Initiate Question-Firing

[StrutEggStealer]

^ he didn't have to quit science, just acknowledge his mistake and research like crazy to blow our minds with something new XDD

I feel so deflated about liopluerodon - that it's been shruken down. I have the WWD book, and all that footage of a massive Lio stalking those opthalmosauruses or those cryptocliduses... and now all for naught but i suppose that's still an impressive length. Dwarfed of course by that Shastasaurus and Mosasaurus.
Dinotopia reference - the mosasaurs represented in that film were basically massive, bulky crocs. And it was really more whale-like than anything.

I can imagine Pliosaur being one of the biggest^^ those things are massive - I also had a Torvo charry in a story that I eventually scrapped to be a story with humans not dinosaurs XDD

[Pangaea]

I feel so deflated about liopluerodon - that it's been shruken down. I have the WWD book, and all that footage of a massive Lio stalking those opthalmosauruses or those cryptocliduses... and now all for naught but i suppose that's still an impressive length.

Sorry to disappoint you like that. If it's any consolation, though, paleontologists have no way of knowing the maximum size of pliosaurs and many other prehistoric animals, or if there were any species out there that were bigger than the ones we know about. Maybe pliosaurs didn’t get any bigger than 40 feet, but maybe some did; we may never know. But even if they weren’t as massive as we thought in terms of body length, the fact remains that there are pliosaur skull and jaw fossils out there that suggest that at least some of these creatures had heads measuring 8–10 feet in length (nearly twice as long as the skull of any known T. rex); that’s pretty darn formidable. It's estimated that a pliosaur's skull accounted for about 17–20% of its total body length, though that assumes that giant pliosaurs had the same head-to-body ratio as smaller ones. And like you said, even a ~30 foot Liopleurodon would have been a monster, certainly the top predator of its environment.

Dinotopia reference - the mosasaurs represented in that film were basically massive, bulky crocs.

Yeah, it always bothered me that the Dinotopia miniseries portrayed mosasaurs so inaccurately. Ironically, though, paleontologists recently discovered a new species of mosasaur called Pannoniasaurus that lived in freshwater, measured 13–20 feet long as an adult, and may have had webbed feet or limblike flippers. It didn't look much like the deep-skulled, armor-plated brutes from Dinotopia, but it's nonetheless a striking coincidence. :blink:

And it was really more whale-like than anything.

Well, maybe somewhere between a toothed whale like an orca and a giant, seagoing Komodo dragon (though they looked a little like unarmored, flippered crocodiles). Mosasaurs were recently found to have tail flukes like whales (though vertically oriented like the tails of fish and ichthyosaurs), and they did give birth to live young. Many also had expandable jaws with extra rows of teeth on the roof of the mouth, like snakes, which would have allowed them to manipulate and swallow prey wider than their heads (A few later varieties, like Mosasaurus, developed jaws that were less flexible, but presumably gave them immensely powerful bites). It's also likely that they had forked tongues for detecting scents. They're extremely interesting creatures.

By the way, I found this on DeviantArt a few days ago. Maybe it's not that funny, but I couldn't help but chuckle at it, given how it reminded me of one of our recent discussions.

Sources:
http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/20...nster-mandible/
http://carnivoraforum.com?topic=9748338/1/
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/20...pecies_20121220
http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/20...-goronyosaurus/
http://www.oceansofkansas.com/Greatrep.html
http://www.oceansofkansas.com/RapidMosa.html

[StrutEggStealer]

It's perfectly fine^^ I'm glad that the facts were available, and please don't think you 'ruined my day and/or life with that news!' (O_o) I suppose the angle of paleontology is to have a good imagination^^

Ironically, though, paleontologists recently discovered a new species of mosasaur called Pannoniasaurus that lived in freshwater, measured 13–20 feet long as an adult, and may have had webbed feet or limblike flippers

Wow, that is awesome!! Kinda makes up for that, maybe even for the confusion of Zippo's species (that still irks me, even though Zippo Stenosaurus is my absolute favorite saurian in the films ) Because as I recall - I actually searched this one^^ - Stenosaurus is a slender, crocodilian-like creature, whereas Stenonychosaurus, which may have been more of what they were aiming toward, was a relative of the brainy Troodon.
Ah well, I still love the miniseries to TV series to death, even with its quirks

Well, maybe somewhere between a toothed whale like an orca and a giant, seagoing Komodo dragon (though they looked a little like unarmored, flippered crocodiles)

Bwahaha, I seriously had Zippo's voice in my head going "I hope you CHOKE on it!!" after his tail tip was bitten off at the temple XDD whew, if the mosasaurs were accurately protrayed, he'd have been screwed :blink:

Also, that comic was terrible... terribly funny

[Pangaea]

Wow, that is awesome!! Kinda makes up for that, maybe even for the confusion of Zippo's species (that still irks me, even though Zippo Stenosaurus is my absolute favorite saurian in the films ) Because as I recall - I actually searched this one^^ - Stenosaurus is a slender, crocodilian-like creature, whereas Stenonychosaurus, which may have been more of what they were aiming toward, was a relative of the brainy Troodon.

The croc's name is actually Steneosaurus (a lot of sites just get the spelling wrong ), though I wouldn't be surprised if the name "Stenosaurus" is floating around somewhere out there in the sea of biological nomenclature (most likely in the abyss of invalid names) some critter or other did get the nam "Stenosaurus"). You're right, though: Zippo was based on Stenonychosaurus inequalis, which is currently considered to be synonymous with Troodon (more or less the same story as Brontosaurus and Apatosaurus). However, from what I've heard, Stenonychosaurus may be split from Troodon and become its own genus again sometime in the near future. In any case, my best guess is that the miniseries just screwed up the pronunciation. (This sort of thing, unfortunately, happens more often than you might think: the awful 2009 "documentary" Clash of the Dinosaurs pronounced Parasaurolophus's name as "Parasaur-rofl-us". How ironic.)

Also, that comic was terrible... terribly funny

Pfft…If you liked that comic, here's
here's another one (albeit not Deinocheirus-related) that cracks me up every time I look at it.

[StrutEggStealer]

^^ ohnuuuu, not another Tarbosaurus!!

the awful 2009 "documentary" Clash of the Dinosaurs pronounced Parasaurolophus's name as "Parasaur-rofl-us".  How ironic.)

Ugh, they seriously did that? Nononono... wrong, wrong, wrong, altho the rofl pun made up for it

[Pangaea]

^^ ohnuuuu, not another Tarbosaurus!!

In light of a certain recent discovery, that comic might be even funnier (or at least more ironic) with a Deinocheirus substituted for the Therizinosaurus. Granted, Therizinosaurus's claws were much larger, and it is better known for them, so perhaps it suits the punchline better. Not that it matters; as it is it's one of my favorite comics featuring dinosaurs I've ever seen.

the awful 2009 "documentary" Clash of the Dinosaurs pronounced Parasaurolophus's name as "Parasaur-rofl-us". How ironic.)

Ugh, they seriously did that? Nononono... wrong, wrong, wrong, altho the rofl pun made up for it

If you think that's bad, that’s far from the worst of it. They also portrayed it as being able to defend itself using weaponized infrasound (basically, producing low-frequency sound that caused physical damage to its predators, even knocking them down); kind of a cool idea, but extremely unlikely and with absolutely no evidence for it (and that’s just one of many implausible, inaccurate, and overly theatrical depictions of dinosaur behavior and biology in the show).

Worst of all, Clash of the Dinosaurs infamously quote-mined a sauropod expert, Matt Wedel, who was one of the paleontologists they consulted when making the film. They asked him to talk about the sacro-lumbar expansion, a swelling in the hip vertebrae of sauropods that was once thought to house a sort of secondary brain (this was back when people believed that dinosaur brains were too pathetically tiny to control their whole bodies). What Wedel said in the interview was something along the lines of: “Sauropods had a swelling in the spinal cord near the pelvis. At one time it was thought that this functioned as a second brain to control the hind legs and tail, but this was incorrect.” But by the time Clash of the Dinosaurs aired on the Discovery Channel, when Wedel appeared onscreen as one of the talking heads, the filmmakers had cut the segment like this: “Sauropods had a swelling in the spinal cord near the pelvis.
[size0]At one time it was thought that this functioned as a second brain to control the hind legs and tail
[size0], but this was incorrect.”



So basically, these people not only presented a long-discredited and completely inaccurate theory as scientific fact, when the expert they hired to talk about it on camera told them it wasn’t so, but they made that scientist look like he endorsed it. That goes beyond inaccuracy; it’s outright unethical. (Oh, and did I mention that they also misspelled his name and ignored pretty much all the information he gave them for their CGI sequences of sauropods? )

After complaints from a rightfully furious Wedel, Discovery had the clip removed for subsequent airings of the show and the DVD release, but Clash of the Dinosaurs’ reputation will forever be synonymous with one of the greatest dinosaur “documentary” scandals ever committed.

Sources:
http://svpow.com/2009/12/15/lies-damned-li...-the-dinosaurs/
http://svpow.com/2009/12/17/clash-of-the-d...honest-editing/

[StrutEggStealer]

What Wedel said in the interview was something along the lines of: “Sauropods had a swelling in the spinal cord near the pelvis. At one time it was thought that this functioned as a second brain to control the hind legs and tail, but this was incorrect.”

“Sauropods had a swelling in the spinal cord near the pelvis.
[size0]At one time it was thought that this functioned as a second brain to control the hind legs and tail
[size0], but this was incorrect.”

That is so unprofessional, not to mention disrespectful! What exactly did they gain from editing it like that? Nothing! And like you said, their documentary flopped, too
Buh, insolent, unprofessional, disrespectful... grrrr

[Pangaea]

That is so unprofessional, not to mention disrespectful! What exactly did they gain from editing it like that? Nothing!

Exactly my thoughts!

Okay…in the interests of returning to the intended purpose of this thread (and hopefully changing to a happier topic), I should probably ask another actual question.

What are your favorite present-day animals? Or, if you're like me and can't name them all or narrow it down, what are some present-day animals you particularly like that you can think of right now? :

[StrutEggStealer]

Lol certainly
Favorite animals would be the misfits, or at least what I consider misfits:

Reptiles - especially those of the snake persuasion, and I also like geckos

Lagomorphs - especially the wild hares. Redwaaaalll!

Insects - butterflies, derp (everything else wants to eat you )

Arachnids - not too particularly fond of this group but I like crab- and those of the argiope tendency, and orb weavers... I'm also leaning towards funnel web freaks since I'm writing a Ferngully fanfiction  involving them (and doing my best not to scream in absolute terror! H. Formidibilis)

Felines - too many to count, but I do like melanic leopards

Canids - foxes, mostly. I suppose coyotes and wolves as well

Avians - those in parentheses I tend to like more out of the family group Corvids (Am. Crows and Ravens), Cranes (Whooping), Owls (Great Horned and Screech), Hawks (Red-tail) Falcons (Peregrine, ultimate ftw to the Cheetah, lol) Eagles (Golden) and Ospreys. I also like ostriches and the big birds; a Sesame street reference and a Struthiomimus one at the same time :

Marsupials - I find the Virginia Opossum to be extremely cute, especially when it's only a few days old and left gumming your wrist :3 koalas = must love, and pademelons are unique; also Red kangaroos seriously kick tail

General Mammals - I like rats and mice - Secret of NIMH helped me with that, lol
Aye-Ayes are also incredibly lovable, same with Bush Babies and lemurs, especially the Ring-tailed and Sifakas. I'm not particularly fond of apes or primates, but I do love marmosets and tamarins - tiny, cute, chittering things :3

And lastly, Bats - flying foxes such as the Black and Red Flying Fox Black Flying Fox and Little Red Flying Fox

... I believe that's all :3

[StrutEggStealer]

Extreme BUMP!! Lol
This has been hidden in the shadows for too long, now... something must be done :blink:
Feel free to ask me anything... just don't put me in an interrogation room O_o

[Drake]

Favorite genre and why that genre?

[Ducky123]

What's ya favourite colour? :

[StrutEggStealer]

@Drake: honestly, I have too many favorite genres. For music, I'm contented with classical, celtic, rock, hip-hip, pop, some forms of rap too. Movies and books, I'm definitely into the fantasy genre because it appeals to me. It puts me into a peaceful, creative state of mind
Music, too. I'm very musically-oriented.

@Ducky: My favorite color is periwinkle blue :3

[Ducky123]

Do you want to have children someday? If yes how many?

[StrutEggStealer]

Well, at this point I'm saying maybe. I would like to get married someday, it's just the matter of finding the right guy
I most certinaly want children!!
I'd say four or five children. Maybe six

[Ducky123]

I may suggest you to marry Ozzy having 5 kids named Littlefoot, Cera, Ducky, Petrie and Spike  
Nah  

What subject is/was your favourite in school?

[StrutEggStealer]

Ozzy? Whut? Strut's more my style
lol what about Ruby? I like the name Ruby

Favorite subject(s) are creative writing, art, childhood theory and curriculum, and SCIENCE!!! Seriously, I love science; I am such a huge science-nut I would organize my nieces to test hypotheses on the best means of melting an ice block and have them test variables

[MurMur]

Do you have a dinosaur persona ("dinosona")?
If yes, what does it look like?
If no, then I can create one for you, if you wish.

[StrutEggStealer]

I do have a dinosona, you can see her in Mine FanArt gallery here, her info is there as well :3
Funny since she's also an OC, as well as a dinosona - I think I need to revamp my definition of '-sonas' XDD
Here

But if you want to try your hand at drawing her, by all means do so! I love receiving fanart!

[MurMur]

Well, I wanted to create a new character, not to draw an existing one. I love creating these dinosonas. Anyway, thanks for your answer. But if you decide to have a second dinosona, then I'd be glad to help.