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parallaxicality
2009-Apr-17, 06:31 PM
I have some paleontology questions mulling around in my head but don't know where to ask them. Anyone know of a place?

geonuc
2009-Apr-17, 06:56 PM
One of our members, BobtheEnforcer, started a paleo blog. You might ask him.

http://diagenesis.blogspot.com/

Seeka
2009-Apr-17, 07:03 PM
What's your favourite dinosaur Parallaxicality?:)

parallaxicality
2009-Apr-17, 07:33 PM
Oh I have loads. :) Like everyone I love T-Rex. When I was a kid I used to love Stegosauruses, but I've fallen out of love with them recently. My personal fave though has to be Deinocheirus, because those hands (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/DeinocheirusNHM.jpg) look wicked.

raptorthang
2009-Apr-17, 08:50 PM
This is a good site. Lots of activity

http://www.thefossilforum.com/

I also belong to a few other paleo discussion groups but they are for professionals

Seeka
2009-Apr-17, 10:03 PM
Those hands do look pretty awesome:) I liked the velociraptor but was so disappointed to read they were quite small? The movie Jurassic Park portrayed them as mighty fierce big predators, i liked that they were smart dinos- Problem solving and all that.

parallaxicality
2009-Apr-17, 10:04 PM
This is a good site. Lots of activity

http://www.thefossilforum.com/

I also belong to a few other paleo discussion groups but they are for professionals

Thanks! I just registered, though it seems they're not letting me post just yet...

parallaxicality
2009-Apr-17, 10:10 PM
Those hands do look pretty awesome:) I liked the velociraptor but was so disappointed to read they were quite small? The movie Jurassic Park portrayed them as mighty fierce big predators, i liked that they were smart dinos- Problem solving and all that.

Actually, the velociraptors in Jurassic Park were Deinonychus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deinonychus)...es, which were pretty big. Michael Crichton had an occasionally annoying habit of sticking to the absolute total and utter cutting edge of science, and, right when he wrote the book in about 1991, one particular paleontologist claimed that deinonychus wasn't a separate genus from velociraptor, and said that they should be considered as one. After the book was published, the idea was dropped, which just goes to show you can't trust the absolute cutting edge.

The raptor family were very intelligent, certainly more intelligent than any reptiles today, though how intelligent they were is open to debate. The smartest dino is believed to have been Troodon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troodon), which was a velociraptor relative.

Seeka
2009-Apr-17, 10:23 PM
Ahh okay, then my favourite is the Deinonychus! Thanks for clearing that up. Is it true a predatory dino has eyes on either side of its head for hunting, and herbivores eyes were closer and positioned head on facing forward?

parallaxicality
2009-Apr-17, 10:26 PM
Actually, the opposite. Predators tend to have eyes facing forward, to give them depth perception, while prey animals tend to have eyes on the sides of their heads to give them 360 degree vision.

Seeka
2009-Apr-17, 10:44 PM
D'oh. That makes more sense of course.

BetaDust
2009-Apr-18, 05:12 AM
Actually, the opposite. Predators tend to have eyes facing forward, to give them depth perception, while prey animals tend to have eyes on the sides of their heads to give them 360 degree vision.

But..but.. that would make us humans "Predators". :)

HenrikOlsen
2009-Apr-18, 07:52 AM
But..but.. that would make us humans "Predators". :)
Exactly:D

hhEb09'1
2009-Apr-18, 10:41 AM
munch munch

So, have you posted your questions?

parallaxicality
2009-Apr-18, 11:54 AM
One of them. I was a bit confused by the answer, but I'll have to think for a bit before I probe deeper

hhEb09'1
2009-Apr-18, 02:01 PM
Which post?

parallaxicality
2009-Apr-22, 06:35 PM
I'm in Questions and Answers. My username is Gelatinous Squid

mahesh
2009-Apr-23, 11:01 AM
munch munch

So, have you posted your questions?

now i have really vivid pictures of Bugs Bunny in my head!
Thanks hhEb...

you have a nice day too!

hhEb09'1
2009-Apr-23, 12:30 PM
now i have really vivid pictures of Bugs Bunny in my head!
Thanks hhEb...

you have a nice day too!Your welcome. That's gotta be better than "Gelatinous Squid", no? :)