Prehistoric Lizard Called Historic Link

AP ^ | 11/17/2005 | Matt Curry

[MeanWestTexan]

DALLAS - Amateur fossil hunter Van Turner felt certain he had found something important during his search of earth turned up by bulldozers making way for a new subdivision in Dallas County. Sixteen years later, scientists finally confirmed that Turner had discovered the first well preserved early mosasaur found in North America — a prehistoric lizard that lived 92 million years ago that evolved into what some call the "T. Rex of the ocean."

[orionblamblam]

Apparently I was mistaken. I better go join the Church of Intelligent Design!

[MeanWestTexan]

No, they will ignore this post, that way they can still claim to have never seen a transitional fossil.

[js1138]

Who was the creationist on these threads a month or so ago who claimed the guys with the big shovels were the ones who really knew what was going on?

[rightinthemiddle]

No, they will ignore this post, that way they can still claim to have never seen a transitional fossil.

___________

Hmmm...you might be right. It could be a trick question on a polygraph test.

[bkepley]

More precisely, a link between land-lubbing monitor lizards and sea-going mosasaurs. Mosasaurs were probably capable of hauling themselves onto land now and again for brief periods but, like the pliosaurs, plesiosaurs and icthyosaurs before them, they were well on their way towards becoming almost entirely seagoing. Somewhat like rats and bats... they're both still rodents, but they're quite different.

There you go, rats and bats. Sea-snakes and aligators. Dolphins and "something mammilian". It's all old-hat isn't it? I don't understand what's special about the find. Was there any reason to think this wouldn't happen given millions of years? Iguana's are practically there already. I guess you'd have to be a zoologist to get excited about it.

[MeanWestTexan]

The reason it is exciting is that it is a clear transitional fossil --- something "in between" two apparently distinct species.

The bones of a monosaur (the later species) was discovered in 1811 at great shock --- a giant fish with a monster reptile head, which made no sense. People went into a panic, thinking sea monsters were about --- and the monsters were of course about, but a long time ago (unless you believe in Loch Ness monster).

The panic eventually slowed, but the discovery of the monosaur had captured the public's imagination, and fossil-hunting became a real science.

That, and the big mama monosaurs are possibly the coolest skeltons you've ever seen.

http://www.unmuseum.org/monosaur.jpg

As an aside, the monosaur is a clearly a lizard, and this initial find was the source of so much bad science regarding dinosaurs, which are something else (probably warm blooded).