New Dinosaur Species Found in India

BOMBAY, India - U.S. and Indian scientists said Wednesday they have discovered a new carnivorous dinosaur species in India after finding bones in the western part of the country.

The new dinosaur species was named Rajasaurus narmadensis, or "Regal reptile from the Narmada," after the Narmada River region where the bones were found.

The dinosaurs were between 25-30 feet long, had a horn above their skulls, were relatively heavy and walked on two legs, scientists said. They preyed on long-necked herbivorous dinosaurs on the Indian subcontinent during the Cretaceous Period at the end of the dinosaur age, 65 million years ago.

"It's fabulous to be able to see this dinosaur which lived as the age of dinosaurs came to a close," said Paul Sereno, a paleontologist at the University of Chicago. "It was a significant predator that was related to species on continental Africa, Madagascar and South America."

Working with Indian scientists, Sereno and paleontologist Jeff Wilson of the University of Michigan reconstructed the dinosaur skull in a project funded partly by the National Geographic (news - web sites) Society.

A model of the assembled skull was presented Wednesday by the American scientists to their counterparts from Punjab University in northern India and the Geological Survey of India during a Bombay news conference.

Scientists said they hope the discovery will help explain the extinction of the dinosaurs and the shifting of the continents — how India separated from Africa, Madagascar, Australia and Antarctica and collided with Asia.

The dinosaur bones were discovered during the past 18 years by Indian scientists Suresh Srivastava of the Geological Survey of India and Ashok Sahni, a paleontologist at Punjab University.

When the bones were examined, "we realized we had a partial skeleton of an undiscovered species," Sereno said.

The scientists said they believe the Rajasaurus roamed the Southern Hemisphere land masses of present-day Madagascar, Africa and South America.

"People don't realize dinosaurs are the only large-bodied animal that lived, evolved and died at a time when all continents were united," Sereno said.

The cause of the dinosaurs' extinction is still debated by scientists. The Rajasaurus discovery may provide crucial clues, Sereno said.

In 1997, villagers discovered about 300 fossilized dinosaur eggs in Pisdura, 440 miles northeast of Bombay, that Indian scientists said were laid by four-legged, long-necked vegetarian creatures.

Indian scientists said the dinosaur embryos in the eggs may have suffocated during volcanic eruptions.

So let me get this straight. You were researching something about me? For what purpose if I might ask? Perhaps I can answer your questions. All you have to do is ask.

Certainly! It all has to do with posting under false identities.

At post post 505 and again at post 540, f. Christian had used the phrase ”oops --- resurrection - trouble ahead - coming ! “ I took that as a red flag to watch out for posters using false identities.

At post 606 I responded to your post to me at 603 when you were still going under the false identity of “concisetraveler.” Among other things, you said:

But, you have been here longer and proabaly know more about this than I do.

Your sign-up date was July, 2003 and you were here under a false identity – so that was intentionally deceptive.

I responded to you under the false identity of concisetraveler at post 616 and at post 651.

But at post 654 AndrewC made a statement that I could not let stand. He addressed his remark to you (under the false identity) and to me. I now know that you, goodseedhomeschool going under the name of concisetraveler, must have known he was talking about you.

At post 660 I reacted as follows:

Whoa, AndrewC!

You might notice that the last poster on Alamo-girl's thread, goodseedhomeschool, has been banned. That seems to be a trend here, the banning of creationists.

I do believe that goodseedhomeschool came back under a false identity, as did medved. If there is one thing that will always get a poster in trouble around here it is coming back under a false identity. Jim Robinson has the patience of Job and has even let anti-Freepers come back to post after having been previously banned. But I've never once heard of his allowing a false identity poster to return, even for a visit.

A long time ago a poster by the name of Eschoir repeatedly posted under false identities for the purpose of causing disruption. That one ended up in the courts. False identities will always get a person into the worst possible situation on this forum.

I am absolutely, positively certain that the posters views on origins has nothing whatsoever to do with their banning. Any such suggestion is an insult to this forum.

And the conversation continued after that. My specific recollection from back in the days when I was posting on DesignedUniverse.com is that you had mentioned trying to come back here under a false identity and was unsuccessful. It was during that discussion that I lost the ability to see if that were so.

In the meantime, other Freepers came to your defense and said that you were never banned and so for both reasons, I withdrew my assertion and further underscored it at post 716.

I invite everyone still following this thread to reread all the posts I’ve mentioned and those in between noticing that the ‘reply to’ name is concisetraveler to the posts whose “by” name now shows goodseedhomeschool (returned).

I may have been wrong in my previous recollection of what I read on DesignedUniverse.com (I cannot know one way or the other) ... but this series of posts is clearly an instance of intentional false identity posting.

I haven't had much time to think about the sphere over the last few days, but it's still nagging at the back of my mind. Anyway, it's no big deal about the posts - I do wish everyone would try to engage in a more constructive fashion. Not that this is intended to you specifically, so much as a general comment - at the rate things are going, I imagine that within a month or two, we'll have one side huddled in a corner and talking amongst themselves while studiously ignoring the other side, which is huddled in their corner and talking amongst themselves while completely ignoring the first side. I can think of a particularly good description of that sort of group dynamic, albeit one that's probably not fit for a family board.

I may just have to drop the leprechaun and petition the mods for a name change of my own...

Out for the night. Neighbor. ;)

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