ck-posture.pdf http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzool...d-necks-erect/ http://www.miketaylor.org.uk/dino/ne...ure/#gsc.tab=0 |
|
|
|
|
|
#332 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: The Sixth Circle of Hell
Posts: 20,172
|
Quote:
Thanks Keyser, that is some real in depth information. I will read through it
|
|
|
|
|
|
#333 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: The Sixth Circle of Hell
Posts: 20,172
|
They were very unlucky sods those poor old non-avian dinosaurs.
But it was very fortunate indeed for us crappy little mammals that the gigantic meteorite impact happened. ![]() http://www.livescience.com/47025-din...ad-timing.html http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...tinct-science/ http://www.theguardian.com/science/2...rgh-scientists http://io9.com/colossally-poor-timin...-ex-1611942714 http://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...ur-extinction/ |
|
|
|
|
|
#334 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: The Sixth Circle of Hell
Posts: 20,172
|
The paper on the dinosaurs extinction.
Posted on another thread but it really belongs on here as well. ![]() http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/enhan...111/brv.12128/ |
|
|
|
|
|
#335 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Northern Ireland
Posts: 10,236
|
Quote:
Please see the links in my posts 307 and 308.
![]() The discovery of a feathered herbivores means that all dinosaurs had the potential to be covered in plumage. And that this integument was there right at the very beginning on their early ancestors - originally developed for insulation and display. In my opinion if the fossils are good enough we will find them in every type of dinosaur one day - even the massive sauropods ![]() CGI is great and all that, but dinosaur reconstruction still has a fair amount of guesswork. I wonder what a massive sauropod the likes of Argentinosaurus would actually have looked like. Now that we know they may even have been feathered, the reality could be even stranger than the reconstructions. Incidentally, what did you think of the BBC series "Planet Dinosaur" which was on a few years back? I thought it was superb and I even liked it more than Walking with Dinosaurs (which is one of my earliest memories of anything on television). I really hoped it would get a second series, but it doesn't look like it. ![]() Looking back at Walking with Dinosaurs, I've noticed just how much was stated as fact and I feel a bit uncomfortable now just accepting what they say. I always ask myself "how the hell do they know that?!", but with Planet Dinosaur after every revelation about a dinosaur, there was an explanation of the evidence which led scientists to that conclusion, and that is what I loved about it. |
|
|
|
|
|
#336 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Nottingham
Posts: 11,472
|
I think that was down to a style choice for "Walking with..." - the conceit being it was a standard wildlife doc as if the dinos were still around.
|
|
|
|
|
|
#337 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 625
|
Quote:
Looking back at Walking with Dinosaurs, I've noticed just how much was stated as fact and I feel a bit uncomfortable now just accepting what they say. I always ask myself "how the hell do they know that?!", but with Planet Dinosaur after every revelation about a dinosaur, there was an explanation of the evidence which led scientists to that conclusion, and that is what I loved about it.
Will have to watch them again, now
|
|
|
|
|
|
#338 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 646
|
It was interesting reading the articles about the extinction, I think we all are aware having read articles in the past about the Deccan volcanism around that period.
However I wasn't aware some experts (one mentioned in the articles) still believe that to be the great impact on the extinction. I guess the meteor would have caused a permanent winter for hundreds or thousands of years, but maybe the volcanic poisoning of the atmosphere mean't that nature couldn't become healthy and recover quick enough and thus the extinction was as big as it was, rather than a recovery as had happened in times in past extinction events |
|
|
|
|
|
#339 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: The Sixth Circle of Hell
Posts: 20,172
|
Thanks for the replies folks.
![]() TheSilentFez I thought that Planet Dinosaur was excellent - the graphics were not quite as fantastic as in Dinosaur Revolution - but were still superb nonetheless. And all of the information incorporated into the show was a very laudable attempt to both entertain and educate the public as well.
|
|
|
|
|
|
#340 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: The Sixth Circle of Hell
Posts: 20,172
|
Some of the larger Dromaeosaurids (raptors) in a size comparison with humans.
Also make a note that there are currently undescribed specimens of Utahraptor that may possibly approach eleven metres in length! But we will will just have to wait for a future paper on that. http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2...omaeosaurs.png |
|
|
|
|
|
#341 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: The Sixth Circle of Hell
Posts: 20,172
|
A nice overview of the evolution of feathers and also a link to the authors blog.
![]() http://www.abc.net.au/science/articl...28/4055368.htm http://flyingdinosaurs.net/blog/ |
|
|
|
|
|
#342 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: The Sixth Circle of Hell
Posts: 20,172
|
A brilliant new paper has been published explaining the evolutionary transition from theropod dinosaurs to birds.
The video is spectacular and explains just about everything you would want to know about the subject clearly and concisely in just over three minutes. ![]() http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQd9TXW5SXw I sometimes wonder if creationists ever read such articles? But then of course scientific facts would get in the way of their 'faith'. ![]() http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/...pod-dinosaurs/ http://www.australiangeographic.com....nking-dinosaur http://www.livescience.com/47128-shr...nto-birds.html http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014...p_ref=uk&ir=UK http://time.com/3057743/want-to-see-...a-bird-feeder/ |
|
|
|
|
|
#343 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: The Sixth Circle of Hell
Posts: 20,172
|
An nice little article demonstrating the vast variety of evolutionary adaptations, size, appearance and lifestyles of the prehistoric Crocodylomorpha.
http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/07/ten...historic-crocs Unfortunately he has missed a couple of remarkable species and also the illustrations are frankly pretty shit - but simply by typing their names into google people on here can see for themselves how amazing some of them truly were.
|
|
|
|
|
|
#344 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Storbritannia
Posts: 28,916
|
Following on from the above, here are some related links below.
Dinosaurs 'shrank' regularly to become birds Huge meat-eating, land-living dinosaurs evolved into birds by constantly shrinking for over 50 million years, scientists have revealed. Theropods shrunk 12 times from 163kg (25st 9lb) to 0.8kg (1.8lb), before becoming modern birds. The researchers found theropods were the only dinosaurs to get continuously smaller. http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/28563682 http://www.sciencemag.org/content/345/6196/562 From fearsome predator to flocking bird (including a test at the end): http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zyrx34j |
|
|
|
|
|
#345 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: The Sixth Circle of Hell
Posts: 20,172
|
Quote:
Following on from the above, here are some related links below.
Dinosaurs 'shrank' regularly to become birds Huge meat-eating, land-living dinosaurs evolved into birds by constantly shrinking for over 50 million years, scientists have revealed. Theropods shrunk 12 times from 163kg (25st 9lb) to 0.8kg (1.8lb), before becoming modern birds. The researchers found theropods were the only dinosaurs to get continuously smaller. http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/28563682 http://www.sciencemag.org/content/345/6196/562 From fearsome predator to flocking bird (including a test at the end): http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zyrx34j ![]() Unbelievably there are still a few fanatics (know as BANDits - Birds Are Not Dinosaurs - by the real and very contemptuous palaeontologists) who continue to release laughable papers denying the empirical facts of the matter which remind me very much of a creationist rant. Which if anything proves some quite intelligent people are batshit crazy and will just not accept the truth.
|
|
|
|
|
|
#346 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: The Sixth Circle of Hell
Posts: 20,172
|
The recent discovery of a mega-penguin.
Which delights me far more than it should - but everybody really loves penguins after all! ![]() http://www.newscientist.com/article/...l#.U99GdPldXuJ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/sc...h-9645792.html And a small article of a life-size vertebra reconstruction of the titanic Amphicoelias - with a small size chart picturing some of the 'super-sauropods' or 'gigapods' as they are sometimes known. ![]() http://www.chaffeecountytimes.com/co...a4bcf6878.html http://www.chaffeecountytimes.com/co...=image&photo=0 |
|
|
|
|
|
#347 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 30,172
|
Quote:
The recent discovery of a mega-penguin.
Which delights me far more than it should - but everybody really loves penguins after all! ![]() http://www.newscientist.com/article/...l#.U99GdPldXuJ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/sc...h-9645792.html And a small article of a life-size vertebra reconstruction of the titanic Amphicoelias - with a small size chart picturing some of the 'super-sauropods' or 'gigapods' as they are sometimes known. ![]() http://www.chaffeecountytimes.com/co...a4bcf6878.html http://www.chaffeecountytimes.com/co...=image&photo=0 . Can't imagine them that size!
|
|
|
|
|
|
#348 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: The Sixth Circle of Hell
Posts: 20,172
|
Quote:
Nice one Keyser. Penguins are cute so I'm in a state of delight too.
. Can't imagine them that size!And you could not fit six in a packet either!
|
|
|
|
|
|
#349 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 30,172
|
Quote:
It would be very hard to p.. p.. pick up that penguin!
And you could not fit six in a packet either! ![]() |
|
|
|
|
|
#350 |
|
Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 76,804
|
Question for keyser.......
Something bothers me about fossils........I did actually start a thread about this many years ago but don't think the question ever got resolved to my satisfaction Palaeontologists and the popular press often speak of 'dinosaur bones'.......but do they ever find actual bones or is it only ever fossilised bones, ie stone I just can't imagine that bone would survive for 100 million years under any conditions so..........bone or stone ? |
|
|
|
![]() |
| Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
All times are GMT. The time now is 13:54.







