Hypothetical saurian humanoids

[TransformerRobot]

I've sometimes wondered what would happen if human beings were reptilian instead of primates.

 

Then I looked into the hypothetical humanoid descendant of a particular dinosaur.

 

But Troodon? Why did they pick that dinosaur in particular? How would it have been the best candidate to evolve into the hypothetical lizard man I mentioned?

[EdEarl]

 

Wikipedia: Dinosaur

Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, approximately 237 million years ago, and were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for 135 million years, from the beginning of the Jurassic (about 201 million years ago) until the end of the Cretaceous (66 million years ago), when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of most dinosaur groups at the close of the Mesozoic Era.

According to some, birds are dinosaurs. Thus, they have existed for 201 million years without becoming intelligent as we are as shown by our developing technology. Is there some evolutionary reason?

[TransformerRobot]

Maybe Troodon was a really smart dinosaur. I might not have known.

[overtone]

Troodons had relatively large brains (and the size was increasing over evolutionary time), partly binocular vision, free "hands" with a partly opposable digit capable of grasping like a thumb, and possibly an omnivorous diet.

 

These remind people of the basic human body plan, and the speculation is natural. They had a long way to go, however - more likely a sort of dinosaur version of a small bear or large raccoon was in the future.

 

Intelligence at human level is very, very expensive - it probably requires a unique and rare combination of evolutionary pressures and circumstances to get established in the first place.

[Moontanman]

Like these?

 

 

 

 

[TransformerRobot]

You know, the third image's creature would probably be fine with it's normal body and more advanced intelligence.

[Delta1212]

According to some, birds are dinosaurs. Thus, they have existed for 201 million years without becoming intelligent as we are as shown by our developing technology. Is there some evolutionary reason?

Because intelligence isn't an end goal of evolution. It's just like any other trait. A peacock could say that mammals have been around for over 200 million years but don't have tails as big and vibrant as they have. A trait is only evolved if it provides an immediate benefit to it's carrier, and high intelligence has some very high energy costs that outweigh the advantages unless you require it to obtain some very high energy food sources (as, e.g. hard to obtain fruit).

 

And, incidentally, I'd look into the intelligence of Corvids if you want to see some smart birds. There have been some (fairly convincing) arguments made for crows and ravens being close to, if not on par with, the intelligence range of dolphins or apes as far as problem-solving and tool use.

[michel123456]

With feathers.

And making eggs.

No bikini needed.

[arc]

I've sometimes wondered what would happen if human beings were reptilian instead of primates.

 

Then I looked into the hypothetical humanoid descendant of a particular dinosaur.

 

But Troodon? Why did they pick that dinosaur in particular? How would it have been the best candidate to evolve into the hypothetical lizard man I mentioned?

 

I would base my choice on one that was likely to live in close cooperative social groups. Developed animal groups such as wolves work closely in coordinated societies that communicate effectively to hunt and raise offspring. It is these conditions that likely produced the first communications with hand gestures in our earliest ancestors. A situation that has stalled the wolves ascent due to the lack of bipedal stance that would free ones hand to communicate the direction of game or the danger from predators.

 

The hand communication would undoubtedly be reinforced with grunts and other audible accompaniment that would drive an evolutionary move towards developing the vocal physiology of speech. The freeing of several limbs is an important stepping stone to not just walking up right but to the foundation of visual communication that in turn initiates the development of speech.

 

The process of speech development will involve its participants in verbal communication of continuing complexity and competitive advantage that would drive an evolutionary response of a extraordinary speed and development. The larger brain will be able to utilize the increased imaginative capacity to make tools and harness the potential of fire.

 

The rest they say is history.

Edited July 15, 2013 by arc

[CharonY]

I think this types of discussions fit much better into the speculations section.