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From Twitter 11-11-2009
Nov. 12th, 2009 02:04 amTweets copied by twittinesis.com
Nov. 12th, 2009
New dinosaur species may be a missing link
... um, well, first off, no it's not, as such. We've already got a couple of prosauropod species (including Plateosaurus). The link isn't really missing, as such. True, what are currently classified as prosauropods might be contemporaries rather than ancestors of sauropods- after two hundred million years it's hard to be precise on dating- but they still give us a good enough idea of transition between the immediate dinosaur ancestors and the big boys.
Yeah- try listening to the people you're interviewing, LA Times.
But even worse is the subtitle of the article:
Fossils of the lumbering Aardonyx celestae found in South Africa may explain why dinosaurs evolved from bipeds to quadrupeds.
Yeah, all dinosaurs became quadrupeds. And all mammals chew their cud, too.
CHRIST. Did no one at the Times ever watch ANY of the Jurassic Park movies? There were LOTS of bipedal dinosaurs- more, really, than quadrupedal ones- throughout the hundred-forty-or-so-million year run.
Here's the rundown:
SAURISCHIA (lizard-hipped dinosaurs)
Theropods (includes carnosaurs, raptors, tyrannosaurs, and modern birds) - All bipedal.
Sauropods - Began bipedal (and prosauropods remained so), became quadrupedal.
ORNITHISCHIA (bird-hipped dinosaurs) (not the ancestors of birds, just to be clear)
Heterodontosaurids - Bipedal
Thyreophorans (inc. stegosaurids and ankylosaurids) - Mostly, but not entirely, quadrupedal.
Ornithopods (inc. hadrosaurids and iguanadontids) - Mostly bipedal, although the largest could go either way.
Pachycephalosaurids - Bipedal
Ceratopsians - Mostly quadrupedal, evolving from bipedal.
So- LOTS of bipedal dinos. (Although, come to think of it, it's a little interesting that many dinos evolved from bipedal to quadrupedal, but none went the other direction. I know from personal experience it's hard to get thin again once you're fat, but apparently that applies to species and genetics, too.)
Anyway- LA Times? Dinosaurs were NOT all alike.
And, finally:
Everyone knows that Carnivore X is secretly Speed Carnivore's long-lost brother, who hides his identity to protect his family...
... yeah, I could have made a Thanksgiving joke, but I think this is funnier.
(Whew- a lot of work to use a new icon.)
... um, well, first off, no it's not, as such. We've already got a couple of prosauropod species (including Plateosaurus). The link isn't really missing, as such. True, what are currently classified as prosauropods might be contemporaries rather than ancestors of sauropods- after two hundred million years it's hard to be precise on dating- but they still give us a good enough idea of transition between the immediate dinosaur ancestors and the big boys.
Yates doesn't like the term "missing link." It upsets his scientific sensibilities because evolution doesn't unfold in a neat, linear fashion. But he says the term does at least convey the import of the discovery.
"It's one of the dinosaurs in a long, smeary continuum," he said Wednesday. "It shows us what we should already have pretty much guessed, which was that evolution was a messy, complicated affair."
Yeah- try listening to the people you're interviewing, LA Times.
But even worse is the subtitle of the article:
Fossils of the lumbering Aardonyx celestae found in South Africa may explain why dinosaurs evolved from bipeds to quadrupeds.
Yeah, all dinosaurs became quadrupeds. And all mammals chew their cud, too.
CHRIST. Did no one at the Times ever watch ANY of the Jurassic Park movies? There were LOTS of bipedal dinosaurs- more, really, than quadrupedal ones- throughout the hundred-forty-or-so-million year run.
Here's the rundown:
SAURISCHIA (lizard-hipped dinosaurs)
Theropods (includes carnosaurs, raptors, tyrannosaurs, and modern birds) - All bipedal.
Sauropods - Began bipedal (and prosauropods remained so), became quadrupedal.
ORNITHISCHIA (bird-hipped dinosaurs) (not the ancestors of birds, just to be clear)
Heterodontosaurids - Bipedal
Thyreophorans (inc. stegosaurids and ankylosaurids) - Mostly, but not entirely, quadrupedal.
Ornithopods (inc. hadrosaurids and iguanadontids) - Mostly bipedal, although the largest could go either way.
Pachycephalosaurids - Bipedal
Ceratopsians - Mostly quadrupedal, evolving from bipedal.
So- LOTS of bipedal dinos. (Although, come to think of it, it's a little interesting that many dinos evolved from bipedal to quadrupedal, but none went the other direction. I know from personal experience it's hard to get thin again once you're fat, but apparently that applies to species and genetics, too.)
Anyway- LA Times? Dinosaurs were NOT all alike.
And, finally:
At some point, carnivore X -- the mystery creature -- ate the dead or dying Aardonyx. Several fangs were found at the scene, and they're not like other dinosaur teeth from the same period.
"I'd very much like to find the bones of the mysterious carnivore X," Yates said.
Everyone knows that Carnivore X is secretly Speed Carnivore's long-lost brother, who hides his identity to protect his family...
... yeah, I could have made a Thanksgiving joke, but I think this is funnier.
(Whew- a lot of work to use a new icon.)
New dinosaur species may be a missing link
... um, well, first off, no it's not, as such. We've already got a couple of prosauropod species (including Plateosaurus). The link isn't really missing, as such. True, what are currently classified as prosauropods might be contemporaries rather than ancestors of sauropods- after two hundred million years it's hard to be precise on dating- but they still give us a good enough idea of transition between the immediate dinosaur ancestors and the big boys.
Yeah- try listening to the people you're interviewing, LA Times.
But even worse is the subtitle of the article:
Fossils of the lumbering Aardonyx celestae found in South Africa may explain why dinosaurs evolved from bipeds to quadrupeds.
Yeah, all dinosaurs became quadrupeds. And all mammals chew their cud, too.
CHRIST. Did no one at the Times ever watch ANY of the Jurassic Park movies? There were LOTS of bipedal dinosaurs- more, really, than quadrupedal ones- throughout the hundred-forty-or-so-million year run.
Here's the rundown:
SAURISCHIA (lizard-hipped dinosaurs)
Theropods (includes carnosaurs, raptors, tyrannosaurs, and modern birds) - All bipedal.
Sauropods - Began bipedal (and prosauropods remained so), became quadrupedal.
ORNITHISCHIA (bird-hipped dinosaurs) (not the ancestors of birds, just to be clear)
Heterodontosaurids - Bipedal
Thyreophorans (inc. stegosaurids and ankylosaurids) - Mostly, but not entirely, quadrupedal.
Ornithopods (inc. hadrosaurids and iguanadontids) - Mostly bipedal, although the largest could go either way.
Pachycephalosaurids - Bipedal
Ceratopsians - Mostly quadrupedal, evolving from bipedal.
So- LOTS of bipedal dinos. (Although, come to think of it, it's a little interesting that many dinos evolved from bipedal to quadrupedal, but none went the other direction. I know from personal experience it's hard to get thin again once you're fat, but apparently that applies to species and genetics, too.)
Anyway- LA Times? Dinosaurs were NOT all alike.
And, finally:
Everyone knows that Carnivore X is secretly Speed Carnivore's long-lost brother, who hides his identity to protect his family...
... yeah, I could have made a Thanksgiving joke, but I think this is funnier.
(Whew- a lot of work to use a new icon.)
... um, well, first off, no it's not, as such. We've already got a couple of prosauropod species (including Plateosaurus). The link isn't really missing, as such. True, what are currently classified as prosauropods might be contemporaries rather than ancestors of sauropods- after two hundred million years it's hard to be precise on dating- but they still give us a good enough idea of transition between the immediate dinosaur ancestors and the big boys.
Yates doesn't like the term "missing link." It upsets his scientific sensibilities because evolution doesn't unfold in a neat, linear fashion. But he says the term does at least convey the import of the discovery.
"It's one of the dinosaurs in a long, smeary continuum," he said Wednesday. "It shows us what we should already have pretty much guessed, which was that evolution was a messy, complicated affair."
Yeah- try listening to the people you're interviewing, LA Times.
But even worse is the subtitle of the article:
Fossils of the lumbering Aardonyx celestae found in South Africa may explain why dinosaurs evolved from bipeds to quadrupeds.
Yeah, all dinosaurs became quadrupeds. And all mammals chew their cud, too.
CHRIST. Did no one at the Times ever watch ANY of the Jurassic Park movies? There were LOTS of bipedal dinosaurs- more, really, than quadrupedal ones- throughout the hundred-forty-or-so-million year run.
Here's the rundown:
SAURISCHIA (lizard-hipped dinosaurs)
Theropods (includes carnosaurs, raptors, tyrannosaurs, and modern birds) - All bipedal.
Sauropods - Began bipedal (and prosauropods remained so), became quadrupedal.
ORNITHISCHIA (bird-hipped dinosaurs) (not the ancestors of birds, just to be clear)
Heterodontosaurids - Bipedal
Thyreophorans (inc. stegosaurids and ankylosaurids) - Mostly, but not entirely, quadrupedal.
Ornithopods (inc. hadrosaurids and iguanadontids) - Mostly bipedal, although the largest could go either way.
Pachycephalosaurids - Bipedal
Ceratopsians - Mostly quadrupedal, evolving from bipedal.
So- LOTS of bipedal dinos. (Although, come to think of it, it's a little interesting that many dinos evolved from bipedal to quadrupedal, but none went the other direction. I know from personal experience it's hard to get thin again once you're fat, but apparently that applies to species and genetics, too.)
Anyway- LA Times? Dinosaurs were NOT all alike.
And, finally:
At some point, carnivore X -- the mystery creature -- ate the dead or dying Aardonyx. Several fangs were found at the scene, and they're not like other dinosaur teeth from the same period.
"I'd very much like to find the bones of the mysterious carnivore X," Yates said.
Everyone knows that Carnivore X is secretly Speed Carnivore's long-lost brother, who hides his identity to protect his family...
... yeah, I could have made a Thanksgiving joke, but I think this is funnier.
(Whew- a lot of work to use a new icon.)
Stupor Bowl: Looking ahead a bit
Nov. 12th, 2009 05:41 pm( More college football blathering... )
So- I wonder if I can find any of these games on TV anywhere at all? Doubt it...
So- I wonder if I can find any of these games on TV anywhere at all? Doubt it...
Stupor Bowl: Looking ahead a bit
Nov. 12th, 2009 05:41 pm( More college football blathering... )
So- I wonder if I can find any of these games on TV anywhere at all? Doubt it...
So- I wonder if I can find any of these games on TV anywhere at all? Doubt it...