Posted on 05/21/2024 9:01:51 AM PDT by Red Badger
I bet you were.
Went out on a limb on that one, you did.
Good question..................
I was thinking of that cartoon with the T-rex trying to reach the toilet paper.
In South America you would think he could find a better arms dealer.
Is it really a new species if it dates back 70 million years?
It is newly discovered.
😎👍
You’re on a roll.
If the bones they found are shown in green how do they know what it’s arms were like? It could have had arms bigger than it’s legs.
Their mothers must have taken thalidomide.
Thanks Red Badger.
Yes! That’s the one. Thanks.
Paleontologists, like anthropologists, aren’t averse to making stuff up. Papers need to be published. Grants need to be promoted.
“How do they infer vestigial arms from that assemblage...?”
I suspect scientists have other KNOWN T. rex samples wherein muscle insertions on nearby bones can be measured. The size and placement can direct a researcher to a reasonable hypothesis.
Comparing KNOWNS is a well-known technique in science and why scientists keep collections.
Forensic anthropologists can observe features of human skulls and pelvises to put a sex, an age, and the person’s race to an unidentified skeleton.
Fossilization only occurs very rarely and as the chance result of a string of specific conditions. Far and away the vast majority of all animals that die are eaten by animals or bacteria and don’t leave a trace.
And as this discovery shows, only a small fraction of the earth’s surface has been excavated in search of fossils. It could be there are more yet to be discovered than have already been found.
As far as that goes, the same could be said for oil. Anybody who says they know how much crude is still in the earth is guessing at best.
I believe it has been reported that T Rex had a very large well developed space in the skull indicating excellent smell ability. I think I read about the capacity to smell rotting carrion that was 20 miles away. Also the long legs enabled rapid travel to a dead body.
According to the Natural History Museum (NY City) the wear and tear on the teeth suggested a carrion eater rather than a predator. They display showed a life-sized T-Rex scavenging a dead herbivore.
Interesting theory ... how long are the arms on sharks, crocodiles, komodo dragons, or snakes? You just have to be faster than your prey. I'm sure they ate carrion too, but outside of vultures, I can't think of anything that is a pure carrion eater.
They found tiny little bracelets nearby.
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