The Fauna of Hateg Island

[Phr3121]

From dinosaurs to asteroids (and meteorites) to elements. Uranium-238, my favorite. I have a small elements collection and part of it is U-238. Uranium will convert into other elements and end its life as lead. Uranium-235 is the bomb grade type and the way this 'bad boy' breaks up into energy is awesome.
Me on the weekends:

An Atom Bomb:

A Hydrogen Bomb:
'Ivy Mike' was the codename given to the first full-scale test of a thermonuclear device, in which part of the explosive yield comes from nuclear fusion. It uses a Nagasaki style Plutonium fission bomb to set things off.
Date: November, 1952
Yield: 10.4 megatons
Fusion process time: 1/1,000,000 of a second.

 

[I am your real dad]

"In chemistry, the term chemically inert is used to describe a substance that is not chemically reactive. From a thermodynamic perspective, a substance is inert if it is thermodynamically unstable yet decomposes at a slow, or negligible rate."

"Most Group 8 or 18 elements that appear in the last column of the periodic table (Helium, Neon, Argon, Krypton, Xenon, and Radon) are classified as inert (or unreactive). These elements are stable in their naturally occurring form (gaseous form)."

"Gold is inert in the chemical sense because it does not react with any other substances and this is attributed to the stable and balanced configuration of its electrons."

Cool.

 

[Phr3121]

What do you call a gay dinosaur?

I like this kind...
"Netflix will cut streaming quality of its service in Europe for next 30 days to reduce strain on net during coronavirus crisis"

 

[Utahraptor Ostrommaysi]

What do you call a gay dinosaur?

Spoiler

a mega sore ass

Speaking as a gay guy who loves Dinosaurs, that made me smile.

 

[Phr3121]

The smallest dinosaur:
"Compsognathus, is a genus of small, carnivorous theropod dinosaur. Members of its single species could grow to around the size of a turkey."

 

[Utahraptor Ostrommaysi]

The smallest dinosaur:
"Compsognathus, is a genus of small, carnivorous theropod dinosaur. Members of its single species could grow to around the size of a turkey."

Compsognathus is a cool Dinosaur, I always liked small Dinosaurs like Compsognathus because they challenged the public's idea about Dinosaurs, that they were these "big, dumb, slow moving lizards". Compsognathus and other small, bird-like Dinosaurs showed how inaccurate the public's perception of Dinosaurs truly was.
On that note, it looks like Compsognathus has been dethroned as the smallest Dinosaur, as Caenagnathasia, Parvicursor, and Microraptor were all apparently smaller than Compsognathus.

 

[Iron Nick]

The fun thing is, is that its totally possible that somewhere out there in our universe, a planet with dinosaurs and/or similar creatures (still) exists.

It's something i actually really like to think of, no matter if we're ever able to reach such a planet or not.

 

[Utahraptor Ostrommaysi]

The fun thing is, is that its totally possible that somewhere out there in our universe, a planet with dinosaurs and/or similar creatures (still) exists.

It's something i actually really like to think of, no matter if we're ever able to reach such a planet or not.

Well technically Dinosaurs still exist on our planet, birds are considered to be living Dinosaurs because they are the descendants of non-avian Theropods.
But I know what you mean. You're talking about the "cool" Dinosaurs like T-Rex, Utahraptor, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Allosaurus, Spinosaurus, and Brachiosaurus.
It is fun to think about an alternate Universe where the non-avian Dinosaurs never went extinct. If the Dinosaurs never died out, mammals probably would have never diversified and humans probably would have never evolved.
So if that asteroid never hit Earth 65 million years ago, we would still be little rodent-like animals living in burrows.

 

[Iron Nick]

Well technically Dinosaurs still exist on our planet, birds are considered to be living Dinosaurs because they are the descendants of non-avian Theropods.
But I know what you mean. You're talking about the "cool" Dinosaurs like T-Rex, Utahraptor, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Allosaurus, Spinosaurus, and Brachiosaurus.
It is fun to think about an alternate Universe where the non-avian Dinosaurs never went extinct. If the Dinosaurs never died out, mammals probably would have never diversified and humans probably would have never evolved.
So if that asteroid never hit Earth 65 million years ago, we would still be little rodent-like animals living in burrows.

Yeah, you're right. Not having dinosaurs anymore certainly helped making us what we are.
As for birds: technically, yes, but for me i like dinosaurs more, as they're not just bigger, but also have teeth, instead of a beak - birds are cool and more "dinosaurish" than they get credit for, but they're still kinda different.

Was realizing how similar birds are to dinosaurs though when i was away with my girlfriend and after going to the car to drive home, opened the door, when she stared above/behind me and suddenly said "oh shit! turn around!" and there was an emu behind a fence on the slope right behind me.
It was night, so it was a bit scary, but at the same time it was super cool.
I went a few steps up on that slope and watched that emu from close, didn't know if i should pet it though, i had a hard time reading its body language, haha.

 

[Utahraptor Ostrommaysi]

Yeah, you're right. Not having dinosaurs anymore certainly helped making us what we are.
As for birds: technically, yes, but for me i like dinosaurs more, as they're not just bigger, but also have teeth, instead of a beak - birds are cool and more "dinosaurish" than they get credit for, but they're still kinda different.

Was realizing how similar birds are to dinosaurs though when i was away with my girlfriend and after going to the car to drive home, opened the door, when she stared above/behind me and suddenly said "oh shit! turn around!" and there was an emu behind a fence on the slope right behind me.
It was night, so it was a bit scary, but at the same time it was super cool.
I went a few steps up on that slope and watched that emu from close, didn't know if i should pet it though, i had a hard time reading its body language, haha.

That's why Dromaeosaurids (raptors) like Utahraptor and Velociraptor are some of my favorite Dinosaurs. In my opinion they have the perfect blend of the bird look (feathers, wings, etc) and the Dinosaur look (teeth, claws, etc) a perfect mix between our modern world and the ancient world of the Dinosaurs.
I also really like the bird/Dinosaur transitional species like Archaeopteryx and Microraptor.
But as for modern birds, birds of prey like hawks and eagles have more of a Dinosaur look than most birds. Ratites like ostriches, emus, and cassowaries are very "Dinosaurish" as well. And look at shoebills and tell me those things aren't Dinosaurs.
Wrap your head around this, chickens and ostriches are considered the closest living relatives of Theropods like T-Rex. Which means every time you eat a chicken it is like you are eating a mini T-Rex.
Here is something else to wrap your head around, aside from birds, crocodilians like crocodiles and alligators are considered the closest living relatives to Dinosaurs. Which means pigeons are more closely related to crocodiles than Komodo dragons are.

 

[Iron Nick]

That's why Dromaeosaurids (raptors) like Utahraptor and Velociraptor are some of my favorite Dinosaurs. In my opinion they have the perfect blend of the bird look (feathers, wings, etc) and the Dinosaur look (teeth, claws, etc) a perfect mix between our modern world and the ancient world of the Dinosaurs.

I like the non-feathered look for most dinosaurs more, but depending on how they've looked feathered, i like the looks of those as well - i like the look of the Utahraptor in your AV for example - whereas the "vulture"-like look doesn't appeal to me at all (that's what i'd call it when the dinosaurs feathers begin behind the eyes, etc, something like this:

I do as mentioned like the following look though:

Possibly movable feather-combs on the head and spine might've made them appear really vivid and cool as well.

What is the status quo on feathered vs non-feathered dinosaurs though?

Isn't it most likely different for different sizes as well?
I've recently stumbled across a video where the narrator talked about a reconstruction of a tyrannosaurus, which is said to be the most accurate one yet and it didn't have feathers:

Here are some pictures of it plus the link to the 3D-model:

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/lV1KPz
Pretty intimidating, isn't it?
Especially the arrangement of the eyes enabling the binocular sight make it look scary as hell, imo:

I also really like the bird/Dinosaur transitional species like Archaeopteryx and Microraptor.

They're quite the in-betweeners, lol. Also: just googled the micro-raptor and i wasn't aware that it apparently had four "wings"?!
Looks amazing this way tbh:

But as for modern birds, birds of prey like hawks and eagles have more of a Dinosaur look than most birds. Ratites like ostriches, emus, and cassowaries are very "Dinosaurish" as well. And look at shoebills and tell me those things aren't Dinosaurs.

I agree. The eye-area etc. of a golden eagle or a harpy is quite reminiscent of that of a Raptor, for example.

Wrap your head around this, chickens and ostriches are considered the closest living relatives of Theropods like T-Rex. Which means every time you eat a chicken it is like you are eating a mini T-Rex.

I don't eat chickens no more, but it's crazy if you think about it that way, that's for sure.

Here is something else to wrap your head around, aside from birds, crocodilians like crocodiles and alligators are considered the closest living relatives to Dinosaurs. Which means pigeons are more closely related to crocodiles than Komodo dragons are.

That's bonkers haha! Big fan of crocodiles, komodo dragons (and basically most other reptiles) btw.

So pigeons are a bit to dinosaurs, what a pug is to a wolf then - only way more extreme (and of course not intentionally bred).

 

[Utahraptor Ostrommaysi]

I like the non-feathered look for most dinosaurs more, but depending on how they've looked feathered, i like the looks of those as well - i like the look of the Utahraptor in your AV for example - whereas the "vulture"-like look doesn't appeal to me at all (that's what i'd call it when the dinosaurs feathers begin behind the eyes, etc, something like this:

I do as mentioned like the following look though:

Possibly movable feather-combs on the head and spine might've made them appear really vivid and cool as well.

What is the status quo on feathered vs non-feathered dinosaurs though?

Isn't it most likely different for different sizes as well?
I've recently stumbled across a video where the narrator talked about a reconstruction of a tyrannosaurus, which is said to be the most accurate one yet and it didn't have feathers:

Here are some pictures of it plus the link to the 3D-model:

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/lV1KPz
Pretty intimidating, isn't it?
Especially the arrangement of the eyes enabling the binocular sight make it look scary as hell, imo:
View attachment 754547

They're quite the in-betweeners, lol. Also: just googled the micro-raptor and i wasn't aware that it apparently had four "wings"?!
Looks amazing this way tbh:

I agree. The eye-area etc. of a golden eagle or a harpy is quite reminiscent of that of a Raptor, for example.

I don't eat chickens no more, but it's crazy if you think about it that way, that's for sure.

That's bonkers haha! Big fan of crocodiles, komodo dragons (and basically most other reptiles) btw.

So pigeons are a bit to dinosaurs, what a pug is to a wolf then - only way more extreme (and of course not intentionally bred).

Yeah, I'm not a fan of the vulture look for the raptors either. Not only because it is ugly in my opinion, but also because (and don't quote me on this because I'm not 100% positive) I'm pretty sure it is inaccurate.
I like the eagle look a lot better. The raptors were very similar to modern day birds of prey like eagles anyway (the word raptor even means bird of prey) so it makes sense that they would look similar to them as well.
The status quo is, some Dinosaurs had feathers, some didn't.
But usually it was the smaller Dinosaurs that had feathers. Most of the larger Dinosaurs either didn't have feathers, or if the did they were only partially feathered. Which makes sense, because as it was mentioned in the video, smaller mammals are usually almost completely covered in fur, while larger mammals such as elephants are usually almost completely hairless.
There was a few exceptions to this rule however. Yutyrannus, which was an early relative of T-Rex, was a very large Theropod and it was almost completely covered in feathers.

While Yutyranus wasn't quite as big as T-Rex (Yutyranus was 30 foot long and it weighed around one and a half ton, while T-Rex was 40 foot long and it weighted around 7-9 tons) it was still very large and it was still a very fearsome predator in it's own right.
Yeah that's a very accurate T-Rex model actually. In all honesty it would be hard to find a model that is more accurate than that one.
For a while it was believed that T-Rex had feathers because it's ancestors (such as Yutyranus) had feathers. However, skin impressions from Tyrannosaurus (as well other Tyrannosaurids such as Albertosaurus and Gorgosaurus) showed that T-Rex was mostly covered in scales. So while we can't 100% rule out the possibility that T-Rex and it's close relatives had at least some feathers, it's very unlikely that T-Rex was completely covered in feathers based on our current knowledge about these animals.
By the way you should check more of that guy's videos. His name is Ben G Thomas and he and his brother Doug make a lot of interesting videos about Dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. I'm subscribed to their channel and they are one of my favorite Paleontology channels on YouTube.
And yes that is pretty intimidating. It's a good thing humans and Dinosaurs didn't coexist, otherwise I'm afraid that humans wouldn't have made it past the Stone Age. Not with that big bastard walking around.
I freaking love the look of Microraptor. It had such an alien, almost Lovecraftian, look to it. Yet it was something that actually lived on this planet. And yes it did have four wings. Although it technically couldn't fly, Microraptor used their wings to glide through the air, the same way flying squirrels use their fur to glide today.
I like to call birds of prey like eagles and hawks "flying Velociraptors". Because that's essentially what they are.
Suit yourself, more chicken for me then. And yes it is crazy to think about it that way. Which makes me think, if you fried T-Rex meat in a deep fryer, would it taste just like fried chicken?
Reptiles are cool, and technically birds are reptiles so that makes them even cooler. If you like Dinosaurs and other reptiles so much, I'm guessing you've heard of Mosasaurs?
Well if you haven't, they were massive aquatic reptiles that lived during the Cretaceous Period. They were close relatives of monitor lizards like the Komodo dragon and snakes.
Basically they were real life sea monsters. The largest Mosasaur species (Mosasaurus and Tylosaurus) could get to lengths over 50 feet. And Mosasaurus could almost get to 60 feet in length.
Here is Tylosaurus.

And here is Mosasaurus.

Scary, aren't they?
Yeah, that's a pretty good analogy. The only difference is, the pigeon is the result of 65 million years of evolution, and the pug is the result of humans wanting a lap dog.

 

[Iron Nick]

Yeah, I'm not a fan of the vulture look for the raptors either. Not only because it is ugly in my opinion, but also because (and don't quote me on this because I'm not 100% positive) I'm pretty sure it is inaccurate.
I like the eagle look a lot better. The raptors were very similar to modern day birds of prey like eagles anyway (the word raptor even means bird of prey) so it makes sense that they would look similar to them as well.
The status quo is, some Dinosaurs had feathers, some didn't.
But usually it was the smaller Dinosaurs that had feathers. Most of the larger Dinosaurs either didn't have feathers, or if the did they were only partially feathered. Which makes sense, because as it was mentioned in the video, smaller mammals are usually almost completely covered in fur, while larger mammals such as elephants are usually almost completely hairless.
There was a few exceptions to this rule however. Yutyrannus, which was an early relative of T-Rex, was a very large Theropod and it was almost completely covered in feathers.

While Yutyranus wasn't quite as big as T-Rex (Yutyranus was 30 foot long and it weighed around one and a half ton, while T-Rex was 40 foot long and it weighted around 7-9 tons) it was still very large and it was still a very fearsome predator in it's own right.
Yeah that's a very accurate T-Rex model actually. In all honesty it would be hard to find a model that is more accurate than that one.
For a while it was believed that T-Rex had feathers because it's ancestors (such as Yutyranus) had feathers. However, skin impressions from Tyrannosaurus (as well other Tyrannosaurids such as Albertosaurus and Gorgosaurus) showed that T-Rex was mostly covered in scales. So while we can't 100% rule out the possibility that T-Rex and it's close relatives had at least some feathers, it's very unlikely that T-Rex was completely covered in feathers based on our current knowledge about these animals.

I agree. Are you familiar with the square cube law? Because it is basically the reason for smaller animals to have fur, while biggers don't (and the same should go for feather as well).

On another note, i wonder if we'll ever find a frozen tyrannosaurus or any dinosaur somewhere. Would be completely bananas.

By the way you should check more of that guy's videos. His name is Ben G Thomas and he and his brother Doug make a lot of interesting videos about Dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. I'm subscribed to their channel and they are one of my favorite Paleontology channels on YouTube.

Will hopefully do soon! The video about tha T-Rex reconstruction alone is pretty impressive, so i'm not surprised that you're telling me how good the channel is!

And yes that is pretty intimidating. It's a good thing humans and Dinosaurs didn't coexist, otherwise I'm afraid that humans wouldn't have made it past the Stone Age. Not with that big bastard walking around.

Would certainly have made things A LOT harder, that is for damn sure...

I freaking love the look of Microraptor. It had such an alien, almost Lovecraftian, look to it. Yet it was something that actually lived on this planet. And yes it did have four wings. Although it technically couldn't fly, Microraptor used their wings to glide through the air, the same way flying squirrels use their fur to glide today.
I like to call birds of prey like eagles and hawks "flying Velociraptors". Because that's essentially what they are.

Yeah, it really looks like something out of a fantasy movie or book, true that - i'll let gliding still slide as flying, although it's technically different, lol.

Suit yourself, more chicken for me then. And yes it is crazy to think about it that way. Which makes me think, if you fried T-Rex meat in a deep fryer, would it taste just like fried chicken?
Reptiles are cool, and technically birds are reptiles so that makes them even cooler.

From what i've heard, crocodiles taste quite like chicken, so i wouldn't be surprised if dinosaur tastes the same.

If you like Dinosaurs and other reptiles so much, I'm guessing you've heard of Mosasaurs?
Well if you haven't, they were massive aquatic reptiles that lived during the Cretaceous Period. They were close relatives of monitor lizards like the Komodo dragon and snakes.
Basically they were real life sea monsters. The largest Mosasaur species (Mosasaurus and Tylosaurus) could get to lengths over 50 feet. And Mosasaurus could almost get to 60 feet in length.
Here is Tylosaurus.

And here is Mosasaurus.

Scary, aren't they?
Yeah, that's a pretty good analogy. The only difference is, the pigeon is the result of 65 million years of evolution, and the pug is the result of humans wanting a lap dog.

Of course i know the mosasaurus! Pretty fierce creature for sure - wasn't aware of the Tylosaurus though i think. Are you familiar with the Liopleurodon?
Because roughly 20-25 years ago, the Liopleurodon was considered to be the largest maritime dinosaur (or do they only count as maritime reptile?) it was estimated to have reached lengths of up to 82 feet (25 metres) and weights of 150 tons.
This was around the time when the BBC documentary series Walking with Dinosaurs came out (which the T-Rex in my AV is from as well).
Really like the way they've portrayed him (regardless of size) by the way:

(Footage from that documentary - a Liopleurodon catches an unaware Eustreptospondylus.)
Later estimations and calculations have shown though that the Liopleurodon was only around 16 to 22 feet long (and way, way lighter) though, so the Mosasaurus replaced it as the "posterboy" for the baddest dinosaur of the ocean, which is reasonable.

 

[Utahraptor Ostrommaysi]

I agree. Are you familiar with the square cube law? Because it is basically the reason for smaller animals to have fur, while biggers don't (and the same should go for feather as well).

On another note, i wonder if we'll ever find a frozen tyrannosaurus or any dinosaur somewhere. Would be completely bananas.

Will hopefully do soon! The video about tha T-Rex reconstruction alone is pretty impressive, so i'm not surprised that you're telling me how good the channel is!

Would certainly have made things A LOT harder, that is for damn sure...

Yeah, it really looks like something out of a fantasy movie or book, true that - i'll let gliding still slide as flying, although it's technically different, lol.

From what i've heard, crocodiles taste quite like chicken, so i wouldn't be surprised if dinosaur tastes the same.

Of course i know the mosasaurus! Pretty fierce creature for sure - wasn't aware of the Tylosaurus though i think. Are you familiar with the Liopleurodon?
Because roughly 20-25 years ago, the Liopleurodon was considered to be the largest maritime dinosaur (or do they only count as maritime reptile?) it was estimated to have reached lengths of up to 82 feet (25 metres) and weights of 150 tons.
This was around the time when the BBC documentary series Walking with Dinosaurs came out (which the T-Rex in my AV is from as well).
Really like the way they've portrayed him (regardless of size) by the way:

(Footage from that documentary - a Liopleurodon catches an unaware Eustreptospondylus.)
Later estimations and calculations have shown though that the Liopleurodon was only around 16 to 22 feet long (and way, way lighter) though, so the Mosasaurus replaced it as the "posterboy" for the baddest dinosaur of the ocean, which is reasonable.

Damn, sorry I didn't respond for a few days but Sherdog was pulling it's migration bullshit so I couldn't reply back when I wanted to.
That's actually I term I haven't heard of before. So thanks for teaching something I didn't know about. I'll have look more into the concept of the Square-cube law sometime.
Maybe we will find a Tyrannosaurus or some other large Dinosaur in amber. Although there has been some controversy surrounding that lately. In fact Ben G Thomas made a pretty good video about that you should definitely check out.

I think you'll enjoy Ben's videos a lot. He and his brother Doug have a lot of passion for and knowledge about Dinosaurs and Paleontology in general. You should also check out Henry the PaleoGuy (the guy who made the video this thread is about) TREY the Explainer, and E.D.G.E. They are pretty good too.
For sure, it's bad enough that ancient humans had to deal with short-faced bears, saber-toothed cats, dire wolves, cave hyenas, and cave lions. Throw in some Tyrannosaurs, Allosaurs, Spinosaurs, Carcharodontosaurs, and raptors into the mix and mankind would have been fucked.
I wish I could go back in time and keep one of those bird ancestors as a pet. But chances are that would fuck up the timeline it wouldn't be worth it.
I haven't eaten crocodiles either, but I've heard that too. So maybe Dinosaurs tasted similar to crocodiles.
Yes I have heard of Liopleurodon. Although it wasn't the 150 ton behemoth that is shown to be in Walking with Dinosaurs, it was still pretty large (about the size of an orca or a large great white shark) and it must have been a very fearsome predator during it's day.
And no Liopleurodon wasn't a Dinosaur. Liopleurodon was a species of marine reptile that belonged to a now extinct family of reptiles known as Plesiosaurs. Marine reptiles used to be very common during the Mesozoic (the time of the Dinosaurs) but now sea turtles, sea snakes, marine iguanas, and crocodilians are the only aquatic reptiles that are around today unfortunately.
Walking with Dinosaurs is a good show. Although it has some outdated information in it (because it was made almost 21 years ago) it's still a solid documentary and the CGI mixed with the animatronics still hold up pretty well in my opinion. I like that the makers of WWD treated the Dinosaurs and the other animals featured in the documentary as living, breathing, animals that once lived on this planet and not as generic movie monsters.
If you haven't already, you should check out the Walking with Dinosaurs spin-offs such as Walking with Beasts, Walking with Monsters, and Walking with Cavemen. Also check out Chased by Dinosaurs, Chased by Sea Monsters, and the Walking with Dinosaurs special "The Ballad of Big Al". Those are all well made and entertaining documentaries as well.
Yes Mosasaurus was badass, although it wasn't a Dinosaur either. Mosasaurus was a species of aquatic lizard.

 

[Iron Nick]

Damn, sorry I didn't respond for a few days but Sherdog was pulling it's migration bullshit so I couldn't reply back when I wanted to.

Don't worry, i'm aware of that!

That's actually I term I haven't heard of before. So thanks for teaching something I didn't know about. I'll have look more into the concept of the Square-cube law sometime.

I can explain it right here, it's actually super simple - but in my case it has really opened my eyes to a lot of things!
Imagine the following cube:
edge-lengths: 1m/1m/1m
volume: 1m³
weight: 1t
surface area (bottom): 1sqm
weight-loading on the bottom surface area/weight-distribution: 1t/sqm

So far so good, now let's imagine a cube which is twice as tall (and wide, thick, etc.).
edge-lengths: 2m/2m/2m
volume: 8m³
weight: 8t
surface area (bottom): 4sqm
weight-loading on the bottom surface area/weight-distribution: 2t/sqm

Conclusion: while the second cube has four times the surface area (and thus also a bottom area 4 times as big), the weight of the second sube is 8 (!) times that of the first cube, thus it has a higher weight-loading per squaremeter.

For this reason, cats (and other small animals) can fall from very high without hurting themselves, while an elephant would break its legs from 1m of falling height or so.
This so called "square cube law" is also the reason why smaller powerlifters can be stronger in relation to their bodyweight than bigger powerlifters.
It's the same reason why some bugs and ants can lift up to 1000 times+ their bodyweight.
It's also the reason why the babies of cold blooded animals are (way) smaller in comparison to their adult size and also why they can afford to already have the same proportions as hatchlings. (E.g. crocodiles).
Mammals on the other hand, always need to sustain a certain temperature to survive, and since the ratio of volume to surface area gets worse in terms of keeping warmth the smaller a body gets, mammalian babies are:
a) rather big as babies, compared to their cold blooded counterparts,
b) in their proportions closer to a ball (short limbs, rounder, thicker bodies) as a ball has the least surface area of all geometrical bodies, enabling it to hold warmth the easiest.

Maybe we will find a Tyrannosaurus or some other large Dinosaur in amber. Although there has been some controversy surrounding that lately. In fact Ben G Thomas made a pretty good video about that you should definitely check out.

Haha, have just watched this video recently and yes, it's quite interesting!

I think you'll enjoy Ben's videos a lot. He and his brother Doug have a lot of passion for and knowledge about Dinosaurs and Paleontology in general. You should also check out Henry the PaleoGuy (the guy who made the video this thread is about) TREY the Explainer, and E.D.G.E. They are pretty good too.

So many good channels about (pretty much) anything on Youtube. Hopefully i'll manage to delve into all of these.

For sure, it's bad enough that ancient humans had to deal with short-faced bears, saber-toothed cats, dire wolves, cave hyenas, and cave lions. Throw in some Tyrannosaurs, Allosaurs, Spinosaurs, Carcharodontosaurs, and raptors into the mix and mankind would have been fucked.

Yeah i agree. Especially "smaller" Theropods like Allosaurus and all these raptors would've been a bane for humans.
I think one is quite safe from a tyrannosaurus if one lives where there's lots of mountains near. I think a Tyrannosaurus chasing prey upon a steep mountain would lead to it falling and eventually dying, as it's so big and heavy.
The raptors though...

I wish I could go back in time and keep one of those bird ancestors as a pet. But chances are that would fuck up the timeline it wouldn't be worth it.

Hmm... as far as i know, what we call time doesn't work that way either, but i know what you mean and i agree, would be epic. Would be generally fantastic to see the world of back then...
On the other hand, the fact that we never saw prehistoric dinosaurs, is part of what makes them so magic.

I haven't eaten crocodiles either, but I've heard that too. So maybe Dinosaurs tasted similar to crocodiles.

Yeah, it seems to be the consensus.

Yes I have heard of Liopleurodon. Although it wasn't the 150 ton behemoth that is shown to be in Walking with Dinosaurs, it was still pretty large (about the size of an orca or a large great white shark) and it must have been a very fearsome predator during it's day.

Absolutely! I wonder how intelligent it was. Intelligence makes a big difference in (these) animals. Great white's don't avoid Orca's for fun.

And no Liopleurodon wasn't a Dinosaur. Liopleurodon was a species of marine reptile that belonged to a now extinct family of reptiles known as Plesiosaurs. Marine reptiles used to be very common during the Mesozoic (the time of the Dinosaurs) but now sea turtles, sea snakes, marine iguanas, and crocodilians are the only aquatic reptiles that are around today unfortunately.

Ahh, yeah, i wasn't entirely sure, but yup. If only some of the plesiosaurians could've survived...

Walking with Dinosaurs is a good show. Although it has some outdated information in it (because it was made almost 21 years ago) it's still a solid documentary and the CGI mixed with the animatronics still hold up pretty well in my opinion. I like that the makers of WWD treated the Dinosaurs and the other animals featured in the documentary as living, breathing, animals that once lived on this planet and not as generic movie monsters.

I love it! it was a gigantic part of my childhood and i agree 100% with all you've just said. Especially the latter part on why it stood out, with the dinosaurs being treated in a less "action movie-like" way.

As many guys post in YT comment sections regarding WWD, they should just redo that documentary with up to date information etc. Would be mental!

If you haven't already, you should check out the Walking with Dinosaurs spin-offs such as Walking with Beasts, Walking with Monsters, and Walking with Cavemen. Also check out Chased by Dinosaurs, Chased by Sea Monsters, and the Walking with Dinosaurs special "The Ballad of Big Al". Those are all well made and entertaining documentaries as well.
Yes Mosasaurus was badass, although it wasn't a Dinosaur either. Mosasaurus was a species of aquatic lizard.

I've seen walking with beasts as well, reeeally enjoyed it also. One of my favourite animals from there is the Basilosaurus, but i also remember these gigantic and savage boars, as well as the Indricotherium (which is named differently nowadays, IIRC) and some others.
Don't know for sure which of the others i have seen and which not.

 

[Utahraptor Ostrommaysi]

Don't worry, i'm aware of that!

I can explain it right here, it's actually super simple - but in my case it has really opened my eyes to a lot of things!
Imagine the following cube:
edge-lengths: 1m/1m/1m
volume: 1m³
weight: 1t
surface area (bottom): 1sqm
weight-loading on the bottom surface area/weight-distribution: 1t/sqm

So far so good, now let's imagine a cube which is twice as tall (and wide, thick, etc.).
edge-lengths: 2m/2m/2m
volume: 8m³
weight: 8t
surface area (bottom): 4sqm
weight-loading on the bottom surface area/weight-distribution: 2t/sqm

Conclusion: while the second cube has four times the surface area (and thus also a bottom area 4 times as big), the weight of the second sube is 8 (!) times that of the first cube, thus it has a higher weight-loading per squaremeter.

For this reason, cats (and other small animals) can fall from very high without hurting themselves, while an elephant would break its legs from 1m of falling height or so.
This so called "square cube law" is also the reason why smaller powerlifters can be stronger in relation to their bodyweight than bigger powerlifters.
It's the same reason why some bugs and ants can lift up to 1000 times+ their bodyweight.
It's also the reason why the babies of cold blooded animals are (way) smaller in comparison to their adult size and also why they can afford to already have the same proportions as hatchlings. (E.g. crocodiles).
Mammals on the other hand, always need to sustain a certain temperature to survive, and since the ratio of volume to surface area gets worse in terms of keeping warmth the smaller a body gets, mammalian babies are:
a) rather big as babies, compared to their cold blooded counterparts,
b) in their proportions closer to a ball (short limbs, rounder, thicker bodies) as a ball has the least surface area of all geometrical bodies, enabling it to hold warmth the easiest.

Haha, have just watched this video recently and yes, it's quite interesting!

So many good channels about (pretty much) anything on Youtube. Hopefully i'll manage to delve into all of these.

Yeah i agree. Especially "smaller" Theropods like Allosaurus and all these raptors would've been a bane for humans.
I think one is quite safe from a tyrannosaurus if one lives where there's lots of mountains near. I think a Tyrannosaurus chasing prey upon a steep mountain would lead to it falling and eventually dying, as it's so big and heavy.
The raptors though...

Hmm... as far as i know, what we call time doesn't work that way either, but i know what you mean and i agree, would be epic. Would be generally fantastic to see the world of back then...
On the other hand, the fact that we never saw prehistoric dinosaurs, is part of what makes them so magic.

Yeah, it seems to be the consensus.

Absolutely! I wonder how intelligent it was. Intelligence makes a big difference in (these) animals. Great white's don't avoid Orca's for fun.

Ahh, yeah, i wasn't entirely sure, but yup. If only some of the plesiosaurians could've survived...

I love it! it was a gigantic part of my childhood and i agree 100% with all you've just said. Especially the latter part on why it stood out, with the dinosaurs being treated in a less "action movie-like" way.

As many guys post in YT comment sections regarding WWD, they should just redo that documentary with up to date information etc. Would be mental!

I've seen walking with beasts as well, reeeally enjoyed it also. One of my favourite animals from there is the Basilosaurus, but i also remember these gigantic and savage boars, as well as the Indricotherium (which is named differently nowadays, IIRC) and some others.
Don't know for sure which of the others i have seen and which not.

Thanks, like I said I enjoy learning new things and you did a good job of explaining the square-cube law in way that was easy for me to understand. Very interesting stuff.
I figured you would like that video, like you said, interesting.
The great thing about YouTube these days is that you can find a channel for just about any subject you are interested in. I don't know about you, but I for one am glad that we are living in the Internet Age.
That's a good point, I doubt the larger predators like Tyrannosaurus or Carcharodontosaurus would risk chasing prey up steep mountains. Especially since a human wouldn't be that much of a satisfying meal for such large animals anyway. The Mega Theropods rivaled or might have even surpassed modern day African bush elephants in weight. So it must have taken a lot of food to fill them up. A lot more food than what a single human can provide for them.
But while humans wouldn't be very filling for the larger Theropods, we would make a good meal for a smaller Theropod like Utahraptor or Allosaurus. So lets be glad that they were long extinct long before even our earliest ape-like ancestors evolved.
Really? Because I always thought that because of the butterfly effect (the idea that if you go back in time and change the past, even in a minor way like accidentally stepping on a butterfly, that it would drastically change the future) that you couldn't risk doing anything that would change the past because of the potential changes to the future. You're saying that's not the case?
That's true, one of the reasons that we find Dinosaurs so fascinating is that they are these almost "mythical" beasts from a bygone world that is almost nothing like our own. Chances are that if elephants were extinct (and they probably will be in a few decades if jackasses don't stop hunting them for their ivory) we would probably romanticise them the same way we romanticise Dinosaurs like T-Rex and Triceratops.
Well, I guess I'll have to take their word for it. I've never eaten crocodile, nor do I have any plans to eat crocodile anytime soon.
It's hard to say. I doubt it was as intelligent as an orca. (Because orcas are exceptionally intelligent, even by the standards of mammals, and correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't mammals typically more intelligent than reptiles to begin with?) But it was probably fairly intelligent for it's time. All I know is Liopleurodon was around for 11 million years. So it must have been a very successful predator in it's day.
Yeah, it's a shame that Plesiosaurs and so many other marine reptile families went extinct. But it's because they went extinct that cetaceans like whales and dolphins were able to emerge and fill the void that the marine reptiles left behind. So I guess it was just meant to be.
Same, WWB and the Jurassic Park Franchise is why I love Dinosaurs today.
I would love to see a Walking with Dinosaurs remake with more up to date information in it. It could be amazing if done right.
Basilosaurus is pretty interesting. Not only because it was one of the earliest whales, but also because it was much more predatory and vicious than most modern whales. It was hardly the gentle giant that we consider whales to be today.
Indricotherium is now called Paraceratherium. As for why, it's kind of hard to explain. So instead o trying to explain it, I'll just give you a link to this article that I think explains it better than I could.
https://dinoanimals.com/animals/paraceratherium-indricotherium-baluchitherium/
I say check them all out. They are all worth watching and they are all a lot of fun to watch. Also if you liked Walking with Dinosaurs you will probably like When Dinosaurs Roamed America, and Planet Dinosaur. Those are pretty good documentaries too.
BTW do you want to take this conversation somewhere else? Because we seem to be the only ones still coming back to this thread. Private message me?

 

[Blayt7hh]

LOL, Utahraptor is one of my favorite Dinosaurs. It was basically the raptors from Jurassic Park but on steroids.
Actually the famous Velociraptor from the movies wasn't that big in real life. In reality it was only slightly bigger than a turkey.

Bu Utahraptor was actually much bigger than the raptors from Jurassic Park. It was comparable to a large bear, like a Kodiak or a polar bear.

So I guess you could say Utahraptor was a "horse meat" raptor. Although not really, because horses didn't evolve until a 100 million years or so later lol.

Achillobator. I guess at the time he was writing the novel, they hadn't discovered it as a new dinosaur yet

 

[evansusmc2]

dinosaur bones arent even bones tho........just a really precise replica of a bone that USED to exist. that takes away major cool points for me

All of them? No way in hell. Back in 1984 my neighbor in Indiana found a triceratops in his backyard while was digging for some kind of septic thing. He tried to keep it secret but his kids (and me) ran our mouths at school. The secret got let out and the rest is history. It took them a damn year and a half to carefully exhume this thing.

 

[Utahraptor Ostrommaysi]

Achillobator. I guess at the time he was writing the novel, they hadn't discovered it as a new dinosaur yet

Yeah, Achillobator was very similar to the raptors from Jurassic Park. Achillobator wasn't huge like Utahraptor was, but it was still much bigger than Velociraptor and Deinonychus.
If Velociraptor was the Cretaceous equivalent of a bobcat, and Deinonychus was the equivalent of a cheetah, then Achillobator was the equivalent of a leopard. Utahraptor was the equivalent of a Siberian tiger on steroids.

 

[IndyCovaHart]