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Science News General; Stuff that doesn't need its own topic
Topic Started: Apr 9 2014, 07:11 AM (11,233 Views)
Nyarlathotep
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The Creeping Chaos
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Dilophoraptor
May 16 2017, 05:48 PM
Torosaurus probably gave rise to Triceratops horridus, and then Tr. horridus going directly to Tr. porosus.

Hell Creek was very streamlined in terms of its ecology, not really having much overlap in it's megafauna. Tatankaceratops seems to be an odd one because it might be just a weird Triceratops, but the jury is still out on that.
I doubt it. They were found in different areas, presumably indicating different habitats, were contemporary and we have more basal creatures close to Triceratops such as Eotriceratops and the like, while Torosaurus was quite distinct from these morphologically. That and Toraceratops is dead in the water as a theory.
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YixianBirdBeast
Adolescent
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Beetleboy
May 17 2017, 03:39 AM
Does it matter?
Yes it does

Parasaurolophus is My absolute favorite Hadrosaur because of it's unique and cool hollow crest
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Beetleboy
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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YixianBirdBeast
May 17 2017, 06:24 AM
Beetleboy
May 17 2017, 03:39 AM
Does it matter?
Yes it does

Parasaurolophus is My absolute favorite Hadrosaur because of it's unique and cool hollow crest
No it doesn't. Just because you like Parasaurolophus doesn't make Edmontosaurus stupid. It's a matter of opinion, not fact, so stop acting like it isn't.
Please stop spamming topics with pointless stuff. You are coming across as very immature and dislikeable. I don't think anybody online has ever made made me lose my temper quite so soon after meeting them. Also, I'm not being funny, but are you actually interested in speculative evolution? So far you've only talked about dinosaurs, complain, and moan about being bored.
~ The Age of Forests ~
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Rodlox
Superhuman
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Beetleboy
May 17 2017, 03:39 AM
Does it matter?
if Yixian feels attracted to the more ornate and elaborate head crests, then that just proves Dr. Bakker wrong: they were not purely for intra-specific courtship aids.
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Picrodus
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:Ominous Wind:
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Some mother orangutans have been found to nurse their child up to nearly 9 years. Quite an interesting read, really.
http://www.popsci.com/orangutan-breastfeed
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My Deviantart A work in progress. Other Liked Quote: "The "habitable zone" will expand along with the Sun. This will warm once-frozen planets and their moons, bringing a brief springtime after a 10-billion-year winter."

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LittleLazyLass
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Proud quilt in a bag

Based on this, it doesn't seem like Torosaurus was an ancestor of Triceratops horridus. Speaking of that, apparently Nedoceratops probably is a distinct taxon, and CMN 8862 (which is weird, those horns stick right up) is probably a part of that species.
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Skwidbox
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Cozy in cardboard
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Quote:
 
Yes it does

Parasaurolophus is My absolute favorite Hadrosaur because of it's unique and cool hollow crest


Okay, I'm gonna preface this by saying I know jack shit about paleontology - I don't really know why, but it seems important to make clear. I'd also like to make sure you, YixianBirdBeast, know that I'm not trying to attack you or offend you or anything - this is just a few words from one speccer to another.

Yixian, you understand that what you're basing a dinosaur's worth on is completely up to your personal opinion? Just because you love Parasaurolophus doesn't mean everybody has to, and especially not for the same reason. I might love opabinia and someone else hallucigenea, but that doesn't mean I have to go to them and complain about how their metrics of fossil worth are wrong. It's not adding to this conversation, it's annoying, and you're making a fool of yourself in the process:

Quote:
 
You are coming across as very immature and dislikeable.


And I'm going to have to agree with Beetleboy on this point as well: Are you actually interested in spec? Because usually people interested in spec don't waste their time complaining about small issues or putting other people's opinion down because you just don't agree with them. We come to this forum to discuss and collaborate in a thoughtful manner - The entire basis of this forum was to bring like-minded people together to work together on designing new worlds and animals - it's a truly beautiful thing, really. But what you're doing is going against the nature of this forum, and it's getting on people's nerves.

These arguments are clearly not getting this topic anywhere - and I'm sure that the guys and gals who frequent it would really appreciate it if they could continue the conversation without these petty squabbles.
If you like the colors yellow and orange, check out my xenobiology project, Ishtar!
Try not to get stung by the frogs.

And Make sure to check out my deviantart, if you're so inclined.

Do not open!
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WaterWitch
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Might manage to hold down a project some day
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It's because Yixian (better known as Dilong to people who have been to ZTV during the time) is a kind of troll spammer who generally does this kind of thing. They also inhabited The ZT2 Round Table once so anyone from there might recognize the posting style of Yixian and know then a YixianIsLoveYixianIsLife.

They probably joined just to flood the forums with this kind of stuff that at first seems kind of normal then devolves into, well, that.



On topic, Turns out a Lesser K/Pg spec might just be a few feet to the left/right
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YixianBirdBeast
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I heard from one of My friends that Torosaurus was as small as a rhino compared to Triceratops which as big as a elephant
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kusanagi
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Not as informative as I would like, as the authors cannot properly choose between two interpretations of rangeomrph anatomy. Some of the basic features of Rangeomorphs are represented in Maotianoascus, a scleroctenophoran ctenophore which was "accessible to sediment" and had a basal bulb "which contains possible fecal pellets or ingested foreign objects" exactly as in Rangeomorphs. Ctenophores today are not hexaradal and M. possessed octoradial symmetry but that said the Cambrian scleroctenophorans do have a rigid internal skeleton like the authors inerpret for the rangeomorphs. Hexaradal symmetry is seen in ie. hexacorals, nematodes so is not especially diagnostic in itself.

First non-destructive internal imaging of Rangea, an icon of complex Ediacaran life
Alana C. Sharpa, Alistair R. Evans, Siobhan A. Wilson, Patricia Vickers-Rich
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301926817300426
Edited by kusanagi, Jul 25 2017, 04:22 PM.
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kusanagi
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Not exactly news but can oxygen isotopes in vertebrata apatite reliably predict metabolism?
Lydekkerina, Xenotosuchus and Microposaurus are all nonamniotes that would be endothermic like the Epicynodonts and the Kannemeyerid + Lystrosaurid clade of dicynodonts (and possibly anteosaurids). A lot of large tetrapods like dinocephalians and large thericephalians would be ectotherms according to this data. Not saying this is right or wrong but how problematic is this, really?
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Chuditch
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Dasyurid
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So you all probably know about the Western Long-beaked Echidna, a critically endangered monotreme from the west of New Guinea. However, a look at an old specimen has expanded it's range...
It lived/lives in Australia too.

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Australia's third extant monotreme?

This news is a couple years old but I only just found out (and was amazed) and decided to tell anyone else who didn't know. Researchers discovered a specimen of a Western Long-beaked Echidna from 1901 that was collected in the Kimberley region of north-west Australia. We already knew that the Western Long-beaked Echidna lived here in the Pleistocene. Cave painting indicate it was here 5000 years ago. However, that specimen indicates it was here in the 20th century, and may still be there today. If it still does survive, it's unsurprising no one has seen one; the north-west is remote and uninhabited, and a last haven for many endangered mammals. Hopefully they are still there, alive and well, as the species is critically endangered and still hunted traditionally in New Guinea.

Some stuff on this topic in the Australian Geographic:
Spoiler: click to toggle
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Chuditch
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Australian Wildlife Conservancy has reintroduced Banded Hare-wallabies to mainland Australia after over 100 years of absence. They posted this video this morning.

My wildlife YouTube channel
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LittleLazyLass
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Proud quilt in a bag

Biochemistry and adaptive colouration of an exceptionally preserved juvenile fossil sea turtle (Open Access)
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Haemoglobin-derived compounds, eumelanic pigments and proteinaceous materials retaining the immunological characteristics of sauropsid-specific β-keratin and tropomyosin were detected in tissues containing remnant melanosomes and decayed keratin plates. The preserved organics represent condensed remains of the cornified epidermis and, likely also, deeper anatomical features, and provide direct chemical evidence that adaptive melanism – a biological means used by extant sea turtle hatchlings to elevate metabolic and growth rates – had evolved 54 million years ago.
totally not British, b-baka!
Posted Image You like me (Unlike)
I don't even really like this song that much but the title is pretty relatable sometimes, I guess.
Me
What, you want me to tell you what these mean?
Read First
Words Maybe
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Archeoraptor
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"A living paradox"
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oh that is why baby sea turltes are black
Astarte an alt eocene world,now on long hiatus but you never know
Fanauraa; The rebirth of Aotearoa future evo set in new zealand after a mass extinction
coming soon......a world that was seeded with earth´s weridest
and who knows what is coming next...........

" I have to know what the world will be looking throw a future beyond us
I have to know what could have been if fate acted in another way
I have to know what lies on the unknown universe
I have to know that the laws of thee universe can be broken
throw The Spec I gain strength to the inner peace
the is not good of evil only nature and change,the evolution of all livings beings"
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