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What annoys you about paleontology?; Rant on about moronic theories, complaints, or just animals that annoy you.
Topic Started: Sep 28 2013, 05:04 PM (256,143 Views)
Incinerox
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Āeksiot Zaldrīzoti

Well obviously that'd not have been the case for expanded dorsal scutes like stegosaur plates. They were a visual display piece.
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Acinonyx Jubatus
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I AM THE UNSHRINKWRAPPER!

Let's not forget that black and grey can be perfectly acceptable colours for display.
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CyborgIguana
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Though it works better if they're contrasted against a lighter colour.
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Mathius Tyra
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Rat snake is love... Rat snake is life

stargatedalek
Jul 1 2016, 08:01 PM
One also needs to keep in mind some birds (namely guinea fowls and cassowary) use their casques for fighting and not for display. And hornbills are predatory and probably need to be somewhat conservative with their colours because of this. Because birds see a wider range of colours than us what to us looks like complex patterns with simple colours may look very vibrant to other birds.
Cassowaries don't use casque for fighting. Their casque is hallow and sponge-liked and could be damaged very easily if crashing into something...

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stargatedalek
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I'm not slow! That's just my moe!

I admit that was very poor phrasing, I was referring to using them to pin prey and manipulate food.
Edited by stargatedalek, Jul 3 2016, 12:55 PM.
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Acinonyx Jubatus
Jul 2 2016, 04:23 PM
Let's not forget that black and grey can be perfectly acceptable colours for display.
They can, yes, but it's moreso the trope of giving everything black/grey/brown keratin.
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Denomon3144
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Pick a god and pray!

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CyborgIguana
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TBO stop posting these they're giving me brain cancer!
Edited by CyborgIguana, Jul 9 2016, 09:51 PM.
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heliosphoros
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I actually thought of tracking the guy, but I found out that rant was posted in 2001, so I haven't bothered to go further.
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Incinerox
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Āeksiot Zaldrīzoti

Fanboyism annoys me.

Not in the "HURR T-REX AR GREATISTEST THERAPOD" type fanboyism.

The sort of fanboyism where one follows one paleontologist or paleoartist, and takes their open speculation and idle musings as Word of God.

I encountered one such fanboy the other day. He actually got seriously offended when I said "I take some of Duane Nash's speculation with a pinch of salt". Not because I don't like Duane Nash (I have absolutely NO issue with the guy at all - honestly, that one time he showed up here to challenge my stance on his Spinosaurus hypothesis was beyond flattering), but because as a scientifically minded member of society, I simply use my capacity for free thinking to draw conclusions for myself based on my own research and that of other people. And that might result in me disagreeing with people on occasion, regardless of where they sit in their profession. It so happens that I find myself disagreeing with some of Duane's tangents more often than, say Mark Witton's speculation. I'm fairly sure it's not a new sentiment to Duane, and I'm fairly sure he doesn't 100% care where one person on the internet disagrees with his logic.

It's only natural for people with different ways of processing logic to disagree in a science which relies very much on speculation.

But this guy I debated the other day acted like I had actually tried to punch Duane in the face because I said "I take some of his speculation with a grain of salt".

"Don't insult my friend!" he exclaimed in anger. How DARE someone question Duane's alternative views on extinct fauna! As if he actually knew the guy personally.

Don't scientists get annoyed when their word is treated as the end statement? Surely they're the people above all others that would encourage those around them to think and come to their own conclusions for themselves.

Doesn't fanboyism annoy them?

It annoys me, I can tell ya that.
Edited by Incinerox, Jul 12 2016, 09:17 AM.
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heliosphoros
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It is very easy to fall into that trap, yes. Doesn't help that people are very polarised about him.
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Denomon3144
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Pick a god and pray!

http://hubpages.com/education/Did-Dinosaurs-Become-Extinct-or-Just-Shrink

I don't even......
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CyborgIguana
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One thing I feel Duane Nash ignored in his posts on dromaeosaurid life appearance is that there ARE a few carnivorous birds that get into considerably nasty scraps with other animals and still have fully-feathered heads (giant petrels are a good example I can name off-hand). While I think it's entirely plausible that some dromaeosaurids had bald or wattled faces like he suggests, the traditional fluffy-faced reconstructions can't be ruled out so easily either IMO.
Edited by CyborgIguana, Jul 12 2016, 09:15 PM.
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Mathius Tyra
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Rat snake is love... Rat snake is life

Giant petrels live in marine environment where they can constantly wash their face in water though...

But, yeah... I kinda feel that if Dromaeosaurids leave their long snout bald, that would be enough for them to reach inside corpse without getting their head smeared with blood and other thing and don't require their entire face to be bald.
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Dromaeosaurids also have arms they can use for grooming, unlike modern birds.
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