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Best paleontology fails
Topic Started: Jan 11 2014, 01:18 PM (42,464 Views)
TheToastinator
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A piece of toast and a terminator.

The Good Dinosaur calls a Nyctosaurus a "pterodactyl". :/
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CyborgIguana
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^The fact that people are still complaining about inaccuracies in a PIXAR film!

Also, "pterodactyl" can be an informal term for "pterodactyloid", the group which Nyctosaurus belongs to.
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BossAggron
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Formerly Dilophoraptor

Paleosaurus
Nov 29 2015, 02:16 PM
It's easy to overlook how much variation a single species can have. After all, Panthera leo is highly social whereas Panthera onca is almost exclusively solitary. A common problem in paleontology is the one-trait fits all syndrome. We find quills on a ceratopsian and suddenly all ceratopsians must have them. We have evidence that some dromaeosaurs lived in groups and suddenly all of them were social pack hunters. Same goes for tyrannosauroids. I don't blame anyone for leaping to such conclusions because they are very exciting but the truth of the matter is even different species in a single genus can be radically different in appearance and behaviour. Paleontologists and paleo-enthusiasts alike tend to forget this or never know it in the first place.
Is this amount of variation seen in Birds on average actually?
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Paleosaurus
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Yep, in some genera at least.
These three are all members of the genus Corvus
Hooded Crow
American Crow
Pied Crow

These three are all Sula.
Red-Footed Booby
Nazca Booby
Brown Booby

These three are all non-domesticated Gallus.
Green Junglefowl
Red Junglefowl
Grey Junglefowl

And last of all the three extant Fratercula.
Atlantic Puffin
Tufted Puffin
Horned Puffin

This level of difference between species isn't really common but neither are Lion to Jaguar degrees of difference for mammals. Birds may not be a good analogue for non-avian dinosaurs anyway since most of them occupy drastically different ecological roles whereas mammals have quite a bit of niche overlap with non-avian dinosaurs.
Edited by Paleosaurus, Nov 29 2015, 07:14 PM.
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Posted Image Spinosail
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Once again part of the ZT2 Community.

Someone thought that Predator X was a Mosasaur with a shorter tail........
Edited by Spinosail, Dec 31 2015, 10:48 PM.
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Imperator Furiosa
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Chaos Theory

As someone who's currently studying to be a paleontologist or museum researcher this whole thread makes me cry. :'(

I'd have to say the worst paleontology fails I remember were some old reconstructions of mammoths where the tusks were shown coming out of the nasal cavity. Like what the heck?

Or there's one that actually happened at my school, but this is more of a basic anatomy fail than anything else. My classmates and even teacher in my freshman religion class were convinced women had an extra rib because Adam and Eve. *facepalms*
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Acinonyx Jubatus
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I AM THE UNSHRINKWRAPPER!

Imperator Furiosa
Jan 1 2016, 01:58 AM
Or there's one that actually happened at my school, but this is more of a basic anatomy fail than anything else. My classmates and even teacher in my freshman religion class were convinced women had an extra rib because Adam and Eve. *facepalms*
I get why they would think this, it's such a widespread idea that I've seen it on TV when someone wants to identify the gender of a skeleton, but I always thought the idea was that men had one rib missing. I've never heard this version before.
Edited by Acinonyx Jubatus, Jan 1 2016, 02:30 AM.
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BossAggron
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Formerly Dilophoraptor

Acinonyx Jubatus
Jan 1 2016, 02:29 AM
Imperator Furiosa
Jan 1 2016, 01:58 AM
Or there's one that actually happened at my school, but this is more of a basic anatomy fail than anything else. My classmates and even teacher in my freshman religion class were convinced women had an extra rib because Adam and Eve. *facepalms*
I get why they would think this, it's such a widespread idea that I've seen it on TV when someone wants to identify the gender of a skeleton, but I always thought the idea was that men had one rib missing. I've never heard this version before.
Its untill you realize that any human can have between 11-13 pairs of ribs IIRC.
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heliosphoros
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Its moot since the "rib" is an euphemism for the penis bone otherwise very common in non-human placentals.
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BossAggron
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Formerly Dilophoraptor

heliosphoros
Jan 1 2016, 09:31 AM
Its moot since the "rib" is an euphemism for the penis bone otherwise very common in non-human placentals.
oh, is that what it is?


well then...
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Acinonyx Jubatus
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I AM THE UNSHRINKWRAPPER!

heliosphoros
Jan 1 2016, 09:31 AM
Its moot since the "rib" is an euphemism for the penis bone otherwise very common in non-human placentals.
I have been a creationist Christian all my life and I have never heard this.
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heliosphoros
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Most evangelical instutitions don't teach hebrew language and cultural context, let alone something like this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baculum#Cultural_significance

http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/bible-interpretation/the-adam-and-eve-story-eve-came-from-where/
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kepperbob
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- Pure Shardana -

In a video I'm watching right now a guy said that raptor claws could be venomous! WAT|!just WAT.Also he saind that panthers and leopards are different species.
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Rockypockypuff
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Is walkin' with a dead man.

kepperbob
Jan 2 2016, 10:37 AM
[...]he saind that panthers and leopards are different species.
This is true in some cases though. A "panther" can be a jaguar too?
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Paleop
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Paleopterix

or a mountain lion
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