Watery secret of the dinosaur death pose (Simplest explanation of Dino extinction: They drowned)

New Scientist ^ | 11/23/2011 | by Brian Switek

[SeekAndFind]

Recreating the spectacular pose many dinosaurs adopted in death might involve following the simplest of instructions: just add water.

When palaeontologists are lucky enough to find a complete dinosaur skeleton – whether it be a tiny Sinosauropteryx or an enormous Apatosaurus – there's a good chance it will be found with its head thrown backwards and its tail arched upwards – technically known as the opisthotonic death pose. No one is entirely sure why this posture is so common, but Alicia Cutler and colleagues from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, think it all comes down to a dip in the wet stuff.

Cutler placed plucked chickens – both fresh and frozen – on a bed of sand for three months to see if desiccation would lead to muscle contractions that pulled the neck upwards – a previously suggested explanation for the death pose. The chickens decayed without contorting. When seven other chickens were placed into cool, fresh water, however, their necks arched and their heads were thrown back within seconds. Sustained immersion of the birds for up to a month slightly increased the severity of the pose, but the major movement of the head occurred almost immediately.

The result contrasts with a study carried out in 2007 by Cynthia Marshall Faux at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Montana, and Kevin Padian at the University of California in Berkeley. The pair found that salty water did not alter the pose of dead quails. They concluded that the arched back seen in so many fossils was instead the result of the expiring dinosaur's final death throes (Paleobiology, DOI: 10.1666/06015.1) – an idea that was first suggested by pathologist Roy Moodie in 1918.

Why dunking dead birds in water produced different results in the two studies is not clear.

[GeronL]

lol

[GeronL]

lol!!

[editor-surveyor]

How surprising!

Obviously the intact specimnens had to have died in the flood waters, or else their bodies would have been ravaged by predators.

This had nothing to do with extinction; they were still alive in the middle ages in sufficient numbers to have a huge representation in the written historical record.

[MHGinTN]

I have zero respect for you as you insult the man who owns this conservative website. So I don’t bother pinging someone I have zero respect for. You can now freepmail Saundra and restornu and let them know, also. ... There now, got your victimhood fix this evening?

[editor-surveyor]

>> “Now why on earth would so many extinct animals die in some sort of freak drowning event???” <<

.
The aquatic trials for the Dino-Olympics?

[MHGinTN]

You aren’t worth bothering Jim over, got it?

[Graybeard58]

“Actually, Rip is trying to slide an oblique insult about Jim Robinson into the mix. Saundra Duffy and restornu do it, too.”

Here’s 2, not exactly oblique though:

CNN: Conservative group to target Romney
Sunday, October 09, 2011 4:57:15 PM · 169 of 175
Zevonismymuse to Jim Robinson

J.R.-I will absolutely not support or vote for Mitt Romney and, in fact, will actively campaign against him.

Z.-You mean you will continue to actively campaign against him. You don’t hate RINOs; you hate Mormons.
Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies

With Sarah out, which conservative candidate has the best shot of knocking out Romney and Obama?
Wednesday, October 05, 2011 7:49:47 PM · 169 of 436

Zevonismymuse to Jim Robinson

Z-Romney is the most conservative candidate in the race. He will win the nomination and go on to win the General Election.
Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies

[editor-surveyor]

>> “Flash floods aren’t ‘freak’. They happen all the time in some areas.” <<

.
And the dinos hear about the floods on their weather radios, and come out for a swim?

[editor-surveyor]

Fail!

[Ripliancum]

Than why on earth did you bring him up?!!

And you don’t need to bother answering me either as I’m not worth it.

[editor-surveyor]

>> “after only two thousand years.” <<

.
Correction: 4500 years.

[Ripliancum]

I didn’t insult the man, I said this has become a largely anti Mormon site, thanks to you and your friends who do it on a daily basis on a site that has become a great conservative beacon to so many. You do it or the cause no service by your actions that have watered down it’s intent from the beginning.

And thank you for stopping to post to me. Really, I do thank you.

[editor-surveyor]

>> “ I wonder why Noah didn’t have any dinosaurs on board?” <<

.
He must have had a considerable number, but they could have been eggs.

If they were not on board, they would not have been so prevalent in the literature of the early and middle ages.

[editor-surveyor]

Mental gymnastics.

[SatinDoll]

Did you know there are over 65,000 errors of translation and transliteration in the King James version of the Bible?

[mnehring]

Bingo

[editor-surveyor]

did you know that there are zero errors in its meaning?

[Ira_Louvin]

If dinosaurs lived during the Middle Ages why is it that we have discovered no dinosaur remains above the K-T boundary?

[Secret Agent Man]

Wonder where we heard about this before. Flood waters. Hmmm.

[MHGinTN]

Did you know that many of them showed up in the supposedly pre-King James ‘Book of Mormon’? You might get a kick out of tracing the name ‘Lucifer’ as to origins and the use by SMith in fabricating the B of M.