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Noasaurrid radiation
Topic Started: May 29 2010, 04:08 PM (1,189 Views)
Carlos
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Noasaurids were basically small, opportunistic ceratosaurians that lived in the late Cretaceous. Therefore, they have a lot of potential.

In Terra Alternativa I'm already exploring the potential of noasaurs. I have tall browsers, fish eaters, small omnivores and medium to large sized carnivores.

Now imagine a world where there ain't no pesky competitors like birds or dromeosaurs. A huge amount of dinosaurian forms could come from them!
Lemuria:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/

Terra Alternativa:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/

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Ook
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err,they evolve into some specialized forms in my secret project :)
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The Dodo
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Secret project you say.
How about fast moving ostrich like forms, Baryonyx like forms, maybe tree dwellers.
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Carlos
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Maybe even flying forms
Lemuria:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/

Terra Alternativa:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/

My Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/Carliro

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Ook
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what flying forms?with feathers,like birds,or like bats and pterosaurs?
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Carlos
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I would guess membranous wings, but maybe they could use feather like quills
Lemuria:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/

Terra Alternativa:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/

My Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/Carliro

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Rick Raptor
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The only noasaurids I know of are Masiakasaurus with its weird formed jaw and Noasaurus with its enlarged hand claw.

I can imagine them taking an ecological niche similar to grizzly bears. But heron- oder stork-like forms are more likely to come from the dromaeosaurid Unenlagiines.
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Toad of Spades
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They have a huge amount of potential. If abelisaurs aren't around they have the potential to evolve to dominate every major theropod niche. From giant predators to tiny scavengers, they have chance to evolve into all of those niches, not to mention some specialist niches too.

As for flight, they could go either way. They could evolve membranes like pterosaurs, and because they didn't have the arm structure like maniraptorans, their arms could evolve a different motion and structure for flight. As for non membranous wings, maybe they could re-evolve something from the primitive ornithodiran fibers resembling numerous, very flexible, minature baleen plates on each arm. The plates could be shed and moulted just like feathers, not to mention evolve into various display structures.

They could also produce herbivores like coelurosaurs did. It wouldn't be difficult, all you need is a highly specialized omnivore to adapt to herbivory. Over time you could get therizinosaur-like and other new body forms for herbivorous theropods.
Edited by Toad of Spades, May 30 2010, 12:25 PM.
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Pando
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I'd say Noasaurids are just average theropods. Nothing special.
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Toad of Spades
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With basically no predators and competitors the they have enormous potential. Even average unspecialized creatures can evolve into something spectacular with no competitors. Take mammals for example. With no competitors and few predators, they exploded in diversity. Not to mention coelurosaurs, which diversified wildly when other tetanurans went into decline.
Edited by Toad of Spades, May 31 2010, 01:19 AM.
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spartan
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JohnFaa
May 30 2010, 07:26 AM
I would guess membranous wings, but maybe they could use feather like quills
That could be difficult. Noasaurids have short arms like his biiger cousins abelisaurids. Maybe protofeathers. But it could be difficult that noasaurids can fly.
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Carlos
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Noasaurids still had fairly well developed arms when compared to abelisaurs though
Lemuria:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/

Terra Alternativa:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/

My Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/Carliro

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spartan
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John, in which part they will live¿
Noah Files in Mu

Remember this kidos!: Computers have feelings and feel pain whenever you are using one.
The moon doesn't exist. It's a two-dimensional disk hiding alien donut.
Western society a sham propped up by an elite cabal of the super rich.
And buy Salami!
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Carlos
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Considering this is a, hypocthetical world where theey diversified, I'd say everywhere.

Unless you mean the noasaurids I have in my project, in that case they live in South America/Caribbean, Australia and Madagascar
Lemuria:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5724950/

Terra Alternativa:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/forum/460637/

My Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/Carliro

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Toad of Spades
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If noasaurids dominate the southern hemisphere's theropod niches, than what lives in the north? With the carnosaurs, primitive tetanurans, and ceolurosaurs gone, what does live there?

Maybe there could be land-dwelling crocodilians and flightless pterosaurs. The land dwelling crocodiles could end up looking very much like the various kinds of land crocodiles that evolved numerous times, but I think pterosaurs would end up being very strange. Imagine sharp beaked, fuzzy quadrepedal predators resembling giant primitive ornithodirans with beaks. The tail could get long again and the beak could be adapted to various types of prey. Their body shape could be adapted into all kinds of forms as well.

If the K-T extinctions doesn't wipe out land crocs, noasaurid descendants, or flightless-pterosaur descendants, they could persevere and mammals would never really take off. They would adapt to carnivorous, omnivorous, and herbivorous niches all over again. Also it would be quite an evolutionary shake-up when the north and southern hemispheres collide in several places. With noasaurid descendants in the southern hemisphere, the land-crocs in North America, and the quadrapedal pterosaur descendants in Eurasia, which of three classes survive in the Americas and the eastern hemisphere? Could they coexist?
Edited by Toad of Spades, Jun 1 2010, 11:03 PM.
Sorry Link, I don't give credit. Come back when you're a little...MMMMMM...Richer.

Bread is an animal and humans are %90 aluminum.
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