#assuming-dinosaur

[verybadpaleontologyjokes]

Credit to @assuming-dinosaur.

[dinosaur-discourse]

You’re right - it was wrong of me to assert as fact that Longisquama’s back-fronds were not a part of the animal’s anatomy.  In fact, based on the current lack of evidence either way, it’s probably equally as incorrect as asserting that they were the precursors to feathers!

I allowed a personal bias to intrude on scientific discussion, and I apologize for misinforming people.

Let’s take a moment to wildly speculate at some of the other possibilities, assuming that the fronds were a part of Longisquama’s body.

They may have played some role in locomotion.  While the fronds are known not to have been paired, and thus did not form wing-like arrangements, it’s possible that they could have been used for gliding - perhaps by “ballooning” on the wind, like a baby spider.

They may have supported a Dimetrodon-esque back sail, used to assist in thermoregulation.

They may have acted as camouflage, resembling the structures of a plant in order to conceal Longisquama from predators.

Alternatively, they may have resembled plants in order to attract insects for Longisquama to eat, possibly with the assistance of pheromones or other non-visual forms of mimicry.

They may have served as sexual display structures, as @is-a-velociraptor suggested.  It’s possible that the fronds were only present in male Longisquama, and that females were attracted to males with bigger fronds - despite the physical handicap such large fronds may have created for the males.  A similar problem plagues modern stalk-eyed flies.

[dragonsonthemap]

At PaleoFest with assuming-dinosaur!

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Shanyangosaurus niupanggouensis

Source: fezraptor

Name: Shanyangosaurus niupanggouensis

Name Meaning: Shanyang Lizard 

First Described: 1996

Described By: Xue, Zhang and Bi 

Classification: Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora?, Maniraptoriformes?, Maniraptora?, Pennaraptora?, Oviraptorosauria?

Shanyangosaurus is only known from scattered fragments of leg bones, which were fairly hollow, and a few other remains. This has lead to its classification as a coelurosaur. It lived in the middle to late Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous, anywhere between 69 and 66 million years ago. It was found in the Shanyang Formation, Shaanxi, China. Given the morphology of the remains, it could have been an oviraptoran or even a paravian, but without more remains its full classification is uncertain. 

Sources: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanyangosaurus

http://theropoddatabase.com/Coelurosauria.htm#Shanyangosaurusniupanggouensis

Quite frankly shout out goes to Fezraptor for drawing this dinosaur for me!

[thewoodparable]

Okay, I want you all to imagine a pained expression. Now stick that expression on whatever you imagine my face is like, because I got tagged in a thing. So I got tagged in a thing by raptorcivilization and, honour-bound by internet ettiquette, am obliged to do the thing. Here’s how it works; There will be 3 parts with around 5 questions per section, the questions themselves are a bit random and not terribly personal. There are 15 questions in total with the first 14 being unchangeable, however the last one is a sort of Create Your Own type thing, you can change it and write your own question for the people you tag to answer. After you’re done completing the form try to tag between 5 to 8 people (remember to let them know they’ve been tagged), and that’s pretty much it; have fun everybody! c: Part 1: So tell me about yourself.. 1. What’s your name? (Feel free to just list your online alias if you’d prefer) Jack

2. What country are you from? The United Kingdom.

3. Do you have any pets? A large cat named Lakshmi. I am also rat-sitting for a friend, but only for a few more days.

4. Can you speak more than one language? I don't think Key Stage three German and Spanish really counts, so I'll say nein, no, and no.

5. Anything else you’d like to mention about yourself? I like art and biology and music and also Dinosaurs.

Part 2: Favorites 6. What are some of your favorite prehistoric creatures? Oh crikey. I guess Phorusrhacos, Sauropelta, Arthropleura, Utahraptor and Argentinosaurus hold a place in my mind somewhere - childhood favourites, y'see.

7. What is/are your favorite food(s)? Gotta love Fish n' chips

8. Do you have any favorite books? Anything by Terry Pratchet is a masterpiece, On the Origin of Species by good ol' Charley D is very important obviously, and the Complete Book of Dinosaurs is a book I have loved ever since I was given it aged nine. 9. Favorite music genre(s)? Rock, Blues Rock, some punk rock, anything satirical, atmospheric classical, that kinda thing.

10. Do you have a favorite documentary? Walking With Dinosaurs (no, not the awful one).

Part 3: Just out of curiosity… 11. Have you ever been fossil hunting? Yes! Twice at Charmouth in Dorset (the Jurassic Coast), and four times at Sandown beach on the Isle of Wight during my work experience. 12. If you could be any animal for a day what would you be and why? Probably a Mantis Shrimp, because that's an awful lot of colours I'll never see with these eyes of mine.

13. If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be? I wish I was capable of making people as happy as I want them to be. 14. If you could visit any prehistoric era which one would you choose? (i.e. Devonian, Jurassic, Pleistocene, etc.) Late Cretaceous - it must have been absolutely beautiful. 15. What’s something you hate? The amount of problems that could be solved if everyone listened to oneanother for a few seconds. Okay, I have no idea who I can tag who hasn't been tagged already, so I'm just gonna tag: lythronax-argestes-the-gore-king; assuming-dinosaur; tyrannosaurslair; dimetrodone  (I am sorry, dimetrodone. I needed a fourth tag and your url cracked me up. Forgive me for the fate I have bestowed upon you)

[omnidistance]

Server is up and I'm on there