Dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures

[ikarop]

The spino illustration used in the exhibition's announcement is from 2011 actually.



There's even a statue made from it:



Not sure if anything has changed since then tho, some parts could have been reworked but I believe these things usually take years to get officially announced.

[Aspie]

nerdzzzzzzzz

[DoomRulz]

The spino illustration used in the exhibition's announcement is from 2011 actually.



There's even a statue made from it:



Not sure if anything has changed since then tho, some parts could have been reworked but I believe these things usually take years to get officially announced.

I find it interesting that the new weight of the animal is placed at six tons. That's definitely not more than T.Rex, though Spino would still be longer. Someone's going to have to rework the "King Placement", so to speak.

[Vertigo]

I believe these things usually take years to get officially announced.

Yeeeup. It's extremely common for new finds to become locked in palaeontological development hell waiting to be officially described in peer reviewed literature. There have been major Utahraptor discoveries sitting on a shelf for years, and (despite a couple of leaks) aren't likely to see the light of day any time soon. And that's just one particularly well-known example.
I have no idea how long Sereno etc. have taken between discovering and describing their Spinosaurus discovery, but it's perfectly possible that it dates before 2011.

Anyway, now we have Darren Naish saying the illustrations are inaccurate, so I guess we'll find out the truth in the next few weeks.
To me, that full illustration does look like it deviates from the low-res skeleton photograph in a few ways - lower jaw doesn't swell at the back, neck's too skinny towards the shoulders, sail's not in an M, arms look a bit too long and a bit too weak. Or maybe I just need my eyes tested.

(That model with humans for scale, by the way.)

[judge death]

I´m wondering if anyone here have this book and can tell if it is good or not:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/THE-ILLUSTRATED-ENCYCLOPEDIA-OF-DINOSAURS-AND-PREHISTORIC-ANIMALS-Palmer-Doug-/111202477866?pt=Antiquarian_Books_UK&hash=item19e42f272a

?

[ikarop]

To me, that full illustration does look like it deviates from the low-res skeleton photograph in a few ways - lower jaw doesn't swell at the back, neck's too skinny towards the shoulders, sail's not in an M, arms look a bit too long and a bit too weak. Or maybe I just need my eyes tested.

Yeah, that's a general issue with illustrations for official discoveries tho. You can't always fully trust a reconstruction until you see the actual skeleton and even then there will be differences depending on the author.

I just find it odd that they are apparently using an illustration from 2011 that is all over the net.

[P.Funkei]

The spino illustration used in the exhibition's announcement is from 2011 actually.



There's even a statue made from it:



Not sure if anything has changed since then tho, some parts could have been reworked but I believe these things usually take years to get officially announced.

I find it interesting that the new weight of the animal is placed at six tons. That's definitely not more than T.Rex, though Spino would still be longer. Someone's going to have to rework the "King Placement", so to speak.

I would be careful not to take that estimate as gospel. As of now, we are unaware of how they arrived at that mass estimate. Depending on the method used, mass estimates can vary wildly. Even the most accurate methods can deviate from actual mass by 20% when done on extant animals. I doubt this particular estimate will be the last word on the mass of Spinosaurus.

I´m wondering if anyone here have this book and can tell if it is good or not:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/THE-ILLUSTRATED-ENCYCLOPEDIA-OF-DINOSAURS-AND-PREHISTORIC-ANIMALS-Palmer-Doug-/111202477866?pt=Antiquarian_Books_UK&hash=item19e42f272a

?

I haven't perused the book you mentioned, but it is probably outdated by now since it is almost fifteen years old. In a field as dynamic as paleontology, publications like this can become outdated quickly. You could always inquire about the accuracy of said book at Ask A Biologist. 

[Gilfryd]

Thought this was neat -


http://ewilloughby.deviantart.com/art/Dinosaur-Classification-Simplified-430743575

[P.Funkei]

Willoughby's rendition of Tyrannosaurus is vaguely reminiscent of Saurian's Tyrannosaurus to me .

[DoomRulz]

I would be careful not to take that estimate as gospel. As of now, we are unaware of how they arrived at that mass estimate. Depending on the method used, mass estimates can vary wildly. Even the most accurate methods can deviate from actual mass by 20% when done on extant animals. I doubt this particular estimate will be the last word on the mass of Spinosaurus.

Yeah, I would imagine so. I seriously doubt that the estimates, even the more liberal ones, would exceed 11 tons. I was always highly skeptical of the 20 ton estimate.

[P.Funkei]

Interestingly enough, a few GDI estimates of T.rex mass hover around a weight of 9-10 tons for the largest individual, Sue.

[DoomRulz]

I've heard of the nine ton estimate. 10, eh? Damn, T.Rex is growing larger all the time. I hate to think of T.Rex as a fat ass, lol. I know it wasn't a speedy runner, but I still like to envision a semi-lean tyrant.

[P.Funkei]

Personally, I've thought of adult T. rex as being the ambush hunting beefcakes of the theropods ever since I learned that cursorial hunting is probably an untenable hypothesis.

Although of course, something to note about Sue's weight of 9-10 tons is that it is an outlier. The PLoS ONE paper in the second link stated that "adult T. rex had body masses around 6000–8000 kg, with the largest known specimen ("Sue") perhaps ~9500 kg.". So Sue may very well be an extreme case here. Sue is, after all, the largest individual we have found.

[DoomRulz]

I've grown up with the idea that T.Rex weighed up to 7 tons, on average at least.

Let's assume for the moment that Spinosaurus really did weigh 6 tons. I see the new size list going like this.
1. Carcharodontosaurus
2. T.Rex
3. Spinosaurus
4. Giganotosaurus
5. Mapusaurus

[Vertigo]

Spinosaurus is still the big dog, as far as I've heard. Where'd you find the six ton estimate, Doom?