So, the Obnoxious Kid in Jurassic Park

Post by **Minimalist** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 11:09 am

was right after all when called velociraptor a "turkey."

http://apnews.excite.com/article/200709 ... BB6O0.html

WASHINGTON (AP) - Velociraptor, the terrifying predator made famous in the movie "Jurassic Park," appears to have had feathers in real life.

A close study of a velociraptor forearm found in Mongolia shows the presence of quill knobs, bumps on the bone where the feathers anchor, researchers report in Friday's edition of the journal Science.

Beagle · Post by **Beagle** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 11:26 am

And finally....the proof. Other dino's besides the 'raptor have been thought to have feathers also. I can't remember which ones though.

Rokcet Scientist · Post by **Rokcet Scientist** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 2:11 pm

I'd speculate the fast runners had them. The Road Runner is simply a 21st century AD velociraptor!

And if Velociraptors are still among us. Why not HE and HSS?

Digit · Post by **Digit** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 2:51 pm

T Rex is believed to have been covered in soft feathers, I suspect that RS is right, so much for the cold blooded lumbering lizard look-a-likes.

Rokcet Scientist · Post by **Rokcet Scientist** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 3:34 pm

Digit wrote:T Rex is believed to have been covered in soft feathers, I suspect that RS is right, so much for the cold blooded lumbering lizard look-a-likes.

I believe T.Rex' physical mechanics were simulated recently and researchers couldn't see a way for him to be 'fast'. His bulk and mass were in the way. So, for now, despite perhaps even having been covered in soft feathers, T.Rex indeed was a "lumbering lizard look-a-like".
So he looked like a cross between Godzilla and Big Bird . . .

Digit · Post by **Digit** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 3:54 pm

He didn't have to be fast RS, just faster than his prey, and I'll bet he could out run the big 'uns.

Rokcet Scientist · Post by **Rokcet Scientist** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 4:14 pm

Digit wrote:He didn't have to be fast RS, just faster than his prey, and I'll bet he could out run the big 'uns.

Research indicates the opposite, Dig. He was slower than most of the quadrupeds he fed on. He couldn't catch 'm. Alive. So he caught 'm dead. He was a carrion eater. Not much of a fighter.

Post by **Minimalist** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 4:19 pm

I doubt that evolution would select for such a limited beast and put him at the top of the food chain.

Like modern predators, he probably did both. Like modern predators it was probably the sick, the old and the young who represented the majority of his victims.

Velociraptor was a pack hunter. So are lions. Who is to say that T-Rex wasn't as well?

Rokcet Scientist · Post by **Rokcet Scientist** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 4:30 pm

Minimalist wrote:
Velociraptor was a pack hunter. So are lions. Who is to say that T-Rex wasn't as well?

Because of his size he couldn't blend into the landscape. Because of his bulk/weight he was slow. Those 2 'limitations' alone make T.Rex singularly unsuitable to hunting. He couldn't surprise prey from an ambush, nor run him down in a chase. So he wasn't a hunter. Like a 300 pound guy dancing a tutu solo in a classical ballet. It simply doesn't work.
So, sure, maybe he operated in packs. But not as hunters. He stank at hunting.

Digit · Post by **Digit** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 4:31 pm

T Rex apparently was a pack hunter Min. A TV programme over here showed a bone bed in the US of a herd containing animals of all ages.

Post by **Minimalist** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 4:47 pm

The trouble with using computer programs to demonstrate things is that they always seem to reflect the built-in biases of the programmer.

I have seen something similar, Dig. T-Rex behavior is far more complex than originally believed.

Beagle · Post by **Beagle** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 5:34 pm

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/s ... /5560/1620

According to a new biomechanical model, a 6000-kilogram Tyrannosaurus could not have packed enough muscle into its legs to reach 72 kilometers per hour, as had previously been argued; its top running speed was about 40 km/h. Although the finding, published in the 28 February issue of Nature, doesn't change ideas about Tyrannosaurus's hunting ability, paleontologists say the study sets a new standard for biomechanical analysis of an extinct organism.

Read the Full Text

40km/hr. is about 25 mph. So no real speed demon. This paper is 5 yrs. old, so maybe something newer is out.

Post by **Minimalist** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 5:38 pm

I can't run 25 mph.

Beagle · Post by **Beagle** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 6:33 pm

I can't either. Cogs is the only one that wouldn't be a T-rex meal.

Rokcet Scientist · Post by **Rokcet Scientist** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 6:39 pm

You could see T.Rex comin' from a mile away!
And hear him from three miles away!
The MF was twice the size of a bull African savannah elephant!