Dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures

[DoomRulz]

Dinosaurs are both reptiles and birds. Small theropods went on to evolve into birds but we still have the distinction between avian and non-avian dinosaurs.

[OmegaZilla]

Birds are feathered Reptiles according to cladistics anyway.

[Vertigo]

And us mammals are furry reptiles by the same reasoning. ;P

Anyway, as far as I'm concerned, a group of warm-blooded, pillar-legged, often feathery or bristly (potentially everything below a certain size/exterior temperature), highly active animals which gain more energy from breathing than chemical reaction, have skeletal air sacs, and in some cases wings, semi-bird-like brain structures and extensive childrearing behaviour, can't broadly be described as 'reptile'. Even the earliest dinosaurs have a sizeable number of non-reptile traits; the best you can say is that aspects of them are reptilian.
Oh dear. Pedantry levels reaching critical status. It's gonna blow, cap'n.

Anyway, you're in good company Doom. David Attenborough continually refers to dinosaurs as reptiles, and the Mesozoic as the 'age of reptiles', to the continual grinding of my teeth. And it's not wrong, 'reptile' isn't a phyletic term, it just grinds my gears. Takes me back to a time when scientists thought dinosaurs were lumbering incompetents destined for obsolescence and extinction. Don't tell any herpetologists I said that, though.

[DoomRulz]

Well technically, it was the Age of Reptiles because they were the ruling class of animals on the planet.

[Born Of Cold Light]

Do ancient hominids count?

Ardipithecus ramidus (possibly in the main human line, possibly not):



Homo habilis (first hominid to craft stone tools):



Sahelanthropus tchadensis (possibly the last species before the human and chimpanzee lines began to diverge):




Some interesting information:
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/12/30/what-learned-about-human-origins-in-2013/

[DoomRulz]

Do they count as what?

[Born Of Cold Light]

Do they count as what?

Prehistoric creatures for this thread.

[DoomRulz]

Yeah, sure they do. Prehistoric is defined as anything that existed prior to recorded history.

[Vertigo]

A new analysis has been performed on skin tissue from an icthyosaur (196 Ma, from England) and a mosasaur (86 Ma, from America), discovering traces of melanin - the pigment which creates a black colour in many modern animals, along with UV protection.

Bear in mind that this has only been tested on these two specimens (and a leatherback turtle) so far, but the upshot is, the icthyosaur was entirely black, and the mosasaur had a black upper side. It's unclear what colour the mosasaur's underside was, as no other pigments are preserved.

Purely my own speculation here, but if marine reptiles spent long periods of time at the surface to warm up and breathe while conserving energy, the need for the 'sunscreen' effect of melanin may have caused a majority of marine reptiles to have dark backs.


Anyway, full article, or here if you happen to have a subscription to Nature (in which case I'll be rather jealous).

[Xenodog]

A new analysis has been performed on skin tissue from an icthyosaur (196 Ma, from England) and a mosasaur (86 Ma, from America), discovering traces of melanin - the pigment which creates a black colour in many modern animals, along with UV protection.

Bear in mind that this has only been tested on these two specimens (and a leatherback turtle) so far, but the upshot is, the icthyosaur was entirely black, and the mosasaur had a black upper side. It's unclear what colour the mosasaur's underside was, as no other pigments are preserved.

Purely my own speculation here, but if marine reptiles spent long periods of time at the surface to warm up and breathe while conserving energy, the need for the 'sunscreen' effect of melanin may have caused a majority of marine reptiles to have dark backs.


Anyway, full article, or here if you happen to have a subscription to Nature (in which case I'll be rather jealous).

Awesome find. This simple discovery can tell us so much more than 'it was just black' and lead to a lot of interesting speculation.
Very interesting that Mosasaurs may have been black on the top side - perhaps like a great white shark?
Also that Icthyosaurs were all black. That coupled with very big eyes - very deep sea or nocturnal fishing?

[Vertigo]

Yup, great points there also. It's just these two particular animals for the time being though, there's no indication yet how widespread these traits were.

[DoomRulz]

A new analysis has been performed on skin tissue from an icthyosaur (196 Ma, from England) and a mosasaur (86 Ma, from America), discovering traces of melanin - the pigment which creates a black colour in many modern animals, along with UV protection.

Bear in mind that this has only been tested on these two specimens (and a leatherback turtle) so far, but the upshot is, the icthyosaur was entirely black, and the mosasaur had a black upper side. It's unclear what colour the mosasaur's underside was, as no other pigments are preserved.

Purely my own speculation here, but if marine reptiles spent long periods of time at the surface to warm up and breathe while conserving energy, the need for the 'sunscreen' effect of melanin may have caused a majority of marine reptiles to have dark backs.


Anyway, full article, or here if you happen to have a subscription to Nature (in which case I'll be rather jealous).

I remember reading that awhile back. It kinda scares me actually. I mean, dark waters, filled with giant, carnivorous marine reptiles...in black? Yikes.

[Requiem28]

A new analysis has been performed on skin tissue from an icthyosaur (196 Ma, from England) and a mosasaur (86 Ma, from America), discovering traces of melanin - the pigment which creates a black colour in many modern animals, along with UV protection.

Bear in mind that this has only been tested on these two specimens (and a leatherback turtle) so far, but the upshot is, the icthyosaur was entirely black, and the mosasaur had a black upper side. It's unclear what colour the mosasaur's underside was, as no other pigments are preserved.

Purely my own speculation here, but if marine reptiles spent long periods of time at the surface to warm up and breathe while conserving energy, the need for the 'sunscreen' effect of melanin may have caused a majority of marine reptiles to have dark backs.


Anyway, full article, or here if you happen to have a subscription to Nature (in which case I'll be rather jealous).

I remember reading that awhile back. It kinda scares me actually. I mean, dark waters, filled with giant, carnivorous marine reptiles...in black? Yikes.

Sounds like Sperm and Orca whales.  Which are creepy.

[Vertigo]

If your sperm is black then you might want to see a doctor.

[DoomRulz]

What if it means giving birth to awesomely strong babies?