2 hours, 55 minutes ago
 |
Add Top Stories - AP to My Yahoo! |
Posted on 08/13/2003 9:02:05 PM PDT by nwrep
|
2 hours, 55 minutes ago
|
|
By RAMOLA TALWAR BADAM, Associated Press Writer
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.
India has seen quite a few paleontological discoveries recently.
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.
I am working under the premise you did not sign the agreement. If you did, I withdraw the accusation of non-compliance.
That's because some of us forget to flip the switch on the Virtual Ignore control panel.
Signing the agreement has nothing to do with complying with the agreement.
A "complying poster" is one who is compliance with this agreement.
I accept your apology.
Good point! Man, it sure isn't clear what those aliens thought they were doing!
I haven't tendered one, not could my previous post be construed to say I did. This is playground stuff. If you have anything further of substance to post, I will reply to it. Otherwise, nyanyanya all you want.
Socialized education is at emnity (( war )) with freedom and private education ...
independence of anything --- thinking is forbidden --- BLOCKED by infantile crippled minds --- radiation by lies - evolution !
Watch how these control freaks show up on these threads ... mind benders --- social engineers --- overlords on a troll stalk - kill !
You would think the management would notice !
Not through solid rock, it can't. Are you saying that the rocks in the Grand Canyon were still soft when the 'dam' broke and carved through them?
Not really. There are examples from the Carboniferous of trees penetrating several mud layers when the depositional environment consisted of migrating river meanders and muddy banks, which means that tree trunks could be innunated several times while still upright.
Wow! A discussion I started shows up on another thread... I feel famous!
Not at all: there may well be, since the Grand Canyon sequence includes the Carboniferous, too.
You mean, why would most scientists look to a scientific explanation for such origins?
Many who subscribe to evolution very often scoff at the idea that God created everything.
I would dispute the "many". And could it be because some people scoff at the idea that God created anything?
A "complying poster" is one who is compliance with this agreement.
Yes, it most certainly does have something to do with signing the agreement. First line of the agreement:
Effective August 9, 2003, we, the undersigned, freely and in good faith agree that henceforth we shall treat others on these threads as we wish to be treated ourselves.To be in compliance with the agreement one must have, among other things, "freely and in good faith agreed that..."
Not only did you not so agree, you explicitly rejected such agreement. You are not a "complying poster".
I accept your apology.
No apology was offered, nor required.
AndrewC, I realize you are probably frustrated at being reminded so often that you are an "outsider" to the agreement. I regret any ill will you may have suffered or experienced.
One of the essential things that we built into the agreement was a provision that each side would exercise good faith to "police" their own. The provision should help avoid having one side pointing fingers at the other to comply, thereby justifying a counter response of the same type, i.e. a flame war of compliance.
I strongly suspect the tension here is caused by that kind of 'us' v 'them' atmosphere. Hopefully, everyone will now accept that this issue has been satisfied as far as it can be under the circumstances and put it behind us.
True. But there are several regulars in our threads who haven't bothered themselves with the agreement at all, who were absent from the drafting thread, who avoided all the quibbles and petty disputes, but who nevertheless conduct themselves as if they were complying posters. That is, their posts are always respectful, never provocative, never spamming, never involved in nit-picking irrelevant trivia, etc. We might consider them "virtuous non-signers."
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.
