New Dinosaur Species Found in India

AP ^ | August 13, 2003 | RAMOLA TALWAR BADAM

[nwrep]

New Dinosaur Species Found in India

2 hours, 55 minutes ago

Add Top Stories - AP to My Yahoo!

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.

AP Photo Missed Tech Tuesday? Check out the powerful new PDA crop, plus the best buys for any budget

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.

[BMCDA]

Can I humbly (there's a first) propose that the meta-thread about banning, compliance etc.. has run out of steam, and that we get back to discussing substance?

I second that.
Or someone'll get banned over this...

[AndrewC]

That looks a lot like the post 51 and post 56 interchange with roles reversed. This is not an accusation. It is an observation.

[Aric2000]

On my other Forum, your IP address is automatically logged as soon as you log in.

If you are banned, then your address is banned as well, normally when you sign in, if you are on a static IP, then you will automatically get the boot, whereas if you are on a normal ISP, where your IP changes, Only the LAST 2 groups of the IP change, there are normally 4 groups in the IP address. If you are on the same provider, your first 2 groups are ALWAYS the same, so they have a pretty good idea if it's a banned poster or not.

If you are on a very popular ISP, it makes it a little tougher, but a poster will get scrutiny by the moderators and will most likely give themselves away, it's just a matter of time.

[Aric2000]

This is very true, it is not fair that a person's faith could be severed by a scientific discussion.

Therefore, I would advise anyone who's faith is that close, should not get involved in these threads...;)

[Physicist]

If a person's faith is hanging on a thread - any thread - then what is accomplished by severing it?

Nobody has a right to his delusions, particularly if their preservation requires me to renounce--or at least to avoid uttering--the truth. Not telling someone that his or her spouse has been unfaithful may be one thing, but in this case the advancement of science is at stake.

[VadeRetro]

And there seems to be a recurring D.U. plant who occassionally registers & posts as a YEC (and he gets banned soon after).

It's been an evo insider joke for years that the DU-ers, to discredit conservatism, were behind a lot of the creo posts. Interesting that there may be some basis to this.

[StolarStorm]

The more I learn about the universe, the more my faith is strengthened. A professor of mine once stated that a well thought out theory was evident by its inherent beauty. The universe and the laws that govern it are such a thing, a beautiful creation.

Why would God create such an incredible universe structured on infinitely complex laws, laws which are beautiful in their construction, just to throw all the rules away so that a planet can be created in 6000 years? It just makes no sense to me. He made the laws of physics for a reason. If arbitrary miracle was the rule of universe, why bother with any branch of science. We should just go back to pretending the moon is made of cheese.

[editor-surveyor]

"Then why are you here?"

I was responding to the person who pinged me here, to see the predictable degeneration of a thread. - I learned a long time ago that evolution belief was more of a religion than creationism, so arguing with an evo is guaranteed to be an emotional exercise. Don't have time for it.

[Da_Shrimp]

If evos were interested in objective science, or facts they wouldn't be evos.

My, what an insightful and well-argued post. Care to tell us why if were interested in objective science we wouldn't be 'evos'?

[general_re]

Indeed, I don't know how the Admin Mod's ascertain that a person is here under a false identity - but evidently they do figure it out rather quickly.

Sometimes it's rather obvious, even without knowledge of IP addresses and the like. Medved, for example, has a habit of recycling the same material over and over again - which is what got him banned in the first place, actually - and so it's usually only a matter of time before something sets him off and he reposts something instantly familiar to people who know his usual style and material. Presumably the IP address is merely the final nail in the coffin, in that case ;)

[StolarStorm]

I wonder about f.gobblygook. His posts are either a spoof (for comedy's sake) or so abstract that I fail to grasp his intent. I've pretty much just assumed his posts are meant to be funny and have responded accordingly. I mean... the guy/girl actually accused evos of being space alien devils!!!???

I would never want anyone to hit the abuse button on him though, he's just too damn funny.

[longshadow]

totally benign placemarker

[StolarStorm]

"I learned a long time ago that evolution belief was more of a religion than creationism"

How could you possibly believe that in all honesty? I understand that hyperbole comes into play on these sorts of threads, but that comment doesn't even slightly ring true. I guarantee you, if a new theory, supported with a solid base of facts came around, many of the science fanatics would be go hung for it. They love new theories! A religeon starts with an answer, science starts with a question.

[PatrickHenry]

Perhaps my memory is too selective, but it looks like there's some basis to the idea that creos get banned more than do evos.

You've overlooked JediGirl (no space in her name?). An evo for sure, but I think she got banned for her aggressively atheist posts in some religion threads. I'm not really sure.

[whattajoke]

It's been an evo insider joke for years that the DU-ers, to discredit conservatism, were behind a lot of the creo posts.

Yeah... but they are usually so easy to spot. They are always over the top and state just a few too many ridiculous things. Once in a while, however, a newbie YEC stumbles into a thread and puts forth what they believe to be a groundbreaking new insight. I am ALWAYS leery of this and often keep an eye on them. Oftentimes, they disappear quickly, giving credence to our paranoid theory.

[VadeRetro]

Everybody wonders about effdot. You can generally skip him when you've had enough for a while.

[VadeRetro]

The consensus seems to be abortion. Yeah! I'm getting old if I could forget JG.

[VadeRetro]

They are always over the top and state just a few too many ridiculous things.

I am a signatory of the Agreement of the Willing. I am a signatory of the Agreement of the Willing. I am a signatory of the Agreement of the Willing. I am a signatory of the Agreement of the Willing. I am a signatory of the Agreement of the Willing. I am a signatory of the Agreement of the Willing. I am a signatory of the Agreement of the Willing. I am a signatory of the Agreement of the Willing.

[whattajoke]

effdot is a singular entity, to be sure. Some of us are not even convinced his a real live human all the time on here. Some posit that he/she posts in real time sometimes, but switches on a computer program at other times.

He/she claims to live in Maui, but if you follow his patterns, he posts all hours of the day... 3AM HT, 9AM HT, 3PM HT, 10PM HT... it nevers seems to matter. What's even creepier, is that now that we're mentioning him, I'll wager he'll appear. But maybe we have to write f.christian and his ever present FR search-bot will pick it out and reply. We'll see.

The other theory is he's a paranoid/schitzophrenic delusional (for which insomnia is a symptom). Hawaii is home to many cults too.

The mystery is interesting for a while, but then it just gets annoying and you'll ignore his posts like we all do quite well.

[Aracelis]

If evos were interested in objective science, or facts they wouldn't be evos. Why argue with them? They're only running from God, and we all have done that until we learned better, haven't we?

Just curious, but what would you say about Christians who are of the opinion that God chose evolution as the mechanism for the existence of life? We have a few such individuals posting to these threads.