paleontology

[pliant cedar]

has jack horner lost his career

[arctic crane]

One day I'll see Graham Hancock then......

[bright veldt]

I did used to joke that, if I didn't know any better, I'd say the spino ecology papers that kept arguing back and forth were done intentionally because they know the journals eat it up.

[hushed fossil]

Hopefully. I doubt it tho

[ancient crystal]

Hasn't really had one for a while now if you ask me, he's just sort of there

[winter marsh]

I actually LOVED when Spicomellus got some time to shine, cuz previously it had like 2 paleoarts for smth that actually looked cool. An actually underdog getting some time on the hall of fame is always good

[pliant cedar]

he is still at a uni

[ancient crystal]

The day you meet Graham Hancock is the day you mysteriously happen across a new human skeleton

[hushed fossil]

He will receive karma someday

[arctic crane]

Jack horner

[pliant cedar]

also imo a very important discovery regarding ankylosaur ancestry

[winter marsh]

I love this new spino too, but dont get me wrong, I think the porcupine gremlin is way more interesting and deserved more

[foggy river]

Unfortunately what people think doesn’t beat what makes money

[bright veldt]

which is still being figured out btw, I remember some debate that might continue on that in the future

[arctic crane]

Sure that's understandable unfortunately that's not how it works. Mega theropods will always get the attention nothing is going to change that

[winter marsh]

dinosaurs become oil, oil makes money, US invests in paleontology, profit (ik most of oil actually comes from trees and microorganisms but you get the joke)

[pliant cedar]

very cool discovery, kinda a shame that it fell out of the limelight

where could i follow this discovery paper wise 🤔

[bright veldt]

There's been suspicions that the typical thyreophoran split between stegos and ankies is more complex, and that there might be a third large group. Spicomellus, Jakapil, Parankylosaurs all made things more complicated.

[undone rapids]

Atleast the fauna living with them also gets some spotlight. I hope the kenyan abeli does the same for more of Late Cret Africa

[winter marsh]

big new theropod that totally wrecks tyrannosaurus

[undone rapids]

With Jakapil there are even people that think it might be more of a ceratopsian, which would be really cool. Also we don't have even a single good south american cret stegosaur yet, our understanding is really gonna shift alot in the next few decades probably

[ancient crystal]

I think the last thing I'll say is this. If my field can't get funding despite actual, real, very promising economic benefits from fisheries and aquaculture, there isn't a chance in all the universe that paleo will have the funding to do whatever they so please without invoking the names of popular "overrated" species

[undone rapids]

Like the sauropods there are quite different from each other according to the author, so That'll be interesting to see. Also the crocs

[winter marsh]

atp just throw 25 spinosaurus species at me and ill tank it like a champ if it means actually valorizing other species and making more discoveries

[undone rapids]

There's a new spino coming from Brazil and Thailand respectively.

[arctic crane]

Don't get me wrong by the way I love mega theropods, I went to school to study predation and its role in ecology. But I like to study all animals if I can

[queen oar]

broskies really picked a Opisthocoelicaudia and just edited it slightly to look different 💔

[winter marsh]

W tbh, most of our fossils get stolen anyways so I am kinda skeptical about this one but maybe it wont be like the other 4 or 5 stolen, actually cool fossils from here (Brazil)

[undone rapids]

Everything there is just an edit, The abeli is just majung with a different skull and longer legs. Mid sized abeli is just Auca

[queen oar]

yup. It's mid 💔 💔 💔

[undone rapids]

Well not stolen, but there was another spino specimen that got burned in that museum fire

[queen oar]

Oxalaia and a supposed " Spinosaurus sp. " according to some researchers. Although, not described.

[undone rapids]

That's the sereno one, this is smaller and has(well had) similarities to earlier megalosaurids(Wrong image and 1 min CD...)

[winter marsh]

Oxalaia and some other dinos. Interestingly, I think a fossil of a dinosaur named Aratasaurus (which roughly translates to Fire lizard) survived the fire

[queen oar]

Aratasaurus and some of the remains of... I forgot that guy? Who has like a massive identity crisis and has blood vessels from the leg preserved???

[winter marsh]

idk really

[queen oar]

Santanaraptor!!! That f#cker!

[winter marsh]

oh yeah the suppose T. rex grandpa lol

[queen oar]

You wanna know the crazy thing? From what I remember that guy has bald skin? Like literally just smooth skin

[winter marsh]

idk much about that guy tbh

[queen oar]

Would you pet a Bald Tyrannosaur? It's like a Sphynx Cat with extra steps

[marsh tapir]

**Let us please remain on the topic of Paleontology on this channel.

As much as I understand how the conversation got here, I'd like to highlight that conversations political in nature would not be suitable for this server**

#rules

If you have any questions or concerns on this instruction, reach out to @feral crane

I'd also strongly recommend reviewing the channel guidelines in it's pinned messages.

[ancient crystal]

Mods, why is the channel using the american spelling of paleontology when sometimes it uses the other spelling? (I can't say normal spelling because I'm an american and as such its not normal to me)

This isn't me trying to make an underhanded jab at this being a paleo-only channel, I'm actually curious and I'm pretty sure its not Matt or Jiggy making those changes.

[arctic crane]

When you guys eventually have to make a new thing on a different site after discord dies in a few weeks maybe consider a "paleontology and natural science" page

[ancient crystal]

I'm actually not sure if paleontology is an Americanism or not, but I know I've seen this channel named Palaeontology

[winter marsh]

...---...

[marsh tapir]

It has been this way ever since I can remember, as I misspelled the word once many years ago and that created a decent amount stir in chat. Nothing like a bit of embarrassment to prompt thorough research on the word and a very vivid memory on it.

I can bring that question to the team, nonetheless. If I happen to discover whether it was changed and if yes, why, I'll let you know.

[ancient crystal]

Thank you, I was just curious since I remember there being some obvious tom foolery with the channel on the back end a while ago (differently spelled name, being shifted into a different spot in the discussion category)

[wind prairie]

are they the same structures?

[ancient crystal]

Wouldn't be surprised if they were tbh

[wind prairie]

if so, hilarious implications for the adult

[balmy oyster]

The spikes on haolong were said to be “cornified skin” which is different to birds pin feathers

[ancient crystal]

Also, apocalyptic meteor aside, I find it really funny that the dinosaurs that assumedly more or less were fully functional as hatchlings and didn't require all that much parental care died out whilst the dinosaurs that start life like this thrived

[stiff osprey]

the bristles on Haolong are very sparse, they wouldn't form much of a coat at all

[wind prairie]

whatever the case
what is their purpose 🥀 it's so weird

[thorn grove]

looks cool

[winter marsh]

not be tasty

[ancient crystal]

Honestly, predator defense is a pretty solid guess

[pliant cedar]

looking cool
if i were a theropod id be saying 'yo that's sick as heck dude' instead of being hungry

[charred hearth]

would any dinosaur be built like muscular tanks ( using hippos as a example )

[winter marsh]

I mean, even being less swallowable is a good defense mechanism. Just look at fish. Some have spiky back fins and even toxic spurs on their backs just so they are harder to be swallowed and have a chance to escape (what ends up happening is both of them die but we dont talk about that)

[wind prairie]

were they really that sharp
I know it's a meme with psittacosaurus but is this really any different

[ancient crystal]

Yeah that was sort of the line of thinking I had.

A little different of course because dinosaurs weren't really gape limited predators, but any way to make the act of consuming you more unpleasant is going to be effective in curbing predation on a generational timescale

[wind prairie]

also if they're not feathers this thing has defensive hedgehog bristles into adulthood too which just seems weird lol

[ancient crystal]

Don't have to really be sharp, just rigid

[wind prairie]

could they have gotten longer and harder as they grew like the quills in porcupines?

[arctic crane]

Never underestimate the defensive potential of being annoying to eat

[winter marsh]

I am not lol. I actually encourage being bad to eat btw

[fossil ingot]

Brazilian Spinosaurine>Oxalaia tbh

[ancient crystal]

https://giphy.com/gifs/theshadowsfx-HqjVFANNxH0lUxF2yN

[winter marsh]

gang...

[ancient crystal]

Oxalaia is cooler because it shares a fate with spinosaurus holotype

[winter marsh]

[fossil ingot]

It has Better Material
Tibia and basically Complete Arm and a bit more
The Best Part is that its Tibia Appears on the Mirabilis Supplemental Material

Evidence of bird-like foot function in Tyrannosaurus https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article/13/2/252139/480521/Evidence-of-bird-like-foot-function-in <@&568397797930303502>

[arctic crane]

Spinosauridae try not to blow up or burn challenge

[outer tusk]

it doesn't have a complete arm just fyi

[fossil ingot]

I know
Has the Ulna, Half of the First Part of the Arm
Its Mainly the "Palm" of the Hand thats missing
But that shouldn't be hard to reconstruct
Which is why I said "basically"

[arctic crane]

What other animals from the farak formation have we found? I know some carcharodontosaur and abelisaur material

[arctic crane]

Bahariasaurus, Rebbachisaurus, Aegyptosaurus, and spinosaurus are the dino material I was able to find
Fortignathus a crocodylomorph from there.

I heard that they found carcharodontosaur and pterosaur material there recently

[ashen wedge]

How muscular are hippos yet they still are fat…. But I guess Motto Motto has his types

[undone rapids]

Sauropods it seems. They've mentioned things like some armourless crocs and big fishes but dunno if those are from farak

The carcha is a good skeleton with skull, abelisaur material doesn't seem to be special

[arctic crane]

I saw at least two sauropods and fortignathus. Big fish make sense I guess there was some because of spinosaurus but it's good to have it confirmed

Oh good carcha material is hard to find. Good news

[ancient crystal]

On the topic of rex getting all the research https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article/13/2/252139/480521/Evidence-of-bird-like-foot-function-in

[little mauve]

You see the bigger the rex got the smaller the prey, until it was just eating eggs at max sizes and didn't have to chase anything

[harsh forge]

the biggest rexes eventually stop moving and develop photosynthesis, although that makes them too similar to plants and get turned into edmontosaurus fodder

[little mauve]

https://tenor.com/view/it's-the-circle-of-lifei-b99-q-hindi-kulfy-gif-11331041475612644080

[balmy oyster]

This is just the scrapped plan for the Shin Godzilla movie

[runic heart]

Some kind of pterosaur from The Dinosaurs

[tender dove]

Might be Caelestiventus

Gemini says it's Caelestiventus, but I would want a 2nd hand confirmation just to make sure it's not wrong

[arctic crane]

I've never thought about them having fluffy wing membranes before

[ancient crystal]

The same gemini that uninstalls itself if it fails to do what you ask enough times? That gemini?

[tender dove]

I meant Gemini as in the AI you can talk to and ask questions

[arctic crane]

Pterosaurs have a bird like flow through respiratory system right?

[charred hearth]

is this the most ACCURATE utah depiction?

[ancient crystal]

Yeah, so the same gemini

[tender dove]

That's why I'd want someone else to conform if it's Caelestiventus or not, because Gemini could be wrong

[ancient crystal]

I'm highlighting that its a useless machine that can't be trusted

[arctic crane]

Loathed as I am to agree with the abominable intelligence it does kinda look like caelestivtus. We might not know for sure until the doc comes out

[tender dove]

I have a different experience, but because you're against its use, I will not share any information it has shared with me

[little mauve]

Yes, it's probably basal to ornithodirans and possibly archosaurs in general

[arctic crane]

Ah ok so they don't have to take in o2 through their wings like bats. Gotcha thanks

[ancient crystal]

I am against its very existence and would cast it and its perpetrators into hellfire if given the chance

[arctic crane]

Ai is the devil

[wind prairie]

idk but the feathering looks way too thick tbh
reminds me of BoB utah in that way

[little mauve]

There's an anurognathid with pycnofibers preserved on its wings, some others too I'm pretty sure. Hard to track down specimens because google is useless now

[ancient crystal]

The humble google scholar:

[wind prairie]

here's an idea
favorite pterosaur, but no cretaceous ones allowed

[arctic crane]

lol unfortunately true about Google.

That makes sense though having feathers on their wings would protect them from sunburn and scales would probably be too heavy to fly.

[tender dove]

Jeholopterus

[ancient crystal]

Pterodactyl

[queen oar]

But I like Tapejarinis

[little mauve]

Dimorphodon

[arctic crane]

Darwinopterus

[wind prairie]

consider Dearc, not for its size, but for its weird forward facing hands

[little mauve]

They'd for sure need insulation at most sizes as well

Kupengopterus is cool, earliest opposable thumbs in the fossil record

[arctic crane]

True, but bad have little to no fir on their wings despite being tiny. That's actually why bats mostly live in warmer areas

[arctic crane]

My Jurassic boy

[little mauve]

Bats also have brown adipose tissue for non-shivering thermogenesis, pterosaurs wouldn't have had that. There's also thermoregulatory significance to bat wings like you mentioned that also probably doesn't apply to pterosaurs. Bats can go into torpor or hibernation too under some circumstances, it's possible pterosaurs did as we do find torpor in crocs and birds

[ancient crystal]

https://tenor.com/view/ark-survival-dino-hunt-2-gif-6991931614649227001

[little mauve]

Turok rules

[balmy oyster]

No

[charred hearth]

damn.

[tender dove]

What is a more accurate depiction?

[balmy oyster]

Anything that doesn’t turn it into a snowy owl.

[charred hearth]

hows prehestoric kingdoms?

[tender dove]

You're saying this utah has too many feathers?

[arctic crane]

Pterosaurs were probably warm blooded right? But ya flying animals have to deal with a lot of annoying thermoregulation stuff lol. I could see that being a secondary function of their crests actually to get rid of excess heat while the fiber keeps them warm and protect from the sun. But fibers on their wings makes sense

I've never thought about torpor in dinos or pterosaurs though that's in interesting thought

[ancient crystal]

This is an old model and a little unfair to use

[charred hearth]

oh, whats the new model?

[little mauve]

They were definitely warm blooded, multiple lines of evidence point that way. The crest would definitely add significant surface area to the body in certain groups, thats a good radiator. I wonder if there's a correlation between climate and crest size potentially. Tapejarids in the tropics spring to mind.

[ancient crystal]

Unreleased and in progress.

But this is like the model they used for the tech demo back in like 2015 or whatever it was

[little mauve]

Torpor makes sense for a lot of dinosaurs, especially in stressed or polar environments. We know they did well in stressed ecosystems, especially for how large they are.

[arctic crane]

Might be interesting to look into. Thall was from south America right I imagine Cretaceous South America was pretty warm

I always forget about torpor when hibernation gets all the limelight

[charred hearth]

how about pt utah?

why does utah outmog achillo so bad

[fossil ingot]

This is Utah with its Old Posture
But Achillo is like bit over 6m
PT Utah is 6m compared to Irl Utah's 5m

[charred hearth]

???

[little mauve]

Crocodiles can aestivate as well, which is a dormancy response to heat. I think all are possible for dinosaurs especially those with lower to intermediate metabolisms

[fossil ingot]

Tbf Utah has a 20% upsize xd
Not all the POT Playables are oversized and when they are is not THAT extreme
Achillo just takes it to the exteme with a other very few

[charred hearth]

now that thal is fixed, achillo has the biggest upsize, right?

[arctic crane]

I wonder if there were any examples of secondary cold-bloodedness in dinosaurs. That would be an evolutionary first for me

[little mauve]

Crocs are probably secondarily cold blooded, theres some evidence for it in dinosaurs. I wouldn't be surprised

[fossil ingot]

Probably

[full lagoon]

Thal shows that more realistic sizes can work too

[arctic crane]

That makes sense given their lifestyle actually. Do you know if sebecids were warmblooded?

[little mauve]

No, ectothermic https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018223002857

[arctic crane]

Interesting

[little mauve]

Sphenosuchians represent the ancestral grade of crocodylomorphs and they were probably warm blooded

Honestly croc metabolisms were probably all over the place throughout their diversity, we just have ectotherms remaining, it was probably similar for dinosaurs

[arctic crane]

Pseudosuchia is such a diverse group and so is dinosauria. I definitely think we'd see all manner of metabolisms among them

[wooden bluff]

Is it late to post my spino?

[arctic crane]

https://www.sci.news/paleontology/dasosaurus-tocantinensis-14577.html

[little mauve]

Agreed, thats what the evidence supports too

[balmy oyster]

This is randomdinos

[charred hearth]

@stiff osprey is this you

[stiff osprey]

looks like my spino with longer legs yeah

although mine is largely traced off the sereno scan as well

[wooden bluff]

I used random's spino for the pose, the sail shape and to add the extra caudal up to 56

[opaque kayak]

https://tenor.com/view/black-beard-peak-writing-black-beard-marshal-d-teach-peak-writing-barba-negra-gif-5446515270440960312

[balmy oyster]

Tbf who wouldn’t use the sereno scan (or any scan for that matter)

[ancient crystal]

David Peters

[queen oar]

The Creature

[arctic crane]

Some species of birds like golden and wedge tailed eagles can hunt prey larger than themselves and some birds hunt vertebrate prey on the wing.
I wonder if some pterosaurs did too

[ancient crystal]

No real description, dentary got downsized, otherwise the same as all the other large carcharodontosaurs

Its not been a good time for giga

[charred hearth]

also isnt it potentially gonna get kicked out of the big 3?

[ancient crystal]

Also that spinosaurus edit is frying me

[ancient crystal]

Gonna? It already has afaik.

There's a very real possibility the big three end up all being Tyrannosaurus/arbitrary sister taxa to Tyrannosaurus in the future

[charred hearth]

whats the possibility that zhu replaces giga

[balmy oyster]

It pretty much already has.

Even ignoring suecheng I think msnm/nhmuk spino get a few hundred kg more than giga holotype

[charred hearth]

so whats the current big 3? rex, zhu and spino?

[stiff osprey]

if we're using nhmuk spino it only seems fair to use dentary giga as well

but then there's the mapusaurus rabbit hole and t.mcdonalds

[ancient crystal]

Make big spoon its own species and formally lump tarbo with tyrannosaurus, now spino and tyranno have three species and giga has a poorly described holotype and a chin and I am a very happy man

[charred hearth]

whats tarbos current size, 7 tons? i heard it got upscaled

[balmy oyster]

Yes but nhmuk isn’t either giant OR the same size

There’s no doubt that it’s something considerably larger than the “neotype”

[charred hearth]

is there ever a possibility of a total Tyrannosaurini takeover in the big 3

[undone rapids]

If there's a bigger tarbo or some other tyranno described then yeah

[balmy oyster]

We can always find more of mcraeensis

[runic heart]

I know tylosaurus has a slightly more slender head than mosasaurus, but would they actually have looked much different in the flesh?

[charred hearth]

rex went from the smallest of the big 3, to the biggest, and now its whole family is in it ( if we get a larger tarbo )

[arctic crane]

Poor giga it was treated as this trump card that would finally allow 4th graders to beat their friends that always is a Trex when they play dinos. Not it's just another dumb apex predator

[charred hearth]

did giga ever get to take 1st place or has it always been spino or rex

[ancient crystal]

I propose we all go out with a shovel each and excavate the entire American west in search of more mcraeensis

[undone rapids]

Giga's holotype was always smaller than Sue tbh, big chin can just have similar sized estimates

[ancient crystal]

Deserved for being the trump card nuisance classmates would wave in my face

I knew my guy would come out on top, always bet on Tyrannosaurus

[undone rapids]

There's one right under the hollywood sign i just know it

[charred hearth]

place ur bets on the next big 3

rex, zhu, spino

rex, zhu, tarbo

rex, zhu, mcraeensis

rex, zhu, new tyrannosaurini

[ancient crystal]

Rex, zhu, mcraeensis, and tarbo in fourth

Absolute peak

[undone rapids]

I hope we find some big alioramin, they're cool

[arctic crane]

Good to know that that was a universal experience lol

[arctic crane]

Hell ya. Any more alioramids would be awesome

[undone rapids]

Like rex, tarbo, zhuch are basically the same thingie, alios have a pretty cool skull. And I'm still holding out hope that they'll end up having bigger arms like proceratosaurs

[ancient crystal]

The silent fury 6 year old venator felt anytime he read anti-tyrannosaurus nonsense in those crappy early 2000s dinosaur picture books was immeasurable

[charred hearth]

whats the big 3 sauropods

[arctic crane]

That one chapter in dinotopia must have traumatized you lol

[charred hearth]

argentinasaurus is first, then whos the 2nd and 3rd?

[ancient crystal]

I remember throwing my copy of Who Would Win: T. rex vs Velociraptor out of the car window on the way home from school

[thorn grove]

arg's 2 other species of course

[charred hearth]

greedy greedy arg

[stiff osprey]

realistically it would be argent, bruhath, and maraapuni but like if you want real animals

[arctic crane]

I warmed to dromaeosaurids over the years, but as a little kid the Jurassic Park version and how you get treated them made me hate them

[charred hearth]

suprised patagotitan isnt even there

[stiff osprey]

this would be very surprising since it is there

[charred hearth]

not everyone has eyes that can see, my pet saltasaurus is using its working eyeballs for me

[stiff osprey]

i do notice i missed the price river titanosauriform and argent is undersized masswise (it was accurate for the time)

[charred hearth]

random, do you have your updated and most recent alamo and rex size comparison?

[ancient crystal]

Argent got BIGGER?

[thorn grove]

why is arg so frickin fat

[stiff osprey]

i do not have an up to date alamo no

@ancient crystal we did a little trolling

[charred hearth]

megalodon, rex and arg are always finding new ways to get upsizes...

[ancient crystal]

I love argentinosaurus, but even I am appalled

[thorn grove]

Argentinosaurus stays winning

[stiff osprey]

that's patagotitan in front

[charred hearth]

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1276238300851474432/1377589015175495710/A58AEF3D-DEB9-40AF-92EF-BFD251CAE213.gif

[thorn grove]

is the Cf. Argentinosaurus material from Candaleros still bigger than the holotype

[stiff osprey]

not with this reconstruction no

...not because the cf.argent got smaller, but because the holotype outweighs even that

[arctic crane]

What evolutionary pressures drove those things to get that big

[charred hearth]

how big is arg? 80 tons or something? saying how its undersized in the image

[ancient crystal]

They really didn't like being eaten

[thorn grove]

food

[charred hearth]

vibes

[arctic crane]

Both good reasons I guess

[little mauve]

The neck increases the profile surface area and feeding envelope by a large amount but is only 15-20% of the animals total mass. They're enormous for sure but it's kind of deceptive how their mass is actually distributed

[runic heart]

How much extra forehead tissue is generally acceptable as realistic for a sauropod? And is it different for each group?

[arctic crane]

I've heard different theories about the long neck. The obvious one is that it let them eat from taller plants than most ornithopods, or that they could forage in a larger area without walking therefore saving energy, or that it was a counterbalance

[little mauve]

Araucariaceae conifers start becoming very widely distributed in the earliest Jurassic very rapidly and very large high browsing sauropods show up immediately after. I think high browsing was an exploitable niche but it wasn't necessarily competition that drove them to it. Sauropods successfully occupied low-browsing and grazing niches as well throughout their evolution alongside ornithiscians of various types

Stationary feeding i think is likely for both high browsers and low browsers, the neck certainly helps with that. It's also a tremendous radiator and increase in surface area

[arctic crane]

I'm sure like most things in nature there were many reasons to evolve that way. Display and thermo regulations were probably also a factor like they always seem to be lol

[little mauve]

Thermal management seems very likely to me. Display who knows.

[charred hearth]

https://x.com/i/status/2026325192138461533

Kelenken32 (@euyartoa21)

Honestly, despite 2020s being shitty decade in my opinion. I think it’s been great decade for paleontology discovery and research. (Interestingly lot more ornithischian discovery news have been popping more than theropods I seen)

X · Feb 24, 2026, 3:55 PM

[thorn grove]

feet

[little mauve]

Fwiw as well we have evidence of some pretty hefty neotheropods already in the Hettangian so predation was certainly driving size increase in sauropods from the very beginning

[queen oar]

I wonder if one day we'll get to see a size chart that doesn't have " Dinosaur something indet. ( single %ss vertebra 💀 ) "

[charred hearth]

A tyrannosauridae size chart

[queen oar]

I'll be honest, at that point just make a " Honorable Mentions " version of any size chart lol

[thorn grove]

There's that big femur from Magnapaulia's formation that's roughly Tarbo sized

[ancient crystal]

Great decade so far for paleo, just about the most abominable 6 years possible in every other way

[wind prairie]

now I'm insane and we need to rediscover Stoyanow's pterosaur, and also find more pachycephalosaurus and therizinosaurus material

[arctic crane]

I agree that becoming so big that being hunted was a Herculean task was probably a part of it

[queen oar]

a skeleton preferrably, for the Pachycephalosaurus

[ancient crystal]

Sentenced to liking an obscure pterosaur only known from a 1930s NY Times article

[wind prairie]

yep 😭 I'm officially cursed, again.

[ancient crystal]

How do you think Cryptstoyanowspterosaurtyrannus will feel about you double dipping curses?

[wind prairie]

the beast says its curse is more real than the prospect of liking a pterosaur and it's not threatened

[ancient crystal]

Anyway, I have an assignment that's due in 20 minutes and a roommate to murder, night y'all

[wind prairie]

but GENUINELY CAN WE COMPREHEND THIS FOR A SECOND

he was a serial killer... who bragged about killin people... and he professed and confessed to be a DEMON

[opaque kayak]

It's hell for anything that isn't t.rex
Giganotosaurus: Dentary same size/2.2%/6.6%/8% schizo moment
Mapusaurus: Potential caudal vert + pubis man
T.mcraensis: He exists?
Spinosaurus: Nhmuk (possibly 6 tons+ mayhaps spino) and MSNM (doesn't even overlap/mayhaps spino)
Suecheng: Embargo et al
Megaraxes: 15% larger Embargo et al 2.0

[sullen cairn]

tyrannotitan: andrea cau

[opaque kayak]

Even for rex anything that isn't sue is based on ultra conjecture (UCMP Toebone, MOR 008)/not bigger (Scotty) /private fossil (Goliath) + (700 private cope measurements)

[thorn grove]

Vividen's counter attack will bring it under control

https://tenor.com/view/downfall-steiner-mein-fuhrer-steiner-gif-24733130

[blazing mural]

Went through my basement and found fossils I had when I was young. Really happy I found it.

[charred hearth]

would sea scoprions have blue blood like horseshoe crabs

[scenic flame]

me when achillo is bigger than IRL and PoT cerato when it should be like 1/3 the size. Load'a crap

PT Utah is actually upsized by roughly the same as the average upsized playable, which is not counting the several playables that aren't upsized like dasp, allo, etc

[charred hearth]

how upsized is achillo? 30 percent?

https://tenor.com/view/allosaurus-big-al-ballad-of-big-al-walking-with-dinosaurs-ceratosaurus-gif-15568257462362057362

[thorn grove]

The Allosaurus has no fear

[severe yew]

breaking news ⚠️

unicorn from hell discovered ⚠️

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/newly-discovered-horned-dinosaur-was-like-a-unicorn-from-hell/

it comes from hell 😈

[ancient crystal]

https://tenor.com/view/spongebob-squidward-on-time-percentage-gif-25759972

[balmy oyster]

little late to the party super awesome find

[charred hearth]

Whats a prehestoric animal that you consider quite important to our understanding of [blank] that not enough people discuss?

[ancient crystal]

Tyrannosaurus rex

[pure plinth]

Ceratosaurus

It is important to understand the other members of its family

[charred hearth]

Whats its family

[pure plinth]

Ceratosauridae

[ancient crystal]

Ceratosaurus was allosaurus fodder 'nuff said

[pure plinth]

No no, like genyodectus

[arctic crane]

Archosaurus

[tender dove]

Erm, what the sigma

[fossil ingot]

90-100t

[runic heart]

Who the hell is this

[gleaming talon]

I mean a good chunk of aquatic invertebrates have hemocyanin rather than hemoglobin as its better in lower oxygen environments

[gleaming talon]

That one aerobic alphaproteobacterium that an archaea cell decided to absorb
Yes i know it aint an animalbut not enough people talk about the ancestor of the mitochondria

[ancient crystal]

Those are certainly words

[gleaming talon]

For animals though

Tiktaalik, Panderichthys, and Eusthenopteron

[ancient crystal]

I was not aware the cell assimilation theory for the origin of mitochondria had any real backing

Any and all of my bio professors talk about it with excessive caution

[gleaming talon]

Id say its quite plausible
(Not saying likely)
The mitochondria is quite similar to several bacteria (mainly the alphaproteobacteria)
And then we have Chloroplasts and Nitroplasts

It could be seen more like the archaea cell engulfed a bacterium but instead of it being digested it became a permanent energy producing organelle in a sort of mutualism like relationship
Down side is that we now need oxygen

Also mitochondrial DNA

[ancient crystal]

The biggest questions I've always had about that were:

1. Why would the cell not digest the then-not-powerhouse-of-the-cell?

2. Why was the cell then able to suddenly divide alongside the newly christened powerhouse of the cell afterwards?

Granted I have an active aversion to cellular biology and the answer is probably very obvious.

[gleaming talon]

Because biology is extremely random and weird
Especially at that scale

Also for the second point its possible that the event wasnt isolated and back then it only did that if the bacteria had either already split in the cell and both daughter cells managed to have one and if it didn’t split then only the original cell would have them
Eventually the bacteria became more specialised to stay in the cell and began to split with it
It also maybe like modern mitochondria where they undergo fission to isolate damaged or defective organelles
As they must be inherited from the parent cell

[gleaming talon]

Also its possible that the specific species of bacteria was already producing ATP

[cloud dagger]

Cambrian stuff

[gleaming talon]

What about the edicarian

[rose star]

Are the 3-5t mass estimates for Edmontosaurus accurate

[vocal talon]

How accurate would y’all say this sinosauropteryx concept is anatomically and color

[undone rapids]

Yeah, it just depends on what specimen you're estimating. There are bigger ones than that probably

[rose star]

I meant for average specimens, pretty sure exceptional Edmontosaurus are significantly heavier

[snow python]

Damn, acro was big

[stiff osprey]

the average full grown E.annectens is about 5-6 tonnes, E.regalis is smaller

[runic heart]

They’ve used Jurassic World assets for at least a third of all creatures shown so far

[hardy sentinel]

That kinda just looks like the LOOP Allosaurus (which it's made by the same company, not surpised) and not the JW Allosaurus, the only simularities is they both got osteoderms and are greyish

[runic heart]

It’s supposed to be a direct sequel to that show, so yes.

[brave nova]

5th biggest carcharadontosaurid

[hardy sentinel]

funny thing is the LOOP Allo looks less like an Allo than the JW Allo does

[runic heart]

I’m fairly certain these creatures are using JW models:
-Allosaurus
-Triceratops
-Pachycephalosaurus (stigymoloch model)
-ankylosaurus

[queen oar]

What if they made an establishment called " Allo's Burgers " ? Would you guys go eat in a place like that?

[runic heart]

Trike and ank being more edited than the other 2

[runic heart]

Alamosaurus themed burger joint.

[queen oar]

good idea.

[ancient crystal]

I'm aware this is just a different language, but at a glance this looks like it says "Die dinosaur" and yes, I agree, that dinosaur looks like it wants to die

[queen oar]

also, is it just me, or does that Allo have a " Slight underbite " ?

[hardy sentinel]

Anky just looks like any modern depiction of an Ankylosaur ngl

[ancient crystal]

Also, is that like their bastardized attempt at the allosaurus with the broken jaw whose name wscapes me because I have been awake far longer than I am able to cope with

[icy lagoon]

is there anyone here who is well versed in christianity and paleontology?

[queen oar]

that's a unique question

[ancient crystal]

I'm sure there are.

In fact I know there are.

The question is if they are here with us today?

[hardy sentinel]

Also about the Allosaurus model being reused, they look nothing alike aside from color, JW got the stance more correct than The Dinosaurs did, idk why this is even a discussion

[ancient crystal]

That first image is giving the "please god just balance you stupid toy" pose that lots of dinosaur figurines have

[hardy sentinel]

Also this is generally just a bad depiction of Pachycephalosaurus, it's not a copy of JP/JW, it's just a bad depiction

Unless they're going for a starved Pachy ofc

[queen oar]

Skinny

[ancient crystal]

No, this is obviously a spiritual successor to the PhP storyline where the pachycephalosaurus herd is trying to survive in a dried up wetland

[queen oar]

Pachycephalosaur ribs 😋

[hardy sentinel]

I dunno why people think a bad depiction needs to be connected to the Jurassic franchise, you can have one without the other

[runic heart]

It’s edited heavily

[hardy sentinel]

Just like the PhP Rex is a heavily edited JP Rex

They're nothing alike aside from name and general shape

[ancient crystal]

None of these models are ripped from JP, but stylistically there are some clear similarities

Remember that Spielberg is largely responsible for the JP "style"

[hardy sentinel]

These two look almost nothing alike, the only simularities you could reasonably pull is that they both got pointy osteoderms (an idea JP does not own and is explored much more by other people)

[runic heart]

The armor:

[hardy sentinel]

I dunno why they hired the guy who does thrillers to oversee the production of a dinosaur documentary ngl

[queen oar]

Wouldn't Greg Paul be responsible for the JP Style? Given that the designs in the franchise, at least for " Some time " have been adapting how he depicits his dinosaurs?

[runic heart]

It’s literally the same head, just starved of every nutrient.

[hardy sentinel]

What about it?

[runic heart]

Towards the front half of the body, the “plating” is pretty much the same.

[hardy sentinel]

Lad

Just because they have similar plating at one part of their body does not mean it's an edited JW model

[runic heart]

Idk maybe I’m just pessimistic

[hardy sentinel]

Dude that's the basic Pachycephalosaurus head depiction, you'll find it everywhere I promise you

[ancient crystal]

No, no I don't think so.

The short snout, wide jawed, sharp but otherwise bare facial features, this sort of weird in between of shrinkwrapping and not, is all Spielberg's doing.

And its what all the designs to this day do just with crocodile scutes.

[queen oar]

If you say so 🤷‍♂️

[hardy sentinel]

Why did they have to go and make the guy responsible for making thrillers in charge of a dinosaur documentary, did Netflix even check this guy's work aside from seeing he made dinosaurs once

[ancient crystal]

Because Jurassic Park

That's it.

Every bad feature in this doc is going to be Spielberg's doing. From these current designs to the Great White cretalamna that the spinosaurus eats in the trailer.

[native kindle]

can we talk about paleontology yet, we just got a really awesome alvarezsaur paper and people are talking about crappy documentaries everyone already knows are crappy

[hardy sentinel]

drop the link

[regal forum]

well then

[open root]

Any1 wanna join my discord group

[arctic crane]

Wanna drop a tldr for us broke boys who can't afford a nature subscription?

[regal forum]

https://www.reuters.com/science/exquisite-fossil-one-smallest-dinosaurs-found-argentina-2026-02-25/

[runic rover]

This looks SO Ai

[paper parcel]

Permian Gaming

[runic rover]

About freaking time someone even gave a little damn about cretaceous Argentina.

Returning to the Netflix thing, idk if Spielberg is to blame, since they used the same models as the other documentary... That is unless Spielberg was responsible for those too.

[regal forum]

and i can use this new material for my alna model

[queen oar]

It's a Alvarezsaurid, right?

[regal forum]

yea

[queen oar]

Have a feeling this will be the year of the Alvarezsaurids.

[arctic crane]

They found a very small alvarezsaurs called alnashetri cerropoliciensis that they believe wasn't a specialized termite feeder but more of a generalist.

[paper parcel]

Nah, year of the suminia, permian synapsid monkey

[queen oar]

@ancient crystal what if we named a dinosaur " Frankesteinosaurus " ?

[ancient crystal]

I would find the author of that paper and use them as shark bait

[paper parcel]

Thought it was funny but cynodonts have seen 3 mass extinctions in a row

[native kindle]

no, its an alvareszsauroid. its apparently a new lineage of them as well, an extremely basal one with full hands

[serene sedge]

It looks like a bad JP model from the early 2000s

[warped peak]

Alvarezsaur with fingers

[runic rover]

We didn't watch the same JP movies did we? Or did you mean jp-inspired? Because ok, those ones can be quite stinky like that picture

[serene sedge]

JP inspired or probably more JW inspired

[stiff osprey]

Why does it have styracosaurus horns

[ashen wedge]

Pachys do have some skull spikes on their face (front and back)

[stiff osprey]

Yeah, but they're small and numerous. Ironically the JP pachy above does it better

I'm referring to this thing

[ashen wedge]

Looks more like a Stygi than a Pachy…. Or within that stage of life

[hardy sentinel]

Better be another uncontested year of Tyrannosaurids

[queen oar]

bait used to be believable

[paper parcel]

Nah more permian, or cenozoic, synapsids are the real ogs

[arctic crane]

What is that from?

[ancient crystal]

150 years of the tyrannosaurids straight would be minimally sufficient, but all that nonsense about early 2000s Tyrannosaurus happened so now we're only at around the 20th year of the Tyrannosaurids

[arctic crane]

It's a little sad that I'm not sure which early 2000s rex you're talking about. I'm going to assume scavenger rex though

[thorn grove]

just general "erm did you know T. rex isn't even top 100 biggest Theropods anymore" type shi

[ancient crystal]

3 ton scavenger rex where if you liked it instead of gigafraudosaurus you were a loser

[thorn grove]

T. rex was actually outweighed by Daspletosaurus

[steep atlas]

Always bet on Dasp

[ionic linden]

outweighed was by daspletosaurus actually tyrannosaurus

[arctic crane]

The world will never recover from the dino crisis 2 giganotosaurus scene

[arctic crane]

Are you telling me this isn't accurate?
https://youtu.be/E9I-X_5JtiY?si=J2rLCOHIe6IXlX8K

[ionic linden]

holy raptor jeebus that this is gigantic

[steep atlas]

Bigger than T rex hype went crazy

[arctic crane]

I guess I never really realized how much giga glazing there was back in the day

[steep atlas]

They genuinely just thought it was t rex but bigger and cooler

[arctic crane]

Pretty much.
They don't even have the decency to give giga its Bruce Campbell chin.

[queen oar]

tbh, I feel like old Giga and Spino glazing was probably just invented by... You know? The Scavenger Tyrannosaurus guy.

[arctic crane]

Spino glazing is probably just because of jp3

[queen oar]

yeah, but you know WHO was the biggest supporter of that interpretation of Spinosaurus?

[ancient crystal]

I don't imagine Horner had that kind of reach even with his early 2000s popularity

[steep atlas]

I find it really cool how we have a lot of theropods in this size class but T rex is really distinct from the rest

[thorn grove]

Horner was the main paleontology consultant for JP3 iirc

[queen oar]

I do think he did.

[steep atlas]

Professional rex hater

[arctic crane]

No wonder that neck snap felt so personal

[queen oar]

pretty much. Got furious he didn't find more E. annectens specimens, so he developed a personal vendetta against Tyrannosaurus.

[steep atlas]

What a goober

[arctic crane]

Horner was a professional iconoclast. I remember seeing an interview of him way back in the day where he basically confessed to wanting to take T-Rex down a peg for being too popular

[steep atlas]

I think that's the least of his problems

[arctic crane]

Lol ya we know that now

[ionic linden]

-# what does this say?

[runic heart]

With poor eyesight, jaws meant for holding large amounts of mass in place, and serrated teeth, it’s probably safe to assume that Tarbosaurus was hunting primarily sauropods, right?

[stiff osprey]

No, it was primarily hunting hadrosaurs like other tyrannosaurids (other tyrannosaurids also hunted ceratopsids ofc but those were absent in Nemegt)

[queen oar]

both.

[runic heart]

Why might its eyes have been so much less useful than those of Tyrannosaurus if it was hunting mostly the same prey?

[arctic crane]

Tarbo had poor eyesight? Doesn't every other tyrannosaur have the best eyes ever

[queen oar]

I'm wondering where that conclusion comes from...

[stiff osprey]

Tarbosaurus had advanced binocular vision much like T.rex. Tarbo left, rex right

[undone rapids]

It was prescribed glasses by Dr. Theri

[queen oar]

Anyways, would you eat a Hadrosaur leg?

[stiff osprey]

better image of a young tarbo since the lighting on the other skull makes it hard to see the orbit

[steep atlas]

Would you?

[thorn grove]

delicious

[runic heart]

Where might the misconception that it had poor eyesight come from then?

[queen oar]

yah

[thorn grove]

i have never heard that

[arctic crane]

Would that count as red meat?

[queen oar]

probably?

[wind prairie]

I still stand by that giga probably has cool features we just don't know about because the material sucks

[undone rapids]

It is the 2nd most complete carch, material is great just not described

[queen oar]

Well, it's a Allosauroid, so by default, it has more space for potential... Unlike Tyrannosauroides.

[wind prairie]

oh fr? what do we have?
I would've thought there'd be at least rumors if there's something particularly interesting in there

[runic heart]

With new material supposedly found at the holotype sight? Though, it’ll be many years before we get a description of whatever that ends up being.

[undone rapids]

Probably from using thinner skull reconstructions

[queen oar]

yup.

[steep atlas]

How would you season and cook it

[runic heart]

Oh wow, its skull was that much thinner?

[undone rapids]

Like, almost everything

[arctic crane]

That chin was too strong not to survive

[runic heart]

Why did I just get the sudden feeling that we might find a mummified ceratosaurus at some point.

[undone rapids]

It was found before the holotype and was gonna be given its own genus before the holotype of giga was found

[undone rapids]

No, its just from a paper using a not adult tarbo skull that was deformed iirc

[queen oar]

Hmmm, probably remove the scales one by one, blow the skin, fit some seasoning there, pepper, butter, etc.

Then put it in a stone oven designed to fit a piece large like that, the butter will melt and make sure the meat doesn't become too dry

remove the leg after uuuuh... How long would it take to cook a piece large like that?

Let's say, after 1 hour, you take the leg out, boil some oil, pour it over the skin, so it becomes crispy, put back into the oven, for 2 hours and it should be done...

I'm working with theory here, and I don't cook a lot.

[steep atlas]

I like how much effort you put into this

[arctic crane]

So is that "juvi rex" nano?

[undone rapids]

Probably since we don't have any actual juvi rex skulls in museums as far as I know

[queen oar]

oh yeah, after pouring the oil, if you want you can remove the grid, or whatever you are using, and put it onto the large ass plate you might be using, since the oil will be there, you can put some vegetables there, so the vegetables will also cook once you put it back into the oven, and they are likely to absorb part of the flavour from the leg.

[arctic crane]

Who's the first? Definitely not carch

[undone rapids]

Concavenator

[queen oar]

The GOAT!!!

[velvet burrow]

Concave-inator

[steep atlas]

Can I have some

[queen oar]

Lmfao

[arctic crane]

Oh right, I forgot conc was that complete

[ashen wedge]

Behold, my new inator! I call it the Concave-inator! Now Perry the Platypus it would recreate dinosaurs accurately

[arctic crane]

Well I say not carch but I guess that depends on what that carcharodontosaurid they found in the Farak Formation was and how complete

[queen oar]

There was a fake paper on it the other day? Don't know anything about it

[arctic crane]

I don't think anything official has dropped yet and probably won't for a while

[queen oar]

Tbh, I just want more samples from Tameryraptor. Even if I hate that thing.

[winged bramble]

never give up on living. what if they find more andrewsarchus mongoliensis material

[paper parcel]

Red meat is peak

[winter marsh]

Its sauroniops trust me

[green helm]

Is it possible that deinosuchus could have lived with mosasaurus

[river condor]

https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/18/1/38

https://tenor.com/view/i-used-to-pray-for-times-like-this-i-used-to-pray-meek-mill-dreams-and-nightmares-dreams-and-nightmares-michael-jordan-gif-4600240804856944817

[little mauve]

mosasaurus was a fully marine open water predator, deinosuchus may have ventured into marine settings occasionally but was mostly a brackish water estuarine coastal predator. So they would not have overlapped in habitat much.

[green helm]

I guess the mosa would look at the deino a bit and then just swim away looking at it already notice it’s huge jaw

[little mauve]

it's like a great white interacting with a saltwater croc, not impossible but not very common either. They were also separated temporally somewhat, only the earliest Mosasaurus would have overlapped with Deinosuchus- and again, different habitats completely

[queen oar]

I mean, wouldn't Mosasaurus be too large to enter the same areas Deinosuchus lived in? ( Hypothetically!!! )

[serene sedge]

One of the most beautiful theropod fossils period

[charred hearth]

deinosuchus crossing the west interior seaway theory:

[arctic crane]

If deinosuchus had behavior more like a saltwater crocodile I could see some overlap in territory, but I'm. Pretty sure it was a alligatoroid so most likely fresh water mostly though alligators and black caimans do occasionally go out to sea they lack salt glands

[green helm]

Well with the recent estimates yes but deino had the AP to defend itself

[little mauve]

I'd say probably but now we have evidence of a big freshwater mosasaur in the hell creek so who knows, they may have been less limited in brackish or freshwater than sharks (with many types also tolerating both)

[queen oar]

I doubt it. It's less about like, if Deinosuchus would be able to defend itself, and more so, if Deinosuchus would know how to defend itself specifically against Mosasaurus

[little mauve]

salt glands are probably plesiomorphic for crocodylians, see this paper for more https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-025-07653-4

[queen oar]

Like, I don't know how to explain it, but it's like Bear vs Orca

[arctic crane]

What mosasaurs are contemporary to deinosuchus? I could see some interests even predation on younger individuals on both sides, but it probably wasn't the norm

[river condor]

Dude this is not the place for awesomebro AvA and powerscaling debates

[little mauve]

no reason to believe Mosasaurus specifically was doing anything nearshore, but deinosuchus may have occasionally marine-dispersed

[green helm]

I name one thing from powerscaling and this happens

[queen oar]

Some people are not allowed to enjoy anything 😭

[river condor]

Youre talking about if mosasaurus and deinosuchus wouldve met and deino's "ap" VRO

[green helm]

Well it could have hunted sharks too right?

[queen oar]

I mean, yeah. I don't imagine either of those are very picky with their food.

[plush fossil]

what if the mosa wants a nice beach holiday?

[queen oar]

Actually, it came to the system, because Deinosuchus invited them to watch the Minecraft Movie

[green helm]

This is NOT personal😭 🙏

[river condor]

Ik sorry if it seemed as such

[green helm]

Nah its just funny that some take powerscaling so serious, sorry for going a bit offtopic chat

[native kindle]

well yeah im pretty sure the mods have explicitly said not to do it here

[river condor]

Nah i lowk got mad that i posted a paper and nobody gave a crap because of the deinosuchus convo, youre cool tho not ur fault

[charred hearth]

whats special about the paper though, its just a mexican troodontid

[plush fossil]

i see, i had a friend of a friend, whos cousins brothers friend was friends with a mosasaurus and he infact done this

[queen oar]

Paleo needs agenda memes.

[green helm]

Deinosuchus would secretly plot its very evil plan on the mosa

[river condor]

With a thick head, like that's a unique characteristic

I just found it amusing and wanted to share

[green helm]

Id like to imagine a juviline deinosuchus on a tree like mordern one does

[queen oar]

https://tenor.com/view/chicken-scream-rooster-scream-chicken-scream-meme-chicken-cursed-rooster-cursed-gif-2808612900815966706

[green helm]

Ah yes the deinosuchus of wisdom

[charred hearth]

https://tenor.com/view/allosaurus-big-al-ballad-of-big-al-walking-with-dinosaurs-ceratosaurus-gif-15568257462362057362

[queen oar]

I wonder if a Croc could scream

[paper parcel]

Permian Synapsids go hard

[quick lintel]

Is the new spinosaurus discovery the real deal ... is there more info on ... the unicorn spino ...

[green helm]

Mhm naaahhh they growl and something else i forgot

[queen oar]

growl, rumble, roar, and hiss. But I was more saying in a very silly hypothetical.

[paper parcel]

there is a pseudosuchian called hesperosuchus that had hollow bones meaning if dinosaurs/pterosaurs didn't exist we could have flying crocodiles

[green helm]

Im being dumb as usually🥹

Deinosuchus after seeing a herbivore: discombobulate

[undone rapids]

https://youtu.be/_HlsB3dn7sk

[ionic linden]

s-mirabilis is getting more attention than hedgehog iguanodontid 😔

[queen oar]

wonder who has the worst third author of their respective publications

[winter marsh]

🥶

[balmy oyster]

Because like every ornithopod only some skull parts are measured and it’s forgotten even by paleontologists

[ionic linden]

damn

[outer tusk]

not to mention the "spines" are pretty tiny so I wouldn't call it a hedgehog

[paper parcel]

Every masterpiece, has its cheap copies.

[winter marsh]

I only see masterpieces

[warped peak]

You forgot the original masterpiece

[winter marsh]

chubby masterpiece

[wind prairie]

their sails are all pretty different so they get passes

[arctic crane]

As usual. Mega theropods are super popular even among paleontologist

[drifting condor]

In one more year miragaia can get married

[paper parcel]

im interested

[drifting condor]

To me but first i need to divorce edmontosaurus

[arctic crane]

Common hadrosaur L

[ionic linden]

agreed

[paper parcel]

https://tenor.com/view/edaphosaurus-gif-7300947920494695077 the original fodder herbivore. edaphosaurus

[arctic crane]

Based arthropleura avoided that scandal by making everyone think it was a carnivore

[queen oar]

Fried Platyhystrix 😋

[paper parcel]

arthropleura is also venomous, probably, milipedes and centipedes are

[arctic crane]

Common myriapoda W

[paper parcel]

average paleozoic herbivore

[arctic crane]

Average is a bit much for just the Permian

[native kindle]

milipedes are not venomous. some of them are poisonous, but they don't inject you with venom.

[arctic crane]

Therapsids are sick freaks

[paper parcel]

Peak*

[arctic crane]

I mean freaks I'm a loving way

Jaekelopterus my beloved.
Peak of evolution

I wonder if J. howelli and J. rhenaniae were contemporaries. I could believe that this is sexual dimorphism if that was the case

[quick lintel]

My god this is legitimately how I'd draw a hippo in like 2nd grade

[keen citrus]

Are we fr

[winter marsh]

wha

[arctic crane]

God I hope we aren't

[balmy oyster]

Not even the right clade for the thumbnail 💀

[keen citrus]

Nanotyrannus was NOT a trex killer

[balmy oyster]

It was a BABY trex killer…..sue could just sit down on top of a nano and it’s game over

[charred hearth]

the only rex that would be threatened by nano is rexy

[balmy oyster]

@paper parcel why did you say “hear me out”

[charred hearth]

he also said " lucky nano "

[arctic crane]

Got nuked for harassing rexy

[arctic crane]

It's funny that we've all just agreed that nano bullies baby rexs then getting clapped by their mom without trying to run away

In Media at least

[charred hearth]

jurassic fight gem

[wind prairie]

I think I've seen this thumbnail before and didn't even process how stupid it is lol

[paper parcel]

I think it's ai generated

[quick lintel]

I wanna talk about Charles Knight and his paleo art because I love it so much it's genuinely absolutely incredible and I adore the work so much deadass
Granted many of his works were from the late 1800s and into the early 1900s, I think, but he absolutely was NOT at all reductive in many of his depictions-- despite being rather reductive in his ideas about dinosaurs, like many of his fellow dinosaur connoisseurs.

He absolutely had the right idea by drawing comparisons and references to real life fauna, which he was clearly EXTREMELY versed in, you can look at all the colors and patterns and KNOW instantly what animals he may have seen that were living at the time and using them as inspiration. I feel like this was very uncommon back then, at least in terms of being open enough to challenge the common depictions and branch out to being comparable to the vestiges of what remains of them today.

Of course his theropods and hadrosaurs and plesiosaurs, knowing what we know now, leave a lot to be desired, asthey're all the same bottom-heavy build as pretty much all other artists depicted at the time, but his talent as an artist cannot be overstated enough. I think he was unironically early to the punch and VERY considerably correct on some outlines and proportions and postures, which I think is HUGE for the time period.

My boy Charles didn't know that the grasslands didn't rlly spawn in until the cenozoic, but my god my boy was COOKIN something FIERCE with that. Seeing a agathaumas on a grassy plane just vibing fills my soul with joy

They're all so candid too. Despite the fact he described the vast majority of dinosaurs as 'unadaptable dunces,' he was unironically very honest in his depictions and they're all extremely candid and even playful at times, hardly lumbering or mindless.
Also the color is just. I can't even. It's just so. Touching. It's magical really

[jagged trellis]

i mean most of the art holds up accuracy wise even now
ones that don't were still decent for the time
he did indeed cook

[native kindle]

if charles knight was alive today he'd probably be one of the best paleoartists in the world

[quick lintel]

He also DID MODELS OF THEM. WHICH IS INSANE
This is where the uhhh commonplace designs for the time come in. Look at the absolute gem that is this old stego recon

[paper parcel]

That is one obese stegosaurus(in a good way)

[quick lintel]

I love u obese stub necked iguana thing

[charred hearth]

i need a RETRO STEGO mod rn

[paper parcel]

It's honestly not that different from regular stego, just the extra tail spike and being fat

[keen citrus]

Statement so true even his gang praised him🔋💔✅✅

[quick lintel]

I think the one depiction that blows my mind the most is the smilodon one since I'm at least familiar with that because. Kitty.
If I were grading this I'd give it at least a B+. Posture is solid, coloration is acceptable, the broader front portion and slimmer back portion with the sloping hind, all of it. This could be a modern smilo depiction for all I knew. The only thing that really gives it away is the canid-like nose and pointed ears.
That and the other kitty

[arctic crane]

Outdated posture and shorter neck too

[paper parcel]

Medical issues

[arctic crane]

He's got that terminal lumbago

[keen citrus]

Why is the neck built like mv goji

[quick lintel]

Like u can name a newly discovered species anything and you chose to name it after Donald Trump. I need stones thrown at you. Sharp stones. Large ones. For 48 hours straight.

[arctic crane]

Yo why the flea hate?

[paper parcel]

They only brought the bubonic plague and ended many bloodlines.

[arctic crane]

That was an accident they're sorry

[quick lintel]

Blood thieving parasites who are silent killers of basically all mammals ever and carry every horrifying disease you could possibly imagine. Right next to ticks and mosquitoes

[arctic crane]

This anti parasite prejudice is sickening

[paper parcel]

I would eradicate a thousand parasite species for one extinct species

[arctic crane]

"I would ruin the ecosystem to save a species that would die because I destroyed the ecosystem"

[quick lintel]

I'm anti parasite, yea... what about it.. I'm proud of it... and as per my anti parasite stance in that I wish to eradicate those leeching on the vulnerable, draining the life of man and animal, we need to unseat the current sitting officials and politicians and then steal the declaration of independence and restore democracy

[native kindle]

parasites are one of the big components in keeping ecosystems in check and nearly every ecosystem would collapse without them

to disagree with a fundamental of a healthy ecosystem is by all accounts why i don't think as many people should be in a science chat lmao

[arctic crane]

Childish fake animal enjoyers. Only like cute or cool animals

[quick lintel]

Wait are u being fr I thought you were kidding around and going to bat for fleas as like. A joke

[arctic crane]

Na bro I'm the number one parasite enjoyer

[quick lintel]

ah I see 🥀

[arctic crane]

I'm joking too though lol. But fleas are cool

[paper parcel]

Tbh parasites not existing would be a net positive, mainly being the extra amount of energy going around

[native kindle]

anyone who hates animals for their nature, including fleas is arguably as bad as those people who claim that dolphins are evil and sharks are sea puppies. its a gross view to have of nature

[arctic crane]

Jokes aside not how ecology works

[native kindle]

^

[winter marsh]

its a niche. If all parasites are wiped out eventually someone will take advantage of it and become one

[little mauve]

We have evidence of parasitism from the Cambrian, it's been around for as long as complex life's been around

[arctic crane]

There are vertebrate parasites too vampire bats are the famous one but some fish and birds too

[charred hearth]

sea cucumbers know alot about parasites

[arctic crane]

Hey, maybe it's really cozy living inside a sea cucumber. It's like having one of the water tubes you had as a kid for a house

[paper parcel]

https://share.google/wHQHcpsTgZjy3rOWY No

[charred hearth]

???

[arctic crane]

A lot of invertebrates are going extinct. We could be in for some Permian Triassic type stuff soon

[left shard]

What are y’all on

[gleaming talon]

That may be one of the worst ideas ever
You make 1,000 parasitic things extinct and a hell of a lot more will follow

[queen oar]

you need to be really sad to want something to go extinct.

[left shard]

💔😭

[gleaming talon]

Exactly

[quick lintel]

That's. Definitely a take away
Unless you're referring to, like, actionable feelings, like peasant brained farmers having a personal vendetta against wolves as if they're sentient and harming them out of spite, like actionable hate. Otherwise I don't hold people to account for generally not being fond of fleas. Or ticks. Or mosquitoes. As long as they're not psychos about it. I find that people who say they hate bugs don't actually hate bugs, they just hate the risks associated with a lot of them and risks genuinely posed by others. I see it as kinda similar to a person who says they hates dogs. It's a strong, often misused word, but people don't usually speak it with an intent to produce genuine harm and malice. I wouldnt go as far as to say it'd be indicative that they're like, gross, or bad. It's just a poor choice of words. If anything I'd rather suggest for them to seek a more proper way to reword the phrasing that accurately reflects their concerns. My concern when I see common parasites is thinking of those that are spreading malaria, lyme, and potentially CWD, and generally not very great things. Bats are infamously overshadowed by rabies, and I love bats. Absolutely adore them. But I wouldn't like it if i saw one in person if it was anywhere near me, and I wouldn't want bats carrying rabies in the wild or near populated areas. I'm unappreciative of the risks they pose, which I feel like could be worse than the benefits they provide, as it harms the parasite and hosts alike, especially if things are unbalanced. My aversion is to say nothing of the animal itself. Fleas and their bug vascularities are interesting. Their leaping is obviously impressive. I don't literally personally hate ticks or fleas. I generally deeply dislike the thought of what they could do, which is no fault of their own. I'd rather avoid them entirely, and I do. I'm not advocating to. Like. unironically uninstall all parasites from the global save file

[gleaming talon]

Heck it’s stupid to want to get rid of all types of bacteria

1. We would die
2. Every thing except maybe archaea and cells and some protists would die
3. Mitochondria

But some people don’t seem to understand that

[left shard]

guys would ornitimimids be lethal towards 1-5 humans? (Melee weapons at best)

[arctic crane]

deinocheirus probably would be ya

[gleaming talon]

Depends
Struthi and ornitho probably
Galli yes
The mega duck goose guy 1000%

[left shard]

(I’m gonna exclude deinocheirus cause obv)
(We know jacked arm duck would probably solo humans still with low caliber firearms)

[queen oar]

Here's a take: Don't you think it's kinda selfish for us humans to want to reshape a world that does not need us to function? Like, realistically, if we went extinct, it's not like the world would really miss us. Besides maybe the ecosystem from the USA, because after we basically killed all of the american wolves, we've been trying to fix that sh$t since

Really, the only ecosystems that would need us to function, It's ecosystems that we directly damaged either minimally or significantly, and that should tell you a lot.

[paper parcel]

Small or medium would be lethal because they are basically just cassowaries with claws

[ionic linden]

https://tenor.com/view/not-reading-allat-gif-11216013967469576578 (respectfully)

[gleaming talon]

You forget whats on the cassowaries foot

[paper parcel]

Alot of the people arguing for parasites are just people who secretly hate humanity as a concept but won't actually admit it, it's called a Freudian slip

[ionic linden]

"cassowaries with claws" cassowaries: am i a joke to you?

[quick lintel]

Spiders. I'd say I hate spiders if one randomly appeared and startled me. But I don't hate them. I'm not gonna squash every one I see. I definitely would hate to be bitten or crawled on, and I'm constantly worried one could be substantially venomous (brown recluses are common here) but that's not the spider's fault, i wouldnt punish it for it. Hell I actively try to train my brain into associating spiders as friends, because they are. Even if they're really hard to look at sometimes. I try to avoid them generally aswell if i can, if im, like. outside. Or inside even. I try not to look too closely at corners in the basement and I never walk under low hanging branches or under trees that aren't like miles above me esp during spider season lol

[gleaming talon]

And cassowaries and emus do have wing claws

[gleaming talon]

Or they are people who know how an ecosystem and food web work

[queen oar]

hm, it's not like Parasites are often credited for how strong the immune system in a lot of organic beings are, because if you lived in a world where there's no diseases or parasites, what do you think would happen the moment a new one suddenly developed?

[quick lintel]

I cast ... reading comprehension!!!! Disrespectfully!!!!!!!! 🧙‍♂️🧙‍♂️🪄🪄

[ionic linden]

NNNNNYOOOOOOO

[gleaming talon]

Also if all parasites were wiped out then goodbye lampreys
And if we lose them we are royally cooked

[queen oar]

tbh tho, I'm betting Apostle is purely just ragebaiting ( as per usual. )

[ionic linden]

you right now:

[queen oar]

Limbus Company reference in the Paleo Chat!

[ionic linden]

idk what to say lol but yeah it is

[queen oar]

I've only played it a little ( I don't know anything )

[ionic linden]

yeah, i want to play it but i dont have motivation to
anyways back to paleontology

[left shard]

hot take spinosaurus mirabilis destroys any medium size tyrannosaurid

[queen oar]

Imagine if someone made a Gacha Dinosaur game

[ionic linden]

yeah lol

[winter marsh]

limbus company?

[arctic crane]

Gallimimus bullatus would be pretty dangerous

[ionic linden]

yes

[queen oar]

See mods? It's on topic, because I said Dinosaur

Jingle jingle jingle, I said your favorite word Dinosaur, you like Dinosaurs

[gleaming talon]

Heres an idea what if birds evolved twice with there not only being the current coelosaur birds
But what if there was a now extinct liniage of carnosaurian birds

[winter marsh]

like flames to a moth or smth like that

[gleaming talon]

Also let us not forget the true mega duck

[quick lintel]

I'm ngl this turned from a dude jokingly going to bat for parasites and me dramatically pushing back in an exaggerated and passionate way into some really weird moral philosophy ouroboros with like ecological logistics mixed in nd some lowkey kinda.. other considerably dramatic statements and conclusions. Education is great. But it's lowk starting to feel and look like one of those weird paleo threads on reddit where people are just generally being REALLY weird about jumping around and just kinda. Drawing conclusions that don't need to be drawn or are conveyed in passive aggressive or hostile ways that are very uncharitable and very.. just.. weird in that sense. Heated. For no reason. I think most people could reasonably understand that uhh we don't literally want xyz to go extinct. They're more like turns of phrase. Bad ones that are the bane of literally anyone science adjacent, sure, but visibly turns of phrase nonetheless.

[ionic linden]

cool i think idk

[quick lintel]

real

[arctic crane]

I just think fleas are cute 😭

[queen oar]

What's your opinion on the extinct waterfowls from Hawaii?

[paper parcel]

Mfs explaining to the entire family Ina a random country around the world why their parasites are good(they are dying) these people really just hate people don't engage, nor do they actually know the horrors of what parasites do.

[gleaming talon]

As an Australian my response is that our extinct waterfowl are cooler

[gleaming talon]

Humans are not above any other species, not even the prokaryotes
All species are even from chimpanzees to E.coil bacteria

[arctic crane]

There is obviously a very big difference between curing the sick and decimating the ecosystem

[quick lintel]

Fleas only have my tolerance in person if they're like tarantulas where if they're big enough I stop perceiving them as bugs and instead see them as like small animals. Like those bigass sand fleas that I don't remember if they're actually fleas or if it's like one of those horse mackerel situations where it is named something but is very much not that thing. A fish is not a horse.. duh !!
I'm not thrilled abt impromptu meetings of fleas if my dog is outside and comes back in with one on his legs or face because those are the closest to the ground (we flea treat him of course but they still pop up momentarily during influx into warmer weather)

[queen garnet]

Chat do yall know about the nigersaurus? It has so many teeth so I thought it was very interesting

[queen oar]

You know, people who don't know how to admit they are wrong, often either twists the context of what other people are saying, or bring hypotheical scenarios, that while " True " in nature, they have nothing to do with the discussion, and are often associated to other issues entirely.

[gleaming talon]

Being completely honest most humans are are actually not truly playing a essential part in eartgs ecosystem unlike the parasites who actually are essential to its stability

[full lagoon]

This is still going on?

[queen oar]

yup

[quick lintel]

I seepy

[charred hearth]

@paper parcel you keep getting cooked.

[queen garnet]

Chat if humans suddenly are gone who you got dominating the earth next

[arctic crane]

Sand fleas are actually crustaceans while normal fleas are insects fun fact.
I wasn't expecting chat to blow up into some ecological ethics class after our silly back and forth though lol
Oops

[charred hearth]

wait their kinda cute even though they can burrow into your foot and lay multiple eggs in it

[undone rapids]

No one, nothing really dominated the earth before us. It was just various mammals and reptiles chilling

[paper parcel]

Crows

[undone rapids]

Though I do wonder who will be the next big carnivores once the cats and dogs all go away

[queen garnet]

I got octopus their very smart

[charred hearth]

pigs

[arctic crane]

Some can eat at your foot but as far as I know none will lay eggs in there. They scavengers m you'd have to stand there and take the pain for that lol

[quick lintel]

Could u spoil graphic descriptions and/or images of parasitism if u send any
No hate it's just. I probably should mention I genuinely am very anxious about the graphics of those things. I can discuss it in passing but details are a no-go for me

[gleaming talon]

Viruses
Bacteria
Archaea
Protists
Plants
Chromists
Fungi
Chanofladulates
Animals
Slime molds
They all are needed for earths biosphere to remain
Heck viruses are so important that if they went extinct then so is everything else except possibly the viroids
And i do consider viruses and viroids to be living acellular organisms

[full lagoon]

They are so good at what they do it sucks that they are being driven to extinction

[paper parcel]

Don't worry they will send worse

[queen garnet]

From 66 MYA to around 5 MYA I like to think no one dominated really during this period because yeah and yeah

[arctic crane]

There aren't any. They're not actually parasitic

[charred hearth]

sorry, i wont do it again

@paper parcel what?

[queen oar]

okay guys, i'm gonna ragebait @undone rapids so this chat can change the topic into something more " Paleontology-like "

Hey! @undone rapids I made an improvised Giganotosaurus skeletal with parts from SpinoInWonderland, Franoys and Beagliam ( Both his Meraxes and Giganotosaurus )

[full lagoon]

All in all, as we are seeing, "domination" of a single species doesn't end well

[quick lintel]

YA nws at all ty ofc

[gleaming talon]

Id say that the closest any thing got was either angiosperm plants or crocodilians like always

[paper parcel]

Can't wait for this to be the next dominate species

[arctic crane]

Your thinking of Chigoe fleas they are actually parasitic but sand fleas are scavengers not parasites

[undone rapids]

Even before that, there is no one species as widespread and dominant as humans. Dinosaurs are just one big group of animals like mammals

[full lagoon]

Beachgoing invertebrates are so interesting

[quick lintel]

Ah. I assumed from the message with images attached that they were
That's interesting but I will NAWT be asking how... but sandfleas when they're.. normal.. are kinda cute looking

[charred hearth]

does anyone know why theres just a random quetz

[undone rapids]

You should have used GSP and scott hartmans's Gigasaur!!!

[paper parcel]

Crabs are very good food sources I agree

[full lagoon]

Probably because they didn't have a proper image of the actual flying alien (that vaguely resembled a pterosaur)

[queen oar]

Maybe Hartman, wouldn't use GSP tho.

[arctic crane]

They make good fishing bait too lol

[undone rapids]

Even without us, clades come and go. Before the ice age there were still big terrestrial crocs running around. I hope they'll make a come back once were gone

[quick lintel]

The only gsp I know is German short-haired pointer, dagnabbit

[queen oar]

GSP is to refer to " Gregory S. Paul "

[paper parcel]

People are probably just gonna genetically modify themselves at somepoint to be better suited for the hellscape they find themselves in, like new York

[full lagoon]

Yeah, but still I wonder how good of a run they could get if they had half a chance.

[arctic crane]

Sebecids mentioned!

[queen oar]

@undone rapids here's a question you won't get commonly: Would you have a Dinosaur OC?

[full lagoon]

Given that they very well could survive what's coming I wouldn't doubt them filling open niches like that again

[gleaming talon]

Tbh given the chance
Crocodilians will end up either gaining wings or thumbs and idk what would be worse

[paper parcel]

Imagine if birds reevolve into dinosaurs lmao

[full lagoon]

Flying crocodiles would literally be dragons bro (if pterosaurs weren't already)

[queen oar]

I'm wanting to see Crocs re-evolve Metriorynchids again

[gleaming talon]

They dont need to as the ratites exist

[full lagoon]

Ratites are basically ornithomimosaurs

[winter marsh]

thing

[quick lintel]

I just think they're neat

[undone rapids]

I have thought about making one for something like a 2d platforming game, might be fun.

[arctic crane]

They probably would be like non avian dinos but we could get convergeant evolution with terror birds

[full lagoon]

Speaking of, have you guys heard of the theory that ornithomimosaurs may have evolved from flying ancestors?

[quick lintel]

The ungulates are exquisite

[paper parcel]

We just need a bird to get four legged, like spinosaurus

[queen oar]

I would play that. Like Sonic or Mario? Yeah, that would be fun, mate

[little mauve]

varanids have some pretty interesting respiratory and metabolic adaptations, I could see a scenario where they're a pseudo-stem-ornithodiran for a new clade of large reptiles converging on dinosaurs and/or pterosaurs to some degree

[undone rapids]

Def more Sonic, were probably my fav games growing up

[queen oar]

But as per say, characters yourself would own, what do you think you would do?

[arctic crane]

Spino wasn't quadrupedal

[full lagoon]

As actual lizards they would fit the name "dinosaur" well if such a creature were to exist

[undone rapids]

Probably some small abelisaur and a small tyranno could be interesting with slightly differing styles. Haven't really gone more in depth with it

[quick lintel]

I care able saurs

[queen oar]

you should try it one day.

[arctic crane]

hoatzin birds have fingers when they're young though

[gleaming talon]

Yes they would be dinoactualsaurs

[undone rapids]

I def will give it a go, have godot on my pc for like a year now lol

[paper parcel]

Hmmmm, feathered monkeys, all roads lead to primate

[full lagoon]

Lots of birds do, even if they aren't clawed or visible

Evolving flat out quadrupedalism seems like it would need very special circumstances though

Especially because, as far as we know, no theropod has ever possessed the proper arm/hand anatomy for it

[arctic crane]

Theropods couldn't pronate their wrists. They could technically evolve to do so anything is possible but why would they they've been doing fine without them

[winter marsh]

just belly flop on the floor like a seal

[paper parcel]

ALL ROADS LEAD TO MONKEY

[full lagoon]

Yeah, exactly what I meant

They are already great on the ground, in the air, and at climbing so there's not really much need unless there's somehow a weird environmental circumstance/context that pressures it

[arctic crane]

Gannetwhale reference?

[bold zodiac]

Hello guys, can someone please provide me the largest acrocanthasaurus specimen? Randoms or Fran’s, compared to sucho, torvo, and tarbosaurus in a size chart?

[winter marsh]

big back

[paper parcel]

The parasite worshipers are offline, post handsanitizer

[arctic crane]

https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/06/oldest-fossil-parasite-found-still-stuck-to-its-host/

[queen garnet]

Finally

[tender dove]

China coming in clutch once again

[charred hearth]

how would y'all rate the 7 continents to least to most important paleontology findings

[tender dove]

Asia would be 1st no?

[arctic crane]

Define important?

[charred hearth]

discoveries that greatly help our understanding of the history of life, but in this case, our understanding of prehestoric life / prehestoric animals

[stiff osprey]

Asia is #1 for sure

[paper parcel]

Time to build a time machine and prevent them from spreading

[charred hearth]

i feel like antartica would be last, right?

[charred hearth]

like, i know #1 and #7, but im struggling to place anything else

actually, i can place australia in 6th

[arctic crane]

So I'm trying to get a grasp on post kpg crocodylomorphs.
crocodilians and sebecids are the two groups that survived right? In Australia there were mekosuchids that were terrestrial or mostly terrestrial, but they are true crocodilians like modern Crocs. The sebecids are a different order of crocodylomorph though and are mostly found in South America. Anything I'm missing? And obviously their are other crocodilians like Crocs, gaters, caimans, and gharials

[hollow isle]

My Wystone is Baned

[tender dove]

Oceania should be last because Antarctica was crucial in for plate tectonics and continental drift, but you're right, there's not much more to Antarctica than that in paleontology

[queen garnet]

I lowk wish games and movies gave Triassic more attention but na it’s all Jurassic

[arctic crane]

There are barely any Jurassic animals either. The Cretaceous gets all the love

[queen garnet]

Nah Jurassic gets a lot of love

[arctic crane]

Not as much as the Cretaceous though

[queen garnet]

U got Jurassic park world evolution u got those movies u got those games but what about a era where dinosaurs didn’t dominate and better advanced crocodiles did

[little mauve]

dyrosaurids made it through the KPG as well but didn't make it very long

[tender dove]

Like Postosuchus?

[arctic crane]

About how long?

[queen garnet]

Talkin abt those like archosaurus and those other cool lookin things

[tender dove]

Cerrejonisuchus was a dyrosaurid, is that what you meant?

[little mauve]

The end of the Eocene

[queen garnet]

wasent there a Extincition after the great dying again and before the one 66 MYA

[native kindle]

choristoderes like Kosmodraco and Champsosaurus kinda count, they're just close to the bodyplan and not crocodylomorphs tho

[tender dove]

You mean the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event?

[queen garnet]

Yeah that one

What you guys know about it though

[tender dove]

It wasn't as big or signficant as other extinction events

[queen garnet]

It was apart of the big five though right

[little mauve]

set the stage for dinosaurs taking over

[tender dove]

Maybe

[arctic crane]

Now that is also interesting had no india they lived till the Miocene

[little mauve]

it is one of the big five yes

23-34% of marine genera wiped out, 42% of terrestrial tetrapods

[arctic crane]

The Miocene was really popping off wasn't it

[queen garnet]

Holy I just found out archosaurs survived the trassic-Jurassic

[tender dove]

Dinosaurs are archosaurus, which is why they're called reptiles, no?

[balmy oyster]

Yea archosaurs are a clade of reptiles

[little mauve]

dinosaurs crocs and pterosaurs are all archosaurs and all survived the T/J

[queen garnet]

Ye

[arctic crane]

You mean like basal archosaurs? Because archosaurs are still alive today

[balmy oyster]

I’d imagine the guy meant non-dinosauriform/pseudosuchian archosaurs

[tender dove]

True

[balmy oyster]

But yeah archosaurs were pretty good at what they did

Now only really derived descendants exist now but it’s a testament to their versatility & adaptability

[arctic crane]

Purussaurus was the largest reptile sense kpg right? In mass not length

[balmy oyster]

Yes

[arctic crane]

Sebecids went extinct during the late Miocene so that would be the last non crocodilian crocodylomorph
Kinda sad

[thorn grove]

I would suggest North America as #2

[charred hearth]

over eruope?

[thorn grove]

tbf it's hard to say but NA has a lot of Cambrian stuff as well as good Dino preservation

also Tiktaalik

then again you could also make an argument for Africa's importance to hominin research

[charred hearth]

isnt that more anthropology?

[thorn grove]

it's both idk

[charred hearth]

europe or south america after

[arctic crane]

Why would titaalik be anthropology? It's a stemtetrapods not a sapien lol

[charred hearth]

im talking about africa

[little mauve]

the study of extinct hominids is paleontology, anthropology is the study of living cultures

[arctic crane]

Earlier humans are still paleontology though pulls you get the afrotherians which got everywhere

[charred hearth]

so
1 - asia
2 - north america
3 - africa

[little mauve]

South America was very important to Darwin's research, but so were the fossils being found in Europe at the time

[arctic crane]

You could argue Europe is kind of the birthplace of paleontology. Finding ichthyosaurs in the Oxford clay kinda started all this

[stiff osprey]

Asia, SA, NA, Europe, Antarctica, Oceania

I don't know where to put Africa there, it could be in front of SA or behind Europe

[charred hearth]

antartica over australia?

[stiff osprey]

based on this

[little mauve]

I'd put Oceania above Antarctica because Antarctica had more influence on geology than paleontology or the evolution of life, strictly speaking. Oceania gave us marsupials, monotremes, a better picture of Gondwana throughout life's history

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/australia-put-evolution-darwins-mind-180953651/

[stiff osprey]

fair enough

[little mauve]

Mesosaurus is the classic biological evidence for continental drift too, and that's SA and Africa

[arctic crane]

How terrestrial was quinkana and other the Mekosuchins. I've read fully terrestrial

[stiff osprey]

yeah I'm putting South America above North America I don't care about the bone wars

[little mauve]

lol, I might have to agree

[bold zodiac]

can someone please provide me the largest acrocanthasaurus specimen? Randoms or Fran’s, compared to sucho, torvo, and tarbosaurus in a size chart?🙌

[arctic crane]

Doesn't North American have most of the carboniferous info? That's whay the whole "Mississippian" thing is about right

[stiff osprey]

NA has good stuff for most time periods, it's just SA is instrumental to both Darwin's work and the origin of paleontology with Cuvier, as well as the aforementioned continental drift thing, mesozoic mammal evolution, etc

[little mauve]

yeah if you're going for breadth of time periods and depth of study NA is hard to compete with because of the history of research here but for pivotal specimens that demonstrated new evolutionary principles other places score higher

[ancient crystal]

Silly random, everyone knows north = up so how can south america ever be above north america?

Speaking of

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2524949123?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=pnas&utm_content=d31d8e37-f816-40db-91b2-b5818892409e&utm_campaign=hootsuite

[hardy sentinel]

"oh boy, I sure miss good fossilized specimens"

China:

[arctic crane]

Where most mekosuchines terrestrial? I've seen that quinkana is depicted that way but paludirex is depicted as semi aquatic.

Looking into it. It does indeed seem that quinkana was terrestrial while paludirex was semi aquatic and they were contemporaries. Paludirex was the apex predator of Australias rivers until it went exactly and the salt water crocodile took that spot.
The reptile pliocene and pleistocene of Australia are crazy interesting. I wonder how the ecology worked out between V. priscus and quikanna how where their niches were partitioned

[arctic crane]

It's fun to think that megalodon and purussaurus were contemporary. What a time to be alive

[stiff osprey]

a noteworthy thing about Quinkana is that it's way smaller than most sources will lead you to believe

It's by no means fighting a megalania (at least not a fully grown one)

[arctic crane]

Ya I saw the crazy size estimations. I was more wondering about their niches more than epic reptile combat. Did they prefer different habitats or prey, have different strategies? That kind of thing

[stiff osprey]

I don't think we have any limb bones from quinkana itself but if the composite mekosuchine recon above is accurate I doubt it lived very far from water, whereas megalania seems to be fine all over the place

[arctic crane]

I mean just look at this it's the first one that comes up then you look up quinkana. Not only does this make it look way bigger that it actually was, it makes it look like a sebecid

[stiff osprey]

That's not quinkana that's barinasuchus lmao

[thorn grove]

not that quinkana would be the first case of something like this but how do you even overestimate an animal that much

[arctic crane]

That would make sense considering the other mekosuchinae are more aquatic

[arctic crane]

I'm actually going to guess that that is barinasuchus and some one just called it quinkana to make a Australian wildlife is scary meme

[stiff osprey]

As for hunting method, megalania was using the komodo method of doing massive soft tissue damage and letting prey bleed out/collapse from shock, Quinkana's teeth have some similarities to komodos but are nowhere near as bladelike. I'm not sure how that affects its hunting style

[left shard]

quinkana actually flew like old microraptor and caught birds

[arctic crane]

While komodos do hunt that way they can and do wrestle prey down and kill it that way too depending on its size and how successfully the ambush

[stiff osprey]

oh yeah ik if the prey's small enough to be killed outright they will do it

[arctic crane]

I imagine full grown megalania could kill a lot of animals outright but could use its venom and blood loss weaken the larger ones or those that escaped the ambush

As for quinkana I guess it depends just how terrestrial it was

[charred hearth]

https://x.com/GandhiDrawing/status/2026739772467655069/photo/1

Gandhi Drawing (@GandhiDrawing)

Cerro del Pueblo Formation Species

X · Feb 25, 2026, 7:23 PM

[thorn grove]

tlatolophus took the older tsintaosaurus crest

[wind prairie]

I'm cursed to liking Stoyanow's pterosaur and UCMP 143271
WHY AM I CURSED TO LOVING THINGS I CAN'T UNDERSTAND

[stiff osprey]

Dude you are in the hadal zone right now. I haven't heard of Stoyanow's pterosaur since 2016

[gleaming talon]

I mean the single most diverse family of archosaurs is currently alive rn and they out number the mammal

[gleaming talon]

Pterasaurs got the short end of the stick

[gleaming talon]

We wouldn’t exist without parasites
And most vertibrates also wouldnt because of the lack of parasitic jawless fish like lampreys and its likely one of the species that we evolved from millions of years ago was parasitic

[halcyon cobalt]

source?

I thought that lampreys are highly specialised, and not at all representative of prehistoric jawless fish

[gleaming talon]

Im saying that because of phylogenetic trees put lampreys as the second most basal clade of vertibrates so its likely that our most recent ancestor between humans and lampreys was similar to the lamprey in appearance with some differences

[stiff osprey]

Jawless fish being parasitic is a later development and not their ancestral state, yeah

can't be parasitic with nothing around to parasitize

[gleaming talon]

And it the hundreds of millions of years since the first vertebrates
At least one of our ancestors likely was a parasite

[arctic crane]

Speculative evolution project that's all parasites. The Russian nesting doll ecosystem

[gleaming talon]

I mean it could have happened in jawless fish that either evolved to parasitise other jawlessfish or even invertibrates

[stiff osprey]

it did, eventually, but parasites usually don't go back to being free living

Our ancestors were probably vacuuming up plankton and other non-chewable things until they evolved jaws and became proper predators

[gleaming talon]

Also imagine if they find evidence that there were ‘birds’ that rather being in the ceolosauria clade, they had evolved for carnosaurs

[stiff osprey]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siphonaptera_(poem)

[gleaming talon]

I mean given the right pressures, resources and mutations it could happen

But still if parasites didn’t exist then i find it kinda hard to see humans evolving or atleast H.S.Sapiens

Our immune system would be weaker aswell as viruses are considered parasites meaning allergies would be horrible
And if a parasitic organism were to evolve tgen we would really be in trouble

[arctic crane]

Parasites are obviously an important part of their ecosystem like any organism both today and in the past. So the lack of parasitism would have unknown effects on evolution

There are also things like the hygiene hypothesis. Though it's only a hypothesis I don't know how well supported it actually is
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygiene_hypothesis

[left shard]

Do we know the intellect of ornithomimids?

[charred hearth]

https://x.com/raftingzalmoxes/status/2026932402464120956

Palaeoncryptozoologist Briton (@raftingzalmoxes)

#LifeOnOurPlanet #TheDinosaurs
NEW CLIP!!!
AN EPIC, DRAMATIC BATTLE BETWEEN ANKYLOSAURUS AND T. REX!

▶ Play video

X · Feb 26, 2026, 8:08 AM

[gleaming talon]

Going off of emus they would all be unbelievably stupid

[keen citrus]

Some people call this shrink wrapping and then using a mammal as an example💔

[steel elbow]

My Rex in PoT is named Sue

[coral forge]

its so funny how the majority of people saying that scientists shrink wrap everything always use random's reconstructions instead of like GAT or Scott Hartman

[keen citrus]

Not to mention they forgot that these dinosaurs are reptiles (that includes birds too)

[keen citrus]

Yup

[compact leaf]

I know we really don’t have much hope for the doc but this is just not promising

[ancient crystal]

I thibk the more important thing to remember is that skeletals usually deliberately use less soft tissue

And if you ask me, shrinkwrapping is hardly a thing anymore.

Sure the new netflix doc seems to not get the memo but its made by Spielberg so I don't think we can be surprised at all

[quick lintel]

Bro wants to be diplocaulus so bad but he will never be peak

He will never have glorious jaw-jowl things

[runic heart]

I have yet to find a solid image for what facial tissue might have looked like for different titanosaurs. Anybody have a good interpretation?

[stiff osprey]

There's no evidence or guideline for how thick the nasal soft tissue would be

given the massive pronounced nasal depression in Giraffatitan, it would make sense if it had a big nose balloon, but the two things aren't actually correlated that we know of

[lime eagle]

I didn’t know a Dino was called dreadnoughtus existed but now I love it.

[green helm]

pretty awesome tho ngl

[runic heart]

So assuming that the larger depression area means a larger nasal “balloon”, a Titanosaur would have tissue more similar to a diplodocoid?

[stiff osprey]

I would guess so, but again there's no actual connection between the size of the depression and thickness of soft tissue

[runic heart]

Right, but wouldn’t facial tissue too extreme on a sauropod be problematic in some way?

[ionic crescent]

ignore my hyper epic 2 second sketch, but something like that is doable then? (obv not 1-1)

[runic heart]

And also, is it more likely that the head would have retained the shape of the skull, or just make it rounded?

[stiff osprey]

I think a larger flesh nostril would be beneficial given the volume of air that is being inhaled and exhaled, not a bad thing

[runic heart]

And it wouldn’t add an unnecessary amount of weight due to the already air-filled neck.

[lime eagle]

Can I ask why JP depicted their nostrils on the top of their head? When I saw it I thought it was very odd.

[ancient crystal]

That was a popular theory at the time iirc

[ionic linden]

And also a side effect of other animals DNA? I could be wrong

[stiff osprey]

that was just how scientists did sauropods at the time, the bony nostril is up on the forehead so they assumed the flesh nostril was as well

[lime eagle]

Oh alright thank you!

[green helm]

good good deino eating turtle... NOW MAKE ITS HEAD LONGER THEN THE BODY😈

[runic heart]

So what are deinosuchus’s current estimates? I’ve seen 9 meters, I’ve seen 7.7 meters, and I’ve seen people claiming it’s still 10 meters.

[green helm]

9 meters to be more accurate, highball can be 10 meters

[ancient crystal]

Idk why but this reminds of that one livyatan art where its attacking a little baleen whale, but that whale is deliberately made to look identical to a blue whale to trick the viewer into thinking livy was a lot larger than it was

[stiff osprey]

9-10 meters is the maximum size, 7.7 meters is the most complete skull specimen

[runic heart]

👍

[green helm]

is there no known deinosuchus schwimmeri that has a number name?

[stiff osprey]

they all have numbers, except schwimmer didn't state what the catalog number of the largest vertebra was

[green helm]

oh

[ancient crystal]

I just tried to download this same image and it uploaded some folder with 300 some files

This is why I hate Livyatan

[craggy trench]

Livyatan:

[green helm]

i saw that >:D

[ancient crystal]

The artist knew what they were doing here and I DON'T LIKE IT

[green helm]

livyatan buff🥹

[stiff osprey]

Every time i see this image i'm reminded of the 2000s syfy Moby movie, where in order to keep up with the advanced whale murdering technology of the 21st century, they just turned the white whale into Godzilla

[ancient crystal]

https://tenor.com/view/dont-fall-asleep-bad-lip-reading-star-wars-blr-star-wars-yoda-gif-17127489

[green helm]

im gonna do the deino bobblehead treatment if you dare

[stiff osprey]

the best part is i looked it up first to see if I could say that word (the name of the whale) and people HAVE said it before without being censored, potbot just hates me

[queen oar]

they probably would have a lot of soft tissue.

[ancient crystal]

The [Male Gamete] Whale's name must never be spoken

[jagged trellis]

the splurge whale

[green helm]

the spin whale

[queen oar]

sorta of like this:

[ancient crystal]

Erm, why are you shrinkwrapping muh sauropods????

[queen oar]

Sorta, yeah.

[ancient crystal]

Jarvis, upload a cherry picked meme about aliens and hippos

[ionic linden]

No

[stiff osprey]

alien :

[queen oar]

Less of that. And more so that, if per example, Sauropods had more minimal or the conservative amount of tissues on the face, as usually depicted. Then you wouldn't imagine much variation on the surface of the bones of the skull. There's sorta of like, a lot of dents or depressions on the skull of sauropods. Sometimes, more exaggerated in some genera( Giraffatitan and Camarasaurus, as two examples here ), and per say, usually in extant animals who preserve that sorta of variation, it's usually because there's also variation on how many tissues are present on certain regions of the face. Not that it requires, for example, exaggerated amounts of tissues, like this:

It's more so, open to how you want to depict it yourself.

[green helm]

mhmmm would a juviline deinosuchus even climb a tree tho is there any animals in the sky that could get it

[queen oar]

Deinosuchus is from campanian USA, right?

[green helm]

yeah

[queen oar]

I mean, I remember a friend saying that there are some pterosaurs from there, but I don't know if they are also present where we found Deinosuchus remains.

[crisp matrix]

https://tenor.com/view/pterosaur-prehistoric-planet-phosphatodraco-beak-documentary-gif-27639991

[green helm]

likely they would always target for the young ones, would they have good digestive system tho for it?

[crisp matrix]

Quetzalcoatlus

[green helm]

oh really?

[crisp matrix]

They're both found in Big Bend National Park

[queen oar]

I don't know. Oh yeah, there's that other species of Quetzalcoatlus, right? Q. lawsoni? But I was thinking of other pterosaurs. Yeah, I was thinking of the Mooreville Chalk Formation.

[green helm]

ooohhh so thats why this art had a quetz

[wind prairie]

what would be the closest equivalent to a monkey in the later cretaceous
like a mostly arboreal creature that doesn't fly and also isn't very tiny but still small

[crisp matrix]

Both Q. northropi and Q.? lawsoni were found in Big Bend. Deinosuchus has been found in multiple places, Big Bend only being one of them.

[queen oar]

@green helm how early do crocs develop their osteoderms?

[green helm]

rougly 12 months it seems

[queen oar]

Yeah, because I was about to say, let's say, if a Quetzal ate like a Juvenile Deinosuchus, couldn't the osteoderms cause potential damage to the gastrointestinal system? Because I'm pretty sure Pterosaurs aren't having any gastroliths ( At least, as far as I know )

[stiff osprey]

microraptorines are the only arboreal dinosaurs alive at that time, although there are arboreal mammals like volaticotheres, idk if those lasted to the late cretaceous

[green helm]

wouldnt the durability of the osteoderms at that early age be weakened tho

[queen oar]

idk?

[thorn grove]

Idk if they’d be less durable necessarily but they would presumably start smaller

[green helm]

since its early deveployed i think it might be possible

[queen oar]

Okay but, besides the osteoderms, what about the skeleton in general? How do Pterosaurs even digest vertebrates if we don't have like evidence of them consuming stones to break bones of prey items consumed?

[little mauve]

eutriconodonts did but were being replaced by deltatheroida and metatheria by the late K, any or all of them could have produced arboreal forms

[stiff osprey]

Honestly the role of arboreal fruit disperser was probably being taken up more by pterosaurs than mammals

[queen oar]

Tapejarines

[little mauve]

they still probably had a gizzard even if they weren't using gastroliths, they could probably produce pellets and regurgitate the undigestable material. We have some evidence of that in dinosaurs and it's widespread in avian archosaurs

[charred hearth]

https://x.com/i/status/2015476703749918814

.🔅𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖗𝖆𝖕𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖙𝖊🔅. (@astrapiont...

I think I’ll call this commission “Turla Munchersss”!

Millions of years ago during the Miocene, somewhere off the Pacific coast of SA, a gigantic Purussaurus cautiously passes by a titanic female Otodus megalodon, each with a freshly caught sea turtle.

#paleoart

X · Jan 25, 2026, 5:27 PM

[wind prairie]

microraptorines could fly though

[little mauve]

when dinosaurs become miniaturized and arboreal they turn into birds, not monkeys

[wind prairie]

I still like to imagine they lived past the turonian but idk

[charred hearth]

https://x.com/i/status/2026689252172484861

Taylor McCoy 🦖 (@TM9380)

A new study on Tyrannosaurus locomotion was just published. Among the findings were a speed estimate of 11-24mph, which is a fairly typical estimate and comes mainly from comparisons with modern ostriches

Paper linked below

X · Feb 25, 2026, 4:02 PM

[green helm]

oh wow 24 mph

[charred hearth]

https://x.com/i/status/2026726146298012080

Ausarchosaur (@ausar_the)

Adding to this, the study finds that different-sized adults moved at different speeds. A 6.5 tonne T. rex could have moved at 9.5 m/s (>20 mph). A 9.5 tonne one was closer to 6.3 m/s (14 mph), on par with a <3 tonne elephant less than a third of its mass (6.8 m/s).

X · Feb 25, 2026, 6:29 PM

[thorn grove]

Seems legit

[stiff osprey]

closest to a monkey that dinosaurs ever got 🤷

well i lie, that would be scansoriopterygids or heterodontosaurids, but neither were alive in the late cretaceous

[wind prairie]

it's cool to imagine microraptorines and avisaurids living together

[paper parcel]

I wonder how these 2 would interact(suminia and the golden snub nosed monkey)

Also found this one depiction of suminia by Nix that is literally just a monkey

[coral forge]

the human would be faster if it wasnt morbidly underweight

[charred hearth]

isnt the average humans run speed 10 mph or something

[coral forge]

idk but the average male weight definitely isnt 41.5kg

[stiff osprey]

most humans can get to 15mph ish

[charred hearth]

can anyone here get to 15mph....

[coral forge]

average is like 16-19 I'm pretty sure

[paper parcel]

Given enough substances anyone can go 16-19 mph

[jagged trellis]

when i could run safely i could hit closer to 18

[coral forge]

You don't need substances to go 19mph. That's considerably less than even a slow Olympic runner
The fastest ive ever gone I think was like 21-22

[charred hearth]

so we could outrun / escape rex?

[undone rapids]

It doesn't really matter since humans can only maintain their top speeds for a few seconds

[stiff osprey]

if you have like 100m to run before getting to a safe point you can probably outrun a Sue

[coral forge]

If you can run at olympic sprinter speeds with the stamina of a marathon runner then yes
otherwise very unlikely

[paper parcel]

Just shoot the trexes legs, easy fix.

[coral forge]

I doubt a bullet from any handheld weapon is disabling a rex except mabye like an insanely high caliber rifle

[paper parcel]

elephant hunting rifles.

[charred hearth]

#stopTrophyHunting

[coral forge]

T. rex isnt an elephant so it wouldn't be affected

[paper parcel]

I know.

[charred hearth]

do you guys think ceratopsians would be hunted only for their horns and frills

[paper parcel]

I doubt anyone here could survive a alio irl. your just dead.

[undone rapids]

I don't think anyone is survibing a theropod over 100 kg, unarmed

[ionic linden]

i forgot how cool of an animal alioramus is

[paper parcel]

cheetah rex irl and in game

[charred hearth]

would dinosaurs be hunted for obscure chinese traditional medicine, because ik rhinos and elephants tusks are commonly used, would this apply to other keratin structures that some dinosaurs had

[undone rapids]

tbh, Alioramids were probably some of the worse runners among smaller tyrannos. Compared to Nanotyrannids, Albertos and Appalachiosaurus

Nanos would fit the dinosaur cheetah the closest.

[paper parcel]

Pet dinosaurs would be kinda peak. (or synapsids)

[coral forge]

nobody is surviving any tyrannosaurid

[charred hearth]

https://x.com/NebsGoodTakes/status/2027105143653888461 would a single peck really do this?

Neb | 🏳️‍🌈 (@NebsGoodTakes)

Primitive War (2025)

X · Feb 26, 2026, 7:35 PM

[paper parcel]

or even worse, a shonisaurus, they were also fast and hunted by ramming into their prey btw

[charred hearth]

???

[left shard]

I’ve gotten to 21

[winter marsh]

I could prob fight a nanotyrannus trust

[left shard]

I could solo dilong

[paper parcel]

https://tenor.com/view/fear-and-hunger-rher-moon-god-termina-gif-10770870413803746461 could you solo apatosaurus

[left shard]

absolutely (if it was a hatchling)

[lucid gyro]

what dinos can be used for war efforts

[charred hearth]

i dont know...

[lucid gyro]

and then what about circus dinosaurs?im sorry the first things coming to mind is just dinosaur abuse

[charred hearth]

why do more people think they can beat a elephant over a grizzly bear

[paper parcel]

Jurassic Park

[winter marsh]

I could beat a kangaroo to the point of scaring it away, but if it was a rabid one Id probably die. Chimps are overpowered cuz theyre small and strong so yeah ggs

[charred hearth]

https://x.com/ferwen/status/2027032482864930983 thoughts on this animation?

fernanda castano (@ferwen)

The tale of Alnashetri cerropoliciensis and body size evolution in alvarezsaurids (Video credit: Gabriel Díaz Yantén) 🧪⚒️
https://t.co/Uz4Nm4cmte

▶ Play video

X · Feb 26, 2026, 2:46 PM

[full lagoon]

Have you ever seen what herons do to small animals? It's arguably even worse

[true juniper]

Def centrosaurs

[full lagoon]

The fact that some of these are even on here bro