Dinosaur news

[Agustín]

I wonder why the hell I didn't check this thread before.. I'm loving it. Didn't know about the Gigantoraptor, looks amazing.

By the way, not really dinosaur news, but they found whale bones (about 7.000 y/o) quite near my house. This country is mined with fossils.

[TheOneCalledPara]

thetyrantlizard said:

Yet another nail in the coffin of the fuzzy dinosaur theory. Since it is assumed that dinosaurs are birds, some supposed paleontologists suggested that dinosaur hatchlings would be covered in down feathers for 'insulation'. Prehistoric Park even had ornithomimus chicks covered in feathers, like ugly ducks And the book "In the Presence of Dinosaurs" had a painting of a feathery parasaurolophus baby.

Well, a study of titanosaurus embryos concluded that they were covered by scaly bumps, which would have hardened into body armour to protect the titanosaur hatchling as it grew, like crocodiles.

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20038582/

A Parasaurolophus hatchling...with feathers? Now that is just pushing it. I'm glad that when another new discovery surfaces, this theory becomes more debunked as the years go by.

[thetyrantlizard]

The dino-bird paleontologist are still engaged in brainwashing the young 'uns about the fuzzy dinosaur theory. Like in the latest issue of PT, they brought up again the news of a few months ago that they were able to derive proteins from supposedly organic remains of the t-rex which "proves" t-rex was closely related to chickens. From the titles and the headlines one would assume this was true; only if one really pays attention does one notice that

1. Contrary to what they are trying to make us believe, no specific tyrannosaur DNA markers were obtained from the supposed organic material. So we're not even certain this is t-rex tissue.

2. The proteins were not found intact--they had to crush the organic matter into a powder and splice together the proteins, like an Erector set.

3. Of the 7 proteins "discovered" only 3--yes, 3--of the 7 proteins were similar to that of chickens. One resembled a protein from a frog, another from a salamander, and the remaining two proteins are inconclusive. So really there is just as much evidence that tyrannosaurs are related to the lissamphibia! Yet that info is conveniently buried in the fine print at the bottom of the article.

4. Notice that the authors of the 'study' (which includes the infamous Horner) did not compare the alleged t-rex proteins to that of the crocodiles, the closest living relatives of dinosaurs. What if all 7 proteins could also be found in alligators? So much then for the t-rex is a chicken theory! But they don't dare do so. What would happen to all their fluffy tyrannosaur chicks then?

[thetyrantlizard]

And they recently discovered that the sexual maturation of dinosaurs was similar to crocs and different from that of birds. They also know that, unlike birds but like crocodiles, dinosaurs kept on growing larger as they grew older. Yet no dino-bird paleontologist mentions that All we hear is this nonsense about dinosaurs chirping in our backyards, or roasting in the oven. It is of note that most paleo-ornithologists, i.e. those who actually know a thing or two about birds, don't believe a word of the dino-bird propaganda.

[thetyrantlizard]

Look what tergiversations and deceit the dino-bird paleontologists perpetrated when Gigantoraptor, the giant oviraptor, was discovered. Just a few years ago they said that oviraptors were feathered and closely related to the ancestors of birds, or even birds themselves. Now that they find a 3000 pound oviraptor, they are now saying birds are descended from a different line of dinosaurs. But oviraptors are classified with the birds, according to their own cladistic scheme, under the maniraptora! But how can a hummingbird be descended from a 3000 pound 'bird'?

Now they want to clothe the gigantoraptor with a layer of feathers. How silly! There is a reason why elephants and rhinos, the biggest land mammals, have almost no fur--they would rapidly overheat if they had insulation. So why should gigantoraptor be an exception to the laws of physiology?

[thetyrantlizard]

Sorry for the rant, but I really prefer my dinosaurs scaly ;D They are all talking now about a Dinosaur Renaissance. What phooey. We probably know less now about dinosaurs than the paleontologists in the 1950s because the idea that dinosaurs are birds has so infiltrated all the branches of paleontology. It will take decades to sort out the mess. Mark my words, many of the most visible names in dinosaurology will be discredited. Starting with Horner

[Thorondor 33]

It just goes to show how dumb the paleontology world is nowadays.

[tomhet]

Go crocs

Seriously, the information is too fragmentary, I can't believe they are risking to look like fools if more evidence is discovered.

And what do you expect from Horner? He has gradually turned into a bitch.

[thetyrantlizard]

And since Horner has signed up for JPIV, wonder what horrors he will inflict upon impressionable young dino lovers next. His JP/// spinosaurus was miserably pathetic enough

[thetyrantlizard]

The late Ernst Mayr, the Darwin of the 20th century, stated conclusively that birds were not descended from dinosaurs. And Mayr studied birds in his youth. He attributes the superficial similarity of birds and theropod dinosaurs to parallelophyly, or that because birds and dinosaurs have the same archosaur ancestors they inherited similar genetic traits before the groups diverged. I'd take his word over Horner (who doesn't even have a degree, and is not an ornithologist) any day.

[thetyrantlizard]

I think I am a heresiarch of paleontology. I should have a heresy named after me ;D If Kiezel dropped by here he'd turn red.

[thetyrantlizard]

I assume some of you are amused at my eccentric insistence of using the name Brontosaurus instead of the politically correct apatosaurus. Here's an even bigger problem--there was a dinosaur discovered in 1892 named Manospondylus, which was based on a large vertebra. Unfortunately it turns out this vertebra actually belongs to a Tyrannosaurus rex, which was officially named later, in 1905. Under the laws of zoological nomenclature, therefore, Tyrannosaurus rex is an invalid name, and the correct scientific term for rexy is Manospondylus gigas.

Let's just see what happens if Horner decides to pull this stunt for JP4

[tomhet]

^^

An era comes to an end. The rex is not the rex

Hey wait a second, Horner doesn't have a degree?!

[TheOneCalledPara]

thetyrantlizard said:

I assume some of you are amused at my eccentric insistence of using the name Brontosaurus instead of the politically correct apatosaurus. Here's an even bigger problem--there was a dinosaur discovered in 1892 named Manospondylus, which was based on a large vertebra. Unfortunately it turns out this vertebra actually belongs to a Tyrannosaurus rex, which was officially named later, in 1905. Under the laws of zoological nomenclature, therefore, Tyrannosaurus rex is an invalid name, and the correct scientific term for rexy is Manospondylus gigas.

Let's just see what happens if Horner decides to pull this stunt for JP4

The name Manospondylus gigas just strikes fear into the hearts of millions, doesn't it? That is utterly ridiculous.

[izartist]

theonecalledpara said:

thetyrantlizard said:

I assume some of you are amused at my eccentric insistence of using the name Brontosaurus instead of the politically correct apatosaurus. Here's an even bigger problem--there was a dinosaur discovered in 1892 named Manospondylus, which was based on a large vertebra. Unfortunately it turns out this vertebra actually belongs to a Tyrannosaurus rex, which was officially named later, in 1905. Under the laws of zoological nomenclature, therefore, Tyrannosaurus rex is an invalid name, and the correct scientific term for rexy is Manospondylus gigas.

Let's just see what happens if Horner decides to pull this stunt for JP4

The name Manospondylus gigas just strikes fear into the hearts of millions, doesn't it? That is utterly ridiculous.

Billy, do you know what species that dinosaur is?

T-rex?

No, it's Manospondylus gigas.

Dude, what the hell is that, doesn't sound scary at all...