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| Mesozoic/Cenozoic dominance switched | |
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| Topic Started: Aug 17 2010, 08:35 AM (833 Views) | |
| SSJRaptog | Aug 17 2010, 08:35 AM Post #1 |
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Adolescent
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We know that dinosaurs and mammals appeared simultaniously in the late Triassic, but dinosaurs quickly gained the upper hand, while the mammals remained in the shadows. But what if the opposite happened? What if mammals managed to gain the upper hand at the end of the Triassic and become the dominant animals of the mesozoic, while dinosaurs (Due to a differently executed Triassic/Jurassic extinction) remain in the shadows. And then, at the end of the Cretaceous, Most, if not all, mammals become extinct and the dinosaurs take their chance. How would life on Earth look like today if this happened? I like to hear your opinions ^___^ |
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| Cephylus | Aug 17 2010, 09:21 AM Post #2 |
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Torando of Terror
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Another dinosaur-dominated world project. well this could be interesting. There won't be the familiar dinosaur lineages. All dinos would be derived from a maniraptora-like clade. |
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Spoiler: click to toggle
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| Ook | Aug 17 2010, 03:18 PM Post #3 |
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not a Transhuman
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there is any rules,which say maniraptors must always evolved? |
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| Pando | Aug 17 2010, 04:06 PM Post #4 |
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Obey or I'll send you to the moon
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Maniraptor-like he said. Before KT I'd expect some maniraptor and dilophosaurus like theropods, and possible some prosauropod like dinos and maybe also some that looked like the small ceratopsians. Also, you will need a lot of warm blooded dino's for the north in present day and the ice age. |
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| Ook | Aug 18 2010, 12:35 AM Post #5 |
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not a Transhuman
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i think there will be small ornitschian like dinosaurs and small theropods |
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| colddigger | Aug 18 2010, 12:55 AM Post #6 |
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Joke's over! Love, Parasky
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Birds. Everywhere. |
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Oh Fine. Oh hi you! Why don't you go check out the finery that is SGP?? v Don't click v Spoiler: click to toggle | |
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| Ook | Aug 18 2010, 01:18 AM Post #7 |
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not a Transhuman
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or flying crocs |
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| colddigger | Aug 18 2010, 01:51 AM Post #8 |
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Joke's over! Love, Parasky
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Yeah, hey! What if bats popped up instead of birds, and they were the only mammals that survived? |
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Oh Fine. Oh hi you! Why don't you go check out the finery that is SGP?? v Don't click v Spoiler: click to toggle | |
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| The Dodo | Aug 18 2010, 02:06 AM Post #9 |
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Prime Specimen
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Pterosaurs still exist in this world don't they? |
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| KayKay | Aug 18 2010, 03:47 AM Post #10 |
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Adult
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What would prevent dinosaurs from having taken over in the first place? Maybe different environmental conditions after the P-T extinction? |
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| The Dodo | Aug 18 2010, 03:49 AM Post #11 |
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Prime Specimen
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A more wet world maybe. |
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| KayKay | Aug 18 2010, 05:26 AM Post #12 |
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Adult
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What about cooler also? Cooler/wetter/less sunshine. So maybe Pangea's breaking up could be hastened, leading to more cloud formation earlier? It might also lead to the hastening of what dinosaurs there are developing insulation and warm-bloodedness earlier instead of relying on the surrounding heat. Since the mammals around were already better equipped to deal with a cooler and wetter climate they wouldn't have to retreat underground as much, meaning less nocturnal mammals (+ retention of colour vision) and more arboreal mammals. Dinosaurs may end up being the little scurrying insectivores trying to stay out of the mammal's way. I'd imagine they wouldn't diverge into the many forms we see in fossils in reality, but would rather remain small and theropod-like. Maybe more incentive to stay away from bigger mammals would push them to taking to trees, leading to dinosaurs that use all four limbs to hang on to vertical surfaces or branches, or even bird-like dinosaurs. Meanwhile maybe carnivoran-like mammals would take advantage of them, some that maybe resemble cats or mustelids. They may also hunt the little pterosaurs that come about and then bird-like dinosaurs once they emerge later. Most of the large herbivore niches would probably be taken by mammals, as would be some of the large carnivore niches. There could potentially still be a few dinosaurs that nuzzle their way in to these niches, since there will still be some climates on Earth that dinosaurs would do better than mammals in. Same for some other archosaurs like crurotarsians. Well that's my thoughts so far for the Mesozoic... I'll add more for the Cenozoic if I think of any. |
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1:52 PM Jul 11