Mike Smith Cosmos Posted May 17, 2014 Posted May 17, 2014 (edited) Latest from BBC Fresh in Today 17th May LINK http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-27441156 Boy is that some size . Equivalent to 14 African Elephants . mike Edited May 17, 2014 by Mike Smith Cosmos
Mike Smith Cosmos Posted May 17, 2014 Author Posted May 17, 2014 (edited) And? I think it is very significant that the dinosaur era was a grow as big as you can. There is nothing there to stop you growing as big as you like. there is plenty of food to go at. It is unlikely anything would try to bring this beast down. Only gravity and the strength of their support bones was any form of limiting factor. Earlier and later eras were well furnished with predators to keep things lean and mean or keep things hidden and scarce . Even gravity would have quite a job with that leg bone illustrated. mike Edited May 17, 2014 by Mike Smith Cosmos
lamironi Posted May 22, 2014 Posted May 22, 2014 I read, that this dinosaur was 130 feet long, 65 feet tall and weighed an estimated 85 tons - 14 elephants. Colossal monstrum
Mike Smith Cosmos Posted May 22, 2014 Author Posted May 22, 2014 I read, that this dinosaur was 130 feet long, 65 feet tall and weighed an estimated 85 tons - 14 elephants. Colossal monstrum Yes, Anything you can say here about the reason why these dinosaurs were so large ? mike
dimreepr Posted May 22, 2014 Posted May 22, 2014 (edited) They grew to that size through predation i.e. the predator/prey arms race. The most likely predator would be a T-rex like animal that hunted in packs, similar to a wolf pack. This would indicate all but the largest and strongest would be in danger. Edited May 22, 2014 by dimreepr 1
lamironi Posted May 23, 2014 Posted May 23, 2014 the largest and strongest would be in danger. Maybe it was for the animals. People many years ago were lower and were in danger. Now people are largest and strongest, although it is in safer.
Mike Smith Cosmos Posted May 24, 2014 Author Posted May 24, 2014 (edited) Maybe it was for the animals. People many years ago were lower and were in danger. Now people are largest and strongest, although it is in safer. The age between the Two great Mass extinction events. The End of the Permian to the End of the Cretaceous .Was the time for the rise of the Dinosaurs ( during the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous times ) At the Two great mass eruptions at either end of this time , The Deccan traps in India ( end of Cretaceous) and the Siberian traps in Russia ( end of the Permian) Massive lava Flows ,pouring out of the bowels of the Earth for possibly thousands of years, a nightmare by our standards. At these events and for some time , Darkness; with plants and animals being pushed to the limit of existence. But in the intervening three [ Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous times ] . the Dinosaurs [ as the one shown previously , with the man lying by its leg bone , or the one seen below in my garden , flourished ]. There was a beautiful BBC Series made of film Animation as well as a Discovery Channel series,, made of this period , probably now on Dvd . The last period in this whole dinosaurs time was the Cretaceous, when the oceans were full of the little crustasions that lived and died in the oceans, in their trillions and trillions, to form the major white bands of chalk , in cliffs and layers seen about the world . They [ the dinosaurs] had their day, each to grow into their particular niche . some small, some large, some fast some slow , some even flying. surely an interesting age . chalk cliffs Cretaceous Some of the Cretaceous critters ,swarming in the seas, to deposit, and become chalk cliffs , etc ref . Courtesy of book " British Mesozoic fossils , British Museum ( natural history 1983. ) Mike Ps . Of course, this is all down the road from me in Devon, where I live. I could just jump on my motor bike/ scooter and be down treading where dinosaurs trod , in half an hour. Except, all these land masses were somewhere down around the equator at the dinosaur era we have been speaking about . note Permian red sandstone cliff in ,near distance . Just a short trip in a boat up the coast easterly and one is seeing the Cretaceous White chalk ,as shown by boat picture above. I think my dog was more interested in a cat ! No sorry it was one of those small dinosaur 's , or memory of dinosaurs , that still roam this area of Devon. Edited May 24, 2014 by Mike Smith Cosmos
Tim the plumber Posted May 24, 2014 Posted May 24, 2014 Yes, Anything you can say here about the reason why these dinosaurs were so large ? mike I think it's a tendency for things to get bigger in stable situations. If there are fluctuations of environment such as ice ages the degree of specialization required to take a generalist animal to get to such a specialist eating/growing/egg laying machine is not there. I think... Any other ideas out there?
dimreepr Posted May 24, 2014 Posted May 24, 2014 I think it's a tendency for things to get bigger in stable situations. Why?
Mike Smith Cosmos Posted May 24, 2014 Author Posted May 24, 2014 (edited) Why?Perhaps some or many of the trees and vegetation grew really high, and so like the giraffe , they could reach higher and higher to more vegetation . Those that could reach got the food. And thrived. Mike Edited May 24, 2014 by Mike Smith Cosmos
dimreepr Posted May 25, 2014 Posted May 25, 2014 Perhaps some or many of the trees and vegetation grew really high, and so like the giraffe , they could reach higher and higher to more vegetation . Those that could reach got the food. And thrived. Mike That’s certainly a possibility Mike, except: That would make it part of the predator/prey arms race, in this case as a predator. My question was in response to the assertion “I think it's a tendency for things to get bigger in stable situations.” and what you describe isn't a stable situation.
Mike Smith Cosmos Posted May 25, 2014 Author Posted May 25, 2014 That’s certainly a possibility Mike, except: That would make it part of the predator/prey arms race, in this case as a predator. My question was in response to the assertion “I think it's a tendency for things to get bigger in stable situations.” and what you describe isn't a stable situation. What counts as stable . how many years. because we are into the 10,000,000 year chunks in these geological time periods , and more . mike
dimreepr Posted May 25, 2014 Posted May 25, 2014 I didn't make the assertion, I merely questioned it. If, however, we assume homoeostasis then what factors would encourage a species to grow larger? All I can think of would be sexual selection; for instance the mountain gorilla or elephant seal. In both cases the males grew much larger than the females, although the size of the female would regulate the maximum size of the males, without an external factor.
John Cuthber Posted May 25, 2014 Posted May 25, 2014 I wonder how many have been reported as the "BIGGEST EVER DINOSAUR".
lamironi Posted May 25, 2014 Posted May 25, 2014 Maybe everyone dinosaur has been reported as the "BIGGEST EVER DINOSAUR".
Mike Smith Cosmos Posted May 25, 2014 Author Posted May 25, 2014 (edited) Maybe everyone dinosaur has been reported as the "BIGGEST EVER DINOSAUR". Surely, if one of the dinosaurs is just bigger than the rest by variation and/or mutation . And he eats all the lush high leaves that all the other dinosaurs can not reach. He grows Big and strong. A female Dinosaur herself quite tall. really finds this Macho Dinosaur quite elegant and strong. The two do the hokey kokey and lots of large tall dinosaurs enter the gene pool. I am sure female dinosaurs find hunkey massive Dinosaurs particularly attractive, like Weight lifters . Particularly if the female dinosaurs look cool ! Mike Picture of hunkey Dinosaurs http://www.rareresource.com/images/dino_relatives/types_dino.jpg .I think this one is of the apatosaurus variety . Which sort of stacks up with the picture here of the man against the apatosaurus shown here Not sure what those things on their heads are ? Edited May 25, 2014 by Mike Smith Cosmos
Mike Smith Cosmos Posted May 26, 2014 Author Posted May 26, 2014 Surely, if one of the dinosaurs is just bigger than the rest by variation and/or mutation . And he eats all the lush high leaves that all the other dinosaurs can not reach. He grows Big and strong. A female Dinosaur herself quite tall. really finds this Macho Dinosaur quite elegant and strong. The two do the hokey kokey and lots of large tall dinosaurs enter the gene pool. I am sure female dinosaurs find hunkey massive Dinosaurs particularly attractive, like Weight lifters . Particularly if the female dinosaurs look cool ! Mike I think clues must be present in the oceans, even now where Huge Whales have grown to immense size .
dimreepr Posted May 27, 2014 Posted May 27, 2014 I think clues must be present in the oceans, even now where Huge Whales have grown to immense size . Aquatic mammals seem to be split into two major groups, the baleen and the toothed. The baleen feed on planktonic creatures and the toothed feed on larger marine creatures, such as fish, squid and the like. Plankton it would seem is a never ending supply of food in our oceans; given this and the reduced gravitational influence that water provides, the extra supply of food would encourage greater size, rather than greater population, as is the case on land. The toothed mammals tend towards intelligence rather than size as a means to maintain population.
Mike Smith Cosmos Posted May 27, 2014 Author Posted May 27, 2014 (edited) Aquatic mammals seem to be split into two major groups, the baleen and the toothed. The baleen feed on planktonic creatures and the toothed feed on larger marine creatures, such as fish, squid and the like. Plankton it would seem is a never ending supply of food in our oceans; given this and the reduced gravitational influence that water provides, the extra supply of food would encourage greater size, rather than greater population, as is the case on land. The toothed mammals tend towards intelligence rather than size as a means to maintain population. So would that infer that the giant sized dinosaurs , ( like the monster shown above ) were likely to be plant eaters ( herbivores) and the predation (carnivores ) would be small and agile dinosaurs.? Edited May 27, 2014 by Mike Smith Cosmos
Mike Smith Cosmos Posted May 28, 2014 Author Posted May 28, 2014 (edited) . All this talk of Dinosaurs Now look what you have done Mable ! Ohh! ! Ps. I yesterday went to Ladram Bay on the Jurassic Coast . East Coast Devon . U. K. I went on my scooter, and pulled in on woodleigh moor above budleigh salterton to a car park. It said " you are standing on 200,000,000 year old pebbles, pebble bed of a river from the times of the dinosaurs . I picked one up . Here it is , from 200 million years ago on a dried up river bed from dinosaur times , in my hand . . Mike Edited May 28, 2014 by Mike Smith Cosmos
Mike Smith Cosmos Posted May 29, 2014 Author Posted May 29, 2014 (edited) . All this talk of Dinosaurs I sought refuge in a row boat , behind a large rock , stack , in Ladram bay on the Jurassic Coast . Illustrated here I contemplated here , how years and years ago this chunk of rock was near to the Thesis sea , probably much nearer the equator then , as dinosaurs roamed these rocks. Long since forced north by the African plate pushing the Eurasian plate , and all countries attached much further northwards. Now here I am arc, I am talking to the two lads in their canoes , in my little Row boat behind the stack , painting and taking refuge at sea . Will I survive the attack of the Dinosaurs ? Mike Edited May 29, 2014 by Mike Smith Cosmos
Mike Smith Cosmos Posted September 5, 2014 Author Posted September 5, 2014 (edited) EVEN BIGGER STILL [ Ancient Beast - Dinosaur ] DiSCOVERED Link Thanks to U3A administrator Exeter careof the Guardian :- http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/sep/04/battleship-beast-colossal-dinosaur-skeleton-found-patagonia-argentina-dreadnoughtus-schrani Found in Pategonia . far South America ;;; Where did they get all that calcium to produce all those bones ? They must have been chewing at some white cliffs somewhere ! Exposed cretaceous sedimentary rock ? Or maybe the sediment was still in a ' Gloup ' form. Maybe they drank it like some 'super indigestion medicine for growing dinosaurs.' [The Mesozoic times of the Dinosaurs being from the Triassic , Jurassic, Cretaceous periods , ending at the end of the Cretaceous with the end of the Dinosaurs. K-T boundary K = Cretacious T = Tertiary 65 million years ago ] Maybe it was not an asteroid that got the Dinosaurs ! They just Over Dosed on Calcium carbonate gloup ! mike Edited September 5, 2014 by Mike Smith Cosmos
wisejanesm Posted October 2, 2014 Posted October 2, 2014 It is possible that millions of years ago, Earth's gravity was weaker. Therefore, dinosaurs were large.
Mike Smith Cosmos Posted October 23, 2014 Author Posted October 23, 2014 (edited) It is possible that millions of years ago, Earth's gravity was weaker. Therefore, dinosaurs were large.Interesting idea , but not sure there is any evidence, other than what you propose ,with the Dinosaurs. You could look for other evidence of less gravity , maybe you will make a discovery. Here is a case for more influence in the past for UGLINESS ! An UGLY dinosaur has been discovered with unsightly hands :- see link :- http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/oct/22/bizarre-dinosaur-reconstructed-deinocheirus-mirificus care of The Guardian Mike Edited October 23, 2014 by Mike Smith Cosmos
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