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09/19/2009 02:23:14 PM · #26 |
Current thinking has it that T. rex (and its ancestors) did not walk upright, but ran with the back horizontal and the tail extended backwards for balance.
Originally posted by Program Transcript:
Scientists say they have found a new species of dinosaur, unearthed in northern China. The creature is only about nine feet tall, but it has all the hallmark anatomy of the giant Tyrannosaurs rex: those puny little arms, the massive head at the jaws, the long hind legs. And that has thrown paleontologists for a loop because the prevailing wisdom was that those features slowly evolved as T. rex got bigger, but now finding these characteristics in the earlier, smaller versions is unexpected. The information was published in Science Express. That's the online edition of the journal Science.
And joining us here is, Paul Sereno, explorer-in-residence at the National Geographic Society. Dr. Sereno is also a paleontologist at the University of Chicago. Welcome back to SCIENCE FRIDAY, Dr. Sereno.
Dr. PAUL SERENO (Paleontologist, University of Chicago): Oh, thank you very much.
FLATOW: So it's nine feet tall.
Dr. SERENO: We say long.
FLATOW: Nine feet long, well of course, that's the way it runs out, right?
Dr. SERENO: Yeah, they're very bird-like, and we've made that mistake a couple of times, reconstructing them something more in our own likeness. But yeah, they have a horizontal back, and we measure tail-tip. Half of that's tail. So you're really only dealing with an animal that weighs about as much as a human, the average human, about 150 pounds, 60 kilograms, something like that. |
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09/19/2009 07:00:37 PM · #27 |
Hoax?
Therizinosaur: Ther / iz / no / saur |
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09/19/2009 07:09:49 PM · #28 |
Originally posted by Dr.Confuser:
Hoax?
Therizinosaur: Ther / iz / no / saur |
Ha, nice! :-D
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09/20/2009 02:04:59 AM · #29 |
Originally posted by JulietNN:
the waters receded during the dinosaurs time, so the land area got bigger and bigger. In Tucson and surrounding areas, we have dinosaurs that where land and sea findings. You have to remember the dinosaur period went on for a jolly long time! |
Apparently the skeleton was covered in ammonites. |
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09/20/2009 05:47:11 AM · #30 |
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09/20/2009 07:54:02 AM · #31 |
Originally posted by Art Roflmao:
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Nice photo, but I believe you pushed the HDR a little too much, giving it a cartoonish appearance..
;p |
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09/20/2009 11:38:30 AM · #32 |
Originally posted by Strikeslip:
Originally posted by Artifacts:
Originally posted by snaffles:
IMHO skulls are usually made of bone and pretty damn heavy and not too much edible stuff on em. My guess is the skull's buried nearby but farther down. |
You are in good company... there are paleontologists who believe that you are correct... especially the "further down" part, but NOT down deeper in the ground. |
But, but, but.... Wikipedia saaaays... "The feeding habits of Therizinosaurus are unknown, since no skull material has ever been found that could indicate its diet." ? |
You are also correct... Therizinosuarus didn't have much of a head at all. It had tiny little nuthin' teeth and it is remarkable that such a beast could sustain itself. But that still does not preclude the head being buried nearby.
However... I have my own theory as to why a headless skeleton of a land dinosaur was found so far out to sea. I carefully explained it to the paleontologists.
This dinosaur lived at the mouth of a great river delta that opened into the Cretaceous Inland Seaway. It dipped it's wimpy head underwater to munch on seaweed. That was a prized delicacy to this species. A meandering Plesiosaurus happened to be speeding by and instinctively munched off it's tiny submerged head as a pre-dinner snack. Then "Theri", as he was known to friends before his untimely demise, fell into the swift delta waters that swept him far out to sea.
Plesiosaurs and all other manner of carnivorous marine creatures share a commonly known condition called Theriobia - the extreme fear of headless Therizinosaurs. Paleopsychologists believe it is a deep seated phobia rooted within their instinctive knowledge that the end of the age of dinosaurs was at hand. A headless Therizinosaur is the physical manifestation that triggers that fear. That is why the rest of the dinosaur's remains were left untouched.
So the headless, bloated carcass of the giant beast was able to float undisturbed 60 miles into the sea. It decayed into a hideous, odoriferous mass that eventually sank to the bottom. Then, conveniently, volcanoes over a vast region simultaneously spewed out billions of tons of ash that settled to the bottom to cover Theri's pathetic remains.
And the rest is... welll... history.
Message edited by author 2009-09-20 11:51:03. |
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