Paleontology

edited January 2011 in Jurassic Park
In here we can talk about the latest discoveries and and or Fossil talk.

Comments

  • edited June 2010
    When I was a kid I wanted to be a palaeontologist. I actually work in a shoe shop, not exactly the next best thing.

    I still find myself feeling stupidly excited when a new species of dinosaur is discovered.
  • edited June 2010
    I wanted to be a paleontologist as a kid too. I read so many books and journal articles and stuff, spent hours and hours at the natural history museum, collected a gazillion little plastic dinosaurs, and went to an allosaurus dig in Utah.

    Then, I realized that a huge part of paleontology meant standing around in the hot sun all day finding nothing and decided my interests lay more in a dark, cool lab.:D
  • edited June 2010
    I wanted to be a paleontologist as a kid too. I read so many books and journal articles and stuff, spent hours and hours at the natural history museum, collected a gazillion little plastic dinosaurs, and went to an allosaurus dig in Utah.

    Then, I realized that a huge part of paleontology meant standing around in the hot sun all day finding nothing and decided my interests lay more in a dark, cool lab.:D

    See I love the desert, and I love the lab, so really wouldn't bother me, what I'm going to do.
  • edited June 2010
    Icedhope wrote: »
    See I love the desert, and I love the lab, so really wouldn't bother me, what I'm going to do.

    I live in the desert (sorta) and don't really like spending any time outside because I burn really easily. I'm practically translucent. I would probably like it more if I could stay outside for more than twenty minutes without turning pink.:p
  • edited June 2010
    I used to get a dinosaur magazine that came with bones that you had to piece together over weeks. It was awesome.

    Felt like a paleontologist right there.
  • edited June 2010
    I wanted to be a paleontologist, but then I realized I didn't know that much about dinosaurs, and it'd involve physical labor... :D
  • edited June 2010
    The question should be who DIDNT want to be a paleontologist ?
  • edited June 2010
    The question should be who DIDNT want to be a paleontologist ?

    Exactly. Maybe those who wanted to be a cop or a fireman :D
  • edited June 2010
    i wanted to be a pirate cop paleonto/archeolologist with a cowboy hat.
    Or something like that.
  • edited June 2010
    I'm pretty sure it was a Fedora.
  • edited August 2010
    So, the Torosaurus never existed, eh?

    1574817_7f25d41be9afc643a9b416b5d637914e_wm.jpg

    http://io9.com/5606111/triceratops-controversy-shakes-paleontology-to-its-bones
    Paleontologists Jack Horner and John Scannella published a paper this week in Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology that overturned long-held beliefs about the famous Triceratops and Torosaurus, both discovered in the late nineteenth century. Until recently, scientists believed they were related species, but Horner and Scannella took a hard look at the creatures' fossils and discovered they were in fact seeing the maturation phases of the same animal.

    At least they kept the Triceratops name, I guess.
  • edited August 2010
    I have heard about that. I still think a little weird but hay, I'm not much of a paleontology.
  • edited August 2010
    Poor things must have had even a harder time growing up than us humans.
  • edited September 2010
    Something new in this category. What do you guys think, new species or just a deformity?
  • edited September 2010
    PainDealer wrote: »
    Something new in this category. What do you guys think, new species or just a deformity?

    new dinosaur, yes. hump deformity, unlikely. its just to big.
  • edited September 2010
    I usually try to disagree with anything Jack horner says, but keep an open mind if that makes sense, he comes up with some of the most bizarre theories.
  • edited September 2010
    Icedhope wrote: »
    I usually try to disagree with anything Jack horner says, but keep an open mind if that makes sense, he comes up with some of the most bizarre theories.

    oh yeah, i find the t-rex scavenger theory to be the stupidest theory ever although i do believe the pachy, stygmoloch, dracoerex thing. like look here:
    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Dracorex_skull.jpg/220px-Dracorex_skull.jpg

    then compare it to here:
    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/Stygimoloch_spinifer.jpg/200px-Stygimoloch_spinifer.jpg

    although i think the pachy is to different though.
  • edited September 2010
    Surprised no one has talked about the Dromaeosaur with two sickle claws.http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/...nsylvania.html
  • edited September 2010
    broken link.
  • edited September 2010
    Balaur (the twin sickle guy) on Wikipedia.
  • bubbledncrbubbledncr Telltale Alumni
    edited September 2010

    check it: http://www.jurassicparkjeep.com/

    not that it has anything to do with paleontology.
  • edited September 2010
    bubbledncr wrote: »
    check it: http://www.jurassicparkjeep.com/

    not that it has anything to do with paleontology.


    When I turned 16, I actually wanted a 94 Wrangler so I could make one.
  • edited September 2010
    Icedhope wrote: »
    I usually try to disagree with anything Jack horner says, but keep an open mind if that makes sense, he comes up with some of the most bizarre theories.

    You try to disagree with someone who knows far more about the subject than you do. Why dont you educate yourself instead.
    koiboi59 wrote: »
    oh yeah, i find the t-rex scavenger theory to be the stupidest theory ever although i do believe the pachy, stygmoloch, dracoerex thing. like look here:
    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Dracorex_skull.jpg/220px-Dracorex_skull.jpg

    then compare it to here:
    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/Stygimoloch_spinifer.jpg/200px-Stygimoloch_spinifer.jpg

    although i think the pachy is to different though.

    Either you dont know what a scavenger is or you are an idiot
  • edited September 2010
    cobleymj wrote: »
    You try to disagree with someone who knows far more about the subject than you do. Why dont you educate yourself instead.



    Either you dont know what a scavenger is or you are an idiot

    of course i know what a scavenger is. t-rex is not a scavenger. its an opportunistic feeder (meaning both). jack horner believes t-rex was a pure scavenger who never hunted. and there are tons of holes in this theory. he also claimed t-rex had bad eyesight.
  • edited September 2010
    cobleymj wrote: »
    Either you dont know what a scavenger is or you are an idiot

    First post and already flaming?

    Let's play nice, or it'll be a short stay.
  • edited September 2010
    cobleymj wrote: »
    You try to disagree with someone who knows far more about the subject than you do. Why dont you educate yourself instead.


    Why, yes I do. In-fact most paleontologists do it all the time, but by any means if I am wrong for making this theory. Please show me evidence and back it up, or Educate yourself on how a debate works. Any questions please feel free to PM me and we can discuss this further.
  • edited October 2010
    jack horner has got to be among the, how should i say it? i'll go with "out of there" paleontologist. don't get me wrong he has a few good theory's about hadrosaurs and such but he doesn't know anything when it comes to rex. and i highly doubt the new torosaurus is triceratops news, triceratops is said to be bigger then torosaurus and i highly doubt they shrink.

    in other news, they discovered a couple of new ceratopsians that lived on a "lost continent" called kosmoceratops and utahceratops.
  • edited October 2010
    my tummybox feels broken :(
  • edited October 2010
    It's the other way around: The Torosaurs is the Triceratops.
  • edited October 2010
    I feel like I want to crack open all my old paleontology books and see how much has changed. They're about fifteen years old, so.... probably a lot.
  • edited October 2010
    I feel like I want to crack open all my old paleontology books and see how much has changed. They're about fifteen years old, so.... probably a lot.

    You make a good point Alcoremortis - the theory about how dinosaurs lived and behaved is always changing because it is so difficult to prove any single idea. New theories will be emerging all the time.

    One useful way to try and validate theories is to look at how reptiles behave today. Certain species like crocodiles apparently haven't changed much over millions of years.
  • edited October 2010
    koiboi59 wrote: »
    of course i know what a scavenger is. t-rex is not a scavenger. its an opportunistic feeder (meaning both). jack horner believes t-rex was a pure scavenger who never hunted. and there are tons of holes in this theory. he also claimed t-rex had bad eyesight.

    There is no such thing as a 'pure scavenger' and Horner has never said this
    Icedhope wrote: »
    Why, yes I do. In-fact most paleontologists do it all the time, but by any means if I am wrong for making this theory. Please show me evidence and back it up, or Educate yourself on how a debate works. Any questions please feel free to PM me and we can discuss this further.

    Taking into account all the evidence and formulating your own ideas, then discussing them, would lead to a debate

    'I TRY TO DISAGREE WITH HORNER' is simply choosing to ignore all the evidence because you didn't like something he had to say
    koiboi59 wrote: »
    jack horner has got to be among the, how should i say it? i'll go with "out of there" paleontologist. don't get me wrong he has a few good theory's about hadrosaurs and such but he doesn't know anything when it comes to rex. and i highly doubt the new torosaurus is triceratops news, triceratops is said to be bigger then torosaurus and i highly doubt they shrink.

    in other news, they discovered a couple of new ceratopsians that lived on a "lost continent" called kosmoceratops and utahceratops.

    He actually happens to be the most respected man in the field
    The MoR probably has the record for Tyrannosaur findings so I dont know where you get the 'doesnt know anything' idea
    And have you even read the trike paper?
  • edited October 2010
    cobleymj wrote: »
    There is no such thing as a 'pure scavenger' and Horner has never said this

    He actually happens to be the most respected man in the field
    The MoR probably has the record for Tyrannosaur findings so I dont know where you get the 'doesnt know anything' idea
    And have you even read the trike paper?

    1. he said t-rex NEVER hunted. he honestly did say that. he said that t-rex was big only to scare of smaller carns from kills. he seriously believes it never hunted. you my "friend" need to relisten to what he says.
    2. he isn't a tyrannosaur expert. he was the one claiming t-rex had poor vision, weak arms, and never hunted. all 3 of those ideas aren't widely belive among the paleontology community. yes i read the trike-toro paper, and honestly i'm not completly convinced. i still don't totally believe in the dracorex-stygmoloch-pachycephalosaurus theory either. I even have some skeptocism on nannotyrannus being t-rex.
    3. Excuse me?!?!?!?! [mod edit - don't add inflammatory comments back in after similar ones have already been removed]
  • edited January 2011
    Hello newly discovered Eodromaeus

    Eodromaeus4x-wide-community.jpg
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