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Old 12-05-2014, 07:42
Keyser_Soze1
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Pterosaurs are interesting. People tend to think they were leathery and bald, thanks to films and TV, but many were actually quite fuzzy, like Anurognathus:

http://gwawinapterus.files.wordpress...us-profile.jpg
Yes they are, and they came in such a range of size and variety that it boggles the mind.

The very largest of them - from the Azhdarchidae family - like Quetzalcoatlus northropi and Hatzegopteryx thambema (whose head alone was three metres long) must have been a truly awe inspiring sight.

Imagine an animal as tall as a Giraffe launching itself into the air from it's knuckles on wings spanning up to 13 metres!

http://static.palaeontologyonline.com/7-640.jpg

http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzool...azhdarchid.jpg

http://www.sciencephoto.com/image/39...rtwork-SPL.jpg

Incredible!

Here are some links for those who are interested.

http://www.pterosaur.net/

http://pterosaur-net.blogspot.co.uk/

http://www.pterosaur.org.uk/PDB2012/P/index.htm

http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/curr...e-of-dinosaurs

http://www.palaeontologyonline.com/a...us-pterosaurs/

http://pterozor.blogspot.co.uk/2012/...pterosaur.html

http://www.markwitton.com/#

And one of the best books on the subject.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pterosaurs-N.../dp/0691150613
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Old 12-05-2014, 08:53
barbeler
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For those who want to learn and be thoroughly entertained at the same time, I simply can't recommend this book highly enough http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Dinosaur.../dp/1857029631
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Old 12-05-2014, 10:33
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Megalodon - the super shark - at a maximum length of around 20 metres and a weight of over 100 tons the largest and most powerful predator ever to live on the planet.

Plenty more to come on this monster but for now a couple of nice reconstructions.

The first preying on a prehistoric elephant (Platybelodon) the second on a bull sperm whale and then a size comparison with Tyrannosaurus rex (which actually should really have feathers).

http://i.imgur.com/d1pdCxQ.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PvJpkZhMnn...reserved)..jpg

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/8650/...972738224t.jpg
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Old 12-05-2014, 13:38
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I wouldn't be prepared to believe in Palaeontology until I see some big Hollywood stars get behind it, like Tom Cruise, John Travolta or Karl Howman.
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Old 12-05-2014, 17:18
Keyser_Soze1
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I wouldn't be prepared to believe in Palaeontology until I see some big Hollywood stars get behind it, like Tom Cruise, John Travolta or Karl Howman.
Karl Howman doesn't even know who he is.
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Old 12-05-2014, 19:28
anne_666
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I wouldn't be prepared to believe in Palaeontology until I see some big Hollywood stars get behind it, like Tom Cruise, John Travolta or Karl Howman.
Don't you mean cutie cultie Scientology?
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Old 13-05-2014, 17:09
Keyser_Soze1
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A few nice articles from last year.

http://www.fossilera.com/blog/top-10...tories-of-2013

http://www.sci-news.com/paleontology...ies-01655.html

http://www.wired.com/2013/05/dinosaurs/?viewall=true
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Old 13-05-2014, 17:48
epicurian
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In February, construction workers in Seattle unearthed a 20,000 year old tusk from a Columbian mammoth. http://edition.cnn.com/2014/02/14/us...-mammoth-tusk/

The Burke Museum are caring for Lulu now http://seattlemammoth.org/
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Old 13-05-2014, 19:26
Keyser_Soze1
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Some great blogs (there are tons more on the net).

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/blog/laelaps/

http://qilong.wordpress.com/
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Old 13-05-2014, 20:54
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I must say, I do rather enjoy reading these threads of yours OP.

Keep up the good work.
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Old 13-05-2014, 21:08
Keyser_Soze1
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I must say, I do rather enjoy reading these threads of yours OP.

Keep up the good work.
Thank you very much.

Really there is so much going on I do not know what to post.
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Old 13-05-2014, 21:14
AOTB
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Thank you very much.

Really there is so much going on I do not know what to post.
Credit where credit is due and all that! I've loved all this stuff since I went to the natural history museum as a kid. Genuinely fascinating.

The animal intelligence thread was a cracker too.
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Old 13-05-2014, 21:31
Keyser_Soze1
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Credit where credit is due and all that! I've loved all this stuff since I went to the natural history museum as a kid. Genuinely fascinating.

The animal intelligence thread was a cracker too.
Thank you again.

Most people seem to think and interest in dinosaurs or prehistoric life is somehow 'childish' - but quite frankly I tell them they are talking crap.

Here is a nice little chart of some of the largest theropods.

In my opinion the Spinosaurus is slightly too large (it was created by a fan using professional skeletal reconstructions so the scales and weights are their own estimates) but it gives some idea of how massive these predators were and otherwise is very accurate - the lengths in particular.

http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2..._Theropods.png
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Old 14-05-2014, 23:40
Keyser_Soze1
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Double post.

Please see below.
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Old 14-05-2014, 23:42
Keyser_Soze1
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A beautiful depiction of Triceratops incorporating the latest information on this most famous of dinosaurs.

With many knobs on it's back that like other Ceratopsians (horned dinosaurs) that contained quills/bristles - either for display or defense - and scavenging carrion.

Though primarily a vegetarian some scientists now think that very much like pigs today it would have eaten just about anything for extra protein - an omnivore - and an incredibly formidable one at that.

Of course as a fully grown adult weighed 12 tons and was 9 metres long it was rather larger than any pig.

http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/f/20...at-d4xlwka.jpg

And another superb skeletal reconstruction by Scott Hartman.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HOl3VO7X2a...riceratops.jpg
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Old 15-05-2014, 05:49
UKNikey
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"There's something about Mary Anning"

Coming to a movie theatre near you soon.
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Old 15-05-2014, 16:50
Keyser_Soze1
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"There's something about Mary Anning"

Coming to a movie theatre near you soon.
With that famous scene altered for Victorian upper class sensibilities to show Mary revealing her ankle by accident.

Here is a nice reconstruction of the size of Pliosaurus macromeras probably the largest species of Pliosaurus (even larger than 'Predator X' - funkei 'Dorset pliosaur' - kevani - and the 'Monster of Aramberri').

At up to 18 metres long with a possible weight of over 50 tons (my own estimate based on isometric scaling from the 10.5 metre, 11 ton Kronosaurus sp), this could have been the most formidable predator that ever existed, after Megalodon.

http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/f/20...ca-d78b6c9.jpg
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Old 15-05-2014, 17:18
AOTB
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Triceratops eating meat!? Interesting. I guess the pig analogy works too- many people seem to think l they are 100% herbivores yet Brick Top or Mason Verger might tell you otherwise..

It's amazing how modern science is giving such different theories and opinions on these once magnificent beasts.
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Old 15-05-2014, 17:27
Keyser_Soze1
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Triceratops eating meat!? Interesting. I guess the pig analogy works too- many people seem to think l they are 100% herbivores yet Brick Top or Mason Verger might tell you otherwise..

It's amazing how modern science is giving such different theories and opinions on these once magnificent beasts.
There is a really wonderful book and also a new download of radical but perfectly plausible images of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals.

Take a look or simply load the titles into images on google.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/All-Yesterda.../dp/B00A2VS55O

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/...sterdays-2013/
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Old 15-05-2014, 17:36
AOTB
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There is a really wonderful book and also a new download of radical but perfectly plausible images of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals.

Take a look or simply load the titles into images on google.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/All-Yesterda.../dp/B00A2VS55O

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/...sterdays-2013/
As I say, genuinely interesting topics KS so I will check those links out later!
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Old 15-05-2014, 17:50
Keyser_Soze1
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As I say, genuinely interesting topics KS so I will check those links out later!
You are welcome.
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Old 16-05-2014, 00:30
Keyser_Soze1
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The truly colossal Brachiosaur Sauroposeidon proteles reconstructed here.

http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/i/20...ng-d5duc59.jpg

A nice skeletal comparison of the two best known Brachiosaurs.

http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/i/20...an-d2sykm1.jpg

And two more examples.

http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/i/20...ng-d4sljwd.jpg

http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs70/i/20...ng-d4slf2d.jpg

The Brachiosaurs are the most elegant of the sauropods in my humble opinion.
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Old 16-05-2014, 01:53
Keyser_Soze1
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Paraceratherium, also commonly known as Indricotherium or Baluchitherium was probably the largest land mammal ever to exist with a maximum weight of around 20 tons.

It was a gigantic hornless rhinoceros and truly a huge animal.

http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/f/20...ca-d4r9avu.jpg

But not compared one one of the largest of the dinosaurs - Puertasaurus reuili - size really does matter in this case!

http://i1168.photobucket.com/albums/...icotherium.jpg
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Old 16-05-2014, 02:23
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I'm starting to notice a bit of a pattern. They've all got four limbs. Strange how insects favour more legs on much smaller bodies which really don't need so many to support the weight, but gigantic mammals never tried more than four?

Was thinking about; if men were around at the same time as dinosaurs - how long a whole tribe could survive on a single kill. I wonder if they'd have used a similar technique to mammoth hunting. Homes built from ribs and vertebrae for chairs of every size. WILMA!

Thanks for firing me old imagination repeatedly Keyser.
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Old 16-05-2014, 03:26
owllover
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Hi again Keyser.

I've been away since the interesting animal intelligence thread. I've never had an interest in dinosaurs but always thought I'd like to hunt for fossils around Charmouth Beach. Anyway, I flew over to look at a flat on the Isle of Wight and have read that it is described as dinosaur central and the beach down from where I could be living is rich in fossils.

I sense a new interest coming on...
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