Skip to comments.
Living dinosaurs
abc.net.au ^
| 9/30/2002
Posted on 10/01/2002 8:32:43 AM PDT by SteveH
News in Science
News in Science 30/9/2002 Living dinosaurs
[This is the print version of story http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s687677.htm]
If we are to believe the message of a new exhibit demonstrating the evolutionary transition from dinosaurs to birds, dinosaurs are not extinct.
Four life-sized reconstructions of ferocious-looking, smart-thinking, flesh-eating feathered dinosaurs – representing 125 million-year-old missing links between dinosaurs and birds – have landed at the Australian Museum in Sydney as part of the Chinese Dinosaurs exhibition.
"The birds we see flying around our backyards are actually living dinosaurs, descendants of prehistoric beasts we all once presumed became extinct 65 million years ago," said museum director, Professor Mike Archer.
"But feathers were evolving as dinosaur attributes long before they became valuable as flight structures," he said.
"Indeed fossils uncovered in the Liaoning Province of China have provided a whole sequence of missing links in the dinosaur to bird story."
 |
Model of Sinornithosaurus smillenii (pronounced 'sine-or-nith-oh-saw-rus mill-en-ee-eye) made by Alan Groves working with palaeontologists Drs Walter Boles and Sue Hand.
|
One of the earlier links is Sinosauropteryx prima. The creature is covered with what looks to be a fine fuzz but are really small barbs – a link between scales and feathers.
"It's a metre-long, meat-eating, ground-dwelling predator, closely related to the dinosaur in Jurassic Park II which ate the little girl on the beach," said Professor Archer.
He speculated these very early feathers were probably for insulation since this group was almost certainly warm blooded.
The Sinornithosaurus millenii (top picture) embodies a later link.
"This is a very vicious little predator about a metre long. But here the feathers are much larger – although they're not fully formed or capable of flight," said Professor Archer.
An interesting characteristic of the creature was its capacity to lift its arms over its head in a flapping motion. Professor Archer said scientists assumed its array of feathers had a purpose – to frighten predators, help capture prey, attract mates or threaten male competitors.
The next stage – the development of feathers for flight – is seen in creatures like the Archseopteryx, a smaller animal than Sinornithosaurus millenii with longer and assymetrical feathers.
While there has been some debate as to whether dinosaurs (unlike other groups of reptiles) are the ancestors of birds, Professor Archer believes since 1996 there has been no strong argument against the hypothesis.
"I don't know anyone who is still holding out on this one," he said. "Other than the creationists of course who don't want anything to be ancestral to birds."
Chinese Dinosaurs is open until February next year. The dino-bird exhibit is sponsored by The Australian Skeptics.
Anna Salleh - ABC Science Online
More Info?
British Natural History Museum Dino-Birds Exhibition
Missing link from fur to feathers – News in Science 27/4/2001
Dinosaur fossil with proto-feathers – News in Science 8/3/2001
Dinosaur-bird theory defended – News in Science 24/11/2000
|
© ABC 2002 | privacy
TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: birds; crevolist; dinosaurs; evolution; paleontology
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-80 ... 601-602 next last
To: Ahban
Because you want to wish away an ever-growing pile of evidence, you lawyer the knowledge gaps as somehow showing that we don't know what we do. We don't know exactly which if any fossils are on the exact line of descent of modern birds. We don't have an immediate precursor for Archaeopteryx, which is earlier than the Chinese feathered dinosaurs. That seems a bit out of order, but the fossil record is sparse for fine-boned animals and you have to remember to expect a branching, not linear, structure.
That does not help you with what we do have, which is a fine display of feathered dinosaurs and reptilian birds showing just about every possible intermediate character. It's the same thing you see with other transitions: things that don't intergrade now blend almost imperceptibly into each other as you go back in time, until scientists disagree over what bin in which to cast a certain specimen.
More examples here.
To: *crevo_list
Index ping
42
posted on
10/01/2002 4:09:38 PM PDT
by
scripter
To: Junior; general_re; VadeRetro
Of course, pp will probably claim we're cowards for hiding our identities... No need for that Junior. I will say that you and your fellow evos are a bunch of cowards who go around attacking someone personally while hiding behind your pseudonyms. Of course, evos being atheists have a ready excuse for not practicing what they preach or following the golden rule. Evos practice the motto of all atheist tyrants - might makes right or if you can kill your opponent, who's to complain?
43
posted on
10/01/2002 5:52:34 PM PDT
by
gore3000
To: VadeRetro
Is the picture on top supposed to be a wing? Did you forget to put on your glasses?
44
posted on
10/01/2002 5:56:46 PM PDT
by
gore3000
To: gore3000
I will say that you and your fellow evos are a bunch of cowards who go around attacking someone personally while hiding behind your pseudonyms. Oh, will you? And your real name is what, exactly? Anyone can click on my profile and find out that I'm Doug Kalbaugh from Keyser, WV. Who the hell are you, little man? Where's the courage of your convictions now?
Put up or shut up!
To: VadeRetro
Geologic columns/dating...what about the massive canyon on mars---no water/erosion!
The size---circumference of the Earth has gotten smaller(although at certain pts. it could have been changing/variable).
During initial collapse(center heating/condensing) large ridges---mountains(large rocky...vast/fast soil erosion) would protrude upwards!
Land wouldn't form evenly...continents would remain at higher levels above water level then plates would dry out(releasing water/moisture/rain)---shrink producing cracks/fissures---then layered-canyons/basins/ravines...via cooled and hot sediments would form(rise/uplift) as the shrink/sink-ing would continue...producing more mountains/hills(slight-no erosion)--'volcanoes' continously---to fill the receding excessive gaps/holes!
At the Grand Canyon older sedimentary levels are at the top and the fresher/newer ones below...those straight up 'buttes' came out of hole--soft spots in the plates like cake decorations---Ayre's Rock like a bubble in a blown tire.
All that erosion/sedimentary crap old age of the Earth is hooie-dooie!
There is not enough dust on the moon to support an old earth dating system!
To: VadeRetro
Because you want to wish away an ever-growing pile of evidence, Drawings are not evidence. A five year old child can draw a picture, that is not evidence of something existing. The bones you showed - without mentioning what they were - have nothing to do with the present article. You parade them on every occassion where birds are discussed. There are no wings on your pictures and there are no wings or feathers on either of the DRAWINGS in the article. Of course the article, as is usual on evolutionist articles, does not bother to show the bones which supposedly inspired the drawings. They do not do so because it would mean revealing the fraud they are trying to perpetrate.
47
posted on
10/01/2002 6:02:01 PM PDT
by
gore3000
To: VadeRetro
D. Axelrod, Science 128:7-
"One of the major unsolved problems of geology and evolution is the occurrence of diversified, multi-cellular marine invertebrates in Lower Cambrian rocks on all the continents and their absence in rocks of greater age."
"their absence in rocks of 'greater' age."
The 'greater' age in layers exists if you think the layers formed from the top!
At one pt. the whole of the Earth was hot cooling from the surface in successive layers from below---outward!
Nothing missing in those layers---no mystery!
These invertebrates can only exist above ground level...in water/air---not underground!
To: gore3000
And the answer is . . .
Anyone who clicks on your home page sees something whiter than white. You don't even have a location. Your posting history has been too shameful to be inflicted upon any particular state or country.
To: mass55th
Your cat looks exactly like my cat...well except my cat weighs 21 lbs...
50
posted on
10/01/2002 6:04:31 PM PDT
by
teresat
To: VadeRetro
To: f.Christian
Have you heard the story going around about the bio prof in a well-known NorthEast university who is speaking about evolution and notices three guys snickering in the back of the room? "You guys must be fundamentalist Christians" snorts the professor. One of the three replies "No, we're math majors; like, we understand the laws of probability..."
17 posted on 9/27/02 11:07 AM Pacific by piltdownpig
To: gore3000
I will say that you and your fellow evos are a bunch of cowards who go around attacking someone personally while hiding behind your pseudonyms. And your real name is..? You see, both VadeRetro and I have our names on websites that have been linked to from FreeRepublic (hint: my name appears on the fan site linked from The Ultimate Creation vs. Evolution Resource). Ted put his name out for all to see. The only one flinging insults here and hiding behind a pseudonym is you, dear child, but then we know well how hypocritical you truly are.
52
posted on
10/01/2002 6:12:08 PM PDT
by
Junior
To: Junior
Geologic column---dating??
From the evolution textbook...
Why does it look like it does(grand canyon)?
"The reason that it looks the way does is due to the sequence in which the events that help to create it happened. We already know that there was once a very tall chain of mountains in the area that occupied the Grand Canyon. These mountains were, over many millions of years, eventually eroded away to form a level plain. Fluctuations in climate then caused the oceans to move in over successive periods and each time a new rock layer was deposited. The rock layers were deposited one on top of the other and sometimes there were long periods in between in which some of the upper layers were eroded away, sometimes completely."
"We already know that there was once a very tall chain of mountains in the area that occupied the Grand Canyon. These mountains were, over many millions of years, eventually eroded away to form a level plain.
That is called science..."we already know"!
Campfire stories! Junk!!
Evolution...tall tales/legends---big lies(no comprehension)!
But the effect is permanent---zombie brains---religion/ideology---BIAS!
Govt school religion---'science'!
Bias means off the wall/page---outta reality...desire for something not true!
Evo cargo-go cult---ufo's!
To: Junior
Incredible that the boy's whining about us hiding behind our anonymity. He's got the standard DU troll homepage: nothing filled in. Nothing at all.
To: VadeRetro
Nice to meet you Douggie! Must say though that after reading some of your novel, I am not surprised you spend your time writing here rather than writing the next one:
As an expert in exobiology, I must profess to be absolutely baffled by the appearance of the so-called "ogres." I can't begin to conceive of the planetary environment in which such evolution is possible. It's more like someone from earth was fantasizing about an invincible alien creature and said, "Let's give him a hide like a rhinoceros, a muzzle like a bear, hands like a man, but with retractable claws like a cat, arms and chest rather like a gorilla, etc." The earthlike nature of the features is too startling to be dismissed as mere coincidence, for even on a very earthlike planet, the odds of life evolving the same way are microscopic. And the actual combination of features mentioned is simply ludicrous. If you have claws like those, you don't need a bearlike muzzle, you can just rip your food up with your hands. You could talk better with a more human mouth. I must say though that until you extended an invitation just now, I never even thought of clicking on your name to dig up dirt about you. Guess that is what distinguishes Christians from evolutionists, we fight fair.
55
posted on
10/01/2002 6:15:06 PM PDT
by
gore3000
To: VadeRetro
D. Axelrod, Science 128:7-
"One of the major unsolved problems of geology and evolution is the occurrence of diversified, multi-cellular marine invertebrates in Lower(surface)** Cambrian rocks on all the continents and their absence in rocks(lower)** of 'greater'* age."
* ...' --- '...mine!
**...additions!
To: f.Christian
Would you mind not spamming such a volume of nonsense while we have questions for gore3000?
To: VadeRetro
To: PatrickHenry
Except in the case of bacteria and insects, we can't personally observe it happening.
You constantly say that evolution is a fact, well where are the facts Patrick? Just a lot of double talk is what you give us. And no, even in bacteria and insects we have not seen evolution occurring. Show the experimental evidence for it. I am sure you will not. And no, assumptions are not facts, they are not even evidence.
409 posted on 9/29/02 9:29 PM Pacific by gore3000
To: gore3000
Could you possibly choose three more poorly concealed identities here? If you can't spend five minutes on Google and put a name to me, you deserve to be banned from the internet for open and notorious stupidity.
To: gore3000
So who the hell are you, you hypocritical little lying weasel? Where's the courage of your convictions?
I will say that you and your fellow evos are a bunch of cowards who go around attacking someone personally while hiding behind your pseudonyms. ---- gore3000, the anonymous troll with the anonymous troll profile page
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-80 ... 601-602 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson
