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Extinct Animal Questions
Topic Started: Nov 26 2013, 10:24 PM (193,461 Views)
CyborgIguana
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Could Shantungosaurus rear up on its hind legs like other hadrosaurs?

I only ask because of how heavy it was compared to other members of the group.
Edited by CyborgIguana, Jul 18 2014, 10:34 PM.
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SamtheMan
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I'm definitely not an expert on this, but my best guess is that Shantungosaurus could rear up on its hind legs. Many large animals today like elephants can and this article I found suggests that at least a few sauropod species can as well (http://www.walkingwithdinosaurs.com/news/editorial/bipedal-diplodocus-not-as-crazy-as-sounds/1/) so, unless evidence to the contrary shows up, I don't see why Shantungosaurus couldn't do it too.

Carnotaurus is often described as one of the fastest large theropod dinosaurs. However, I was wondering how other abelisaurs such as Majungasaurus, Indosuchus, Rajasaurus, etc. would compare to Carnotaurus in terms of speed? Do we have any evidence that suggests other abelisaurs were fast too? I looked online for an answer and didn't find much.
Edited by SamtheMan, Jul 21 2014, 08:05 PM.
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CyborgIguana
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I don't see why not, though biomechanics aren't really my area of paleo-knowledge.
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conker
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There are some things I was wondering, what is the largest species of pinniped and giraffidae?
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Posted Image Flish
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SamtheMan
Jul 21 2014, 08:03 PM


Carnotaurus is often described as one of the fastest large theropod dinosaurs. However, I was wondering how other abelisaurs such as Majungasaurus, Indosuchus, Rajasaurus, etc. would compare to Carnotaurus in terms of speed? Do we have any evidence that suggests other abelisaurs were fast too? I looked online for an answer and didn't find much.
Abelisaurs seemed to specialize heavily. Several species are speed-demons, but Majungasaurus, for example, has the stubbiest legs ever and probably wasn't chasing down small prey. Indosuchus is too fragmentary to tell how fast it was, Rajasaurus was probably fairly fast, though. Carnotaurus was particularly specialized for a running lifestyle though, so I don't think any Abelisaurs would be as fast as Carnotaurus besides Carnotaurus itself. :)
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Even
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Yeah, only Carnotaurus and the other carnotaurines (curiously, all from South America) have the cursorial adaptations...

@conker: The largest pinniped is the southern elephant seal, and the largest giraffid perhaps one of those older species of giraffe... Giraffa jumae, perhaps? How big was Sivatherium, really?
Edited by Even, Jul 22 2014, 05:43 AM.
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CyborgIguana
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conker
Jul 21 2014, 08:23 PM
There are some things I was wondering, what is the largest species of pinniped and giraffidae?
What makes you think the largest species of pinniped and giraffid are extinct? :P
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Swimming Spaghetti Monster
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Is there a possibility of dragons, or other mythical beings, are based on fossils found sometimes by ancient people? I know about some creature from Eskimo mythology being based on mammooth remains, but are there any plausible ones connected to dinosaur bones?
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CyborgIguana
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Not sure about dragons, but I know that some historians speculate that the legend of the Griffin may have been inspired by early finds of Protoceratops fossils in the Gobi.
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BossAggron
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Formerly Dilophoraptor

I thought of Dinosaurs with Membrane instead of Feather wings as "Dragons" before, and i know Sheather has as well. But for actual Fossils, Probably Teeth of Carnivorous Dinosaurs or Sauropod necks in China
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SamtheMan
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Thanks to everyone who had a chance to answer my question (especially Flish who even went into details with the species), it is greatly appreciated!

@conker As CyborgIguana said, the largest pinniped and giraffid are thankfully still living. The largest pinniped is the southern elephant seal (with the northern elephant seal not being too far behind in second) and the largest giraffid is the giraffe (most of the subspecies are roughly the same size IIRC though the masai giraffe is usually a little bit larger).
To make this more relevant to the topic, I spent some time looking up extinct pinnipeds and giraffids but haven't found too much. Wikipedia didn't give me much information (in fact many of the pages follow the pattern of " x is an extinct genus of x " : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Prehistoric_giraffes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Prehistoric_pinnipeds) and some of the other sites I checked didn't offer much info in terms of what the sizes were or what some of them even looked like.
Based on my best guesses, I would say that Aivukus, Gomphotaria, Pelagiarctos, and Thalassoleon were the largest prehistoric pinnipeds (they were all roughly the size of a modern walrus)
As for the largest prehistoric giraffids, it seems like Giraffa jumae and Honanotherium may have been the largest (since they both may have been slightly smaller than a modern giraffe) though the only one with an actual recorded weight is Sivatherium which would've weighed about 1,100 lbs. I didn't find a lot of info so if someone with more knowledge could shed some light on the prehistoric pinnipeds and giraffids it would be greatly appreciated.

@Swimming Spaghetti Monster I've heard of Protoceratops fossils being mistaken for griffins as CyborgIguana said and I agree with Dilophoraptor that fossils discovered in ancient times could be mistaken for dragons and other myths. The only other similar tale I've heard of so far is how some of the first discovered bones and teeth of Gigantopithecus were thought to be dragon bones in China (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigantopithecus). Hope that helped a little bit.
Edited by SamtheMan, Jul 22 2014, 04:28 PM.
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Ulquiorra
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Dilophoraptor
Jul 22 2014, 04:12 PM
I thought of Dinosaurs with Membrane instead of Feather wings as "Dragons" before, and i know Sheather has as well. But for actual Fossils, Probably Teeth of Carnivorous Dinosaurs or Sauropod necks in China
Maybe the ancestral species of snakes (before losing their limbs) could also be responsible for the Chinese dragon. Some constrictors still retain their legs as spurs, and a snake with legs would in some ways look like a Chinese dragon.
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Furka
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Basilosaurus bones were used as Dragon bones in traditional medicine.
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Even
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To elaborate on the story of Gigantopithecus: They are actually found in a traditional Chinese market.. If Mr. Von Koenigswald didn't find it, it might have been someone else's prescription (and they actually grind and drink fossils) xD
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Furka
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This is more of an art opinion, but what about the chance of Thescelosaurus having some fuzz ?
I remember it had some kind of osteoderms, and I'm not sure if those go well with feathers ...
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