Dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures

[Immortan Jonesy]

Such a classic!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlaXIRTjNfo

Oh so there's a whole 9 minute film? Don't think I've actually ever seen it before.

And after watching the raptor clip a couple times I wonder if Sam Neill actually took inspiration from it when having his talk with the kid at the start of Jurassic Park.

21:49 (update the video), and yeah...looks very similar to Alan's description indeed. 

[Crazy Rich]

Pretty well made for the time actually, sort of even gives you a glimpse of what Jurassic Park could of been because stop-motion was what they were going to do initially before ultimately deciding on CGI.

Actually also reminds of this old book that's even more outdated than the stop-motion film now that I adored in kindergarten (couldn't read but loved the pictures), it was actually my second year of kindergarten because first year was at a different school with a more cruel teacher that gave me problems as someone with autism, parents got pissed off with them and I started another year at another school, the teacher there was far more compassionate and nurturing and as I'm told even took the initiative to learn about autism.

Many many years later when I'm "graduating" public school and progressing to high school she actually caught up with me (she was actually asking about my progress throughout public school) and she gave me a graduation gift, that exact same copy of the dinosaur book with a nice letter written inside, Dinosaurs by John Man (published by Bison Books, 1988 reprint) and to this very day I hold on to it as it has immense sentimental value.

[Immortan Jonesy]

Wow, she sounds like the best teacher in the universe. What a great person.

[Crazy Rich]

Looking through it now actually it's not that as outdated as it does actually talk about the "traditional" image of T-rex being modified from a tail dragged along the ground to a tail held above the ground.

And yea she was probably one of the best teachers I ever had and likely responsible for setting me on a better path at a time in my early life when few people thought I'd have a decent future, a lot of people at the time believed I would just never get anywhere in life and be more or less a "retard" all my life.

Now at 31 though it's evident I was severely underestimated.

[OmegaZilla]

You mean the T.Rex pups?

No I mean the adult. You have to watch it in good 1080p to see it (and AppleTV doesn't help; it's a 720p maximum for non-Mac users), but there is sparse feathering on the dorsum of neck and back, the same way an elephant has sparse hair all over the body.



This is an excellent amalgamation of all theories regarding Tyrannosaurus integument, and is one I've ascribed to for some time - considering phylogeny, body heat shedding, and fossil record. This is where my 6 years of Biology degree come in handy!

Here is an interesting read for you about how the bigger the animal, the harder to have big fluff. Prehistoric Planet does have fluffier big animals and that does puzzle me, but then again there are different solutions to the same problems, and the way they're portrayed works (Deinocheirus has an amphibious lifestyle, for example, so the excessive heat is solved by staying in the water).

[Immortan Jonesy]

I'll read it later, thanks. Btw...is there any representation of T. Rex better than this according to you? Also, how about Nanuqsaurus? (episode 4) Do you think a fluffy tyrannosaurid in a frozen environment would be unlikely?

[OmegaZilla]

I'll read it later, thanks. Btw...is there any representation of T. Rex better than this according to you?

I did recently work on a 3d gig for a museum and we used a similar design to this, only it lacked lips. The lips/no lips question is currently unanswerable without margin of error, so both looks are fine (as long as they are researched).

Another VERY good rex is Victoria here (forgot who did this for the exhibits, but it does the rounds sometimes; it's based on Victoria, an almost complete specimen):




I personally prefer how they went with the lips on this one, more hippo-like (thicker). And the animations done with this girl are some of the best I've seen...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8vyD7QyEwo&ab_channel=BrandonNguyenGLG

[Immortan Jonesy]

I thought that when people didn't like lips it's because of the Hollywood monster bias, I see that I was wrong, I think. Good job 

[OmegaZilla]

I thought that when people didn't like lips it's because of the Hollywood monster bias, I see that I was wrong, I think. Good job 

the hyperfixation on the lipped look is indeed a hyper-response to the popularity of the JP look yeah

[Immortan Jonesy]

I thought that when people didn't like lips it's because of the Hollywood monster bias, I see that I was wrong, I think. Good job 

the hyperfixation on the lipped look is indeed a hyper-response to the popularity of the JP look yeah

What do you think of the current Spinosaurus paradigm? Do you think the current restoration is accurate?

'Cause man this dude sure has a lot of shapes...

[OmegaZilla]

What do you think of the current Spinosaurus paradigm? Do you think the current restoration is accurate?

I worked on Spino actually, my very first animation for the museum gig. We talked a lot with my supervisor and obviously the new Spino look is gonna clash with the big theropod fans, the JP3 Spino fans and the likes.

We obviously don't know everything and the paradigm may shift in the future, but it's pretty clear from the osteological correlates (the fish-trap mouth, the newt-like tail) that Spinosaurus was a dinosaur trying to be a crocodile, so the current reconstruction reflects that very well.

What is missing from the puzzle is the manus (the hand) and osteological analyses of it. There are nondescript findings of the manus, but no papers for now. Depending on the manus we'll be able to accurately say whether or not Spinosaurus was quadrupedal on land or not. The rest is pretty clean cut really...

[Immortan Jonesy]

What do you think of the current Spinosaurus paradigm? Do you think the current restoration is accurate?

I worked on Spino actually, my very first animation for the museum gig. We talked a lot with my supervisor and obviously the new Spino look is gonna clash with the big theropod fans, the JP3 Spino fans and the likes.

We obviously don't know everything and the paradigm may shift in the future, but it's pretty clear from the osteological correlates (the fish-trap mouth, the newt-like tail) that Spinosaurus was a dinosaur trying to be a crocodile, so the current reconstruction reflects that very well.

What is missing from the puzzle is the manus (the hand) and osteological analyses of it. There are nondescript findings of the manus, but no papers for now. Depending on the manus we'll be able to accurately say whether or not Spinosaurus was quadrupedal on land or not. The rest is pretty clean cut really...

The dude just wanted to perform convergent evolution  😜

[Jason Todd Voorhees]

Dont know if anyone posted this due to the long thread but yeah they confirmed Rex having feathers is unreasonable.

Well yes...

▶The research dispels theories that the fearsome dino boasted a feathery plume

But it wasn't entirely unreasonable, since some early relatives had feathers...and T.Rex was well...a giant Coelurosaurs and not belonging to the Carnosauria / Ceratosauria group.

Science is a tricky subject with extinct animals especially between ancestries.

I for one knew always commented that a feather rex wasnt logical due to its established climate.

[Immortan Jonesy]

https://twitter.com/NYTScience/status/1551586521349865472

[Immortan Jonesy]

A dinosaur being an honorary member of the king of Norway's guard...if that's not historical, I don't know what is.