it *is* strange that none of the throwback lizards that are still around have the characteristic posture of the brontosaurus kind of dinosaur
it's enough to make you wonder if maybe the bones are being put together wrong (still).
why would only sea going beasties retain the shape? something that remained largely (ha!) the same for a solid 200m years has got to have some use. possibly its only valid in the sea, and the assembly of land based dinosaurs has been skewed by the earlier discovery of aquatic ones?
all the throwback lizards we've got hold pretty firmly to the low-and-musclebound alligator formation.
maybe it's more of a malthusian thing - the higher, physically, a beastie is, the easier it is to be seen, and therefore killed, by fast running, spear wielding little nasties.. ergo, more likely to be hunted to extinction.
perhaps the lower profile merely resulted in a lower likelihood of being seen (easier to hide in grass, swamps, etc).
much like this recently found mammal - it only comes out at night, and lives in a remote place, ergo, hard to see.
which I guess, does make me wonder - what happens when a) global satellite scanning is ubiquitous, b) with very high resolution (ie, mm), and c) you can run automatic identification software over it - get a bunch of computers to start auto-scanning the planet for new species? now -that's- gotta be a cool app to work on..
Re: anti-fogging glassnotabouthimDecember 6 2005, 16:26:41 UTC
more complicated = able to charge more for the idea *grin*
or, to quote Richard Feynman "If I could explain to you in five minutes what I got a nobel prize for, it wouldn't be worth a nobel prize, now would it?"
Comments 14
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but ok, just for you, here's a pic of a tiny brontosauraus..
( ... )
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it's enough to make you wonder if maybe the bones are being put together wrong (still).
why would only sea going beasties retain the shape? something that remained largely (ha!) the same for a solid 200m years has got to have some use. possibly its only valid in the sea, and the assembly of land based dinosaurs has been skewed by the earlier discovery of aquatic ones?
all the throwback lizards we've got hold pretty firmly to the low-and-musclebound alligator formation.
Reply
perhaps the lower profile merely resulted in a lower likelihood of being seen (easier to hide in grass, swamps, etc).
much like this recently found mammal - it only comes out at night, and lives in a remote place, ergo, hard to see.
which I guess, does make me wonder - what happens when a) global satellite scanning is ubiquitous, b) with very high resolution (ie, mm), and c) you can run automatic identification software over it - get a bunch of computers to start auto-scanning the planet for new species? now -that's- gotta be a cool app to work on..
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or, to quote Richard Feynman "If I could explain to you in five minutes what I got a nobel prize for, it wouldn't be worth a nobel prize, now would it?"
heh, I love that guy.
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