paleontology

[coral forge]

sue gets another tail length increase and becomes 20 meters

[runic rover]

Quietly waiting for the Brazilian Carcharodontosaurid to get more materials

[coral forge]

gomez full articulated skeleton coming July 32nd 2025 at 12:60 AM Listenbourg time

[undone rapids]

We've started finding more and more decent abelisaurs and spinos from Brazil, hopefully a good carch isn't too far

[true juniper]

I hope giga gets a proper Description
Its 70% of the skeleton thats preserved right?
I Read the Giganotosaurus description paper (i think) i think it was Literally two pages and 75% of the first page is just a headline

[restive crag]

Basically correct

[undone rapids]

Yup, its the most complete Argentine carch. Hopefully we'll see the description within thenext few years

[true juniper]

I really want to see what its actual proportions are When the paper drops ESPECIALLY the head morphology

[ashen wedge]

Fair, but I’m on team, separate species, although I will be willing to accept any results when more studies are more certain and conclusive

[balmy oyster]

That toro is trike cus for some reason right before triceratops fully matures it goes through a complete metamorphosis in an incredibly short amount of time in relative to its ontogeny

It always was very weird to try justifying, and it was one of horner’s first HC lumps to be disproven

Next eventually was nano and soon enough it’ll be stygi too officially

I think it’s in favor of speciation

[ashen wedge]

Toro isn’t Trike tho….. even the skull shapes from the time when he made the argument was showing two different animals, even if the other Trike Species wasn’t identified at the time, it still isn’t anywhere close to Toro

[balmy oyster]

Well yea anyone with basic sense realized that, but there was still a good amount of people that believed him at the time because he was well respected

[queen oar]

Calling Horner " well respected ", is probably dubious in all senses of the word. The man was the equivalent to " Oh, the Big Evil Paleo doesn't want you to know this! " at the time , even if we argue it was not, he was intentionally contrarian on multiple topics even if he genuinely thought he was doing it out of purpose.

If we are saying that Publically he was somehow well respected, yeah definetly. Otherwise, I bet a lot of colleagues and other paleontologists thought of him as an annoyance to any attempt to progress knowledge.

[misty scarab]

It is what it is i guess

[queen oar]

Oh what's that? we all want to research Maastrichtian Triceratopsinis?

Well, Torosaurus is synonymous to Triceratops!

Oh what's that? Nanotyrannus is invalid?

Well, i'd argue not!

Oh what's that? We want to study on Tyrannosaurus capabitilies as an effective hunter?

Well, allow me to consult a Documentary and a Movie to ruin the image of the animal for some years!

[still prairie]

Hell the only argument that held up well was the nano one and that was just blind luck because most nano papers back then were just ''nano not rex because it not rex''

[balmy oyster]

Ironically the last one didn’t work because not only was rex unbudged but that movie helped spinosaurus become one of the top 5 dinosaurs of all time

[queen oar]

You wanna know what's funny? I remember that in 2024 or prior, Horner did genuinely just switch-sides, because he thought it was more convenient to say that Nanotyrannus was invalid. And I guess Destiny got really pissed at him for that.

[queen oar]

We are talking about Tyrannosaurus image within Paleo. Tyrannosaurus image from outside, took years to actually be restored to some sense, if it wasn't the efforts of multiple people, then otherwise Tyrannosaurus would've still been thought to be a scavenger. Hell, we don't even know if every place of the world knows of this.

[balmy oyster]

I see. Not that I ever agreed with him or thought he was incredible, but some people did genuinely see him more highly than he would be in the upcoming years.

Course, when you marry your student and people realized how mediocre mass lumping really was that starts to bring your reputation down several notches…and especially with the most recent news, way down to rock bottom.

[wintry sluice]

Lets not forget the pushing unpopular Tyrannosaurus ideas because he didnt like Tyrannosaurus lmao

[balmy oyster]

Was his “research” really that detrimental? I just assumed not many people took that seriously, but maybe I should’ve suspected otherwise when the “supermassive edmontosaurus” argumentation points skyrocketed because of saurian.

[thorn grove]

I still see people claiming "most" paleontologists currently think T. rex was a scavenger

[queen oar]

It's not his research. The problem of having someone consulting any sorta of media, it's that if they use that position to spread misinformation, and in occasions, people can only refer to that source, it can cause catastrophic damage to any progress of general knowledge.

[balmy oyster]

How wonderful. Very glad we (hopefully) won’t be seeing anything from him for the foreseeable future.

[queen oar]

But, I made that point to say that Horner didn't had anything to show some veracity on his own claims. His reputation in Paleo was probably that of a annoying fly, if anything. The reason some people in Paleo might've thought of this idea, was cause Toro and Triceratops are a bit similar sometimes.

[balmy oyster]

The pachycephalosaurs too. Ironic how all he’s tried to lump has slowly started to be undone, another L for the lumpers

[queen oar]

There are Triceratops specimens with what seems to be similar to nasal bosses like those in Torosaurus, or at least a ontogenetic stage of the morph, like this guy.

There are also Torosaurus specimens with nasal horns instead of nasal bosses, which are overall, heavily stereotyped into the genera.

[balmy oyster]

What specimen is this? It could just be a misidentified torosaurus, because otherwise no triceratops really looks like a torosaurus.

[queen oar]

Horridus.

There are some specimens that have been assigned to either Torosaurus or Triceratops, but otherwise, anyone glancing at those specimens have to guess if either of those names really fit them.

[balmy oyster]

On second look, this looks like a regular horridus.

It could’ve just been lens distortion that made it look a bit odd, but otherwise this is a very horridus horridus

[queen oar]

it has a bit of a lean squamosal. But partially, true.

[misty scarab]

😭

[balmy oyster]

Several triceratops have shorter frills but with leaner squamosals, especially ones like “albertensis”

Could represent their own triceratops species but considering people are not keen on splitting ceratopsians any research about it may take a while to fully figure it out

[queen oar]

I don't think it necessarily represents a species per say. My " Crazy Hypothesis " is that, Torosaurus and Triceratops are potentially genetically similar, explaining why traits from both animals tend to be found in each other, from potential interbreeding that has occured rarely or with some frequency.

[balmy oyster]

That…is completely possible ngl. Maybe one day we could find a way to prove stuff like that, it’d be dope

[misty scarab]

That could be pretty interesting

[queen oar]

The problem with trying to prove this, it's not just with the matter of lacking genetic materials, such as it's the case for other hypothesis of similar nature, while I said that they are both likely genetically similar ( Which would fit to how we believe Torosaurus and Triceratops come from a common ancestor, and probably diverged recently in the Maastrichtian ), we don't know how those genes interact with each other, if anything, similarities with Torosaurus and Triceratops, I admit are purely based on " Personnal perspective " because they blend so well, that one might just argue that's " Just how both animals looked like sometimes "

[gilded lichen]

is sucho a megatheopod now? im hearing about a recent study that put it at 5 tons which would mean that in the game sucho would be a apex, im assuming that for the apex theropods since a megatheropd has to be 5 tons or more, but is the sucho weight study accepted?

[undone rapids]

Not really new, suchomimus has been a big guy ever since its scans were published with some of those spinosaurus papers. 12 meters too

[gilded lichen]

but the weight estimates back then for sucho were thought to be under 5 tons?

[undone rapids]

Before the scans? Probably yeah

[gilded lichen]

so does that mean in the game sucho should be a apex?

[undone rapids]

idk

[gilded lichen]

cause it seems that sucho is a megatheropod lol

[outer tusk]

no

[gilded lichen]

oh?

[stiff osprey]

Being an apex predator isn't so much size based, suchomimus may be huge but it is in no way tackling the same kinda prey as rex or tyrannotitan

[outer tusk]

also as much as megatheropod by Non-officials have been stated to be 5.000kg you could make a very vaild argument that a theropod at least over 1,000kg can also be a megatheropod in my opinion, also what Randomdinos

[undone rapids]

It is quite big

[delicate yoke]

Greetings very smart people, I have a fun question: do we know of any large prehistoric bats that were somewhat similar in size to the golden crowned flying fox? Brodie has a nearly 6' wingspan

[gilded lichen]

yeah sucho was a megatheropod gang fr ngl

[stiff osprey]

Granted Spinosaurus is considered an apex ingame so like. Kinda? But also sarcosuchus isn't and it prob has a higher trophic level than suchomimus

[gilded lichen]

what makes a apex in the game?

[stiff osprey]

Afaik there are no fossils of bats with wingspans over 3 ft, we have very few bat fossils in general that preserve the wings

Bats are up there with spiders and bizarrely whales in the "biggest known species is still alive" club

[grave tinsel]

i think one that takes up 5 slots when adult in a pack

[woeful falcon]

Apex in game more or less just refers to its size, strength and slot count collectively. Doesn't have much to do with if something is an actual apex predator ecologically speaking

[gilded lichen]

i was going off in size(for theropods atleast) for suchomimus since im discovering that it was a megatheropod irl

[delicate yoke]

Yeah apex is just the term for comparatively biggest of the roster

Hatz is the "apex of the skies" since everything else is much smaller, but would absolutely not be an overall apex

[grave tinsel]

this is probably a better description than mine

[gilded lichen]

then we should consider sucho a apex then lol thats what im saying

[delicate yoke]

Sucho isnt an apex tho theres larger predators ing

[woeful falcon]

In game or irl

Gonna shoot it straight, apex is such a poorly used term you shouldn't really bother thinking about it

[stiff osprey]

To be fair hatz is an apex predator in its own environment

Although Tylosaurus is absolutely an apex predator and the largest(ish) mosasaur yet is not an apex ingame

[grave tinsel]

since tylo and hatz are often considered apexes of water and air respectively, also sucho isn't a strong enough dino in game to be considered an apex

[gilded lichen]

im talking about suchos weight in real life would make it a apex in game by size

[delicate yoke]

Hatz is an apex in the skies and irl but in this game its a lot smaller than a lot of predators

[stiff osprey]

I think Tylo is a 4 slot and it's like four tons heavier than sucho

[queen oar]

But which? Technically it probably covered a very wide range

[woeful falcon]

Not when in game there are things that are 3+ tons larger than it

[delicate yoke]

If you arent the actual top of the food chain you cant be an apex, and sucho isnt the top for swimmers or terrestrials

[gilded lichen]

im talking about the apex theropods not everything else guys lol

[grave tinsel]

at least for its environment back then, in game it's up against heavyweight apexes from other areas like rex and tt

[woeful falcon]

Yeah so am I lol. Tyrannosaurus rex being one

[gilded lichen]

u know what a megatheropod is?

[delicate yoke]

Sucho is smaller than spino, titan, and rex terrestrially, and as a swimmer its still smaller than spino / duck, not mentioning tylo as a non dinosaur

Sucho physically cant be an "apex" because its not the top, the word apex is literally "the top" of something

[woeful falcon]

Megatheropod ≠ apex predator

[gilded lichen]

it seems that sucho weighed 5 tons which would make it a megatheropod, and if a theropod weighs 5 tons or more then its a megatheropod thats what im saying

[undone rapids]

Sure

[delicate yoke]

You can be a megatheropod and not be an apex, torvosaurus wouldnt be an apex either though its a megatheropod because theres still spino / rex / titan

[queen oar]

Hey Glaive, what if I tried doing Croc Paleoart and terrorized Croc Paleoartists?

[undone rapids]

Send feathered crocodiles with lips to LiterallyMiguel, he loves them

[woeful falcon]

Deinocheirus also knocking about as a megatheropod

[queen oar]

Feathered and Lipped Arizonasaurus :trollface:

[delicate yoke]

TLDR: If you arent the biggest / strongest you arent an apex by definition

[paper parcel]

The real biggest apexes are sauropods like apatosaurs or brachiosaurus or camarasaurus

[stiff osprey]

they tackle the most dangerous prey.... leaf

[gilded lichen]

there are sauropods larger than those you mentioned lol

[delicate yoke]

A lot of apex herbivores get eaten by carnivores still, if its like a super sauropod it just doesnt branch into anything

[stiff osprey]

a sauropod is technically a parasite as it lives outside of trees and feeds from them without killing them

[gilded lichen]

like acrocanthosaurus or possibly even mapusaurus or giganotosaurus

[rancid dove]

Mako eats the merlin without the great white shark intervening

[paper parcel]

Argentinosaurus, dreadnoughtus

[gilded lichen]

YES

[paper parcel]

But not just any leaf, leaves unable to be eaten by anything else(brachiosaurs, titanosaurs)

[misty scarab]

leaf flies on a gust of wind to live another day

[mental cloak]

Dinosaur

Could dinosaurs make pizza?

[tough parcel]

Yea

[light osprey]

An apex is a tertiary consumer, they are high level carnivores not defined as “biggest and strongest fella around”

[delicate yoke]

May i ask what the word apex means

[light osprey]

The highest summit or vertex of something

This is because tertiary consumers are the fourth trophic level in the pyramid. But the “biggest and strongest” animal can often be a primary consumer

[scenic flame]

The term apex IRL has little meaning, in game it only means the highest weight/slot class of playables, which sucho is not

[delicate yoke]

i thought we were talking about apex predators tho

[scenic flame]

"top order carnivore" is the preferred term by ecologists nowadays since apex has fallen out of favour

[charred hearth]

how accurate is this utahraptor ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG2c4VZr_nI

[scenic flame]

IIrc apex is defined as a predator that is not itself predated, which if you look to africa there technically is no apex predator species, as said predators get preyed on alot when young and even as adults it can happen

[charred hearth]

maybe i just wanted to share some interesting dinosaur media and just disguise that as asking how accurate one of the models is 😒

[scenic flame]

This is a cartoon, idk what you would expect people to say

[stiff osprey]

i don't get the change to 'top order carnivore' being claimed as more practical it just means the same thing as apex predator

[stiff osprey]

Is the quaternary consumer then a superapex predator

Like a hawk to a grassland

[mental cloak]

Are humans apexes?

[gilded void]

Ye

[light osprey]

It’s pretty much contained within the 4th trophic level, defined as the animals not predated on buts that rarely a real phenomenon

[stiff osprey]

Most megafaunal predators are primarily secondary consumers, so i presume it is defined by the highest trophic level in the environment and not a specific number

A lot of marine predators probably go above quaternary

[light osprey]

The 4th trophic level is just the top of the trophic pyramid diagram

[stiff osprey]

I've not personally seen a trophic pyramid with more than five levels but it's about 50/50 on if it stops at the fourth or if there's a fifth

[mental cloak]

We should call sauropods(the bigger ones) Omegafauna..cuz they big:3

[sudden wind]

No

[fossil ingot]

Eo is Apex ingame despite it been "small" Irl
5 slot ingame are more decided on ingame size than irl size

[misty scarab]

How large was Siats?

[mental cloak]

Roughly 9-11 meters(30-36 feet)
But the holotype is a juvi so it can be bigger

Idk how acurate is thus chart but here it is

[misty scarab]

ah

[stiff seal]

wth is this thing

[mental cloak]

Siats
Its right there

[mental cloak]

Yeah see

[stiff seal]

how have i never heard of this thing

[mental cloak]

Dw i discovered about it not long ago
I mean at least we have bones of it lol

[misty scarab]

this made me remember the idea of earlier allosauroids/carchs from cedar mountain out of nowhere

[stiff seal]

it looks sorta horrifying from all its depictions XD

[undone rapids]

Big carchs were everywhere in early cretaceous

[misty scarab]

yea

[undone rapids]

There's another mystery allosauroid thingie from turonian china, had big arms which is a surprise

[stiff seal]

i really hate how theres so many dinos we will never get to really see how it looked just plane guesses and stuff, im refering to how we know alot of species just off of like 3 bones lol

[stiff seal]

LMAOOOO

[misty scarab]

Interesting

[vivid fractal]

Wsp

[stiff seal]

little do they know that bone isa actually to a frog or some bs lmao

[vivid fractal]

Who here plays path of titans

[stiff seal]

path of what ive never heard of this before🧐

[true juniper]

Just a fingle bone

[queen oar]

Me when Fragmentary/Isolated Fossils from China that have only been described once in the 18/19th century, and all information of them is accessible in a Chinese Journal that might not even be available online:

[mental cloak]

Why a surprise?

[queen oar]

@balmy oyster what's your Allosaurus opinion on this Allosaurus skull from the Natural History Museum of Utah?

[mental cloak]

I call him FingerBoy™

[balmy oyster]

Could plausibly be a immature specimen to a currently not fully described new species since some elements like the nasal & lacrimal seem comparable, but it is at a bit of an angle & it itself isn’t well figured sadly

[queen oar]

It has a really tall snout

[hallow spear]

Very shallow jaw unlike that of amplexus

[queen oar]

We have a " amplexus " jaw?

[fossil ingot]

Amplexus>All trust

[balmy oyster]

When I get home I’ll show the big subadult skull thing I occasionally mention

Even the dentary is similar

[hallow spear]

CPS 99, yeah it’s the “Monster of masonville”

[queen oar]

Ah, the one that Paleojoe made. " The Bulldog Allosaur "

[fossil ingot]

Weird fella

[hallow spear]

I personally disagree with his reconstruction, I think it’s made that way due to the usage of pretty bad hinkle photos

[queen oar]

Tbh, I don't know how the material looks like. But Allosaurus specimens kinda of have pretty consistent bone shapes, so perhaps he just went " Let met do this extremely robust Allosaurus skull ". Noted, doesn't make sense from what I just said, but I think that was the mindset at the time

[mental cloak]

Its a new species of allosaurus guys trust

[unreal escarp]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJpf1F2BZFU

[balmy oyster]

It could be ngl

[charred hearth]

what would y'all say is the most obscure dinosaur featured in PoT?

[tough parcel]

Could probably throw a dart at the herbivore roster and land on an animal whose only reason for being known is PoT

[charred hearth]

eotriceratops

[balmy oyster]

Barsboldia

[charred hearth]

did anyone know or care about ano before PoT

wait, would barsboldia and ano get a boost since they were in prehestoric planet or no?

[tough parcel]

For a few days when it was calculated to have a stronger striking force than Anky due to Anky’s club distributing the force vs “Ano’s” more pointed club

[charred hearth]

Kaiwhekea, so obscure that they picked it for being australian but it was infact from new zeland

[ionic linden]

yunnanosaurus if we are including modded dinosaurs
miragaia is the best i could think of if we arent including modded dinosaurs

[charred hearth]

oh i guess mira would be in the running, probably because when you think of mira, you think of the much more popular dace

[paper parcel]

The humble lurdasaurus

[ionic linden]

oh yeah true

[charred hearth]

lurdu was in BoB and is quite famously known as a " semi aquatic" dinosaur

[paper parcel]

Or yang, which I have seen only mentioned twice in any game, pot and minecraft

[charred hearth]

what would y'all say the top 3 is? ( not including modded )

do we consider concavenator obscure?

[waxen jewel]

No but that may just be my JWE bias showing lol

[charred hearth]

i did NOT know it was in jwe

[queen oar]

" Triceratops " xerinsularis?

[charred hearth]

i keep wanting to say metri, but it has a whole family named after it so i wouldnt count it

[queen oar]

I wouldn't say so. It's technically one of the most complete theropod besides Tyrannosaurus, it also sorta of had a lot of participation in the era that people wanted to feather anything ( The Quill Knobs debate ), so realistically, it is sorta of really well-known.

[charred hearth]

so, the top picks are
kai, eo , whos the third?

[queen oar]

Barsboldia

[queen oar]

What do you think of Concavenator?

[warm saddle]

Wait are you that dinosaur tribute guy

[paper parcel]

Metriorhynchidae are definitely the most obscure animals of all time, the other being moschops

[charred hearth]

theres defiently more obscure animals...

[queen oar]

You all forgetting that PoT doesn't even have the decency to have Oviraptorsaurs

[charred hearth]

the mystery dino will be gigantoraptor, trust

[queen oar]

I would rather prefer Oviraptor or Citipati. Gigantoraptor feels such a unecessary roster addition in most games.

[charred hearth]

what exactly was gigantoraptors niche in real life? im always confused on its role in its ecosystem

[queen oar]

big problem, we only have a mandible. So, we already lack a profile of it's potential diet.

[charred hearth]

ah alright, and im gonna assume due to its size you cant really look at other oviraptorids as their niche would be completely different

[paper parcel]

I wish they would stop adding mosasaurs, icthyosaurs or pliosaurs are so alien looking but never considered

[queen oar]

not necessarily, Birds of similar groups and anatomy, don't diverge or specialize a lot on different things. The only difference is the amount of sustenance required, plus the requirement of more availability of those resources.

[charred hearth]

well, whats the typically thought of niche for oviraptorids?

[paper parcel]

Mosasaurs are just sea rexes

[queen oar]

it depends on group mostly. Some we hypothesize to feed on a diversity of invertebrates, plants and some attempts have been made to hypothesize partial or mostly carnivorae. But on the matter of Gigantoraptor, it seems that not even close relatives ( taxa close to the branch of Gigantoraptor ) have cranium preserved. Alternatively, we have more derived relatives, such as: Anzu and Epichirostenotes

[charred hearth]

what do YOU PERSONALLY think its niche was in the Iren Dabasu Formation was?

[queen oar]

What probably gets in the way is the more robust mandible in Gigantoraptor, not very compatible to those of the others mentioned. If I had to guess it's probably for tougher items. Now, what that may imply or include is very up to interpretation.

[charred hearth]

what if it just ate soni for breakfast lunch and dinner?

[queen oar]

The thing is that it's not really trying to be better at cutting plants, generally the kinds of adaptations it has, are often associated to bird species ( only beaked analogy ), who may experience stresses on their beaks from trying to break seeds and such, although alternatively, one could also imagine it eating invertebrates in general, bones ( One could say that due to the more hollow nature of Dinosaur bones, something like this would've been more affordable ) and Eggs of other animals.

And generally tougher beak could also help the animal on acquiring other supplements from other sources, assuming they would've partially or mostly used the beak for digging in certain occasions, the sames could've fed on salts and roots.

[queen oar]

I've sent the threat to the man himself btw.

[balmy oyster]

no that's pliosaurs

mosasaurs are just very large monitor lizards. even their skulls are pretty similar

[coral forge]

Pycnonemosaurus or one of the mid tier herbivores probably
everything else has some form of major appearance in media or is popular on social media

actually Alioramus never gets mentioned anywhere too

[jagged trellis]

alio has a jw figure which soon as bumps it up abit

[lavish frigate]

Pliosaurs really just have that X factor to them…that…predator….X factor….wait a minute

[balmy oyster]

the one and only

[lavish frigate]

Every time someone says X I just think of predator X like the meme of the invincible opening

https://tenor.com/view/invulnerable-gif-22484955

[stable sun]

wait what are ichthyosaurs then

[balmy oyster]

Toothed whales are surprisingly convergent to them, I struggle to see what else they would be an analogue for

[stable sun]

okay so:

• Pliosaurs are sea tyrannosaurs
• Mosasaurs are sea varans
• Ichthyosaurs are sea toothed whales

[balmy oyster]

Ye

Now this brings up the question…what on earth could plesiosaurs be?

[stable sun]

something related to Tyrannosaurs given that Plios are also Plesios

[balmy oyster]

The Nanotyrannids of the sea.

[waxen jewel]

It’s a very interesting dinosaur and I really wanna know what’s going on with the hump

Like there’s no way we’re not missing something y’know?

[vestal frigate]

Aren't they significantly smaller?

[balmy oyster]

Apparently it’s Pliosaurus funkei, which if even downsized since is still one of the biggest pliosaurs to exist

[vestal frigate]

https://tenor.com/view/fox-eating-grapes-berries-foxes-gif-7670616327565702456

Felt like that was the only appropriate reaction. Also why do they not have a tail. That seems weird to me

[balmy oyster]

When your main propulsion is with your limbs, a tail isn’t fully needed unless for stability reasons

[vestal frigate]

But.. you could go even faster no

[balmy oyster]

For the bodyplan that pliosaurs & plesiosaurs did, it’d only slow them down

[vestal frigate]

Mm, just looks weird

[balmy oyster]

Think of it somewhat similar to a sea lion. They have rear flippers that they use for steering and control, but their main movement is their front flippers (except pliosaurs/plesiosaurs use all 4 limbs, some even have larger rear flippers)

[outer tusk]

what looks weird to us humans will always be perfect for a non-land primate

[stable sun]

Krono vs Saltie

[rare bough]

salty wins

[timid delta]

Saltwater crocodile no dif

[mental cloak]

Ofc saltie wins becuz he win everything

[mental cloak]

Funkei is a funny name

[native kindle]

you could say its a funky name

[runic rover]

🕺

[green helm]

saltie cause he is mr potential man

[winter marsh]

Saltie wins cuz its alive. Foid krono isnt

[green helm]

are these teeth for deinosuchus accurate

[mental cloak]

Pliosaurus Funky 🎵 🎤

[little mauve]

No, this image is from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/spp2.1604 those are theropod teeth

[green helm]

ohhh

[runic rover]

Aren't those different teeths from different animals?

[little mauve]

Yes

[runic rover]

Like I can defo recognize A is spinosaurid, B is Carcharodontosaurid and D is definitively T-rex.

[mental cloak]

I was goin to say that
They r very diferent from eachother

[green helm]

awwww

[runic rover]

B could be a normal Tyrannosauroid too since they were known to take after the best ever dino family

[mental cloak]

Whats E?

[native kindle]

definitely t rex
piatnitzkysaur

[runic rover]

Aw poop, it looks so similar! With banana shape & size too!!!

[little mauve]

They're much flatter than a rex tooth, which you can't really tell from this image

[runic rover]

Well sorry but I couldn't address the flatness in a 2d pic XP

Anyway that COLOSSAL save on B after my second comment!

[little mauve]

It's also the Wealden

[sweet wagon]

Was any bear able to swim(modern- prehistoric)

[runic rover]

They are able so I'd say yes

[steep atlas]

Yes bears are pretty good swimmers esp polar bears

[mental cloak]

Almost every known animal knows how to swim in some extent
Or at least float
I think humans are the least good swimmers out there
No wonder many ppl dont know how to swim nor even float(me included)

[sweet wagon]

Ok

[mental cloak]

Or if u r like
A bug
Many bugs dont like water they drow most of the type
Ofc there's aquatic bugs but yeah

Btw oztriches are funny swimming

[little mauve]

Humans are excellent swimmers we just need to be taught how, just like most things

[coral forge]

bears are very good swimmers, especially polar bears

[steep atlas]

Why the hell do people keep saying the same things as me almost word for word

[queen oar]

Cause you're the Doctor?

[steep atlas]

Clearly

[queen oar]

Say what do you think of the possibility of some pterosaur species sporting opposite sexual dimorphism? Like Larger Females for protecting nests?

[steep atlas]

That would be an interesting possibility. From what I know, detected sexual dimorphism in pterosaurs has males larger so far. But plenty of other species have larger females, so it's far from impossible

I find myself a little disappointed that we don't have clear evidence so far of sexual dimorphism in nonavian dinosaurs

[queen oar]

There sorta of is evidence out there, but I don't know if it's being worked on or not.

[little mauve]

I think it's an interesting possibility that many dinosaur and pterosaur groups were mutually sexually selective

[warped peak]

I would argue that toothed baleen whales are a better analogue

Tooth baring mysticetes are all gone these days but the extinct ones were very ichthyosaur-ish

[steep atlas]

I wonder why this would be so widespread compared with today's animals

[little mauve]

Not uncommon in sauropsids generally, but yes it would be somewhat unusual

[steep atlas]

Ceratopsians are probably the most egregious example for me. They seem like the very animals who would be sexually dimorphic in their cranial ornaments, yet they weren't as far as we can tell

[tough parcel]

This is because the dinosaur

[little mauve]

Probably because our intuitive view of them as bovid like is totally wrong

[outer tusk]

Chat, repost but how do we feel about a sauropod spinosaurus bison

[fossil ingot]

[steep atlas]

I don't really lump them with bovids in my mind. It really makes me wonder what their social structure was like, beyond some species forming large herds

[queen oar]

Not exactly. The reason there might not be as much sexual dimorphism in Ceratopsids, it's likely due to ornaments playing a infraspecific function for both genders. Where Males probably use it as a means of display and to confront other males, Females probably use them for defense against males, either in Mating Season or protecting their offsprings ( I'd imagine Males would kill offsprings to eliminate potential future competition )

[coral forge]

this is why lambeosaurus is the goat
"just be the non avian dinosaur with the most evidence for sexual dimorphism" brutal 💔

[outer tusk]

Lambeosaurus lost it's aura after Paul began its own species

[coral forge]

lambeosaurus has so much aura

[queen oar]

More like partially, rather than entirely

[little mauve]

Much more birdlike than mammalian. Mammal herds generally have a strongly gendered hierarchy, mutual protection of related offspring which can lead to high aggression, other stuff too. No evidence for it in ceratopsids. There was probably more emergent complexity in dinosaur herds than the very strongly socially mediated behaviors in mammal herds.

[cloud dagger]

Iirc chickens have strict hierarchy so why not dinos

[runic rover]

Lambeo is very pretty, so glad PoT took it, tho I wish we also had Para and Maia

[queen oar]

I wished Anodontosaurus looked good.

[coral forge]

I wish the para mod was good ngl

[balmy oyster]

Those are toothed whales so my point stands

[warped peak]

They are not Odontocetes, which is a functional difference

[balmy oyster]

Well it’s whales with teeth so it counts anyways!

[queen oar]

@warped peak I'd say let's team up and destroy Fishy for this blasphemy!

[runic rover]

Unfortunately PT loves to neuter their own mods so nobody screams at them for being unfairly broken

[coral forge]

to me its more the size and kit
its based on a footprint scaled by someone known for oversizing everything, and the kit just reinforces the idea of hadrosaurs being these unstoppable kaiju that kill everything

[queen oar]

tbf isn't Parasaurolophus or a good portion of Lambeosaurines that have like Claw-like Hooves?

[coral forge]

wym

[queen oar]

Well, I can't find a good image to show it now.

[fallow mulch]

Here

[coral forge]

you mean like this?

[queen oar]

yup.

[coral forge]

theres no claw or hoof

[queen oar]

I mean, you can see it on Fadeno's skeletal that the unguals are a bit more pointy?

[charred hearth]

Who outmogs, lambeosaurine or saurolophine?

[coral forge]

lambeos easily

[coral forge]

not really

[mental cloak]

Feet!

[coral forge]

fingers

[mental cloak]

U r with the lambeosaurus glazer in the chat,mate

[charred hearth]

????

[mental cloak]

Anyway
Any prehistoric fish tha looked/looks like a Sturgeon?

[light osprey]

What reason is there to assume the ornamentation served different functions based on the sex of the ceratops?

[light osprey]

Yes, Sturgeons

[mental cloak]

No
I mean
Not sturgeons

[light osprey]

A fish that is not a sturgeon that looks like a sturgeon…

[mental cloak]

Yeah
U know
Thick scales/spikes on it's back etc etc

[light osprey]

Cimolichthys have large scutes on its back

[mental cloak]

Oh found another one!
Tanyrhinicthys
Long nose boi!

I also found this freaky looking fella here
Alienacanthus
He has nothing to do with sturgeons but i think he looks interesting dont u guys think

[little mauve]

They absolutely could have hierarchies but the dynamics of those hierarchies are much more complex and fluid and constantly reinforced and renegotiated in mammals. In chickens once the pecking order is established there is very little change from that point on

[queen oar]

By analogies? Realistically, using bovids and cervids are both valid for Ceratopsids, but realistically, given the own diversity of Ceratopsids, those two groups are only partially good analogies, as they might not perfectly reflect the type of behaviours, depending on the Ceratopsid in question. But on the matter of sexual dimorphism, the expression of the dimorphic traits is only on the Males( on the case of Bovids, Cervids, Giraffoids, etc ), in this case the trait expressed is: Horns. Where females might lack, or have lesser versions of that phenotype

In Ceratopsids, this does not occur, or quite simply, in the multitude of Ceratopsid fossils we currently have, differences in specimens, of the same genera, of the same species, have NEVER been observed. Meaning that gender may not influence on the expression of the phenotype ( Horns ). There is only one analogy where something similar occurs, which are Rhinos

Usually, the only thing that I can think of, it's that the sexual dimorphism in modern Rhinos may be more on the size deparment ( Males being larger and heavier ) , where every source that claims that there is a difference on the horns of both genders, have been pretty inconsistent and there doesn't seem to be exactly any literature saying that there is difference on the horns, so realistically the only difference may only be on the size. How this applies to Ceratopsids? Well, we could argue that the presence of ornaments in Ceratopsids of both genders, may represent that those animals were mutually selective, the issue is when Ceratopsids with Supraorbital horns are considered

Now, not every one of those have large supraorbital horns, but in more derived cases, those horns are designed to interlock with each other, their own design is intentional to avoid potential injuries during infraspecific confrontations. For both genders to have that feature, it means that females also are engaged in similar behaviour, and may not be against other females

[light osprey]

So how would we conclude the females used their horns for different purposes than the males
All we establish is that there probably isn’t anything dimorphic about the expression of the ornament

[little mauve]

If they are MSS then we'd expect both males and females to display, and possibly fight, with their horns

[queen oar]

Technically there isn't different purposes, in the case of Triceratopsinis, the only purpose those would offer would be defense, it's just the matter of context of which are used in both genders ( Which could be argued to be different purposes, but not necessarily )

Realistically, Females may still be selective of what partners they end up choosing, so there might be cases similar to Mooses, where young males try to mate with females, in Mooses, the females use vocalization to attract potentially older males to scare away the younger males, in the case of a animal like Triceratops, it's possible that behaviour like this could be possible, but alternatively Females could also scare away those younger males themselves. As well, the other possibilities that I mentioned, we don't exactly know how Males would've been tolerant towards Females entering their territory, and we don't know how tolerant they would've been to offsprings from likely, other males. In Bovids and Cervids, from at least what I know, it's not observed that in those animals, scenarios where Males kill younger individuals to eliminate competition. In Rhinos, specifically, White Rhinoceros, that does tend to be something observable with some frequency, there are cases where the own father of the offspring may be more tolerable towards them.

[light osprey]

Ceratopsids are neither Cervids, Bovids, or Rhinocerotids. It’s a fun scenario but there’s no evidence for any this behaviour. It’s possible they share the ornamentation because of mutual sexual selection

[queen oar]

Not necessarily, as I said, realistically all analogies used for Ceratopsids are only good partially, and depends on the specific Ceratopsid. But realistically, these kind of feature is mainly used for Defense, not necessarily interspecific defense, but infraspecific defense, either by means of pure display and/or physical means. ( Have to add the " And " or someone is going to kill me )

[little mauve]

When we apply a birdlike model with MSS rather than a mammalian one I feel like their features and what we can reconstruct socially about them makes more sense. Horns and frills as primarily display features for visual signaling of age and fitness, age segregated herds, etc

[queen oar]

The only problem with that, would be more so the fact that we lack Bird analogies that fit with Ceratopsids. Also a good partial analogy, but similar to the other ones, there is so much you can compare, until you find a limit.

[light osprey]

You’ve basically just written fan fiction for how sexual selection worked in Ceratopsids though, none of the scenarios can really be interrogated as hypotheses in Ceratopsids

[little mauve]

Because like I said previously people are intuitively assigning bovid, cervid,etc behaviors to the group without any good evidence for it. A bird model is more parsimonious and supported by the evidence

[queen oar]

Why not? I mean, I admit it is " fan fiction " ( I guess? ), but would you like to elaborate on why?

[native kindle]

mammals both can not and should not really ever be used for inference on dinosaur behavior and ecology

[queen oar]

gbones, not to be rude, but I think that realistically, in the same way that we assign extant behaviour observed in extant carnivores in extinct carnivores, because they are carnivores. I think it's only logical that we use, partially or entirely, extant behaviour in extant horned animals to understand extinct horned animals. Or are we arguing that there is something not in common in the two examples?

Noted, that is something that I already admitted, using extant horned animals entirely to explain Ceratopsids it's not a good model, you get a lot of holes in the process.

[light osprey]

What way do you think we can prove the female was the selector of mating partners by ornamentation but used their horns for scaring other males

[little mauve]

Not rude at all, I see your perspective. But just like theropods are very different from extant mammalian carnivores, so too were dinosaur herbivores

[queen oar]

Is there any evidence pointing to the contrary? If we are going to argue on that basis.

[little mauve]

There are vast differences evolutionarily and phylogenetically between a triceratops and a bison, however, and just going off horns, herbivory, and size i think can lead us down the wrong path with understanding them

[light osprey]

Uhh no, thats why it’s untenable as a hypothesis you can’t investigate its occurrence or lack of

[queen oar]

So, do you think both scenarios are impossible or possible? The one I suggested, and the other one that were suggested by you guys.

[light osprey]

Yeah I’m sure it’s all ‘possible’ but any concrete idea on what type of mating function the horns and such might serve would be something broad rather than a set of specific scenarios

[warped peak]

Prionosuchus, Platyoposaurus, Bageherpeton, Bashkirosaurus, Melosaurus, Collidosuchus, and Archegosaurus

[little mauve]

Temnospondyls are so cool

[queen oar]

Let me just ask, to be sure that you fully agree with your statement. Do you think both scenarios can be falsified or not?

[light osprey]

If one found evidence of sexual dimorphism than you would falsify a hypothesis of mutual sexual selection, and vice versa

[queen oar]

You don't even know what I'm talking about... I'm disappointed, there's nothing to argue here.

[little mauve]

Personally, I can't speak for @light osprey , but generally the stuff you're saying is non falsifiable from the fossil record at least. I might be missing your point as well though...

[queen oar]

Realistically, if he believed both alternatives were " Possible " that implies that in a certain level they can be falsified, by not understanding that, when asked if both scenarios can be falsified, they default'd to a scenario where one alternative becomes " Impossible ", and other " Possible "

So, realistically, both alternatives are " Equally Impossible " at the end of the conversation ( Or " Equally Possible " )

[little mauve]

I'm saying that the best model we have right now based on the evidence is a birdlike social model primarily based around mutually sexually selected visual signaling between sub adults and adults

I think a bovid or mammalian model is broadly falsifiable, and is indeed false, but the specific speculation you were engaging in is not

[green helm]

deinosuchus this is good news we can finally be bobbleheaded, deinosuchus:THIS IS INSANE

[tough parcel]

Poorly proportioned art…I really need to figure out my technical problems so I can finish my Erythro

[green helm]

did it for the laughs but failed miserably, but yeah

[tough parcel]

I mean I understood where it was coming from so not a fail, I just wanted to mention that the art, while really good on a technical level, is not good on the anatomical level

[queen oar]

See, I asked exactly why, especially in the case, that I specified that only partially such analogies are good. I think, if you are going to argue that somehow a certain analogy is more falsifiable, it would've been preferrable to elaborate on why that would be the case, even in cases where the use of such analogies is only partially, realistically, we use partial analogies for a lot extinct taxa, so why would this be the exception?

There is an understanding that Triceratops, for example, does not share many aspects that a bison have, but in this conversation, the only aspect being relatively discussed is the horns. There are multiple papers that agree that Triceratopsinis engage on behaviour of infraspecific confrontation via horn interlocking, and it is even argued that mistakes during such confrontations led to the pathologies present on the frills of certain specimens. To some extent, although sporting different anatomy, phylogenetic and evolutionary context, maybe not frequently, but still somewhat, Bovids ( just as an example ) can suffer from similar kinds of pathologies.

[undone rapids]

Miguel updated his skeletal recently, skull is now a meter long lol

[green helm]

this is some good stuff right here

[little mauve]

More referring to speculation of moose like vocalizations and whatnot

The evidence for fighting is much more equivocal in ceratopsids outside of Triceratops as well. Again the most parsimonious and evidence based interpretation is to broadly diagnose birdlike social dynamics rather than mammalian ones

[queen oar]

Definetly, I agree. But, my application was only explaining a possible scenario. We do observe in certain birds that younger males may cheat their way to mate with females, if a similar terrestrial analogy, such as Mooses can engage in such behaviour, and Females do have methods of their own to prevent that from occuring, then what would be the exact difference? If the difference is cuz " One is an Extant Dinosaur and the other an Extant Mammal ", then I'd say that's silly

I'd understand that such thing cannot be fossilized, but equally a lot of things can't be fossilized, and you don't see people doing legless Carnotauruses ( Silly example, doesn't have anything to do with this conversation, but I'll mention because I can ). It is necessary to have some speculation of " What if " or otherwise, we limit our interpretations of possible behaviours, and leave many gaps unaddressed, having to address those gaps directly would've been preferrable rather than pretend " They do not exist. "

[little mauve]

Then I'd say our tolerance for speculation is simply different and thats okay

[queen oar]

Agreed, nothing wrong with that.

[sudden wind]

There were giant relative:
Gyrosteus
Strongylosteus

[queen oar]

@sudden wind hey Neeco, do you draw extinct fish?

[mental cloak]

I thought these were the eiffel tower

[warped peak]

Not the first response of that lmao

[sudden wind]

I sometimes do with extant fish

[paper parcel]

Franciosuchus

[warped peak]

Ironically while most of these are from Western Europe, I don't believe any of them are French. Which is kinda weird

[mental cloak]

Chat who has more Swag™?
Spinosaurids or Tyranosaurids?

[undone rapids]

Abelisaurs

[mental cloak]

They r not in the list

[polar rain]

I want more baurusuchus art 😩

[steep atlas]

tyrannosaurids

[mental cloak]

U r onto smth there

[steep atlas]

always

tyrannosaurids have undefeated aura

[mental cloak]

I have to say that tyranosaurids have pretty much the aura to live

Even i love Spinosaurus and other spinosaurids
They still have their swag there

[misty scarab]

which was the bigger of the two, magnapaulia or edmontosaurus?

[mental cloak]

I think is magnapaulia?

[charred hearth]

@coral forge ur time to shine

[queen oar]

Can I ask for your guidance on how to draw fish?

[queen oar]

With Lips and Feathers?

[queen oar]

This is my best fish:

[mental cloak]

Thats leedsicthys i see

[polar rain]

I'd give it lips lowkey

[queen oar]

Whiskers too?

[polar rain]

Nah

[queen oar]

Disappointed...

[polar rain]

Lowkey im good at drawing fish 🤭

I can help Im lwk good at drawing basically any animal 👀

[queen oar]

How does one learn to draw fish?

[polar rain]

Kinda hard to explain with a 40 second thing :P

[queen oar]

Baurusuchus with feathers shall be your torture.

[polar rain]

I can do it on dms I swear 🥺

[queen oar]

Alright.

[balmy oyster]

Magna

[sonic plinth]

did i post these pictures of sobek the spino from my field museum trip?

[queen oar]

50 YEARS OF SCALY AVIAN DINOSAURS FOR YOU!!!

You'll only see them with Jurassic World scales, elongated scales and scutes!!!

Whenever you see them glide or fly, to you they are only magically floating on the air!!!

[polar rain]

IM SORRYYY IM JUST DRAWIG THE FISHIES FIRST

Its 1am 🥺

[queen oar]

@runic rover btw, you online?

[glossy kestrel]

there were giant sturgeons in that one megalake in uhhhh europe i think

[mental cloak]

Das a cool spino mount

[fallen valley]

whats up with the rib-like spikes on spino's necks?

[tough parcel]

Those are cervical ribs

Normal in dinosaurs, though they're mostly gone in mammals

[zealous ravine]

Been a while since I've done a full skeletal

[queen oar]

Bri'ish Campto

[mental cloak]

Cumnoria...

[paper parcel]

Archosaur cotylorhynchus

[runic rover]

Am now

[queen oar]

My Special Other painted my Maiasaura ( They based the colorations from a JWE3 Skin )

[lavish frigate]

Is this just camptosaurus but instead of being able to ball he just is the ball?

[balmy oyster]

if you make it bipedal it's literally just camptosaurus

[runic rover]

Well that's reeeaally great... But the frills still look like tumors

[balmy oyster]

exploding tumors to ward off the gorgosaur

[queen oar]

Lol

[zealous ravine]

Yeah it looks diseased lmao

[coral forge]

If you go off averages, Magnapaulia is larger, but if you go off largest specimens, it's Edmontosaurus because it has one specimen larger than the largest Magnapaulia

[runic rover]

🙁 if there is a heaven I want Ruth to know we think a lot about her 💔

[river plinth]

Ew why it got a whole sack on its stomach 😭

[runic rover]

Paleontology in a nutshell

[polar rain]

What is that NAME

[coral forge]

"Of Cumnor Hill"
its a place in England

[elfin leaf]

same place with a giant aaaah pliosaur mandible

[full lagoon]

What was the inspiration/intention behind the saggy structures?

[light osprey]

Actually this part is mostly confined to Reddit and Discord, Paleontology seldom has to do with pedantics of the size of dinosaurs

[jagged trellis]

instead of fusses over size, you have fusses over where they put some remains

[paper parcel]

Who's they?

[runic rover]

I was more talking about how if you have more speciment you usually break records by having oscillating sizes, which happens very often.

[jagged trellis]

as in actual people in paleontology given how seemingly often its happened

[paper parcel]

Thought you were talking about lizard people putting the fossils there on purpose lol

[jagged trellis]

nah that'd just be my uncle

[paper timber]

New dinosaur discovered in Thailand

[paper parcel]

"Bigger then a Blue whale"

[paper timber]

Its called Nagatitan

[paper parcel]

Nah I'm just joking. Cool name though

[paper timber]

I know, and ikr? Looks like a Naga lol

[frail robin]

What do we think about beaked Sauropods? What's the possobility of them having beaks?

[paper parcel]

No

[sterile trail]

Adding onto this

[queen oar]

If not incorrect, some bovids tend to develop display structures after reaching maturity, which tends to include dewlaps too.

[empty socket]

@jagged trellis

[jagged trellis]

what does this mean

[ancient crystal]

Well see, first you must understand that fish are simply tubes with little bits attached to them

[paper parcel]

What's the chance megatheropods or other large mesozoic carnivores ate plants rarely for diet issues and gut health?

[ancient crystal]

Sturgeon are prehistoric fish that look like sturgeon

[mental cloak]

What

[ancient crystal]

Yes

[mental cloak]

Oh hey new sauropod for me to feast upon!

What's up with the cryin emojis

[ancient crystal]

You missed your chance by a few years... just a few though

[mental cloak]

Idc

[queen oar]

Aren't we all tubes?

[ancient crystal]

Exactly

[paper parcel]

Ima sauropod irl trust

[mental cloak]

What
Im getting confused

[queen oar]

We are cylindrical, Venator.

[ancient crystal]

This is a taxonomy joke, please laugh

[queen oar]

" ...Oh Brother! THIS GUY STINKS!!! "

[mental cloak]

We are donuts

[rancid dove]

Hi venator Lunae, how are you?

[paper parcel]

Wrong, people are Feesh

[rancid dove]

We are shawarma trust 🥙🤤

[queen oar]

Oh yeah, I forgot. They also painted my Megalosaurus too recently

[ancient crystal]

Pretty good, I don't use discord much anymore because of work

Right now I'm procrastinating studying for my finals

[paper parcel]

Technically whales are fish.

[queen oar]

Hey Venator, I'd like to say I miss your input in conversations here.

[runic heart]

Do we know how wide different theropods could open their mouths? I’d think that would be a good way to tell what kind of jaw muscle covering they would have.

[rancid dove]

I see you're really focused on your studies, I wish you success my friend

[ancient crystal]

Yes, my sarcastic remarks are quite invaluable to any conversation, but they're a sacrifice I'm willing to make

[mental cloak]

Whats a "shawarma"?

[queen oar]

Would you be a eagle that hunt parrots?

[rancid dove]

oriental sandwich i thinks

[ancient crystal]

Its more like I'm dragging the irresponsible, lazy version of myself towards a better path whilst he's kicking and screaming

[mental cloak]

Relatable

[queen oar]

Oh yeah, that's known as the Outer-You and Inner-You

[ancient crystal]

No, I'd be one of those Blue Herons that murders ducks

[rancid dove]

Obviously, sometimes you're so tired of fighting that you want to give up, but you resist.

[paper parcel]

I would be the brachiosaurus picking the tops of trees and stealing spinach.

[runic rover]

Do show!

[true juniper]

Burrito but Assalamu alaikum

[mental cloak]

Mkay

[queen oar]

the reference here should be obvious.

[outer tusk]

I wanna see you do more normal looking megalosaurus

[queen oar]

And be a coward conservative paleoartist? NEVER!!!

[mental cloak]

Where's the dewlap
Waiter,I wan megalo with dewlap pls

[outer tusk]

I mean it would be kind of cool since your line detail is pretty good just obscure by the very weirdly shaped proportions

[queen oar]

I mean, I can give you my edit if you want. It has that Wikipedia skeletal, and that Torvosaurus skeletal made by... Hold on... Paleojoe

[outer tusk]

Am being genuine, but is it impossible to broke your "mold" and just do one lineart that primarily used and sticks to a skeletal

Also Paleojoe has a skull of his newest torvosaurus as he's still working on a new full-body reference

[queen oar]

I know you are. But, it's not gonna happen... Maybe with Mone- Naaaaah! I'm joking!

But being genuine, if you want, I can give you my edit, you can use it, make a better Megalosaurus, and if anything, it's a win-win. You get a more conservative Megalosaurus and you also get something in return ( Probably publicity or positive feedback, since I think most people would like yours instead )

[queen oar]

Also, another reason I'll never do that, it's cuz when I did exactly that, people got maybe reasonably or unreasonably upset at me. And I see no motivation or reason to meet that sorta of demand again, given prior experiences.

[little mauve]

Nice art, I like the soft tissue crest

[charred hearth]

would you guys say megalosaurus is the most generic therapod?

[steep atlas]

I think every theropod has its own thing going on really

[opaque kayak]

Maybe torvosaurus ngl

[misty scarab]

honestly a lot of people lean towards this, while you can look at it and tell its family, its a pretty solid starting point for theropods. but lots of theropods have their own differences so maybe

[undone rapids]

Megalosaurids aren't really the most well understood group of theropods, we'll probably learn more with time. They seem to have been a bit more piscivorous that the local allosaurs they usually lived with

[queen oar]

I would say Allosaurus tbh, I think even if people disagree and say that Allosaurus has many unique traits, Allosaurus is that theropod you can use to teach someone about theropods in general. It kinda shares a similar body-build to most Theropods, it shares the most traits among them, etc. Of course, it does not apply well when comparing it to more derived Theropods.

[stiff osprey]

every other piscivorous clade: ''evolve conical teeth so you can avoid fish slipping away''
megalosaurids:

[tough parcel]

This is because the megalosaur evolved into the spinosaur, please keep up

[fallen valley]

Interesting!

[undone rapids]

There was something about yuanmoraptor teeth that also indicated piscivory iirc the authors commented

[fallen valley]

tbh that’s half the reason I love the barsboldia in game😂 big dino cow with dewlap

[runic rover]

@queen oar your megalo looks great, I don't care about what they say.

[little mauve]

The potential ecological differences between megalosaurs, metriacanthosaurs, and allosaurs are intriguing but overall they just seem like successive lineages of large prey specialists. It was some weird basal megalosaur that gave rise to spinosaurs, not the branch that contains megalosaurus and torvosaurus

[still prairie]

Were they perhaps niche partitioning by location or activity patterns?

[little mauve]

Doesn't seem to be any strong signals for geographic separation between Torvosaurus and Allosaurus at least, though some have suggested it and it is still possible. Activity patterns could be discerned potentially by sceleral ring morphology but no one's looked into that and personally I doubt it

My hunch is that an individual Torvosaur on average could take larger more robust prey than an individual Allosaur in the same environment and that may be the biggest difference between the two

Niche partioning is a bit overblown in the paleo world as well, predators can and do compete with one another, overlap in prey, steal kills, fight over territory, etc

A bit more speculatively, if allosaurs were more social or at least more prone to mobbing style semi cooperative hunting that might be a big difference as well

Torvosaurus was simply much rarer than Allosaurus as well, wherever we find them in the Morrison. Same goes for Ceratosaurus and the other endemic theropods

[stiff osprey]

Conversely Torvo is more common than Allosaurus in Iberia, which could mean something towards their environment preferences

[little mauve]

Could be, I think its more likely just general provincialism between the two groups. Big predators tend to not be too picky about their environment

[misty scarab]

well said

[little mauve]

Thanks, yeah nature is messy and competitive and ever-changing. Things neatly slotting into totally stable niches is kind of an anachronism.

[misty scarab]

[queen oar]

Hey Gbones, you know already that I contest this pretty heavily, but I wanna raise a point, in curiosity to what response you might have... If you are willing, of course. Do you want to?

[little mauve]

Sure I'm not doing anything right now

[queen oar]

So, in our last conversation, you made a very heavy emphasis on Carnosaurs having Ziphodont teeth, meaning that those teeth indicate that, for instance, Allosauroides likely used these to cause heavy wounds on Sauropods, which in correlation would've meant: They are pretty specialized sauropod hunters ( You can correct me, if I incorrectly recalled it )

But, what was curious to me, because later I decided to do a " Rant " text, just a simple txt file, and I titled it " The ' Trends of Theropod Gigantism ' and ' Sauropod-Hunters ' : How Selective-Realism has Plagued Carnivorous Theropod Ecological Discussions in Scientific Literature and Communication ", long ahh title, I know..

In this text, however, I brought this exact point you made, and I contested by bringing animals who have ziphodont teeth, or have similar teeth that would've done similar use of those teeth, both extant and recent extinct examples ( from the Cenozoic ), where trends are usually that carnivores who have these kind of teeth, do not tend to show macropredation. Sharks have a very generalist arrange of prey-item options, and usually those prey items are smaller than them, this also includes the largest shark in the fossil record, Otodus megalodon, every potential or confirmed prey item of that animal is significantly or partially smaller than it. In Monitor Lizards, even if not account for comparatively smaller examples, the potential ancestors of Komodo Dragons have been discussed to have only survived in a insular ecosystem, by mainly feeding on dwarf proboscideans present there, even accounting for Varanus priscus, a lot of the potential prey items for those animals aren't exactly comparatively gigantic

In this text, I made a point that, more likely: Ziphodont teeth may be more effective on prey items who do not have any means to resist or defend themselves against the encounter with the carnivore in question, even if they escape, they are likely to die/weaken from the injuries.

[queen oar]

Now, to be clear, I did bring up Komodo Dragons, and did point that they are an example that something like this is possible.

[little mauve]

Yeah I don't think you're making bad points necessarily and I didn't mean to suggest ziphodont teeth alone suggests macropredation, there are other factors as well. Recall though that Oras originated in the pliocene in Australia though, they are not insular probiscidean specialists, and they persisted there until 300kya

[queen oar]

Yes, but more so in the context of like, how that animal established itself in a insular ecosystem and how it was able to become the Komodo Dragons of today, rather than the animal in general. I apologize if that was confusing.

[thorn grove]

I think a semi-relevant point to make is that because large prey items are made of more food, a single hunt successful hunt of one disproportionately increases its presence in a predator's diet. Sauropods could have been very important to Allosaur diets even if they were hunting small Ornithopods 10x more often.

[little mauve]

That sums up a lot of my thinking actually thanks @thorn grove

[queen oar]

True.

[little mauve]

I think body size trends are the stronger indicator of prey size preference or potential preference, however you want to put it. A lineage would not progressively become larger and not be correspondingly tackling larger prey. It just doesn’t make sense to me that you'd see such a dramatic increase in body size in these particular theropod lineages if they were predominantly overlapping in prey with medium or smaller predators

[queen oar]

In my perspective, I tend to emphasize Allosaurs being somewhat small game hunters, cuz even if we argue other, much smaller, theropods are likely already doing that, it's important to emphasize, that likely this is very necessary, in a ecological-perspective. If there are less pressures on Small Ornithopods, from per say, Morrison Formation, there would be concerns about the population of those animals expanding, as we don't know how that increase may affect the plants present. In Yellowstone, when a lot of potential predators for the cervids there were driven to extinction or literally kicked off, the expansion of that population led to less favorable plants becoming affordable for all of them to feed from, resulting on feeding on saplings from trees that Beavers usually tended to built their dens with.

By extension, we don't know if a increase in Dryosaurus population may affect the population of trees that Sauropods mainly feed from.

[little mauve]

Thats a good point but to me it's more like everything in the Morrison hunted small ornithopods, a few bigger things hunted stegosaurs and small sauropods, and the biggest things hunted the biggest animals (in addition to everything below that in size) so the small ornithopods would have tremendous predatory pressure as a rule

[queen oar]

This was also mentioned in my rant, and I emphasized, that although it is undeniable that Theropod size may be attributed to prey density and/or availability, the inconsistency is more with the kind of prey available. I believe I can only quote myself:

" If we were to take the first logic ( of only accounting for Prey Density ), one would've made the very simple argument that, for example, Allosaurus was as big as it was, due to the majority of Sauropods in it's environment, composing most of that prey density. Indeed, but just as other theropods with the same size as Allosaurus; you have Yutyrannus, where it's largest prey density is mainly composed of other, smaller, Theropods; Neovenator, where it's largest prey density is mainly composed of Ornithischians; Aerosteon, where it's largest prey density is mainly composed of Titanosaurs, who oftenly cannot even reach the sizes of those present in Allosaurus' formation... "

Now, of course, some of the examples, we don't necessarily have the complete picture of all members of their ecosystem, meaning that there is some subjectivity to how much weight these comparisons have, but undeniably, it is showing that size may be more related to there being the resources to allow for those animals to acquire these sizes in the first place, rather than specific density ( type of prey item available ).

[little mauve]

But why get big and slow if you're hunting small things, thats my bottom line. I agree that the ecology of those formations is much less understood than the Morrison

[queen oar]

Certainly doesn't make sense, but I'm just pointing that, even outside of the examples mentioned, you can find Theropods of similar sizes or bigger sizes compared to Allosaurus, who do not necessarily have ecosystems mainly composed of big or giant Sauropods.

[little mauve]

Of course, that's fair, but i think you'll still find correlations between the max size of the largest local predator and the largest local prey. The Jurassic is typified by massive sauropods and very large allosaurs, metriacanthosaurs, and megalosaurs whereas your examples are all Cretaceous

[thorn grove]

I feel like there's also the other question of what was eating all the Sauropods in the Morrison then? Like granted not every herbivore has to be constantly preyed on for an ecosystem to work but I feel it's still an important point to raise.

[little mauve]

Read my mind again, thank you lol

[queen oar]

Probably anything really, if we are to account for even ontogenetic stages, it's likely any carnivore contributed, in some way, to controlling the total number of sauropods at the end.

[thorn grove]

True but I'm also thinking about it in terms of available resources in an environment. A herd of adult Sauropods is a massive pool of resources that is effectively not being exploited by any predators if they're immune to predation (which I'm don't think is necessarily your point anyway but I think that's the most effective angle from which to express my point)

[little mauve]

Leaving biomass on the table. Sauropod ontogeny is a factor in their availability as prey animals but they could potentially spend decades at adult sizes

[queen oar]

Yup, I personally tend to think Sauropods and Stegosaurs contribute to forestation in some way. Even if they don't necessarilly eat seeds and cones, they can still accidentally ingest those and disperse them in a different locality, basically guaranteeing to spread those plants anywhere they go ( I think this had nothing to do with the convo )

[little mauve]

I have my own quirky model of sauropod forestation but it's highly speculative

[queen oar]

Realistically, there is still potential for a lot of things. Parasites may still feed on resources from those sauropods, and other animals may decide to feed on those parasites for the mutual gain, of course, but mostly because those animals can get some form of nutrition.

[little mauve]

Sauropods had parasites certainly but i imagine pterosaurs and protobirds were mostly indulging in that as prey. I think sauropods were massive walking forces of biomass, with attendant flocks of scavengers, cleaners, small ornithopods dining on disrupted habitats they moved through

[queen oar]

Not necessarily, although I feel like you may not like for the mammal analogy, multiple animals can sorta of feed on those parasites, I didn't know until recently, but apparently even Turtles will offer to clean ticks from Rhinos.

[little mauve]

Sure but a turtle is still a small animal compared to a rhino, I actually don't know what point we're on right now

[queen oar]

more to say, it's likely that is something that a more extensive diversity of animals can do, not just Pterosaurs and Protobirds, specifically. It may even depend on the spots those parasites may be found.

[mental cloak]

What u guys talkimg about

[little mauve]

Sure but what is the point beyond that? That parasites would somehow contribute to sauropods interacting with other trophic levels without predation? Just trying to clarify

[queen oar]

maybe, idk.

[little mauve]

Lol no problem. Like I said I don't see larger body sizes evolving in theropods without a corresponding increase in prey size, that's basically all I'm saying

[mental cloak]

Thats a weird fact i like
A megalosaurs go to a swim and after 2 minutes it evolved a sail on its back and a crocodile face lol

[queen oar]

Would you be green like this? ( IT'S A DINOSAUR, ALDERON MODERATORS!!! )
https://fxtwitter.com/lotuswinnielee/status/2053680735907635397?s=20

Lotus Winnie Lee (@lotuswinnielee)

Adorable Green Broadbill (aka lesser green broadbill) on a hot, hot day in Thailand….. #greenbroadbill #broadbills #birds #birdwatching #wildlife

**💬 23 🔁 136 ❤️ 962 👁️ 122.8K **

▶ Play video

FxTwitter · May 11, 2026, 3:36 AM

[little mauve]

I'm green as can be 🇮🇪 ✊

[mental cloak]

Why u have to clarif-..oohh right i forgot
Also wdym 'lesser"?..there's a more green broadbill?!?
The world can't get any greener..

[queen oar]

I think that's referencing size, but there is a blue one, for whatever reason.

[mental cloak]

U got a funny face aren't u Mr.Broadbill?

I think more ppl should draw baby dinosaurs(mainly the therapods) like this
This lil gremlin thing with hair

[paper parcel]

What if sauropods or iguanodons had fur when they were small

[mental cloak]

I know theres like..that one artistt that does that

[little mauve]

Skrepnick has a good illustration of a goblin baby rex

[mental cloak]

Its possible
We have Haolong Dongi show that(which is a juvi)

[queen oar]

Nanotyrannus?

[little mauve]

Haolong's integument is not fur, far from it

[mental cloak]

Nono,I know
Im just sayin that it's possible that some hatchling may had lil "fur" convering their bodies when they hatch like baby pigeons
All fuzzy and ugly

There's..this one artist i forgot the name that did art like that

[little mauve]

Felder did some beautiful art in the 90s/2000s of feathered baby hadrosaurs

[misty scarab]

honestly looks very nice

[mental cloak]

Aha! Found it

[mental cloak]

Very cute

[wind prairie]

this is basically how I Imagine them

[little mauve]

Lots of potential for fuzz in baby dinosaurs across a wide variety of clades. Young animals often show ancestral traits and feathers seem to be plesiomorphic for ornithodirans

[wind prairie]

is that paleorex

[little mauve]

Usually not a fan of this style but this is a great image

[mental cloak]

No

[elfin pulsar]

Is this actually how green it is??

[little mauve]

It's greener than you can ever imagine

[mental cloak]

Imcomprerenseble green bird of doom and dispair

[little mauve]

Imagine seeing it as a tetrachromat 😵

[mental cloak]

Dang

[winter marsh]

Holy green potato

[little mauve]

https://youtu.be/pAhCXDB6bTU?is=O-xiEEwyi-EWVh3b sharing this video again because it's good

[misty scarab]

i’ll give it a watch

[tulip wraith]

Scientists say they’ve identified the largest long-necked, herbivorous dinosaur to ever live in Southeast Asia, and it could be the last remains of this species they will ever find, according to a new study.

[misty scarab]

Nagatitan

[little mauve]

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-47482-x read the paper, it's free

[tulip wraith]

is that the name they gave it?

[misty scarab]

yep

[little mauve]

Not the biggest sauropod ever but interesting that euhelopodids were getting that big

[thorn grove]

I was confused by the wording at first but I think they're saying it's the largest from South East Asia, not that it's the largest in general and also in South East Asia

[little mauve]

Ah yeah gotcha that makes sense

Good image from paper

[hazy basalt]

This vid is responsible for how I color all my skins.

[little mauve]

Good, it's a great reference

[honest wave]

Could someone help me with determining the temporal range of mastodonsaurus? Wikipedia doesn't list a specific range so I went to mindat, but they had some pretty inconclusive numbers. It claims 247-201 MYA in the first and last recorded appearance section, but it only shows 247-242 MYA when you look at the section for all the species within the genus.

Of course wikipedia does at least show this, which would suggest the shorter range, but there are no associated numbers so it's still kind of useless.

If someone could also help me out with saivodus that would actually be even more appreciated

Because there is far less info on it since every place is quoting the same few dates but not sourcing them (and also of course not giving an actual temporal range)

[honest wave]

So far ive gotten a range of 73 MYA for saivdodus which does NOT seem correct, so please help me out here if you have any credible sources

Because I keep seeing stuff like the former juxtaposed against the latter and it's driving me nuts

[mental cloak]

Fish

[honest wave]

yeah?

[mental cloak]

Nothing i just like fish

[mental cloak]

"Bigger than blue whale!"

[paper parcel]

Could Permian Synapsids survive the cenozoic?

[mental cloak]

Maybe

[queen oar]

@balmy oyster https://x.com/Beagliam/status/2055091548010729776?s=20

Liam Power (@Beagliam)

Allosaurus sp. skeletal, this uses some of the largest and most robust non-“anax” allosaurus fossils. These include “Epanterias”, NMMNH P-26083, and BYU 2028. All of this material is huge, and leads clues to what I believe is understated allosaurus diversity within the Morrison.

X · May 15, 2026, 1:03 AM

[bright veldt]

I find it extremely likely there were a lot of different kinds of Allosaurus species or Allosaurid species, but when material outside of 2 species is scraps it's hard to tell.

[ionic linden]

allosaurus my beloved

[balmy oyster]

Liam the goat

[balmy oyster]

You’d think, but there are a plentiful amount of good skeletons or diagnostic to analyse

Not to mention we do technically already have a new species confirmed (I forgot to send the link a while back oops) + there’s “arkhane” from the very start of the morrison, as well as another possible species that is a 90% complete specimen

[queen oar]

@balmy oyster have I ever showed you the hip bones of both the Holotype of Tyrannosaurus and AMNH 5027? Specimens that literature have always said are pretty similar to each other?

[balmy oyster]

You have not, but if you have genuinely noticed something between those two…please do share. You aren’t alone in thinking there’s something more between these two.

[balmy oyster]

Tbf it is stated to be partly crushed in some areas, though there is reason to believe that there are specimens which relate to 5027 more than the holotype meaning there can still be good comparisons between anything to the holotype

[queen oar]

I mean yeah, definetly. But like, I think even if you " Uncrushed " that, it still is significantly different.

[balmy oyster]

I do see it. Wonder how specimens like Sue and trix show in comparison

[queen oar]

I have my Schizo Theory for Sue, but if I say it someday... Well, let's say I'll be reasonably labelled crazy, for likely a good reason.

[balmy oyster]

I’ve already gone crazy from ceratopsians, maybe it would be fun to see with rex’s

My biggest problem is I lack the ambition, because if I had proper ambition I would’ve made my own own paper by now

[queen oar]

I don't exactly believe in robust Tyrannosauruses. Less on, per say, saying that Tyrannosaurus couldn't be robust, definetly like most Tyrannosaurids they are going to be robust in some way. More so, the nature of the " Largest Tyrannosauruses " specimens tend to be overall dubious, this can be from very fragmentary specimens being given gigantic estimates, despite Tyrannosaurus being known for being a taxa of inconsistent skeletal proportions ( One of the reasons I drew my Tyrannosauruses ), as well there is a lot of areas unaddressed when it comes to the most complete specimens of that category, either Scotty who lacks good portion of it's Torso, or Sue, from the moment they were reconstructed, is plagued with inconsistencies that do not generally match our knowledge from other Tyrannosaurus specimens.

[balmy oyster]

There’s still a lot more research to be done with Tyrannosaurus, ironically as it sounds considering how overresearched it us

But nano has effectively removed a couple decades worth of certain tyrannosaur research, meaning we still can be missing a lot of stuff that we do have the resources to check back on

[queen oar]

That is undeniable in some way, despite this being discussed and being given a impression of not being the case. However, I don't exactly believe Tyrannosaurus is overresearched, and tend to more lean to the alternative that Tyrannosaurus is a victim of participating in too many studies, that ultimately serve no purpose on progressing knowledge about the taxa. Even studies about the intelligence of Tyrannosaurus, at the end they are more " What ifs ", rather than constructing a legitimate path where future research can continue from.

Realistically, we have already too much about Tyrannosaurus skeletally, so there is nothing that you can really progress on that department. This means other, more complicated, areas about the Animal have to be worked on, which seemingly, despite how many papers there are, we kinda of only have more questions than answers, really.

[mental cloak]

What if trex had a bank account

[queen oar]

" Spielberg? Yes. My client wants to inform you that we are going to sue you for profiting off their image. "

[mental cloak]

Lmao i love that

[charred hearth]

what woukd y'all say was the most important discovery of last year?

[restive crag]

Hey I made that

[queen oar]

yup

[charred hearth]

was nano 2024 or 2025 i forgot

https://x.com/CRCpaleos/status/2054675048330637503 this is beautiful.

CRCpaleos (@CRCpaleos)

PALEOARTE
Fish (Konstantin Korobov)

X · May 13, 2026, 9:28 PM

[stiff seal]

@visual tinsel this is how i think they could make it look way better the vurrent sucho just feels really weird looking to me

[visual tinsel]

Yh probably would be better

[stiff seal]

the body for sucho isnt bad in pot but the neck and head just seem weird looking to me

[visual tinsel]

Its too slim rn and yeah

[stiff seal]

like something like this could work for sure, but the first image i sent is what i think would be a ideal look for sucho

[charred hearth]

thoughts on this depiction? https://x.com/_Archesuchus_/status/2055148527190192437

🍉Archesuchus🪶 (@_Archesuchus_)

I actually made a therizinosaurus design inspired by this weird little bird, I'm happy to see them get the recognition they deserve. 🧡

X · May 15, 2026, 4:49 AM

[wind prairie]

I thought that was wan shi tong for a second

[woeful falcon]

Looks more like a creature design from an Of Monsters and Men music video

[mental cloak]

New spino..wait or that was this year?

[mental cloak]

The current pot's sucho has a weird posture and proportions and the head bein the wrong shape overall

[mental cloak]

I can't even understand what im looking at lol

[queen oar]

https://fxtwitter.com/HodariNundu/status/2055124664335147517?s=20

Hodari Shadowalker ❄️🐆 (@HodariNundu)

Folks have been sending me this photo of a curious beast depicted on rock art from Brazil- short tail, pointed ears, long fangs, maybe stripes… could this be a prehistoric human’a attempt to portray Smilodon populator, South America’s top cat in the late Pleistocene?

**💬 10 🔁 50 ❤️ 303 👁️ 5.0K **

FxTwitter · May 15, 2026, 3:14 AM

[woeful falcon]

Though, the sucho in the image there does not look that much better. I'd almost say worse because I prolly wouldn't have guessed it was a sucho lol

[mental cloak]

I completaly ignored the sucho in the image wtf

How about these suchos?@woeful falcon

[queen oar]

tbh, I wished Sucho was more of a terrestrial spinosaur in-game. It's kinda pointless to have it do the same thing as Spinosaurus, you end up in a scenario where you have two creatures in the roster where they function the same, but the difference becomes a lot clearer in raw stats.

[mental cloak]

whispers in ur ear yeah and to be fair sucho is more land based than spino overall

[woeful falcon]

That's the sucho look I'm familiar with

[mental cloak]

Whatsup

[true juniper]

How valid of a genus is amphicoelias altus or is it just a normal diplodocid that used to have a very large evil brother

[mental cloak]

Also why his neck is so bend over

[queen oar]

Kinda something they have by default, I guess ( Neck Flexibility )

[mental cloak]

I think it's a second option
Amphi has a new name now that i forgot

[true juniper]

Im not talking about fragillimus

[queen oar]

it's there, I guess.

[true juniper]

Im talking specifically about Amphicoelias Altus (the One that didnt disintegrate)

[mental cloak]

I..idk tbh
Amphicoelias is just as confunsing for me
Im not an expert on those

[true juniper]

How different is it from other diplodocids in terms of Proportions

[queen oar]

Open to interpretation.

[mental cloak]

Definaly a scavenger

[true juniper]

Ah of course its known from that much
Thats a really really weird looking femur

[queen oar]

it's btw, one of the few bones that have a very accurate illustration from the bone wars of how it looks in-life ( the femur )

[mental cloak]

Omg u r right wtf is that femur
Wait i think theres 2 bones in there

[true juniper]

Look how its all chopped into pieces
(Why is Cope looksmaxxing)
And yeah ive heard about How innacurate and unreliable illustrations of dinosaur bones can get

[mental cloak]

Look at his face
Our favorite eugenises guy

[queen oar]

that's just Edward Drinker Cope, you know? Him on his average day, lol

[mental cloak]

I bet he drinker alot in his live to do what he did

[true juniper]

Hes doing the Agagagaga

[queen oar]

see, the thing is that there was a study on this subject, cuz of that matter when it came to publications from the period of the bone wars, so there was some studies touching on the topic of how accurate measurements and illustrations were depending on the author in question. Cope somehow was better than even 20th century Authors.

[mental cloak]

Is he mr.crabs?

[true juniper]

You heard about the whole alamosaurus illustration debacle

[sudden wind]

Why not. Tho it's only since recently since I begun to draw them

[mental cloak]

Damn..i mean not questioning his methods(i will question it)
But damn

[queen oar]

not yet. Unless, I forgot

[mental cloak]

Tell us

(They??)

[true juniper]

You should watch fossil crates video on alamosaurus and Utetitan

[mental cloak]

Ooohh i think i heard about that actualy
That name "Utetitan" is inbeded in my brain like a stone book

[true juniper]

Stuff about how Fossils from the tail were attributed to a genus only known from a scapula and how Illustrations didnt line up at all n stuff

[true juniper]

Thats my Nursing home dementia fueled Memories of the video

[mental cloak]

Also i didnt know Ceratops was a genus of..well ceratopsid
And it also got invalid

[true juniper]

Does that affect the rest of the Ceratopsids
Like do they have to rename some of the family groups

[mental cloak]

No
Same thing with proceratosaurus
He still has his name
Sometimes the name just sticks so much that they just use it

[true juniper]

Proceratosaurus is a different Situation
Its valid its just that its name Relates to an outdated Phylogenetic position that doesnt hold up anymore, But its still valid so its not allowed to change it
Same with parasaurolophus
But with ceratops its that the animals existence is dubious (i think that’s what it means)

[mental cloak]

Yeah
Also i think centrosaurus
Is not a centrosaurid anymore
Its a ceratopsid now iirc

[true juniper]

Waiyt what lemme chekc

Where did you see that it still says its a centrosaurid on wikipedia

Isnt it impossible for centrosaurus to not be a centrosaurid
Because centrosaurids are animals more related to centrosaurus than for example triceratops

[mental cloak]

Am i crazy wtf

[stiff osprey]

There was never a centrosaurid

Centrosaurines are a subgroup of ceratopsid (along with chasmosaurines)

[true juniper]

Mb i meant centrosaurines

[mental cloak]

I just used "rid" cuz i didnt knew the right term for it

[true juniper]

Also hi skeletal man

[mental cloak]

What were we talkin about

[stiff osprey]

Anyway yeah when the type genus of a family becomes invalid the family name stays the same

Troodontidae will stay regardless of what happens to troodon

[mental cloak]

I knew it!
I wasnt crazy..i mean i was crazy on the centro not bein valid
But i was right nontheless
Ty

[true juniper]

Also is taurovenator known from those neck and Arm fossils (and some other bits) or is it now only known from those horns above the eyes now

[mental cloak]

I have no idea
Tbh i never seen taurovenator on how he looks like hold on

[fossil ingot]

Spinosaur moment

[stiff osprey]

depending on who you believe taurovenator is either known from a singular brow or most of the skeleton

[mental cloak]

I found this tho

[true juniper]

Yeah why do we attribute fossils to a genus when those fossils dont overlap with the holotype
Do they just say ehhhhh same place same time it fits

[stiff osprey]

*well most of the appendicular skeleton

All the bones in white were found 800 m away from the holotype and were referred to taurovenator because the jugal supposedly fits into the holotype postorbital

but ehh

[mental cloak]

Man this is confuaing why am i invested in this career

[true juniper]

If i ever become a palaontologist im gonna focus on Carcharodontosaurids and megalosaurs

[mental cloak]

Idk what i would focus upon
I mean i like spinosaurids and pterosaurs

[true juniper]

Your gonna see me wailing on the ground in some museum in front of the cast of the poekilopleuron holotype

[fossil ingot]

Average Tauro moment

[mental cloak]

Who are those guys

[true juniper]

Its head is strangely small proportionally

[mental cloak]

Do u think?
It looka normal for me
I think its the camera angle

[fossil ingot]

Its somewhat Okey
Tho wouldn't be surprise you can shrunk its Body
Dans Tauro is like 11.8m but I am pretty sure they are ways to make it shorter

[true juniper]

Well small compared to others like giganotosaurus with its bobblehead build

[fossil ingot]

Giga isn't exactly a Big Bobblehead tbh
Atleast not as much

[runic rover]

The chosen one! Guys let's make it happen!

[mental cloak]

How about me with my spinosaurids?:(

[fossil ingot]

Like, bro returned to normal

[runic rover]

That needs a help too

[mental cloak]

Yey
More spino fossil!
I will dig more oxalaia

[queen oar]

I'd rather not.

[runic rover]

It looks like an adolescent Giga aww

[mental cloak]

Bro want to be giga so bad

[fossil ingot]

Main thing we are missing is the Brazilian Spinosaur to get properly described
We know what Material it has and its Tibia was even on the Mirabilis Supplementary

[runic rover]

If you find a colossal Carcharodontosaurid don't push it back under the ground pls!

[mental cloak]

Me with a big charcarodontosaurid in the middle of brazil:oops..nothing to see here!

[fossil ingot]

They look similar
Both are proportionally not that far off eachother
Both are quite short legged

[mental cloak]

It wouldn't surprise me if for some fkin reaso tauro becomes giga atsp
But that would never happend...RIGHT?

[runic rover]

Ngl considering Mapu and Meraxes were Giga descendants, Tauro looking like one is kind of "yeah... Of course"

[fossil ingot]

Ehh prob no
Tauro lived at the same formation of Meraxes and Mapu iirc

[undone rapids]

Tauro is closer to meraxes it seems

[mental cloak]

Oh right i see everyone is in the same page

[fossil ingot]

Meraxes is just the weird child with its Dumb long legs
Every other Carch has like relatively short legs
And then there is Meraxes

[undone rapids]

Tyrnnotitan seems to be closer to giga. Mapu jumps around a small bit

[queen oar]

There is some teeth that look similar to those of Tyrannotitan and Giganotosaurus from the Laje do Coringa

[mental cloak]

Coringuei com essa imformação

[mental cloak]

Maybe he was more of a runner ig?

[queen oar]

Depends more on cartilage and posture tbh

[fossil ingot]

And then theres Carcha been the Giga Chad been just a Partial Skull

[true juniper]

Is it true tyrannotitan has the longest theropod femur

[undone rapids]

https://www.instagram.com/p/DXrwjCfjnRy/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/p/DX7PJMUp9i-/?hl=en

Some type of large theropod maybe, if that tooth was from the same animal they're working on

[queen oar]

https://x.com/i/status/1837728165214470419

Liam Power (@Beagliam)

Meraxes gigas skeletal, another remake of an older large theropod I made. My last one I felt I went too little on tissue as well as the old one having some scaling issues. This one is hopefully more accurate as well as more aesthetic.

X · Sep 22, 2024, 5:38 AM

[fossil ingot]

Meraxes has a Proportionally Long Femur tmk even compared to other Carchs
Which is why Dans Meraxes is such a weird lad

[mental cloak]

Those bones are verh spacious

[queen oar]

Now compare to, never to be released Giga: https://x.com/i/status/1850220867935945178

Liam Power (@Beagliam)

Pretty large, Gigantic, even

X · Oct 26, 2024, 5:00 PM

[undone rapids]

Meraxes has a more normal tibia/femur ratio compared to other big allosaurs

[fossil ingot]

Also Liam did a 2025 Version of his

[mental cloak]

Also do we know why some carcharodontosaurids had a bigger foot claw on their first digit?

[queen oar]

Not on his twitter tho 🤷‍♂️

[fossil ingot]

Also why are you doing the down thumb to Dans Meraxes lol
And like Glaive said
Meraxes has more "normal" tibia/femur ratio than other big carchs

[fossil ingot]

Liam Posts most of his Stuff on discord first tbf

[queen oar]

Sorry I unfortunately suffer from " Folkes Hate Syndrome " where I inherintly suffer from a sense of negative bias towards any Folkes work...

" 30% of people around the world suffer from FHS, every year 3 out of 5 people may show signs of FHS... You can make a difference by helping us. "

[fossil ingot]

What???

[mental cloak]

What does that mean my dude

[queen oar]

It was an attempt to joke around it, but yeah no, it didn't land

[fossil ingot]

Anyways have more of Meraxes been weird

[mental cloak]

Ok i see the long leg thing now

[wind prairie]

is it just me or does it feel spindly?
not in a bad way

[fossil ingot]

Yeah
Has a more "normal" tibia/femur ratio than Stuff like Giga or even Titan

[mental cloak]

Weird
Anyway gn guys
See ya soon

[queen oar]

But yeah, I just don't like Folkes, that's the reason. Have a preference to not use his work, but I don't think I could give any reasoning beyond the personnal level.

[fossil ingot]

This guys didn't exactly needs long legs anyways

And yeah Acro is the true pinhead of Head compared to body size

[undone rapids]

That title will always belong to Carnotaurus.

[charred hearth]

say 1 good thing about gigantosaurus

[undone rapids]

It lived with Ekrixinatosaurus

[queen oar]

Say 1 thing about... Spectrovenator

[undone rapids]

It was found under a sauropod.

Also a recent paper looking at abelisaur skulls, found spectro was probably hunting in a similar way to later derived abelis.

[charred hearth]

extremely difficult challenge

say something positive about horridus you wouldnt say about prorsus

[runic rover]

What's that?

[runic rover]

It's my favorite dinosaur ♥️ (life is pain)

[stable sun]

TTT is basal

[balmy oyster]

I do wonder why you genuinely dislike his skeletals. We all have a reason for why we may dislike certain skeletals, for instance I dislike guevera’s skeletals because the actual material is not used for the skeletals and some just have copy pasted torsos from one another. Is it because of the way he does proportions? The way he postures skeletals?

[undone rapids]

Maybe agnes is French and Folkes' British aura just repels them

[true juniper]

Sahur

[stable sun]

Tyrannotitan sahur

[warm saddle]

Tachyon's a french? Tragic.

[true juniper]

Im sorry for your loss tachyon 😩

[outer tusk]

☠️

[grave tinsel]

People confuse it with giganotosaurus, giving it much needed publicity

[frigid delta]

does the theropod exist as "Troodon", "Latenivenatrix", or "Stenonychosaurus"
and what is the most valid name i could use for the dinosaur?

[grave tinsel]

Well I think it depends on what size the theropod you’re thinking about is. Laten is significantly bigger than the other two, and Stenonycho is more lightly built than Troodon. At least according to Wikipedia and general consensus, all of them are valid species, but for recognisability Troodon may be the best bet if you need it for something.

[frigid delta]

Huh, that's unexpected
because iirc a 2017 major study officially deemed Troodon a nomen dubium, so i can’t use that "name" as a valid genus for the skeletons we know

[grave tinsel]

Yeah but funnily enough even more recently there was a study done of these troodontids last year, which aimed to preserve Troodon’s validity and list Stenonycho as a junior synonym. So ig with Stenonycho and Troodon it’s more controversial than either of them with Laten.

[frigid delta]

what the hell lol
so ig Latenivenatrix win then

[grave tinsel]

Well if you want a medium small theropod rather than a small small theropod, Latenivenatrix is prob the best plus it being the most valid out of the three, it also being the largest valid troodontid by far, with larger estimates elsewhere being dubious on their actual size.

[frigid delta]

what kind of large size is this Laten? Elephant-sized? :)

[long frost]

guys yo yo ım have questin

[grave tinsel]

Laten itself is reasonably sized, and the larger estimates I was talking about were with different troodontids, this unnamed alaskan troodontid being one of them only known from teeth.

[grave tinsel]

Paleontology related? Or something else?

[long frost]

What kind of predator was Tarbosaurus?

[warm saddle]

Prob ambush,kinda like rex

[grave tinsel]

Should be apex predator, though due to the environment with sauropods possibly a pack hunter as shown in prehistoric planet

[long frost]

I wouldn't put the two on the same level if I were you, because the T-Rex is bigger and smarter, and even though I'm a Tarbo fan, in my view, the Tarbosaurus seems like a determined, ambush-seeking dinosaur.

[warm saddle]

?? What? No i'm just saying the hunt the same way, by ambushing.

[long frost]

I want Tarbosaurus to be added to the normal modded version, but is it really possible to get this done through consensus or something, regarding the dinosaurs that will be developed?

And could you show me any pictures of Tarbosaurus? I've searched but couldn't find any good ones.

[grave tinsel]

Did you mean unmodded? If so then unlikely since pretty much js microraptor and leedsichthys will be in the base game and nothing else, maybe a dlc but unlikely since it would have such a similar build to rex, possibly having some features of dasp. If not, modders have already coded in their own rex, so a tarbo isnt too unthinkable.

[fossil ingot]

The name laten isn't valid tbf
Its just Stenon

[grave tinsel]

Technically I think they’re all controversial

[long frost]

I don't think we need Daspa comparisons. They were going to bring Albertosaurus to the game, but it still hasn't arrived. If I could gather a large group of people and get them to unanimously vote, wouldn't that change things? For example, let's say I design the character's appearance, animations, attacks, and abilities myself. Would they accept it or not?

[fossil ingot]

I mean
Stebo is more stable

[fossil ingot]

Like by Far

[long frost]

how ım can get screen with pc?

[grave tinsel]

Is this like a steno estimate based off of laten material?

[long frost]

rexy wht do you think my questın?

[fossil ingot]

Steno has a Tibia that gets a Size equal or major than that of Laten
So Size is the same

[fossil ingot]

I wouldn't exactly say Pack Hunter tbf
Its Big Enough for basically the rest of its Prey Items and is not like its sauropods are inmense
If anything at best they would prob be like
Occasional Mobs

[grave tinsel]

I’m not sure I understand, sorry

[long frost]

usıng translate ım not englısh ım T urkish

[stable sun]

Tarbosaurus however encountered sauropods far more often than Tyrannosaurus

[fossil ingot]

There has never been a Vanilla/Ofdicial Albertosaurus, there was only a Mod been made by Primordial Tyrants

[grave tinsel]

I think he’s talking about modded

[fossil ingot]

There are a few Modded Tarbo that will come in the Future
Mainly KTO and another one

[fossil ingot]

This Guy
Made by same team that did the current Brachio

[grave tinsel]

Damn almost makes me want to play modded instead of officials… Almost

[fossil ingot]

I would love Tarbo in cause it would be a Proper Terrestrial 4 slot
But its just to similar to Rex Visually
Main Differences been Tarbos most times wider skull, Smaller Arms proportionally, Maybe Slightly bigger head proportionally and few other differences which you can't exactly notice in this game unless you give Tarbo something weird ti makenit stand out

[misty scarab]

aucasaurus

[paper parcel]

He wants to be carcharodontosaurus so bad

[runic rover]

Tarbo was more of a bleeder tbh, they had teeths more similar to Carcharodontosaurids, and there were found sings of predations on Nemegt sauropod bones, not to mention they had the same adaptation as Carchs in their skull.

Maybe it ambushed too, tho it would need some adaptations and Idk if their feet were the same as rexes

[runic rover]

Where's the dewlap?! WHERE'S THE THROAT SACK??

[warm saddle]

Wasn't that a spsculative feature from what i've heared

[fossil ingot]

[runic rover]

Opinionable, kinda , there were scientists who did see a patch of skin print in the area where the neck is supposed to be, arguably "could be the neck florping down after the dinosaur died", but with all due respect, there's so many birds and lizards with dewlaps & similar stuffs, it is much more believable to me that Tarbosaurus had a dewlap than the dead skin made it look like it had one.

[fossil ingot]

Tarbo skull is pretty much Rex Like and in cases Wider than most Rexes
Its Mainly the Teeth that while still for crushing
Have serrations on them

[runic rover]

About the throat sac idk I only really red a single paper like something around 10+- years ago, fell in love with it, never heard of it ever again so it's kinda hard for me to make an actual good point.

[tough parcel]

There was never any paper

[fossil ingot]

Don't think we have any Skin prints of Tarbo
Like AT ALL

[runic rover]

We don't actually.

We HAD. but they got destroyed, only proof is a single picture and the paleontologists that found it

[fossil ingot]

Tarbo Skull is Comically wide

[tough parcel]

https://incertaesedisblog.wordpress.com/2019/10/06/the-anecdotal-tarbosaurus-throat-skin/

[fossil ingot]

Average rumor moment

[runic rover]

Someone pointed out that Tarbo had the jaw-lock thing that usually Carchs had

[fossil ingot]

Tarbo was Pretty much still crushing things
It teeth just had slight serrations
Similar to how Sucho's Conical Teeth also have slight serratiins

[runic rover]

Yeah, but it wasn't basically rex Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V but smaller, that's what I'm trying to say

[fossil ingot]

I mean yeah
Theres Tarbos with Skulls Proportionally Wider than Most Rexes then again.
Tarbo is Far from Rex but smaller ofc
But like its still more Rex like than Carch like

Big Tyrannosaurids are just cool asf
Zucheng will just prove it more

[granite thicket]

Btw does anyone know why big zucheng is put at 10+ tons although it would be way smaller than that if it had proportions more like tarbo?

[runic rover]

Tbh apparently Tarbo is a very average in the tyrannosaur family, since most other had same kind of teeths, with Rex being more an exception than the rule.

[fossil ingot]

Tarbo Proportions aren't far off Rex
Depends the Tarbo Specimen ofc
And Cause Suecheng has apparently enough Post Crania to determine its size According to Rommel himself

[granite thicket]

I thought tarbo had much smaller ribcage more like average theropod proportions but guess not

[fossil ingot]

Nah
If Anything is about same as the Average Rex prob

[fossil ingot]

Skull needs to be wider but works to give an Idea

Ofc you can't exactly compare it to the Fat ah Rexes that are like Sue or Trix
But is not far off smaller Rexes than them

[undone rapids]

Tarbo isn't very well described so we don't know that much about it in detail, though it has alot alot of specimens. Zhucheng just has like 2 bones described.

[mental cloak]

Hello folks

[fossil ingot]

Hopefully with Chen/Suecheng we get a better idea of both

[runic heart]

Is there a way to tell how far the rictus for each kind of theropod would extend?

[fossil ingot]

I would say only the Holotype Dentary is Described
Then again the 121cm Femur Apparently is Refered to the Holotype so like

AHH I just want you and Adam already

[tough parcel]

If I had a nickel for every quirky nickname specimen that would save the genus, I'd have enough gas money to travel across America

[queen oar]

I don't like him, personally. I have reasons, but as I said they do not diverge any further from the personnal level, which ultimately I don't think makes them convincing. I think there is certain qualities of his skeletals that make me not wanna use them. I don't like how he erases prior skeletal works, effectively making them lost media all of the time, beyond this removing parts about the reconstruction history of certain taxa. Unlike other Skeletal creators, who replace their work, if they feel it has became outdated, Folkes does not do that unless ( and this is only a assumption made in bad faith ) there is extra incentive for that. Which I believe makes it unreliable if one ever wants to use those for sci-comm, as you never know if one of these will become " Temporarily Unavailable. "

It's silly, I admit it, but I would not use it.

[tough parcel]

What 💔 none of this happens

[queen oar]

If you say so.

[tough parcel]

I know so? 😭

Like and this is only a assumption made in bad faith is a major red flag out of all this

You're saying a lot that is not something people would consider do not diverge any further from the personnal level, which ultimately I don't think makes them convincing but there's little to no evidence to believe the negatives you've said

[queen oar]

Again, if you say so, there is nothing to discuss.

[tough parcel]

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/589212327543439376/1038193923501346906/456456457.gif

[mental cloak]

Jiggly wiggly

If birds were quadrupedal
Would they evolve to be smth similar to pterosaurs in general?

[queen oar]

@restive crag 's Giganotosaurus that was never released, and was sent to the dark void ( For whatever reason )

[mental cloak]

Thats why hes black
Becuz of the void

[restive crag]

It was bad

[queen oar]

I mean yeah, I know you said that. But, why it was bad, I'll never know!!!

[restive crag]

There was a lot a lot bad too much I don’t want to get into, I’m waiting till I get actual measurements before I work on giga again

[queen oar]

Go Go Frankestein Giganotosaurus skeletal then

[mental cloak]

Franksteinosaurus would be a cool name for a dinosaur

[restive crag]

I’ve got a few more taxa to do and update first like Deltadromeus

[queen oar]

Yeah, but it would probably only fit on a composite or chimaeric animal

[mental cloak]

Deltadromeu my beloved weird guy

[restive crag]

Ornithimimosaur delta

[queen oar]

Thought your Deltadromeus was already good?

[restive crag]

New version already looks better

[queen oar]

will have to save the old one, just as assurance.

[mental cloak]

Looking nice so far

[charred hearth]

thoughts? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFUBH91YarE

damn a whole year for incubation?

[hazy basalt]

Still no animations of Carnos giving each other sideswipes with those horns

[mental cloak]

What

[balmy oyster]

Sarcosuchus imperator

[mental cloak]

Someone pinged me

[mental cloak]

They kinda go for it
But it was short and brief..like my relationships

[delicate scroll]

Sorry that I have a life outside of making skeletals for you bro 💔

[gray zealot]

ez just no-life the entire known catalogue of dinosaur specimens

[hexed wigeon]

This duo

[charred hearth]

why does he have a chainsaw

[gray zealot]

if you're gonna stand next to dinosaurs, rather have and not need than need and not have

[hexed wigeon]

Very true

[delicate scroll]

I respect the hate for hatings sake

[queen oar]

If I was saying that just for myself, then I would do the skeletal/reference myself, which I do with fragmentary/isolated material anytime I draw one. Even if no close relative has a diagram. Otherwise, I would've not made my point.

[delicate scroll]

I dont understand what youre saying. Most of my old stuff is still online, and I've not posted it on my website because I don't want something inaccurate or not representing a taxon well to be used as reference

It's a small problem to hate someone over lmao

[queen oar]

Wouldn't it be preferrable to archive those tho? Also, if that's what you wanted to say, then don't imply that I'm only saying that because I want you to make skeletals for me. If I wanted to use your skeletals, which I can, anytime, if it involves something big, I can ask you permission anytime, then I would've done that

[delicate scroll]

Im genuinely confused bro what is your issue

[gray zealot]

i had a counterpoint but at this point i don't know what theyre talking about

[delicate scroll]

I just learnt its zboomer so that makes sense

[mental cloak]

Me neither

[ashen wedge]

What did I miss?

[balmy oyster]

nothing important

[paper parcel]

It was me(Anteosaurus)

[mental cloak]

I like this guy

[stiff seal]

this things face feels like a squished rex

[tough parcel]

Ok

[paper parcel]

Its basically a permian rex closer to mammals lol

[outer tusk]

https://x.com/natscichannel/status/2055352669406114302?s=46&t=cZ77hbSAXPu6PbeeT3Espw

EDGE Central (@NatSciChannel)

🚨NEW STUDY DROP🚨

A baby/juvenile specimen referrable to the Sauropod, Neuquensaurus, has been described. It was ~44–63% of adult size. This one suggests baby Titanosaurs didn't develop their pneumatic (air-filled) skeletons until later on in maturity.

X · May 15, 2026, 6:20 PM

[runic heart]

Size hacks

[mental cloak]

That's interesting

[little mauve]

Another score for weird ontogenetic adaptations

[stiff osprey]

What on earth do you gain from having solid bones as a baby

[tough parcel]

Harder for the azhdarchid to eat them

[warped peak]

What would you gain from having extra brittle bones as a baby

[balmy oyster]

For theropods to watch as they plonk them into the water

[tough parcel]

The dopamine rush of a good "Blomp"

[stiff osprey]

Lesser mineral need allowing for faster growth, pneumatic bone is also not noticeably weaker than non-pneumatic bone

[charred hearth]

what if they threw them at pterosaurs, kill 2 pterosaurs with 1 sauropod

[little mauve]

Pneumatization is weirdly non plesiomorphic for ornithodirans

[charred hearth]

https://x.com/beetlemoses/status/2055345058237341815/photo/1

beetle moses (@beetlemoses)

X · May 15, 2026, 5:50 PM

[steep atlas]

fairly low because most cannot fly

[mental cloak]

Its obvious
For then to walk at thr bottom of the ocean to find a hidden tresure

[mental cloak]

That was a good one
head pets u

[charred hearth]

ty

[charred hearth]

would you guys say morisson is the most impactful formation that helps us understand the jurassic more or would you say its something else?

[stiff osprey]

Rare unanimous potchat answer

[charred hearth]

what do you guys consider the most impactful formation that helps us understand the Triassic more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijSFFlq_Vqo are eletric fences really the correct answer? wouldnt natural walls be more efficent and much less cruel?

[full lagoon]

Natural walls would definitely be preferable but it depends on how much it would cost to install them in areas like that ig

[scenic flame]

https://tenor.com/view/no-tantrum-jim-carrey-gif-10484077

[runic heart]

Where does nagatitan place in size among titanosaurs?

[charred hearth]

do you guys believe sauropod containment would be near impossible like how baleen whale and great white shark containment is?

[queen oar]

yeah, pretty sure they are more preferrable for large animals in most AZA's manuals, no?

[full lagoon]

I wouldn't know for sure but I'd definitely assume so

[stiff osprey]

Not really, fencing an area big enough to contain a sauropod is much easier than building a giant water box for a whale to swim in. and the maintenance is even easier

[queen oar]

I mean, I know for the Elephants they do say so. They mainly say it to avoid potential interactions where Males could harm other individuals, so you have to design the enclosure with no dead ends, and with natural barriers individuals can opt to avoid the interaction.

[stiff osprey]

the biggest hurdle with sauropod containment would be that all or almost all modern plants would be inedible to them

[full lagoon]

ALL of them?

[queen oar]

Then just like Ostriches, Emus and Rheas.

[charred hearth]

well, if your able to bring back sauropods i feel like you should be able to bring back their plants too

[full lagoon]

There are some species that still persist right?

[queen oar]

it's probably more subjective by species and time period.

[charred hearth]

the real question is, could you really afford to house a sauropod due to how much food it requires daily?

[full lagoon]

In today's world it would definitely be a challenge

[stiff osprey]

even if we're talking groups that already existed in the mesozoic, it's been at least 66 million years. most of our diet nowadays is based on grasses but I wouldn't risk eating a grass from 70 million years ago

[queen oar]

Depends on the Sauropod, and such housing would've to be mostly experimental. Since we don't know how they may react to number of individuals and other things. But I think at most, you are only getting as large as Apatosaurus or Camarasaurus, beyond that, it's just wishful thinking.

[stiff osprey]

in terms of raw amount, a large zoo could certainly feed a large titanosaur. it would be the same as feeding 5-8 elephants for the likes of argentinosaurus

the issue is elephants will literally eat the ground, whereas sauropod feed would either need to be genetically modified plants or one of the very few species they can eat naturally

[queen oar]

To be clear, I'm not referring to the Brachiosaurus-sized femur Camarasaurus species, and more so the ones that we do know could had a more handable size.

[charred hearth]

would it be ethical to feed tyrannosaurus live cows

[mental cloak]

Yes

[full lagoon]

I'd assume "small" sauropods like saltasaurus and brachytrachalopan, etc. would be fairly easy in comparison as well and might not need as much food for their size as an elephant?

[queen oar]

No. I've explored that hypothetical already, but enrichment should be done via the use of machinery, and probably with rewards if the Theropod succeeds on their hunting ( for the larger ones, smaller ones would be more easy to do it by other means )

[charred hearth]

uhm, explain more?

[stable sun]

What about Magyarosaurus

[stiff osprey]

if the zoo was able to grow its own sauropod-compatible plants then it would be pretty easy to feed a magy

[mental cloak]

What about giant pterosaurs?(Hatzegopteryx etc rtc)

[full lagoon]

Big bird cage lol /j

[charred hearth]

the magyarosaurus will run you down do to it being the speed of a allo and give you 18 dieases when it forces you to eat one of its osteoderms

[stable sun]

feed it live human children

[queen oar]

Essentially, even if you try to use Cows per say, for the use of enrichment, mammals might not be a viable option, due to a lot of elements about them may not be compatible with the requirements of a Large Theropods' diet. Essentially, Mammal Flesh and Organs do not offer the same nutritional values like those from reptiles do offer. You can't really afford buying per say " Crocodile Meat ", cause I imagine that would be too expensive... So you have to put other options the carnivore can opt to eat.

[mental cloak]

As a sacrifice

[charred hearth]

oh yeah, i guess that does make a lot of sense

[queen oar]

Note, Theropods most likely do have bacteria that can convert their food into essential vitamins, but similar to a lot of reptiles, they do require to eat more specifics to acquire other vitamins.

[mental cloak]

Easy just feed em protein bars/j

[stable sun]

I think we should feed theropods this
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_food

[queen oar]

Snickers, and that's how you get the plot from Rebirth.

[full lagoon]

Lmfao, stupid ass movie

[mental cloak]

Wait u can say "ass" here?

[charred hearth]

would you be able to take care of , lets say a ornithimimus or struthi the same way you would keep a rhea or ostritch? i feel like they'd have pretty similar diets

[queen oar]

maybe viable to some degree, but it will depend on the size. I did had a stupid idea of doing a Giganotosaurus enclosure, and putting citrus tree there for them to eat those.

[stable sun]

I honestly forgot the plot was that the one where they tried to make a vaccine using something from dinosaurs or whatever that was

[mental cloak]

Dino vaccine for ppl to become dinosaurs(analog horror ref)

[full lagoon]

I think it's not TOO crazy to imagine them supplementing their diet with plant matter, but if that doesn't work supplements could just be introduced in another way.

[queen oar]

Probably not. Ornithimimids seen to have beaks more adapt to more soft vegetation, which kinda means they do have more specifics on what they can eat or not. They are Ostrich-shaped, but it's just a stupid ahh duck.

[mental cloak]

What if they make like a paste
So they can cover the meat with that paste as a supliment for thr therapod's diet

[charred hearth]

https://tenor.com/view/where-are-you-gif-20960909

[full lagoon]

More of what I was thinking too, like how pet reptiles may need their meal to be coated in calcium dust