[img]http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/8103/megacopy.png[/img]
[img]http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/37/introcopy.png[/img]
This thread will explore the evolutionary features and common false beliefs. We will explore many different theories from how they became extinct, to them being cold-blooded. To delve deeply into dinosaurs is an exciting adventure. I really, really like dinosaurs. Indispensable to homosapians today, there are just not enough blues songs written about dinosaurs. Often it is seen as both a help and a hinderence to global commercial enterprises, obviously. Here begins my indepth analysis of the glourious subject of dinosaurs.We will begin with the Triassic.
[img]http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/2415/triassic.png[/img]
The Triassic period is a geological period that was around 250 to 200 million years ago. It’s the first period of the Mesozoic Era, it’s after the Permian period and is then followed by the Jurassic Period. During the start and end of this period, extinction is a major factor, excinction that closed the Trassic Period has recently more accurately dated, but with a lot older geological periods., the rock beds define the start and end, it’s a well indentified fact. The factors involving the Triassic period has been a popular topic amongst scholars for many years. In depth analysis of triassic can be an enriching experience. While much has been written on its influence on contemporary living, several of todays most brilliant minds seem incapable of recognising its increasing relevance to understanding future generations. Inevitably feelings run deep amongst global commercial enterprises, who are likely to form a major stronghold in the inevitable battle for hearts and minds.
During the Triassic, almost all the Earth's land mass was concentrated into a single supercontinent centered more or less on the equator, called Pangaea ("all the land"). From the east a vast gulf entered Pangaea, the Tethys sea. It opened farther westward in the mid-Triassic, at the expense of the shrinking Paleo-Tethys Ocean, an ocean that existed during the Paleozoic. The remaining shores were surrounded by the world-ocean known as Panthalassa ("all the sea"). All the deep-ocean sediments laid down during the Triassic have disappeared through subduction of oceanic plates; thus, very little is known of the Triassic open ocean. The supercontinent Pangaea was rifting during the Triassic—especially late in the period—but had not yet separated. The first nonmarine sediments in the rift that marks the initial break-up of Pangaea—which separated New Jersey from Morocco—are of Late Triassic age; in the U.S., these thick sediments comprise the Newark Group. Because of the limited shoreline of one super-continental mass, Triassic marine deposits are globally relatively rare, despite their prominence in Western Europe, where the Triassic was first studied. In North America, for example, marine deposits are limited to a few exposures in the west. Thus Triassic stratigraphy is mostly based on organisms living in lagoons and hypersaline environments, such as Estheria crustaceans.
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/LateTriassicGlobal.jpg[/img]
[B] Dinosaurs that existed throughout the Triassic Period[/b]
[I][url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/Coelophysismodell.jpg]Coelophysis[/url][/I]
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/Coelophysis_Animatronics_model_NHM2.jpg/800px-Coelophysis_Animatronics_model_NHM2.jpg[/img]
[I][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plateosaurus]Plateosaurus[/url][/I]
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Sellosaurus.jpg[/img]
[I][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panphagia]Panphagia[/url][/I]
[img]http://thefastertimes.com/dinosaurs/files/2010/01/09herb.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/3162/jurassic.png[/img]
The Jurassic is the geological period that occurred around 200 to 145 million years ago. It occurred after the Triassic Period and the Cretaceous period followed. This was the height of dinosaurs, the largest land animals that ever existed, lived in this period. The Jurassic Period didn’t witness any major extinction, the start and end of the periods are defined by carefully selected location; the uncertainty in dating arises from trying to date these horizons.When one is faced with people of today a central theme emerges - Jurassic is either adored or despised, it leaves no one undecided. To put it simply, people like Jurassic. What can we conclude? Well, Jurassic must not be allowed to get in the way of the bigger question: why are we here? Putting this aside its of great importance. It collaborates successfully, applauds greatness and always chips in.
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/76/LateJurassicGlobal.jpg[/img]
[b]D inosaurs that existed throughout the Jurassic Period[/b]
[I][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceratosaurus][/url]Ceratosaurus[/I]
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Ceratosaurus_juvenile_face.JPG[/img]
[I][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilophosaurus][/url]Dilophosaurus[/I]
[img]http://www.tylertornado.com/dilophosaurus-ket.jpg[/img]
[I][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apatosaurus][/url]Apatosaurus[/I]
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Pasta-Brontosaurus.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/5998/cretaceous.png[/img]
The Cretaceous was the last period of the dinosaurs. It began 145 and ended 65 million years ago. It occurred after the Jurassic and the Paleogene Period of the Cenozoic era (Era of the great mammals). It is the youngest period of the Mesozoic Era, and 80 million years long. Man's greatest achievement? Perhaps not, but can you afford not to read on when I am about to tell you about Cretaceous? Advancments in Cretaceous can be linked to many areas. Cited by many as the single most important influence on post modern micro eco compartmentalism, Cretaceous is not given the credit if deserves for inspiring many of the worlds famous painters. Often it is seen as both a help and a hinderence to global commercial enterprises, trapped by their infamous history. At the heart of the subject are a number of key factors.
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/LateCretaceousGlobal.jpg[/img]
[b] Dinosaurs that Existed during the Cretaceous Period [/b]
[I][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carcharodontosaurus]Carcharodontosaurus[/url][/I]
[img]http://www.henskensfossils.nl/vertabrates/carcharodontmodified.jpg[/img]
[I][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albertaceratops]Albertaceratops[/url][/I]
[img]http://www.nhm.ac.uk/resources/nature-online/life/dinosaurs/dino-directory/drawing/albertaceratops.jpg[/img]
[I][url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrannotitan]Tyrannotitan[/url][/I]
[img]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ONkzeDc3sOM/SXOufV3WuRI/AAAAAAAAAl0/YKXIFz2vADQ/s400/TyrannotitanFeed.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/3375/myth.png[/img]
The current popular interest in dinosaurs – which has been evident since Michael Crichton’s novel, Jurassic Park, was made into a big budget movie and spawed its slew of successors – is not new. The writer well remembers poring over dinosaur books in his boyhood, and indeed watching movie and television dramas depicting impossible interactions between dinosaurs and people. However, in the intervening 30 or 40 odd years, the representations of the dinosaurs themselves have changed markedly.A modern ‘Renaissance Period’ in the study of dinosaurs began "in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when Polish palaeontologists mounted ... expeditions into Mongolia. At about the same time, John Ostrom from Yale University began collecting in the Lower Cretaceous Cloverly Formation of Montana and Wyoming. Among his important discoveries was the small theropod dinosaur Deinonychus. This discovery led Ostrom to examine the possibility that dinosaurs were not the slow, sluggish ectotherms that they had been portrayed as at times, but were very active, possibly even endothermic. Ostrom also noted similarities between Deinonychus and the early bird Archaeopteryx, thus reviving the debate that birds had a dinosaur origin" (Carpenter 2002).This landmark paper - although itself the thoughtful work of a respected and respectable researcher - nevertheless signalled the beginning of the current dinosaur mythology, in which hyperbole and wild speculation has begun to displace "good" science.
[b]Mammals only evolved after dinosaurs died out[/b]
Tiny mammals lived in the shadow of the dinosaurs for more than 150 million years, occupying ecological niches as small, nocturnal animals weighing as little as 2 grams. The ancestors of mammals, animals called synapsids, actually appeared before dinosaurs.Mammals remained relatively small until 65 million years ago, when the demise of the dinosaurs left a mass of niches for larger mammals to fill. Most of the types of mammals we know today evolved after this time.
[b]Dinosaurs died out because mammals ate their eggs[/b]
Dinosaurs coexisted with mammals for 150 million years. Although dinosaur nests were undoubtedly vulnerable, the most dangerous predators were probably smaller dinosaurs. Most mammals of the time were probably too small to eat the eggs of large dinosaurs.
[b]An asteroid impact alone killed the dinosaurs[/b]
A layer of iridium-rich rock marks the impact 65 million years ago of a 10-kilometre asteroid in shallow water covering what is now Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. That impact formed the 180 kilometre-wide Chicxulub crater. There is no convincing evidence that any non-avian dinosaurs survived the aftermath of the impact. Yet we are still not totally sure how the dinosaurs died.The impact itself could only have killed the dinosaurs in the immediate vicinity of the crater. But it also produced devastating after-effects including giant tsunamis, rain that may have been as acidic as battery acid, and clouds of dust that darkened and cooled the globe for months or even decades.Another theory suggests that before the impact, dinosaurs were already dwindling as falling sea levels and volcanic eruptions took their toll. A combination of those effects probably wiped out the dinosaurs.
[b]Dinosaurs died out because they were unsuccessful in evolutionary terms[/b]
Dinosaurs survived for more than 150 million years, so they cannot be considered unsuccessful. Hominids have lived for only 6 million years, and Homo sapiens date back no more than 200,000 years. Dinosaurs out-competed other animals of their era, but they lost the battle to survive the effects of the asteroid impact.
[b]All dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago[/b]
Birds evolved about 150 million years ago. Most experts believe they evolved from small predatory dinosaurs, which would classify them as dinosaurs according to modern methods of grouping animals. These avian dinosaurs probably suffered some losses after the asteroid impact, but they soon rebounded.
[b]Dinosaurs were slow and sluggish animals[/b]
Early palaeontologists thought dinosaurs must have been slow and sluggish to have lost the "evolutionary race" to birds and mammals. Modern studies find no sign that they were laggards, lazily dragging their tails behind them.Most dinosaurs were probably as mobile as large, modern mammals. Like lions, meat-eating dinosaurs were active predators that probably lay down and rested after eating their fill.One study in 2000 of an exceptionally well-preserved hadrosaur fossil, found in a South Dakota riverbed, suggested that dinosaurs had powerful hearts more like those of birds or mammals than modern reptiles. Researchers argue that the fossilised, four-chambered heart points to an active, bird-like metabolism.
[b]Marine reptiles - for example, plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs - were dinosaurs[/b]
Several types of marine reptiles evolved during the dinosaur age, but all true dinosaurs were terrestrial animals. Marine crocodiles, like other crocodiles, were closely related to the dinosaurs. So were large, extinct marine reptiles called plesiosaurs, pliosaurs, mosasaurs and ichthyosaurs.
[b]Flying reptiles were dinosaurs[/b]
Flying reptiles called pterosaurs first appeared just after the dinosaurs, and then died out at the same time as the dinosaurs. The largest grew to the size of a small aeroplane. However, while they were close relatives, they were not true dinosaurs.
[img]http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/1402/warm.png[/img]
Because there’s so much confusion about what it means for any creature—not just a dinosaur—to be “cold-blooded” or “warm-blooded,” let’s start our analysis of this issue with some much-needed definitions.Biologists use a variety of words to describe a given animal’s metabolism (that is, the nature and speed of the chemical processes taking place inside its cells). In an endothermic creature, cells generate heat that maintain its body temperature, while ectothermic animals absorb heat from the surrounding environment.There are two more terms of art that further complicate this issue. The first is homeothermic, referring to animals that maintain a constant internal body temperature, and the second is poikilothermic, which applies to animals whose body temperature fluctuates according to the environment. (It’s possible for a creature to be ectothermic, but not poikiothermic, if it modifies its behavior in order to maintain its body temperature when faced with an adverse environment.)As you may have surmised from the above definitions, it doesn’t necessarily follow that an ectothermic reptile literally has colder blood, temperature-wise, than an endothermic mammal. For example, the blood of a desert lizard basking in the sun will temporarily be warmer than that of a similar-sized mammal in the same environment, though the lizard’s body temperature will drop with nightfall.
[b]TL:DR[/b] Fossils indicate that some dinosaurs would rapidily grow after hatching. This feature is unavaible to modern-day reptiles.Fossils also show blood vessels within the bone. But we can't know for sure.
[img]http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/3482/colorh.png[/img]
The discovery may prove once and for all that dinosaurs' hairlike filaments—sometimes called dino fuzz—are related to bird feathers, paleontologists announced today. (Pictures: Dinosaur True Colors Revealed by Feather Find.)The finding may also open up a new world of prehistoric color, illuminating the role of color in dinosaur behavior and allowing the first accurately colored dinosaur re-creations, according to the study team, led by Fucheng Zhang of China's Institute for Vertebrate Paleontology.The team identified fossilized melanosomes—pigment-bearing organelles—in the feathers and filament-like "protofeathers" of fossil birds and dinosaurs from northeastern China.Found in the feathers of living birds, the nano-size packets of pigment—a hundred melanosomes can fit across a human hair—were first reported in fossil bird feathers in 2008.That year, Yale graduate student Jakob Vinther and colleagues, using a scanning electron microscope, discovered melanosomes in the dark bands of a hundred-million-year-old feather. In 2009 Vinther's group went on to show that another fossilized feather would have been iridescent in a living bird, due to microscopic light-refracting surfaces created by stacked melanosomes.These earlier findings proved it was possible for melanosomes from dinosaur times to survive in fossils.But until now no one had found the pigments in dinosaurs—other than birds, which many paleontologists consider to be dinosaurs. And no one had used melanosome shape and density to infer color.
[img]http://s.ngeo.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/123/cache/dinosaur-color-determined-tail-feathers_12388_600x450.jpg[/img]
[B]First Sauropoda[/B]
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/OsbornMook1921-plate-LXXXII-ryder-camarasaurus.jpg[/img]
The first reconstruction of a sauropod, the skeleton of Camarasaurus supremus. By John A. Ryder, 1877.
[img]http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/1443/weirdcopyk.png[/img]
[media]http://youtube.com/watch?v=nSe0IUQ-FCsp/[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIKlplx11n4&playnext_from=TL&videos=OEiVdX9_BrU[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYIRdRaPSrk&playnext_from=TL&videos=tdeEfIfG6Jg[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOUkr1JEgQQ&feature=related[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGs6oGbYo2w&feature=related[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzEm5ECjTZg&feature=related[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_HmprdQJuw&feature=related[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeGW_CTpORg&feature=related[/media]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdipJFHYFO8&feature=related[/media]
[img]http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/407/diacopy.png[/img]
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/Largesttheropods.svg/800px-Largesttheropods.svg.png[/img]
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Longest_dinosaurs1.png[/img]
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Largestdinosaursbysuborder_scale.png[/img]
[img]http://site.sinodino.com/_Sea_Monsters/seamonsterall.JPG[/img]
[B]Sources that i've used for reference[/B]
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plateosaurus[/url]
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panphagia[/url]
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carcharodontosaurus[/url]
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albertaceratops[/url]
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrannotitan[/url]
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jurassic[/url]
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triassic[/url]
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cretaceous[/url]
[url]http://dinosaurs.about.com/od/dinosaurcontroversies/i/warmblooded.htm[/url]
[url]http://www.geo-lieven.com/erdzeitalter/jura/jura.htm[/url]
[url]http://www.palaeos.com/Mesozoic/Jurassic/Jurassic.htm[/url]
[url]http://harbury.villagebuzz.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=297[/url]
[url]http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/01/100127-dinosaur-feathers-colors-nature/[/url]
[url]http://www.aolnews.com/science/article/sinornithosaurus-dinosaur-packed-venom-in-fangs/19290917[/url]
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theropoda[/url]
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauropoda[/url]
[img]http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/6342/992.png[/img]
I found myself thinking "when is this thread going to end" when i was scrolling at top speed
I used to collect Dinosaur toys when I was a little kid and line them up in a single-file row on my backstep and tell everyone they were going to the Great Valley
:frown:
[img]http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/7876/strangex.png[/img]
[B]Therizinosaurus (to reap' or 'to cut off' )[/B]
Therizinosaurs are the strangest dinosaurs ever discovered. These are incredibly weird animals that baffled paleontologists for many years. The first record of their existence was the 1948 discovery of giant 3-foot long claws that certainly did not below to any known species. Maleev thought they may have come from an otherwise unknown giant chelonian (turtle). In 1954, he named it Therizinosaurus cheloniformis. Around ten years later another giant Therizinosaur claw was found, but this time along with other fossils, including a tooth, parts of the front and rear limbs and even a four-toed foot. The forelimbs had all the characteristics of the fierce meat-eating theropods, such as tyrannosaurs and velociraptors, but they were much longer than any known species. The pelvic bones were thought to belong
late survivor descendents of early Mesozoic prosauropods. Displaying a mix of characters from across Dinosauria. Therizinosaursus skeletons look as if they were assembled by a drunken designer who got quite confused as to what belonged where.
Scientists suggest that its great claw could not be used as a weapon, and new evidense suggests that it may have been used for cutting plants off of trees, though we can't know for sure.
[img]http://www.dinooption.com/psd/file/050604143903_Therizinosaurus4.jpg[/img]
[B]Giraffatitan brancai ("Arm Lizard")[/B]
Giraffatitan brancai was a sauropod, one of a group of four-legged, plant-eating dinosaurs with long necks and tails, and tiny brains. Originally considered to be a species of Brachiosaurus, Giraffatitan appears to deserve its own genus, as no derived characters have been found to link it to Brachiosaurus proper. The skull has an unusually tall rounded crest containing the nostrils, which is why it was selected for this poster. This species is unusual in possessing "withers" over the shoulders. It and the other Brachiosaurids are members of the .Brachiosauridae family of dinosaurs. They differ from other sauropods, as all had a long giraffe-like build, with long forelimbs and a raised neck, which it probably used to graze in the tops of trees. It has been suggested that all were basal titanosauriforms thrown together without respect for true characteristics, such as long necks and long arms.
[img]http://www.dinosaurfact.net/Pictures/Giraffatitan.jpg[/img]
[B]Carnotaurus sastrei ("Flesh-eating Bull")[/B]
Carnotaurus is one of the strangest dinosaurs to have come from South America. It was discovered in Patagonia, the southern tip of Argentina. The most unusual feature of this meat-eating dinosaur was that it had two short, knobby eyebrow-horns and a small, deep shaped skull, making it look somewhat like a bull. These characteristics are reflected in its name. The horns were probably used more to impress females than for fighting. Carnotaurus was fierce looking fellow. Its eyes faced forward, which is unusual in a dinosaur, and may indicate binocular vision and depth perception. It could look you in the eye, then flash a mouthful of flesh-tearing teeth, which enough to scare the pajamas off anything.
[img]http://fauzidinoworld.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/carnotaurus1.jpg[/img]
[B] Troodon formosus ("Tooth that wounds")[/B]
Troodon may have been the smartest of all the dinosaurs. It had a very large brain when compared to its overall body size, which would have given it huge hunting advantage. It also had large eyes, long legs for speedy pursuit of prey, and sharp teeth.Troodon is one of the most well known dinosaurs, with over 20 known specimens, including an egg with a Troodon embryo inside. It was actually one of the first North American dinosaurs to be named, originally described in 1856. However, the fragmentary remains were attributed to a number of dinosaurs before the original genus became accepted. It wasn't until Dr. Dale Russell described a fairly complete specimen that the pieces fell into place. Troodon is also used as evidence in the bird/dinosaur debate, as it shares a number of common characteristics with birds.
[img]http://blog.webosaurs.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/troodon.jpg[/img]
[B]Bonitasaura salgadoi ("Bonita Reptile")[/B]
This fascinating dinosaur was discovered in 2004. It has been classified as a titanosaur, a sauropod, closely related to the Apatosaurus (formerly known as the Brotontosaurus). This group of animals had always shown little diversity in the head, especially in the mouth design. Bonitasaura salgadoi has changed that. It has an unusual, rectangular jaw filled with two types of teeth. There is a set of sharp pointed teeth in the front of its mouth that were continuously replaced. They are immediately followed by a continuous wedge-shaped set that filled the middle and rear part of its mouth. These unusual shaped teeth were used to "guillotine" hard plant material.
[img]http://www.luisrey.ndtilda.co.uk/jpegs/new/Supersaurus.jpg[/img]
[B]Cryolophosaurus ellioti[/B]
Cryolophosaurus is the first meat-eating dinosaur to be discovered on the frozen continent of Antarctica. It was an odd looking dinosaur, fairly large for such an early hunter. It had a bizarre crest running across its head, just over the eyes, where it rises up, perpendicular to the skull, and fans out. It is furrowed, making it look like a Spanish comb, used by women in their hair. The crest is actually an extension of the skull bones which lie near the tear ducts fused on either side to horns which rise from the eye sockets. While other theropods like the Monolophosaurus have crests, they usually run along the skull instead of across it. Due to its resemblance to Elvis Presley's pompadour haircut in the 1950s, this dinosaur was quickly nicknamed the Elvisaurus. The crest is too fragile to be used in combat, so it was probably used in mating displays.
[img]http://www.arizonaskiesmeteorites.com/German/Cryolophosaurus.jpg[/img]
[B]Deinocheirus[/B]
For many years Therizinosaurus cheloniformis and Deinocheirus mirificus presented palaeontologists with a puzzle. Evidently somehow related to the theropods or carnivorous dinosaurs, the function of their large claws and their attendant forelimbs was a mystery. Certainly, they had to belong to animals quite unlike Tarbosaurus bataar with its highly reduced forelimbs and yet they were animals clearly in the same size category.Material that has recently come to light in China suggests that these animals were as atypical of large carnivorous dinosaurs as pandas are atypical of bears. Like pandas, they were probably gentle herbivores. They used their large forelimbs and claws to pull down branches on which to browse. The claws with the horny sheath that would have fitted over the outside of the bone may have been up to one metre long.Some palaeontologists have even suggested that therizinosaurs may have used the huge claws for ripping into ant nests.The picture of Therizinosaurus cheloniformis and Deinocheirus mirificus as browsers in a forest agrees well with the view that conditions in Central Asia had become much moremoist than what they had been like 10 million years before these dinosaurs lived. Only the arms were found.
[img]http://www.luisrey.ndtilda.co.uk/jpegs/256col/deinoE2.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/2033/famm.png[/img]
[B]Tyrannosaurus Rex[/B]
One of the largest dinosaurs that ever lived, Tyrannosaurus rex was a fierce carnivore. Scientists believe this powerful predator could eat up to 500 pounds (230 kilograms) of meat in one bite.
Tyrannosaurus rex was one of the largest meat-eating dinosaurs that ever lived. Everything about this ferocious predator, from its thick, heavy skull to its 4-foot-long (1.2-meter-long) jaw, was designed for maximum bone-crushing action.Fossil evidence shows that Tyrannosaurus was about 40 feet (12 meters) long and about 15 to 20 feet (4.6 to 6 meters) tall. Its strong thighs and long, powerful tail helped it move quickly, and its massive 5-foot-long (1.5-meter-long) skull could bore into prey.T. rex's serrated, conical teeth were most likely used to pierce and grip flesh, which it then ripped away with its brawny neck muscles. Its two-fingered forearms could probably seize prey, but they were too short to reach its mouth.Scientists believe this powerful predator could eat up to 500 pounds (230 kilograms) of meat in one bite. Fossils of T. rex prey, including Triceratops and Edmontosaurus, suggest T. rex crushed and broke bones as it ate, and broken bones have been found in its dung.Tyrannosaurus rex lived in forested river valleys in North America during the late Cretaceous period. It became extinct about 65 million years ago in the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction. They estimated it's biteforce to be nothing short of 20 tons per square inch.
[img]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_OVH5UC-R50w/SZMpTtA_o9I/AAAAAAAABNI/GOr_eBHbBLk/s1600/Rex.jpg[/img]
[B]Stegosaurus[/B]
Stegosaurus was up to 26-30 feet long (8-9 m), about 9 feet tall (2.75 m), and weighed about 6,800 pounds (3100 kg). Its small brain was only the size of a walnut (weighing roughly 2.5 - 2.9 ounces (70 - 80 grams). Its skull was long. pointed, and narrow; it had a toothless beak and small cheek teeth. Its head was carried close to the ground, probably no more than 3 feet (1 m) high.Stegosaurus had 17 bony plates that were embedded in its back. The arrangement of these plates was unknown until a 1992 Stegosaurus find in Colorado (Carpenter, et al.) - the plates ran along the Stegosaurus' back and tail in two rows, and the plates alternated in alignment.The function of these plates is uncertain. The plates were made of bone which was not solid, but was filled with tube-like tunnels. The largest of these triangular plates was about 2.5 ft (76 cm) tall and just as long. The plates were probably well-nourished by blood vessels, indicating that the plates may have been used to regulate the dinosaur's temperature. They may have also been used for protection or mating display purposes.
Stegosaurus also had spikes at the end of its flexible tail (these are called thagomizers; they were named for a Gary Larson "Far Side" cartoon in which a caveman is explaining that the end of a Stegosaurus' tail is called a thagomizer, named for the late Thag Simmons). These spikes were up to four feet long and were used for protection from predators; they pointed to the sides of the tail. Different species of Stegosaurus had different numbers of tail spikes; Stegosaurus ungulatis had 8 spikes and Stegosaurus stenops had 4 spikes. Some early Stegosaurus had shoulder spines.As even more protection, Stegosaurus had armor-like scutes on the skin of the neck, the pelvic area (the hips) and perhaps on the sides of some species. These bony scutes were dicovered by Carpenter, et. al. in 1992.Stegosaurus' rear legs were longer and straighter than its front legs, which sprawled out to the sides. The forefeet (the feet of the front legs) had five short, wide toes with short, hoof-like tips. The rear feet had three short, wide toes with hooves.
Scientists now believe that their mysterious plates were horizontal to the floor, rather then verticle.
[img]http://www.karencarr.com/auto_image/Karen_Carr_Royal_Tyrrell_Stegosaurus.jpg[/img]
[B]Velociraptor[/B]
Velociraptor was a fast-running, two-legged (bipedal) dinosaur. This meat-eater had about 80 very sharp, curved teeth in a long, flat snout; some of the teeth were over an inch (2.5 cm) long. This predator had an s-shaped neck, arms with three-fingered clawed hands, long thin legs, and four-toed clawed feet. Velociraptor's head was about 7 inches (18 cm) long.Velociraptor may have been able to run up to roughly 40 mph (60 km/hr) for short bursts.Velociraptor was about 5 to 6 feet long (1.5-2 m), and 3 feet tall (1 m). It may have weighed about 15 to 33 pounds (7 to 15 kg). It had a stiff tail that worked as a counterbalance and let it make very quick turns.
In 1923, the first specimen of Velociraptor was found by the American Museum of Natural History. Like the famous death-pose specimen, it was found in the Late Cretaceous sandstones of the Djadokhta Formation in the Gobi Desert. And, like the death-pose specimen, it was found lying alongside a skull of Protoceratops.Velociraptor was a small theropod, with a large sickle-shaped claw on the second toe of its foot. It had a low, narrow snout, which is different from other members of its family. The jaws were lined with serrated teeth for tearing flesh. It swallowed its food in gulps instead of chewing, like most theropods. The arms were long and it had strong chest and arm muscles. It looked much like the early bird Archaeopteryx, especially its pelvis. Some paleontologists have suggested that Velociraptor might have had feathers, but there is no proof for this theory.Since the death-pose specimen was found with a Protoceratops, it probably ate this small ceratopsian, but it may have hunted even larger prey. Its diet also" included small animals, such as lizards.Another dromaeosaurid feature that can be clearly seen in the death-pose specimen are the long pieces of bone along the sides of the bones of the tail to stiffen it. This allowed the tail to act as a balance when the animal walked and ran. The tail, however, was still flexible, especially where it was attached to the hips. The complete "struggle to the death" skeleton has not yet been described, but it will certainly reveal even more new and exciting facts about this fascinating genus.
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Velociraptor_BW.jpg[/img]
[B]Triceratops[/B]
Triceratops was the most numerous of the horned cretaceous dinosaurs as well as the largest ceratopsian; it was one of the last to become extinct. Its name means "three horned face". Triceratops was a herbivore and its largest predator was Tyrannosaurus rex. It probably ate cycads and all other low-lying plants; it could chew them well with its cheek teeth. These animals probably lived in vast herds and hatched from eggs. They made up the bulk of the herbivore population just before the end of the Cretaceous period.
Triceratops had a skull that reached up 6 ft (2m) in length with three protective horns and a great frill of bone that served for muscle attachment to the neck as well as protection from predators. Triceratops had one short horn above its beak and two long, double-recurved brow horns (up to 3 ft/90 cm long). The horns provided it with a very dangerous weapon and may have also been used in mating rivalry and rituals. Its head with large eyes was almost one-third as long as its body (up to 10 ft/3 m long) and was the largest ever possessed by a land animal. Its tough beak was toothless, but Triceratops had many cheek teeth and powerful jaws. It walked on all four, short and sturdy legs with hoof-like claws. Its body was bulky and it had a short tail. It also had a thick bumpy hide, prints of which have survived, to protect it against predator attacks, many of which could have come from the fearsome T-rex. Triceratops skulls are very common occurrences in the fossil record, in coastal lowland sediments, but skeletons are rare. Many specimens have bones damaged in combats with predators. Triceratops remains were first discovered in 1887 (Colorado, USA).
[img]http://www.state.nd.us/ndfossils/Education/animals/Animal%20Images%20030612/Large%20Triceratops.gif[/img]
Obligatory Dinosaurs TV show picture post.
[img]http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/2743/sinclairjm0.jpg[/img]
Coelophysis
Sounds like an STD.
I remember I used to have this really cool blue T-Rex with white stripes when I was a kid, it was awesome.
I am also disappointed there are no Velociraptors or Tyrannosaurus' here
[QUOTE=w 1 z;21337179]Obligatory Dinosaurs TV show picture post.
[/QUOTE]
[img]http://www.njn.net/kids/shows/images/barney.jpg[/img]
You mispelled Theory.
But, nice read and great effort.
[QUOTE=ProgramFiles;21337215][img]http://www.njn.net/kids/shows/images/barney.jpg[/img][/QUOTE]
no fuck your purple retarded fatass Dinosaurs was 100x better
[QUOTE=CMasta;21337878][IMG]http://www.dimmak.com/images/megalodon.gif[/IMG]
Megalodon.[/QUOTE]
[I]Carcharodon/Carcharocles megaladon[/I] Is not a dinosaur, it's just a prehistoric fish living about 25-1.5 million years ago. Pretty far off from the stuff in the OP.
Pretty fucking beastly these things were. Estimated about 50-60 feet long. It had a bite force 5 times stronger than a t-rex. Megaladon spent it's free time eating whales and being an all around badass of the sea, until it's demise about 1.5 million years ago, believed to be caused by dwindling food supply, over competition with other badasses of the sea, or some say climate change.
[IMG]http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/6141/billmurray.png[/IMG]:hf:[IMG]http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/3987/blacksuitcalvinklein050.png[/IMG]
Just admit it, you want to fuck a dinosaur
As much as I hate to admit, this thread blows mine out of the water. Very good OP.
[QUOTE=Penguiin;21338156]Just admit it, you want to fuck a dinosaur[/QUOTE]
[img]http://filebox.me/files/8nza4s2nv_dinosaur_fuuuuuuuuuuuuck.jpg[/img]
Now that the first porn pic is posted, this thread will now end up being the same as the Dragon thread.
Escape while you can, because I will.
[QUOTE=ProgramFiles;21338515]Now that the first porn pic is posted, this thread will now end up being the same as the Dragon thread.
Escape while you can, because I will.[/QUOTE]
no, shut up
[QUOTE=salty peanut v2;21338553]no, shut up[/QUOTE]
I'll do so.
wow op how could you have forgotten this picture:
[IMG]http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm5/Zamkaizer/CalvinHobbes-TinyT-Rex.jpg[/IMG]
[url]http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/tyrannosaurus-sex-video/[/url]
You and me baby ain't nothin' but... um...
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