The Paleontology Thread

[Kaijunator]

I prefer JFC and Planet Dinosaur. It's a tie.

I want to ask which Spino do people prefer, but that might cause flame wars due to the people who accept the SpinoZilla from MR instead of the accurate Planet Dinosaur one.

PD ain't that accurate anymore, either. :p
http://static.squarespace.com/static/51 ... rmat=1000w
(The bottom skeletal is the accurate one)

At least it isn't MR's SpinoZilla.

[Noble Saber]

http://blog.everythingdinosaur.co.uk/bl ... odels.html

CollectA has announced a new Spinosaurus model!

[MysticalDL]

While not a dinosaur, I do like Titanis walleri.

[Noble Saber]

Just wanted to bring this up, got it from JPLegacy.

http://vertpaleo.org/PDFS/0d/0d20d609-f ... fde49b.pdf

Further work on the chemical composition of these structures, and those in several non-coelurosaurian theropods, is needed. Although ornithodirans exhibit a range of integumentary novelties that may be related to the origin of feathers, theropods are currently the only dinosaurs that display unequivocal evidence of feathers and their direct homologs.

It's a possibility non-coleurosaurian theropods had feathers.

[Noble Saber]

A new mamenchisaurid, Qijianglong, has been discovered.

http://uofa.ualberta.ca/news-and-events ... d-in-china

[Jiragozira14]

While not a dinosaur, I do like Titanis walleri.

Titanis is a dinosaur, actually; all birds are. :p

It's a possibility non-coleurosaurian theropods had feathers.

We've known about such possibilities for a little bit, actually...plus crocodilian scales, pterosaur pycnofibres and dinosaur feathers and scutes all seem to have derived from a single ancestral skin structure; hell, the feather keratin is known to exist in embryonic American alligators, but are suppressed in development (thus explaining why adult alligators don't have feathers).

[Kaijunator]

While not a dinosaur, I do like Titanis walleri.

Titanis is a dinosaur, actually; all birds are. :p

Birds are not dinosaurs. There was NO evolution. Our Lord God made everything on Earth.

[Noble Saber]

Really? We're bringing up religion? Even then, birds are in the same family as dinosaurs.

[Janjira-York]

Birds are dinosaurs, caseclosed.

on topic, wow I didn't knew that about the Aligator,nice info BTW

[NSZ]

While I do find that tidbit about the Alligator interesting, I absolutely detest how it gave rise to absolute lunatics who assume that there must be feathered crocs now.

I'm not joking BTW. There are actually people that think this.

[BlankAccount]

Gonna go out on a limb and say I think the archaeopteryx is my favorite ancient animal. It's so strangely familiar and alien at the same time.

[Maverick Centigrade]

While not a dinosaur, I do like Titanis walleri.

Titanis is a dinosaur, actually; all birds are. :p

Birds are not dinosaurs. There was NO evolution. Our Lord God made everything on Earth.

Listen, you are entitled to believe what you wish. Hell, even I find myself trying to come back into the bible, but don't spout it around against people who like to discuss it. This is a paleontology thread, full of paleontology talk, ideas, facts, whatever. Coming in and shouting evolution isnt real doesn't exactly keep peace between the two sides.


Anyway. I recall reading the crocodile/feather gene thing a while ago. Pretty interesting stuff honestly. I'm not sure if there were ever feathered crocodiles though. We've found a lot of specimens within the croc family, no signs of feathers yet.

It is cool to see the common traits birds and crocs share. Such as 4 chambered hearts and sharing much of the same brain.

One last thing. Is there any new discoveries about the croc family recently? Any new specimens found? You always year about new dinosaurs. But never much on their poor cousins.

[BlankAccount]

Are you guys sure he isn't making a joke?

[Maverick Centigrade]

Are you guys sure he isn't making a joke?

*puffs bubble pipe*

I didn't explore that idea till now...I suppose it is possible. Never mind then.

[MysticalDL]

While not a dinosaur, I do like Titanis walleri.

Titanis is a dinosaur, actually; all birds are. :p

Birds are not dinosaurs. There was NO evolution. Our Lord God made everything on Earth.

There is more proof to support evolution, then there is proof to support a false deity.

[UltramanGoji]

There is more proof to support evolution, then there is proof to support a false deity.

And there's even more proof that he's joking and that you fell for it.

[Kaijunator]

There is more proof to support evolution, then there is proof to support a false deity.

And there's even more proof that he's joking and that you fell for it.

Joking? Ha! Never about God.

[M.U.T.O.]

If you are serious about denying all that there is to talk about without looking at any of the evidence and sticking to your contorted views of evolution as completely chimera-transitional (i.e. Crocoduck)...
Just go away. Paleontology enthusiasts can't give a damn about reductio ad absurdiam arguments.

Otherwise, please don't try derailing the thread.

[LazerWhale]

While I do find that tidbit about the Alligator interesting, I absolutely detest how it gave rise to absolute lunatics who assume that there must be feathered crocs now.

I'm not joking BTW. There are actually people that think this.

While feathered early crocodylomorphs are possible, I think that, perhaps, this is a case of people making a bit too many inferences.

[Maverick Centigrade]

So I was talking to a friend yesterday about dinosaurs and feathers, his reaction was pretty funny. He basically said "I don't like to believe in that. I'm not gonna let science take away my T-rex by turning him into a chicken".

Gave me a laugh. I somewhat agreed with him and told him "That's why I graduated to triassic reptiles and the croc family".

To which he also said crocodiles scare the shit out of him. He doesn't trust animal that has lived that long. Good coversation. I love when I can talk about that stuff.