Dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures

[DoomRulz]

Feathered Rexes are awesome.

[MrSpaceJockey]

Austroraptor's the biggest of them, on par with Achillobator, but they're a successful family that spans most of the Late Cretaceous. Unique to South America as far as good remains go, but there's a dromaeosaur foot from Antarctica which may be attributable, and Madagascan flier Rahonavis is often considered an unenlagiine too (it probably isn't).

So what was that about feathered Tyrannosaurs being ridiculous?


Make them natural like this and it doesn't happen; also, I'm glad this isn't another one where the thing is ripping something to shreds.

I love it when artists portray dinosaurs like this (properly, perhaps is the word?).  The completely natural feel to these creatures, plus the backgrounds that make me feel like I'm looking at a National Geographic photograph...mmm...

[Vertigo]

Feathered Rexes are awesome.

It used to bug me, because fuzzy tyrannosaurids are still a bit speculative, but having gotten used to the look, I really like them now.

On the subject of cool-looking tyfuzzosaurs in natural poses...











(Alright, those last two are definitely-fuzzy tyrannosauroid Yutyrannus.)

So what was that about feathered Tyrannosaurs being ridiculous?


Make them natural like this and it doesn't happen; also, I'm glad this isn't another one where the thing is ripping something to shreds.

I love it when artists portray dinosaurs like this (properly, perhaps is the word?).  The completely natural feel to these creatures, plus the backgrounds that make me feel like I'm looking at a National Geographic photograph...mmm...

So very agreed. I think about 90% of palaeo-art consists of theropods with their mouths wide open, either roaring at (or dispatching) their imminent dinner or standing around stiffly. Doesn't matter how well-illustrated this is, it usually makes me bored. I'll take a sleeping tyrannosaur over a hunting one any day of the week - and illustrations that focus on these less exciting life behaviours almost always show them in a more natural, plausible setting.

[DoomRulz]

This one scares the ever-loving shit out of me. It looks too realistic. Those eyes...

So very agreed. I think about 90% of palaeo-art consists of theropods with their mouths wide open, either roaring at (or dispatching) their imminent dinner or standing around stiffly. Doesn't matter how well-illustrated this is, it usually makes me bored. I'll take a sleeping tyrannosaur over a hunting one any day of the week - and illustrations that focus on these less exciting life behaviours almost always show them in a more natural, plausible setting.

There was a fascinating blog post on that very subject I read about a year or so ago which talked about the tendency in paleo-art to show predators always behaving like that. The rebuttal to show more natural hunting methods was a carnosaur hunting at night. It was very simple; nighttime in a forest, the background is almost pitch-black, two sauropods are on the left, and one carnosaur on the right, mouth closed. Their eyes were light up, a la night vision.

Also, I wish CollectA et al made more theropods with articulated mouths. The gaping jaws are so boring.

[Vertigo]

Mm. I think they actually look a lot cooler with their mouths closed, personally. Gives them more of a streamlined silhouette, and prevents them looking like dim-witted monsters.

With the nocturnal hunting, is this the one you're remembering?



Neovenator and a couple of rebbachisaurids, by Mark Witton (whose art I'm slightly in love with, used a couple in my last post). Turned me off when I first saw it, because there are so many pictures in which a theropod seems to have magically teleported into a herd of prey, but it makes sense when you realise it's black-and-white because it's illustrating nocturnal hunting.
Associated blog post is here.

[Born Of Cold Light]

Anyone else a fan of Dunkleosteus? It's one of my favorite animals from the pre-Trassic era. The thing is big and scary looking. Not to mention it's mouth is scary and badass looking.



http://orig05.deviantart.net/b040/f/2012/216/2/3/exhibited__tcg_dunkleosteus_by_mrxylax-d59rvqf.jpg

There were some incredibly creepy prehistoric sea monsters.  River Monsters had a special episode dedicated to them:

[DoomRulz]

Mm. I think they actually look a lot cooler with their mouths closed, personally. Gives them more of a streamlined silhouette, and prevents them looking like dim-witted monsters.

With the nocturnal hunting, is this the one you're remembering?



Neovenator and a couple of rebbachisaurids, by Mark Witton (whose art I'm slightly in love with, used a couple in my last post). Turned me off when I first saw it, because there are so many pictures in which a theropod seems to have magically teleported into a herd of prey, but it makes sense when you realise it's black-and-white because it's illustrating nocturnal hunting.
Associated blog post is here.

Yes! Thank you!! Figures you would have it, lol.

[OmegaZilla]

It used to bug me, because fuzzy tyrannosaurids are still a bit speculative, but having gotten used to the look, I really like them now.

I do support that 'secondarily featherless' theory for the larger, more distal species (Tarbosaurus et al). Who did propose it first?

In my opinion, they were either that or with a very partial feather covering; definitely not wholly feathered like Yutyrannus (skin impressions were from body places where Yutyrannus is feathered).

[Immortan Jonesy]

a dinosaur in a birds body seriously those things don't know theyre basically just horned turkey ostriches they think theyre still velociraptors o.0 

[MrSpaceJockey]

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2015/07/23/a-fossil-snake-with-four-legs/

[DoomRulz]

They look useless. What's a snake going to need legs for if it can constrict its prey?

[MrSpaceJockey]

Well that's why they lost the legs by modern times.  One could say that the legs on Tetrapodophis were pretty much becoming vestigial.

[Vertigo]

It used to bug me, because fuzzy tyrannosaurids are still a bit speculative, but having gotten used to the look, I really like them now.

I do support that 'secondarily featherless' theory for the larger, more distal species (Tarbosaurus et al). Who did propose it first?

I don't know who came up with it, but it's made plausible by a few things - first and foremost, scaly skin samples on several tyrannosaurid genera, as you mentioned. Unfortunately there's not the same drive to describe scaly skin, so none of them are particularly solid evidence - some of them are only second-hand references in other studies, others have been informally mentioned but not formally described, and I've seen cases in which hadrosaur skin is passed off as tyrannosaurid.

Anyway, secondly, there have been studies recently which suggest that avian scales are actually feathers, repressed and flattened at the first stage of development. It seems likely that most or all bird scales are secondarily developed, which matches the fossil record as some avialans and dromaeosaurids had feathers/fuzz right down to their feet.

And of course tyrannosaurids had very good reason to lose their fuzz - multi-tonne animals retain body heat with their sheer mass, so they don't need insulatory integument. Almost every tyrannosaurid genus was elephantine in mass, so the group clearly had adaptations specialising in gigantism.

Well that's why they lost the legs by modern times.  One could say that the legs on Tetrapodophis were pretty much becoming vestigial.

Apparently Tetrapodophis provides evidence that snakes evolved from burrowing lizards, so maybe they lost their limbs when they stopped needing to dig. I wonder if this guy still needed them to clear debris, or for whatever mating behaviour they had at that point. Or, as you say, maybe Tetrapodophis was just part-way to booting limbs out the door.

[MrSpaceJockey]

Vertigo, what's your opinion on which/whether dinosaurs had lips?  I am curious for drawing purposes.

[Vertigo]

It's a very controversial subject. Generally speaking, anything with giant upper jaw teeth that would extend well into the bottom half of the lower jaw when the mouth was closed, would have had exposed teeth (think Tyrannosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Dilophosaurus). Apparently there's also evidence that Apatosaurus' mouth didn't form a tight seal around the food, suggesting against the presence of lips. Ornithischians usually had beaks, but I think their teeth would have been hidden behind some form of cheek in many cases.

Small-toothed theropods seem to be open to speculation. I don't think you'll have anyone jumping down your throat whichever way you go, though a few researchers are pretty dead-set against lips for any dinosaur.