Posted on 09/17/2005 3:35:39 AM PDT by SeaLion
THE popular image of Tyrannosaurus rex and other killer dinosaurs may have to be changed as a scientific consensus emerges that many were covered with feathers.
Most predatory dinosaurs such as tyrannosaurs and velociraptors have usually been depicted in museums, films and books as covered in a thick hide of dull brown or green skin. The impression was of a killer stripped of adornment in the name of hunting efficiency.
This week, however, a leading expert on dinosaur evolution will tell the British Association, the principal conference of British scientists, that this image is wrong.
Gareth Dyke, a palaeontologist of University College Dublin, will tell the BA Festival of Science being held in the city that most such creatures were coated with delicate feathery plumage that could even have been multi-coloured. Fossil evidence that such dinosaurs were feathered is now irrefutable.
The way these creatures are depicted can no longer be considered scientifically accurate, he said. All the evidence is that they looked more like birds than reptiles. Tyrannosaurs might have resembled giant chicks.
The latest visualisation suggests that parts of Walking with Dinosaurs, the acclaimed BBC series, cannot be seen as scientifically valid. Similar criticisms might also be levelled at the Hollywood blockbuster Jurassic Park.
The Natural History Museum in London, which has a popular exhibition of robot dinosaurs, conceded this weekend that some of its permanent displays may have to be adapted to reflect the new findings.
The feather revelation follows a series of discoveries in fossil beds at Liaoning in northeast China where a volcanic eruption buried many dinosaurs alive. It also cut off the oxygen that would otherwise have rotted them away.
Some theropod (beast-footed) dinosaurs were preserved complete with feathery plumage. Theropod is the name given to predatory creatures that walked upright on two legs, balanced by a long tail.
The feathered finds include an early tyrannosaur, a likely ancestor of Tyrannosaurus rex, two small flying dinosaurs and five other predators. Feathers are thought to have evolved first to keep dinosaurs warm and only later as an aid to flight.
Such finds are significant in linking dinosaurs to modern birds. Most palaeontologists accept that birds are descended from dinosaurs but there is fierce debate over how this happened. At the Dublin conference, Dyke will present new evidence suggesting that dinosaurs evolved the ability to fly and that some even developed all four limbs into wings.
Yep, nature recognized there's a time for feathers, a time for fur, and a time for leather. And I'm shutting up before I get a time out. :-)
To everything, turn, turn, turn.....;))
[and with that awful Byrds joke...I'm *outta* here!]
Night again...:>
And yet, there are acutally people who would probably try... Maybe not hugging them, but argue that they are far less dangerous than they truly are.
I recall a story about a naturalist who studied bears his whole life. He was particularly fascinated by the Grizzly. Did some crazy things, like track down their dens to study them. Apparently one fine day he brought his girlfriend out with him for observation near a den where there were young cubs. They found their remains a few days later. One less naturalist, but I sure wouldn't wish that on anyone.
I've tried to find source on this story. I will keep looking and post it when I do. If any Freepers know the guys name it will help. Thanks.
Learned this in my high school geology class, circa 1977.
LOL! Later.
oops -- missed it somehow.
How can I get the thread pulled? Are the Admins going to devour me like a T-Rex?
Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny:
The theory claims that the development of the embryo of every species repeats the evolutionary development of that species fully. Or otherwise put: each successive stage in the development of an individual represents one of the adult forms that appeared in its evolutionary history. Haeckel formulated his theory as such: "Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny". This notion later became simply known as recapitulation. (From Wikipedia)
Although not an embryo, your observation of young chicks reminded me of this.
For faster action you can do it with an abuse report, but that's over-reacting. Besides, you look like a great guy when you do it publicly.
i would love to see teddy's head on that dino.....
Oh good grief. Next they'll tell us the planet was once covered in feathers and mutated to have rocks instead. Seems they need to clear the rocks from their heads..
Then God said, Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens. 21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth. 23 So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
Apologies, I posted the article at the head of this thread, but now learn it had already been posted; my error, had not seen the earlier. Apologies, mea culpa, peccavi
Please nuke the thread--but hopefully not me!
Hey, I am a great guy, but: Disclaimer -- this information may be legally false in Kansas
But
but
we are guaranteed safety everywhere we go!
If the bears were really dangerous, they wouldnt be allowed in the park!
Of course I can take my adventure vacation in a country torn by war Im not in the military!
There are some really ignorant people out there.
I beleive that's been done, re: Quetzalcoatl:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d9/YaxchilanDivineSerpent.jpg
Another point made in the program is that T-Rex's arms are so small and don't lend themselves to grabbing and holding a meal. Again, the arms of the T-Rex were compared to that of the Velociraptor. The Paleontologist in the program believes that the worse thing that could happen to a T-Rex would be to fall, because he has no real arms to support his body or help get him back up. He believes that a T-Rex could be seriously hurt from a fall. I'm only half-way through the program, but his concept is something to think about.
I'm also reading "Tyrannosaur Canyon" by Douglas Preston ( Preston & Lincoln Child...Relic, Riptide, Cabinet of Curiosities, etc.). The theory that dinosaurs were feathered critters is used in the book. It's the first book of Preston's that I've read and I must say it's pretty good. I've read many of the books he's done with Child. They're two of my favorite writers.
LOL. T-Rex tipping!
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