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Extinct Animal Questions
Topic Started: Nov 26 2013, 10:24 PM (193,486 Views)
CyborgIguana
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Could Sinosauropteryx's protofeathers really be a preservation artifact? Not only am I literally unable to imagine the animal without feathers, but to me the structures that ARE a preservation artifact (such as the filament-like structures on ichthyosaur fossils) look rather different from the integument found on Sinosauropteryx and similar compsognathids.
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Rudyn
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Byronosaurus really breed like today common cuckoos?
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CyborgIguana
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If you're referring to the Byronosaurus embryo found inside a Citipati nest, then most experts now believe that they were simply the result of an egg that tumbled into the nest by accident IIRC.

But anyway, back to my question.
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Stan The Man
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No, we're gonna answer another question:

What lifestyle could oviraptorsaurs have had?
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CyborgIguana
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I imagine their lifestyle to have been a combination of various ecological niches: stalking small vertebrates, grazing on plants and fruit, foraging for insects, stealing from dinosaur nests, etc.
Edited by CyborgIguana, Feb 18 2014, 06:37 PM.
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Similis
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CyborgIguana
Feb 18 2014, 11:03 AM
Could Sinosauropteryx's protofeathers really be a preservation artifact? Not only am I literally unable to imagine the animal without feathers, but to me the structures that ARE a preservation artifact (such as the filament-like structures on ichthyosaur fossils) look rather different from the integument found on Sinosauropteryx and similar compsognathids.


First, they look different, second, Sinosauropteryx feather line goes around the actual bodyframe's line. Furthermore, the wavy, slightly messy look of these feathers indicates they were soft and pliable when the animal was alive.

MrRabbid
Feb 18 2014, 06:29 PM
No, we're gonna answer another question:

What lifestyle could oviraptorsaurs have had?


Certain info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oviraptorosauria#Paleobiology

Speculation on my side: Modern day phasianids is the first thing coming to my mind. General omnivores with small preference towards the plant material, possibly slightly social, living in pairs or harems, males dancing in front of a female to impress her, I would go as far as to say that the males of some species could have been fighting for territory.
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Mathius Tyra
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Rat snake is love... Rat snake is life

Can Anchisaurus walks or stands on all four legs? Or it's just like Plateosaurus that is fully bipedal. I wonder this because Anchisaurus is more advance than Plateo in Sauropodomorpha evolution line age, but I think I need confirmation.
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CyborgIguana
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MrGorsh
Feb 19 2014, 02:14 AM
CyborgIguana
Feb 18 2014, 11:03 AM
Could Sinosauropteryx's protofeathers really be a preservation artifact? Not only am I literally unable to imagine the animal without feathers, but to me the structures that ARE a preservation artifact (such as the filament-like structures on ichthyosaur fossils) look rather different from the integument found on Sinosauropteryx and similar compsognathids.


First, they look different, second, Sinosauropteryx feather line goes around the actual bodyframe's line. Furthermore, the wavy, slightly messy look of these feathers indicates they were soft and pliable when the animal was alive.
That's what I thought too. I guess the slightly messy look of the feathers would speak against their being collagen fibres as well (as well as the fact that they contain melanosomes).
Edited by CyborgIguana, Feb 19 2014, 09:30 AM.
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Arrancon
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This is more in regards to geologic time than extinct animals, but...

Why is there no time period defined as the Mid Cretaceous? None of the Mesozoic timelines I've seen have one, but there's such a thing as the Mid Jurassic.
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CyborgIguana
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Well, remember that the Cretaceous was much longer than the other periods of the Mesozoic.
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Similis
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TheGuy
Feb 19 2014, 02:57 PM
This is more in regards to geologic time than extinct animals, but...

Why is there no time period defined as the Mid Cretaceous? None of the Mesozoic timelines I've seen have one, but there's such a thing as the Mid Jurassic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cretaceous#Stratigraphic_subdivisions

Well, this is as much as Wiki is generous to give and GoogleScholar wasn't much helpful, unfortunately. Apparently it's all about geology here. Might want to try and read sub-articles, maybe there are more clues :P
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Admiral General Aladeen
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Did cryptoclidus need to haul itself out of the water and bask? I know its speculated they laid eggs on the beach, but did cryptoclidus actually haul itself onto rocks and such as depicted on WWD?
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CyborgIguana
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No. In fact, they probably didn't lay eggs at all. We now think that most Mesozoic marine reptiles were viviparous IIRC (maybe with the exception of nothosaurs and thalattosuchians).
Edited by CyborgIguana, Feb 19 2014, 05:34 PM.
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Furka
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And I am not even sure they would haul on rocks, their skin was probably too sensitive and could be easily injuried, although that's more speculative based on modern animals.
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Tyranachu
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Nerdasaurus

Is it inaccurate to depict Proceratosaurus with scales?
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