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Post by HRH Queen Talira on Nov 1, 2018 8:18:46 GMT
Did you know....
....the first Ichthyosaur skeleton was found by children?
In 1811, 15-year-old Joseph Anning and his 12-year-old sister, Mary, found the first Ichthyosaur skeleton in the cliffs at Lime Regis in Southwest England. They regularly spent time on the beach near their home, finding fossils of various marine animals including sea lilies and ammonites. They sold the fossils they found to earn money for food, clothing and other things their family needed. The money they earned from selling their first Ichthyosaur allowed Joseph to obtain an apprenticeship as an upholsterer. Mary went on to discover not only the first Plesiosaur skeletons but also the first Pterosaur.
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Post by HRH Queen Talira on Nov 4, 2018 2:30:43 GMT
Did you know....
....Oviraptor was named for a crime it never committed?
Oviraptor was a small Theropod from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia. Discovered in 1922, the first specimen was found lying near what was believed to be a nest of Protoceratops eggs. Therefore, it was given a name meaning "Egg thief". However, because the eggs didn't contain embryos, it was impossible to identify the dinosaur that owned them. In the early 90s, more nests were found that contained similar eggs. This time the eggs contained embryos, showing that they actually belonged to Oviraptor. So it seems Oviraptor may not have been an egg thief after all.
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Post by bricabrach on Nov 5, 2018 2:19:13 GMT
Were there any dinos for which evidence suggests they did steal and eat eggs, at least occasionally?
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Post by HRH Queen Talira on Nov 5, 2018 5:48:49 GMT
Were there any dinos for which evidence suggests they did steal and eat eggs, at least occasionally? Oviraptor's jaws were well-suited for crushing hard objects. It's entirely possible that eggs did make up at least part of this dinosaur's diet, but it may also have eaten nuts, seeds or even shellfish.
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Post by HRH Queen Talira on Nov 5, 2018 9:08:42 GMT
Did you know....
....there was once a dragonfly with a 2-foot wingspan?
Meganeura was a giant dragonfly that lived in Europe around 300 million years ago, during the Carboniferous period. Its wingspan measured between 60 and 90 centimetres, making it the largest flying insect to ever exist.
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skieswanne
T-Rex egg
Guardian of the Ladinian
Posts: 15
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Post by skieswanne on Nov 16, 2018 20:01:51 GMT
Ooh, so cool!
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Post by HRH Queen Talira on Nov 17, 2018 7:41:38 GMT
Did you know....
....the antlers of Megaloceros giganteus weighed more than twenty kilos?
Also known as the Irish elk, Megaloceros giganteus is well-known for its massive antlers. From tip to tip, the antlers had a width of more than three metres and weighed up to forty kilograms.
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skieswanne
T-Rex egg
Guardian of the Ladinian
Posts: 15
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Post by skieswanne on Nov 17, 2018 12:36:28 GMT
I hear its massive antlers were ironically the cause of its extinction, as they were making it increasingly harder to navigate in denser forests.
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Post by HRH Queen Talira on Nov 18, 2018 9:01:55 GMT
I hear its massive antlers were ironically the cause of its extinction, as they were making it increasingly harder to navigate in denser forests. Research has suggested their extinction may have been caused by a lack of sufficient high-quality vegetation. High amounts of calcium and phosphate are required to form antlers, and considering the size of the antlers these animals had, they would have needed large quantities of these minerals. Also, a lack of nutritious vegetation resulted in a 50% lowering of female reproductive output.
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Post by HRH Queen Talira on Nov 18, 2018 9:34:35 GMT
Did you know........that baby Ichthyosaurs were born tail-first, just like modern dolphins?Ichthyosaurs were marine reptiles. They first appeared around 250 million years ago and existed up until around 90 million years ago, when they were replaced by Mosasaurs. Due to the shape of the body, it would have been difficult, if not impossible, for Ichthyosaurs to leave the water. Therefore, they developed the ability to give birth to live young, rather than laying eggs. Check out this remarkable fossil of a female Ichthyosaur that died whilst giving birth.
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skieswanne
T-Rex egg
Guardian of the Ladinian
Posts: 15
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Post by skieswanne on Nov 18, 2018 12:45:00 GMT
Hmm, good point, about the nutrients hypothesis. Wow, awesome fossil!
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Post by HRH Queen Talira on Nov 19, 2018 1:42:44 GMT
Did you know........teeth aren't the only things that can tell us about dinosaur diets!Like modern animals, different dinosaurs has different shaped teeth, depending on their choice of food. The photos below shows a selection of different dinosaur teeth. From top to bottom, these teeth belong to: Carcharodontosaurus, Spinosaurus, Ankylosaurus and Triceratops. Carcharodontosaurus had teeth designed for tearing flesh, whilst Spinosaurus, which fed primarily on fish, had teeth designed for stabbing. The teeth of Ankylosaurus are designed for snipping vegetation whilst the teeth of Triceratops are deigned for grinding. However, there's another way we can learn about dino diets, and that's by studying their fossilized poo, known as Coprolites. Theropod poo usually contains high levels of bone material where as poo from a herbivore will contain partly-digested plants.
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skieswanne
T-Rex egg
Guardian of the Ladinian
Posts: 15
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Post by skieswanne on Nov 22, 2018 10:53:00 GMT
It is my understanding that fossils are created as minerals invade and replace tissuesor bones from the orgarnism.
But if that also happens with their waste, how could the composition be determined, if the material has been replaced?
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Post by HRH Queen Talira on Nov 22, 2018 23:52:14 GMT
It is my understanding that fossils are created as minerals invade and replace tissuesor bones from the orgarnism. But if that also happens with their waste, how could the composition be determined, if the material has been replaced? I'm not entirely sure. Fossils such as coprolites, eggs and footprints are regarded as trace fossils rather than part of the animal.
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Post by bricabrach on Nov 23, 2018 0:59:59 GMT
It is my understanding that fossils are created as minerals invade and replace tissuesor bones from the orgarnism. But if that also happens with their waste, how could the composition be determined, if the material has been replaced? That's a really good question! It does seem that much of the original organic matter would be replaced. Yet, according to this Wikipedia article, there is still much research value in coprolite. For example, a carnivore's coprolites may show bones which would fossilize distinctly -- indicating what the carnivore had preyed upon.
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