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Questions that don't need their own topics vol.2; New and fresh
Topic Started: Jan 4 2018, 11:18 AM (26,893 Views)
Rodlox
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opeFool
Jan 12 2018, 12:05 AM
I meant a singular limb.
(seriously, monoclonius had a pretty singular limb) :)

like tails in the Great Apes?
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CaledonianWarrior96
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The best creature I can think of are some crabs that have an enlarged claw and a much smaller one
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GreatAuk
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Could cephalopods ever overcome whatever the thing is that means they can't go into freshwater?

Also what is the reason for that?

Also what is the distribution for Nautilus species? i cant seem to find any.

Why did the belemnites go extinct?
Edited by GreatAuk, Jan 12 2018, 05:03 PM.
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LittleLazyLass
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opeFool
Jan 12 2018, 12:05 AM
I meant a singular limb.
No, that's not happened to my knowledge. Bilaterians as a rule like to keep their limbs more or less entirely symmetrical.
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GlarnBoudin
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What are the advantages and/or disadvantages of a beak as opposed to just teeth or lips? Is there any research done into why birds, ornithopods, turtles, etc. evolved beaks, and if so why did they evolve them?
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CaledonianWarrior96
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GlarnBoudin
Jan 13 2018, 05:36 PM
What are the advantages and/or disadvantages of a beak as opposed to just teeth or lips? Is there any research done into why birds, ornithopods, turtles, etc. evolved beaks, and if so why did they evolve them?
Well birds developed beaks because compared to jaws they're lightweight and make it easier to fly. I guess for disadvantages they are more prone to harm than jaws are, but probably not significantly prone. Not sure about turtles or ornithopods
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Ragnar
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How could radial symmetry evolve to become the dominant body plan on an alien planet (presumably low gravity to super-earth) as opposed to the bilaterally symmetrical dominance we have here on Earth? After all, only echinoderms and cnidarians have followed radial symmetry and they're nothing more than the simplest of invertebrates.


P.S. Bonus - What would be the challenges they would face in terrestrial and flying niches?
Answers would be much appreciated!
Edited by Ragnar, Jan 14 2018, 06:51 AM.
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suchipithecus
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Can anybody identify this caterpillar?

I looked it up a bit and it may be a small heath butterfly or a angle shades moth, but there are several that look similar as caterpillars.
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GreatAuk
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lamna
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CaledonianWarrior96
Jan 14 2018, 06:26 AM
GlarnBoudin
Jan 13 2018, 05:36 PM
What are the advantages and/or disadvantages of a beak as opposed to just teeth or lips? Is there any research done into why birds, ornithopods, turtles, etc. evolved beaks, and if so why did they evolve them?
Well birds developed beaks because compared to jaws they're lightweight and make it easier to fly. I guess for disadvantages they are more prone to harm than jaws are, but probably not significantly prone. Not sure about turtles or ornithopods
I don't believe that is correct, there were plenty of jawed birds in the Mesozoic.
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CaledonianWarrior96
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lamna
Jan 14 2018, 08:10 AM
CaledonianWarrior96
Jan 14 2018, 06:26 AM
GlarnBoudin
Jan 13 2018, 05:36 PM
What are the advantages and/or disadvantages of a beak as opposed to just teeth or lips? Is there any research done into why birds, ornithopods, turtles, etc. evolved beaks, and if so why did they evolve them?
Well birds developed beaks because compared to jaws they're lightweight and make it easier to fly. I guess for disadvantages they are more prone to harm than jaws are, but probably not significantly prone. Not sure about turtles or ornithopods
I don't believe that is correct, there were plenty of jawed birds in the Mesozoic.
Yeah but they were primitive and still evolving to become more suited to flying. After all how many flying birds today have jaws like those in the Mesozoic
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- Official Project
- Foundation
The Beryoni Galaxy: The Biologically Rich and Politically Complex State of our Galaxy (Habitational Zone)

- Beryoni Critique Thread (formerly: Aliens of Beryoni)
The Ecology of Skull Island: An Open Project for the Home of King Kong (Alternative Universe)
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LλmbdaExplosion
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Bats can fly and they don't have beaks.The bird bills or beaks are an advantage because they are like tools to them.Also they don't face the ugly things that some reptiles and mammals have when their teeth begin to deteriorate or are infected.Unlike mammals,birds can't chew.If i was a tetrapod,i would choose a beak over teeth anytime tho.These teeth are leaving me day after day.LOL
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GreatAuk
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How would history be different if trilobites didn't go extinct?

Why did belemnites go extinct?
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IIGSY
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GreatAuk
Jan 14 2018, 11:25 AM
How would history be different if trilobites didn't go extinct?

Why did belemnites go extinct?
Trilobites where on a serious decline well before their final extinction. If the Permian Triassic extinction never happened, trilobites may have survived as a very small group under the shadow of crustaceans, much like horseshoe crabs.
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ÐK
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CaledonianWarrior96
Jan 14 2018, 10:30 AM
Yeah but they were primitive and still evolving to become more suited to flying. After all how many flying birds today have jaws like those in the Mesozoic
That's just a consequence of the common ancestor of modern birds already having completely toothless jaws and a beak. Plenty of toothed Mesozoic birds were just as capable fliers as modern birds, and in fact the line leading up to modern birds appear to have been more like terrestrial ground birds than typical perching birds that spend a lot of time off the ground, a role occupied in the Mesozoic by the (mostly) beakless, toothed enantiornitheans.

The condition of teeth and beaks in avialans is pretty variable, and it's certainly not a gauge of how primitive they are. Completely toothless jaws with beaks evolved at least four times independently, possibly more in avialans, and even the birds closest to the crown group like Ichthyornis and hesperornitheans still have jaws full of teeth, with beaks of compound rhamphotheca limited to the premaxilla and toothless areas of the upper jaw, and only to a small predentary bone at the tip of the lower jaw.

If anything, tooth loss and beaks are probably more strongly correlated to diet in avialans, with reduced dentition in seed-eating, omnivorous and herbivorous birds (e.g. Jeholornis, Sapeornis, basal euornitheans) while more carnivorous forms retained or reverted to toothy jaws (e.g. enantiornitheans, Ichthyornis). Certainly it doesn't follow a linear progression as avialans became "more suited to flying" at least.
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