Well... Ruby may be larger than Chomper, but it is hard to see how she could keep him safe... she has no teeth, no ability to really fight, and her only defense is running away...

Just because an animal doesn’t have teeth doesn’t mean it can’t bite. Trust me; a scarlet macaw nipped me on the forearm once. It wasn’t much more than an annoyed pinch, and the fact that I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt meant that the bite didn’t even pierce the skin, and yet I still had a substantial bruise on that arm for at least two weeks afterwards (I didn’t hold it against the macaw, though ). And while I can’t imagine a bite from Ruby would do much against a large sharptooth (though, for that matter, neither would one from Chomper), I have considerable respect for the jaw strength of any dinosaur that can pulverize a clam into a swallowable mouthful in about eight bites without the aid of teeth.

P.S. I am working on a mammoth post (more of a thesis, really) detailing my theories about Ruby, her home, family, species, and mission, that I will be posting here sometime in the near future (provided it doesn’t end up needing its own thread). Just thought I’d get this out of the way first.

I think that’s from LBT XIII, spoken by Cera to Littlefoot after he asks her if it’s good or bad that his plan of how to find Berry Valley makes sense to Loofah.

Paradise Bird:

I love prehistoric things.

Looks as if you like Spore, too. Same here. I’ve made over 220 creatures on my computer, and still more on the laptop my family uses to play the game (only the Creature Creator works on my computer; not the game ). From the looks of it, though, you’re an even more prolific Spore builder than me. I looked at some of your creations, and they’re really good! Especially the buildings and vehicles (I’m not so creative with those myself).

Rat_lady7: No need to keep anticipating my posts; I’ve already made my first contribution to the “General Land Before Time” section. Head on over there and check it out!

I wonder if several Paleontologists have been shown a screenshot of Ducky and her mother and asked, what sort of dino does she look the most like, and get what their opinions were?

That's a good idea, let's go find some paleontologists.

Sorry, I’m not a paleontologist, but all things considered, I’m probably the next best thing. For those of you who haven’t read my introduction in the Welcome Center, I’ve been reading up on dinosaurs and other extinct animals for as long as I can remember, and I take great pleasure in sharing that information.

Anyway, I can tell you for a fact that, regardless of whatever dinosaur the LBT filmmakers might have intended Ducky to be, she most closely resembles a Saurolophus. The combination of the large, broad bill and spike-shaped crest are the distinguishing characteristics. By comparison, Parasaurolophus had a shorter, narrower, less duck-like bill, and even short-crested species such as P. cyrtocristatus had crests that were curved and tubular, rather than straight and pointed. Curiously enough, Saurolophus is less closely related to Parasaurolophus and other crested hadrosaurs (lambeosaurines) than it is to crestless hadrosaurs (hadrosaurines) such as Anatotitan and Edmontosaurus (formerly Trachodon and Anatosaurus, respectively).

I seriously doubt that Ducky was ever originally intended to be a Parasaurolophus, especially since there are Parasaurolophus in the first movie (you don’t have to look as far as LBT IV). Early in the film, Littlefoot’s egg rolls down a dinosaur skeleton that clearly belongs to a Parasaurolophus, and later on, during the earthshake, a couple of living Parasaurolophus can be seen running by.

Nimrod: Don’t worry about not knowing about those dinosaurs; that’s what I’m here for ; to provide people with any prehistoric animal information they may want. Keep an eye out; I plan to address my first dinosaur-related question (the matter of Ducky's species) today.

Chomper: I’m not too concerned about using the emoticons too much; I’m worried about not using them enough or accidentally using them in the wrong context. It may take me a while to get the hang of using them. By the way, as long as I’m talking to you, just thought I’d mention; I love the quotes you have on your signature, especially this one:

I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed person.

Hilarious!

If you want to talk about Ruby on a thread she has her own thread at: http://z7.invisionfree.com/thegangoffive/i...opic=3324.40

Oh, I know. That’s where I was planning on posting it. The problem is, it’s already more of an essay than a post, and it’s not even finished yet! More importantly, while it centers around Ruby, it also branches out to explain a number of related issues, such as why her parents did not come to the Great Valley with her and why Red Claw is such a threat, all of which sort of mesh together to form what I believe to be a plausible backstory for Ruby. It will probably take quite a while to finish, but when it is complete, it may very well be among the longest posts ever made on this forum. (Or maybe I’m overestimating. Who knows?)

Kor:

In general, I think I liked the TV series better than the thirteenth movie (though both were somewhat overly “kiddified” for my tastes). My biggest complaint is, of course, the lack of an explanation for how Ruby and Chomper came to join the gang. However, I very much liked Ruby as a character, and she quickly became a favorite of mine. (I won’t talk much about her here, as I am currently preparing a virtual dissertation on her that I plan to post in the “Character Discussion” section, though it might end up needing its own topic.)

Besides the aforementioned cavernous plot hole, my greatest frustration with the series was the songs, most of which I found to be either too juvenile, too silly, or too frequently used. Had I made the series, I would have settled for one song per episode, rather than two. Ruby’s rendition of “Remembering” was probably my favorite original song (i.e., an original melody not recycled from a movie) from the series, and I liked its tune enough that I didn’t really mind when it was reused with different lyrics (I more or less hated the other songs with which this was done). “Feel So Happy” gets old real fast, and is rather cheesy in the first place (if someone started singing that in real life, I’d run for cover), and while I thought the phrase “oops-eeps” was kind of cute, I didn’t care for the song (or its melodic mimic, “My Way”). As for the reprises of movie songs, I was okay with most of them (though I thought they used “Adventuring” a little too much). Oh, and I liked the theme song, too. (I suppose it can also count as an "original song.")

I also didn’t like the new voices for Littlefoot, Mr. Thicknose, and numerous other returning characters. Littlefoot’s voice in particular sounded so overly youthful in comparison to its earlier incarnations that I couldn’t take him seriously as the “leader” of the gang anymore. (The redesign of his face that made him look as if he was using his cheeks to store tree sweets didn’t help.)

Contrary to what I may seem to be implying, there were things that I liked about the TV series. (Heck, it’s LBT, after all!) I somehow feel obliged to mention which episodes I liked the best and which ones I liked the least. Though, like Malte, I usually tend to be rather hesitant when it comes to superlatives and choosing favorites, I think I can make relatively comfortable choices in this case. “The Spooky Nighttime Adventure” was probably the episode I enjoyed the most (in any event, it’s the one I’ve watched the most), followed closely by “Through The Eyes Of A Spiketail.” I also liked “The Mysterious Tooth Crisis,” “The Star Day Celebration,” “The Meadow Of Jumping Waters,” “The Canyon Of Shiny Stones,” “March Of The Sand Creepers” (though, admittedly, the introduction of an English-speaking crustacean was a bit over-the-top weird), and parts of “The Cave Of Many Voices.” I can definitely say that my least favorite episode was “The Legend Of The Story Speakers,” followed by “The Big Longneck Test,” “The Amazing Threehorn Girl,” and “The Forbidden Friendship” (though there were a couple of things about the latter that I liked).

Hello again! (You didn’t think I’d forget about the rest of you, did ya’?)

Kor: I have indeed seen all of the TV episodes. I largely have landbeforetimelover to thank for that, as I originally downloaded several of them from his website. Usually, when I watch a TV or movie series, I prefer to view all of the installments in order. This was the case with the LBT TV series, until I found out (much to my dismay) that there is virtually no continuity in the series. At the time I made this discovery, the episode clips on LBTlover’s site wouldn’t play on my computer for some reason, so “The Hidden Canyon” (included on the LBT XIII DVD) was the first episode I watched. Afterwards, I installed a program on my computer that allowed me to watch the episodes I downloaded from The Land Before Time Funsite. Since then I have purchased all of the episodes on DVD (save for “The Big Longneck Test,” which isn’t included for some reason ).

Saft: It is a pleasure to meet people with such similar interests and perspectives to my own. I feel so much more comfortable when I can see eye-to-eye with the people I’m socializing with (not eye-to-eye literally, of course ).

Mumbling: Thank you for being so trusting. My vow of honesty mainly concerns the fact that when I compliment people, I suspect that I sometimes sound as if I’m flattering them, especially since I tend to use fancy-sounding words and vivid descriptions as part of my writing style. I just want to let people know that my compliments are not sugarcoated, and that I sincerely mean everything I say (except when I’m joking or being sarcastic, which I don’t generally do when I compliment people).

Petrie: Wow. Small world indeed. I don’t believe I’ve heard of this “serious discussion” section. Not that you can expect to see me there anytime soon. At the rate I write, it’ll probably take me months just to reach Junior level. (Of course, making incorrect predictions is something I excel at, so who knows?)

UPDATE: Well, it’s been one week since my introductory post, and shut my mouth, paint me green, and call me Spike, I’ve attained Junior status! What’d I tell ya? Sometimes I love being wrong!

action9000: If the “detailed” story you’re referring to is the one about how my interest in LBT became reignited, keep in mind that that’s just the abbreviated version. If and when I get around to posting the full story, it’ll be a whopper!

Nimrod: Thank you very much. Your open-mindedness is very reassuring. I was concerned that my ambitious and slightly self-depreciating attitude would cause people to find me annoying.

Hello there! I’m over three months late in introducing myself, and I apologize for that. I admit that I joined with little or no intention of actually posting, but have since decided that I want to contribute.

A bit about me: As of this July, I will be 21 years old. I am from Minnesota, but will say nothing that could be used to pinpoint my precise identity. I am extremely shy, and have seldom posted on the Internet before (announcing myself on this site is a bold move by my standards). I am, by nature, a perfectionist and a nitpicker; something I try to suppress when I am interacting with other people, to avoid irritating them. I am also mildly afflicted with Asperger Syndrome (I understand I am not the only GoF member to have this condition), though I am unsure of how much of my quirky and neurotic personality I can attribute to this. While I believe I can safely cite my autism as the reason for my general lack of social intuition, I don’t like using it as an excuse for my shortcomings (i.e., “Hey, I have Asperger’s, so take it easy on me”).

As I am currently demonstrating, I am a very copious writer. However, due to my perfectionism, it always takes me a long time to write out something the way I want to say it (one reason I rarely participate in forums). It doesn’t help that I am hopelessly absentminded, with a memory that you might call “tactless,” “paradoxical,” or “inconvenient”; that is, while I am very proficient at spontaneously recalling certain trivial information, I always seem to draw a blank whenever I need to remember something for a practical purpose (such as an exam).

I have been obsessed with dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals (and animals and nature in general) for my entire life. For this reason, the original Land Before Time was one of my favorite movies when I was young. My interest in the series has fluctuated immensely over the years, but at this point, I think I can safely say that it is higher than it has ever been before. This has been the case for about the past six months, prior to which I had not watched an LBT film in about seven years. Then, acting on an impulse, I obtained and viewed all thirteen movies over a period of a few weeks, after which I was still hungry for more. (Sometime I’ll post a more in-depth explanation in the “Tell Your Story About LBT” thread.) My search for further LBT material led me to this site, to which I have been making regular visits ever since.

Due to my fanatical love of dinosaurs (and science and nature in general), I am something of an expert on them. I keep as up-to-date as I can on the latest paleontological discoveries, and am always eager to share the knowledge I have accumulated. (I am something of a human equivalent of Mr. Thicknose, though my conversational skills are worryingly reminiscent of Guido’s.) While the Gang of Five is hardly a science blog, I have seen a number of discussions in which the posters indicate that they would appreciate the input of an authority on dinosaurs.

While I have no paleontology credentials, I feel that I’m as qualified as anyone to serve as the resident go-to guy for information on dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals (in any case, I have enough books on prehistory to fill a small library, so I have plenty of references with which to check my facts). Thus, I will do my best to contribute to topics in need of scientific advisement. I hope I am not giving off the impression that I am barging into this forum and promoting myself as a know-it-all; I simply enjoy discussing subjects of personal interest that I know a lot about, and as that knowledge may be helpful (or at least interesting) to some people on this forum, I feel that this is an opportunity for me to engage in something I enjoy doing, while at the same time benefitting others. That said, I will probably not post very often on this site, but will do my best to participate whenever and wherever I feel I have something to contribute.

As long as I am a member of this forum, I promise to be honest and respectful whenever I post. I will never intentionally offend anyone or speak ill of other people’s opinions (though I will most certainly disagree with some of them), and will always keep a cool head when I post. The last thing I want to do is to irritate or upset anyone. (Seriously, I really hate it when I offend people, especially inadvertently. I am a social klutz with terrible self-esteem and an overdeveloped sense of guilt: not a good combination.) Also, in regard to my scientific writing, please do not hesitate to let me know if you ever need me to define or clarify something that I have described in an overly “scientific” manner. (I usually try to explain scientific concepts in easily understandable terms, but then, my definition of “understandable” is probably not the same as everyone else’s.)

Okay...hopefully this introduction has not come off as a sympathy plea or an encumbrance of autobiographical trivia; I only wanted to inform (warn?) you what to expect from me. I am, in general, a nice guy (if eccentric, introverted, and insecure) with a sense of humor and a desire to make a positive difference in the world, and hopefully I can be an accepted and active member of this site.

(Holy buckets, that’s got to be the longest member introduction in GoF history! So much for “a bit about me”...)