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Old 23-05-2014, 11:05
Shrike
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I've always been a big fan of the Trilobite - some amazing specimens are coming out of Morocco especially these days

Trilobites!

Sadly I never found anything other than a few fragments in my fossil collecting days
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Old 23-05-2014, 11:18
los.kav
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Eee, look at all the trilobites. Thanks for posting them!
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Old 23-05-2014, 11:26
The Martian
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I love the Dracorex.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Dracorex_1.jpg
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Old 23-05-2014, 11:40
Shrike
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Fantastic!

I recently saw it on a documentry:

Documentry still
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Old 23-05-2014, 11:49
The Martian
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Fantastic!

I recently saw it on a documentry:

Documentry still
Daenerys' dragons are carnivores. The Dracorex was a herbivore, so they are not the same.
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Old 23-05-2014, 13:31
ThatGuy11200
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It's been suggested in recent years that Dracorex is actually a juvenile Pachycephalosaurus, and they lose most of the horns as they age.

Similarly, it's been suggested that Torosaurus, the largest of the ceratopsians, was just a fully mature Triceratops.

Drastic changes in skull shape had already been noted in Tyrannosaurus rex as it aged so it's definitely a possibility.
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Old 23-05-2014, 13:36
The Martian
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It's been suggested in recent years that Dracorex is actually a juvenile Pachycephalosaurus, and they lose most of the horns as they age.

Similarly, it's been suggested that Torosaurus, the largest of the ceratopsians, was just a fully mature Triceratops.

Drastic changes in skull shape had already been noted in Tyrannosaurus rex as it aged so it's definitely a possibility.
This is interesting: The Shape-Shifting Skulls of Dinosaurs
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Old 23-05-2014, 15:16
anne_666
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Thank you for all the links folks. Marvellous stuff.
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Old 23-05-2014, 16:26
The Finisher
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I have a contribution for you Keyser.
Last week I saw a mammoth skull fossil with four bottom teeth when they would have expected two. They think it was an adolescent and that the extra two were milk teeth. They were very large milk teeth. It was found in Germany.


I hope I've remembered the facts correctly
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Old 23-05-2014, 20:34
Keyser_Soze1
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Thanks for all the posts folks.

There is so much going on at the moment I am at a loss what to link to next!
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Old 23-05-2014, 20:52
Keyser_Soze1
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It's been suggested in recent years that Dracorex is actually a juvenile Pachycephalosaurus, and they lose most of the horns as they age.

Similarly, it's been suggested that Torosaurus, the largest of the ceratopsians, was just a fully mature Triceratops.

Drastic changes in skull shape had already been noted in Tyrannosaurus rex as it aged so it's definitely a possibility.
There are several debates going on about this, the arguments for them being distinct species are far stronger in my personal opinion.

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%...l.pone.0032623

But there were many dinosaurs who undertook drastic ontogenetic changes as they grew up. I am trying to find a really good image of Tyrannosaurus rex growth stages - from baby to mature adult.

Here is a very good paper on the estimated mass of some of the most complete Tyrannosaurus skeletons.

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%...l.pone.0026037
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Old 23-05-2014, 20:55
Steveaki13
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Blimey this thread a graveyard.
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Old 23-05-2014, 20:56
Steveaki13
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Only joking. This is really interesting thread and am loving these links. So many interesting things to read.
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Old 23-05-2014, 21:06
AOTB
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Blimey this thread a graveyard.
Learning about dinosaurs however is a bone-us.
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Old 23-05-2014, 21:09
Keyser_Soze1
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Learning about dinosaurs however is a bone-us.
Learning about dinosaurs and other prehistoric life is a very grave matter.
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Old 23-05-2014, 21:12
The Martian
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Learning about dinosaurs and other prehistoric life is a very grave matter.
Don't be petrified.
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Old 23-05-2014, 21:18
AOTB
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Don't be petrified.
As first he was afraid...♪ ♫
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Old 23-05-2014, 21:27
Keyser_Soze1
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Talking of bone(r)s.

A medium-sized Titanosaur may have had a penis 4 metres long. God knows how massive the very largest Sauropods todgers where!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbmZ6ZB_-Wc
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Old 23-05-2014, 21:35
The Martian
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Talking of bone(r)s.

A medium-sized Titanosaur may have had a penis 4 metres long. God knows how massive the very largest Sauropods todgers where!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbmZ6ZB_-Wc
Once news of this gets around I'm sure we'll see a drop in the number of blue whales out clubbing and showing off.
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Old 23-05-2014, 21:39
AOTB
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Once news of this gets around I'm sure we'll see a drop in the number of blue whales out clubbing and showing off.
It;s the Whale Sharks I feel sorry for. All mouth, no action.
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Old 23-05-2014, 21:42
CLL Dodge
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Blimey this thread a graveyard.
Some of us dig it though.
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Old 23-05-2014, 21:45
RobinOfLoxley
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I saw a docu yesterday, and the Blue Whal gulps 1.5 tons of Krill, then filters it.

But anyway, what \i really want to know, is how do ancient species survive and their DNA not mutate?
eg 300 million years for crocs, horsehoe crabs setc
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Old 23-05-2014, 21:51
CLL Dodge
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I saw a docu yesterday, and the Blue Whal gulps 1.5 tons of Krill, then filters it.

But anyway, what \i really want to know, is how do ancient species survive and their DNA not mutate?
eg 300 million years for crocs, horsehoe crabs setc
Unless you have 300 million year old DNA you won't know how much mutation there has been at the gene level.
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Old 23-05-2014, 21:54
TelevisionUser
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...and now for a baby mammoth:

A perfectly preserved baby mammoth which died 42,000 years ago has been unveiled at the Natural History Museum in London. Named Lyuba by the Siberian deer herder who discovered her in 2007, the specimen is 130cm tall and weighs 50kg. Palaeontologist Prof Adrian Lister described seeing her for the first time as an "incredible experience".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-27477167
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Old 23-05-2014, 21:56
DHW
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screw those weaklings, the might megalodon will squish them all!!!!

http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/sh...-megalodon.htm
Magnificent animal!
If only we could rediscover some of these beautiful animals like we did the coelacanth.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coelacanth#Life_history
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