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Extinct Animal Questions
Topic Started: Nov 26 2013, 10:24 PM (193,229 Views)
Ulquiorra
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stargatedalek
Jan 22 2018, 11:07 PM
I meant the back edge of the skull, which should not be visible as that is where it anchors to the neck. The "crests" following the shape of the underlying skull is, to be frank, an enraging trope, but technically plausible.

Human (and frankly, most mammal) skulls are not a good reference of comparison for theropods. Our chins, cheeks, and eyes are so prominent they make up more or less most of our appearance, but that isn't true of a theropod. Our skulls specifically are also quite oblong, what we think of as the top or back of the skull is really the middle of it.
Is this a better model to use, than a Human?
Posted Image
Edited by Ulquiorra, Jan 23 2018, 01:05 PM.
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stargatedalek
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I'm not slow! That's just my moe!

Yes it is, and it proves my point exactly. Look at the Tyrannosaurus again, it's like the skull was plastered to a neck that's to thin for it.

As thin as that chickens neck is I don't exactly see any clear outlines of the bones, let alone the back edge of the skull.
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54godamora
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What is the fastest flying prehistoric animal?
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heliosphoros
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In regards to T. rex feathers, Columbian mammoths, in spite of their relatively warm location, might have been fairly hairy:

http://westerndigs.org/first-columbian-mammoth-with-hair-discovered-on-california-farm/
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Galliwasp
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There is a way out. Just not for you.

It is a pretty ugly reconstruction. The jaw length is off, as mentioned, and the texture they used for the skin was pretty poor. It's certainly not the best representation of whatever the team may or may not have found.

Re: the neverending plumage debate - according to this old post by Andrea Cau, extensive plumage is well within the realm of possibility--
tl;dr the air sac system and their larger surface area enabled the animal to shed heat much easier than, say, an elephant, which must use its ears. An adult Tyrannosaurus had the metabolism of a one-ton mammal, and there is no terrestrial one-ton mammal that is completely hairless. Not sure how much leeway its skin impressions allow, but it's something to think about.

/I don't come here often so I have no clue whether this contributes anything to the conversation or even if it's not yet outdated but yea
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magpiealamode
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No good hero is a one-trick phony.

If it did have plumage I don't think it would be fair to call it "extensive". I'm fairly certain we'd have evidence of it by now.

This conversation is definitely going to continue until we have decisive evidence either direction. If there's ever a doctrine as important as T. rex integument, we will have folks dying for each side regardless of what we know. I find it ironic that some people who accuse the scale proponents of living in the past are just as unwilling to let go of the idea of T. rex being feathered.
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Panthera-Onca
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Hi!

I think T rex had some feathers but not like everywhere, can I speculate and give them an afro like this chicken?

Posted Image
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Acinonyx Jubatus
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I AM THE UNSHRINKWRAPPER!

Panthera Onca
Jan 27 2018, 02:28 PM
I think T rex had some feathers but not like everywhere, can I speculate and give them an afro like this chicken?

Posted Image
I mean, technically there's no reason why you couldn't. However, I would think such large and obvious display structures would be counterproductive on an ambush predator.
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Panthera-Onca
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Hi!

Acinonyx Jubatus
Jan 27 2018, 02:36 PM
Panthera Onca
Jan 27 2018, 02:28 PM
I think T rex had some feathers but not like everywhere, can I speculate and give them an afro like this chicken?

Posted Image
I mean, technically there's no reason why you couldn't. However, I would think such large and obvious display structures would be counterproductive on an ambush predator.
True, but I think the males would look cool with them :)
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magpiealamode
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No good hero is a one-trick phony.

You are allowed to speculate with anything you want, but some speculation will get you laughed out of the room. If you want to be scientifically rigorous you've got to make sure you have the absolutes nailed down before taking a guess on the things we're not so sure about. It's also crucial to remember the principle of parsimony. If you have a series of choices, always take the simpler, more easily explained one until you have evidence otherwise.
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Furka
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As much as I'd love Afro rex, it seems those things loved to bite each other's head, so I doubt they'd develop such elaborate features that would get ruined pretty often.
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Panthera-Onca
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Hi!

Furka
Jan 27 2018, 03:14 PM
As much as I'd love Afro rex, it seems those things loved to bite each other's head, so I doubt they'd develop such elaborate features that would get ruined pretty often.
Aww man... what about a keratinous helmet, like a Pachysaur but no bone dome?
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Acinonyx Jubatus
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I AM THE UNSHRINKWRAPPER!

Panthera Onca
Jan 27 2018, 03:31 PM
Furka
Jan 27 2018, 03:14 PM
As much as I'd love Afro rex, it seems those things loved to bite each other's head, so I doubt they'd develop such elaborate features that would get ruined pretty often.
Aww man... what about a keratinous helmet, like a Pachysaur but no bone dome?
Unlikely. The thing is, we know the kind of skin T. rex had on its face because bone texture is a good way of telling what kind of skin/horn the animal had in life. T. rex seems to have had thick, tough skin on its face that would be very effective in shielding it from the bites of conspecifics. So, not exactly keratinous, but still very tough and difficult to puncture.
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stargatedalek
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I'm not slow! That's just my moe!

magpiealamode
Jan 27 2018, 01:46 PM
If it did have plumage I don't think it would be fair to call it "extensive". I'm fairly certain we'd have evidence of it by now.
You say that but we didn't exactly have any evidence for fur on Columbian mammoths until now, despite having more complete remains and a much larger sample size. Nor do we have any preserved feathers from Velociraptor, despite some remarkably well preserved and complete skeletons, and it was undoubtedly fully coated in feathers.
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magpiealamode
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No good hero is a one-trick phony.

There's a difference between a lack of evidence and evidence to the contrary, which is what (I currently believe) we are seeing. I'm far from 100% decided and I certainly accept that it probably had some feathers, but taken together, I simply don't think it makes sense to reconstruct T. rex with a heavy feather coat. Who knows though, none of us were there and my opinions are subject to change fairly often. I'll wait for more evidence.

I forgot to mention statistics... if T. rex had extensive feathering, we should have seen it by now, considering how many samples we have. Either that, or purely by coincedence we've gotten a few of the only areas with scales and nothing else.
Edited by magpiealamode, Jan 27 2018, 03:57 PM.
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