#mononykus77

[alphynix]

How do you feel about the hypothesis about the ornithoscelida theory exolained here: watch?v=BRlktNwTRjE

I haven’t had a chance to read through the full paper yet (that’ll have to wait until the morning), but from the brief summaries I’ve seen… it’s interesting at the very least.

It’s important to remember that this is a brand-new model of dinosaur relationships and we really need to see more studies testing how robust its data actually is before charging fully on-board with it – the old adage of “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” – but if it does hold up, then, wow.

And even if it does get overturned later, it’ll still serve as a good example of the scientific method at work.

[ornithopsis]

Could Nyctosaurus' crests fall and regrow like antlers?

This is an interesting hypothesis, and one that could be tested experimentally, but I think that it’s very unlikely.If the bone grew like an antler–that is, very quickly, and shed each year– it would have a distinctive texture on a microscopic level that could be observed, so the boundary between the skull and ‘antler’ should be obvious. As nobody has ever observed such a boundary, it seems unlikely that a Nyctosaurus crest could safely fall off.If you wanted to know this for sure, though, you’d need somebody who had studied deer antlers to examine a Nyctosaurus fossil very closely, and potentially cut out cross-sections of the fossil to study its properties.

[alphynix]

How do you feel about Tetrapodophis possibly being a dolichosaur?

Tetrapodophis is an incredibly problematic fossil for quite a lot of different reasons, and it’s really difficult to say anything conclusive about it right now.

But if it turns out to actually be a dolichosaur, then I have no personal problem with that.  (And since dolichosaurs seem to be a sister group to snakes it wouldn’t even be moving particularly far away taxonomically, just losing its transitional form “proto-snake” status.)

[palaeomedia-reviews]

Bad news: ARK is starting to use real animal's species name for their "animals"! Thoughts?

Bound to happen sometime... 

[palaeomedia-reviews]

How do you feel about the Fossils and Archeology mod for minecraft? And does anyone know what happened to mod Spinosaurus?

I like it a lot! Some of the proportions are pretty off but in general it’s a very accurate mod! (For the fossils. The archeology, on the other hand...)

And... we’re not sure honestly

[myloverhammurabi]

How come there's only one confirmed specimen of Oviraptor? Just the author's choice and/or splitting or something else.

Yeah, it is a matter of genericometer to my knowledge.

[myloverhammurabi]

Is it possible that azhdarchids could exploit the large amounts of birds in a migration for a mid-air snack?

Well, I mean, compared to krill, birds are substantially less suitable for bulk-feeding, if that’s what you mean? Birds are fast and agile. Also, azhdarchids are not built for that kind of thing.

[myloverhammurabi]

I mean anatomically accurate (minus feathers) like the base model for the Saurian Dakotaraptor.

Ah, okay. Equally bad, I suppose? I have a bit of an aversion to scaly dromaeosaurs though, so as long as it’s not pronated I might choose the feathered one.