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Post by Talira Greycrest on May 23, 2021 5:38:40 GMT
Just a recap on the rules that need to be followed by those visiting Isla Sorna. These rules have been put in place to ensure that all visitors have a safe and positive experience (I don't want anyone getting eaten or stepped on!)
1. Please respect the island's environment and its native inhabitants.
2. Unless given permission, please don't touch or feed the animals.
3. Stay with your tour group at all times (it's for your own safety)
4. No flash photography
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Post by Talira Greycrest on May 23, 2021 10:46:35 GMT
Let's start with my favourite dino and the one that's usually the first to come to mind when the word 'dinosaur' is mentioned: Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Pronunciation: Ty-ran-no-sore-us
Meaning of name: "Tyrant lizard". The species name, rex, means "king" in Latin.
Species: T. rex
Size: Between 12 and 14 metres long, between 4 and 6 metres tall and weighing up to 10 metric tonnes.
Family: Tyrannosauridae.
Diet: Carnivore.
First fossils found: Known from at least 50 individuals, including some almost-complete skeletons. First discovered by Arthur Lakes in Colorado in 1874. First partial skeleton discovered by American palaeontologist, Barnum Brown, in eastern Wyoming in 1900. Mr. Brown discovered a second partial skeleton in Montana in 1902. Named by American palaeontologist, Henry Fairfield Osborne, in 1905. "Sue", one of the largest and most complete specimens ever found, was discovered in South Dakota in August 1990 and currently stands in Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History. Whilst we don't know for certain if "Sue" is female, it's believed she died around the age of 28 and may have been killed by a parasitic infection from eating rotten meat.
Lived: 67 to 66 million years ago during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous in what is now the western, northwestern and midwestern United States.
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Post by "ROCK" the flamin'cowboy on May 23, 2021 11:07:50 GMT
6 metres tall is pretty creepy to come up against.
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Tix Mascot
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Post by Tix Mascot on May 23, 2021 12:14:35 GMT
Don't think it would be easy to esacpe them, either. How fast could they run?
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Post by Talira Greycrest on May 23, 2021 13:28:50 GMT
The maximum running speed for a human is around 45km/h. It's estimated that T-Rex could run at speeds of between 16 and 40km/h. If it ran any faster, it may have ended up with a broken leg. How fast a dino could move would obviously depend a lot on the size of the individual animal. One of the largest, Argentinosaurus, is estimated to have had a top speed of no more than 7km/h. Gallimimus, on the other hand, may have been able to sprint at speeds of more than 50km/h.
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Post by Talira Greycrest on May 24, 2021 4:16:35 GMT
Here's another of my personal favourite dinos....
Name: Stegosaurus
Pronunciation: Steg-oh-sore-us
Meaning of name: "Roofed lizard", because palaeontologists once thought that the plates on its back lay flat like tiles on a roof. We now know the plates stood upright in two alternating rows.
Species: S. stenops, S. ungulatus, S. sulcatus
Size: Depending on the species, measured between 7 and 9 metres long, 4.5 metres high and weighed between 5 and 7 metric tonnes.
Family: Stegosauridae.
Diet: Herbivore. Fed on low-growing vegetation.
First fossils found: Known from at least 80 individuals. First discovered by Arthur Lakes and H. C. Beckwith in the Morrison Formation of Colorado in 1877. S. stenops and S. sulcatus named in the same year by American palaeontologist, Othniel Charles Marsh. S. ungulatus named by Mr. Marsh in 1879. Palaeontologists are still unsure about the function of the plates, but it's been suggested they may have been used for protection, display or to regulate the animal's body temperature. The 1-metre-long spikes on the end of the tail were likely used for defense.
Lived: 155 to 150 million years ago during the Kimmeridgian and Tithonian stages of the Late Jurassic in what is now Portugal and the western United States.
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Post by Tix Mascot on May 24, 2021 11:25:30 GMT
The maximum running speed for a human is around 45km/h. It's estimated that T-Rex could run at speeds of between 16 and 40km/h. If it ran any faster, it may have ended up with a broken leg. How fast a dino could move would obviously depend a lot on the size of the individual animal. One of the largest, Argentinosaurus, is estimated to have had a top speed of no more than 7km/h. Gallimimus, on the other hand, may have been able to sprint at speeds of more than 50km/h. Wow, that's pretty fast! What about the velociraptors of Jurassic Park fame? Were they anything like we are meant to believe or have they been pimped up for the effect by the filmmakers?  |
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Post by Talira Greycrest on May 24, 2021 11:41:28 GMT
The maximum running speed for a human is around 45km/h. It's estimated that T-Rex could run at speeds of between 16 and 40km/h. If it ran any faster, it may have ended up with a broken leg. How fast a dino could move would obviously depend a lot on the size of the individual animal. One of the largest, Argentinosaurus, is estimated to have had a top speed of no more than 7km/h. Gallimimus, on the other hand, may have been able to sprint at speeds of more than 50km/h. Wow, that's pretty fast! What about the velociraptors of Jurassic Park fame? Were they anything like we are meant to believe or have they been pimped up for the effect by the filmmakers? Their size was definitely exaggerated. In real life, Velociraptor was nowhere near the size of those featured in Jurassic Park. Instead, they were covered in feathers and didn't stand much taller than a turkey. However, it's likely they were very fast, possibly able to sprint at speeds of up to 40km/h. |
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Post by Tix Mascot on May 24, 2021 11:44:32 GMT
Just like I suspected. We cannot trust the historical accuracy of the entertainment industry!  |
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Post by Talira Greycrest on May 24, 2021 12:35:36 GMT
In the Jurassic Park series, Velociraptor wasn't the only dino that was misrepresented. Dilophosaurus wasn't very well represented, either. Unlike the movie version, real Dilophosaurus were three metres tall, couldn't spit venom and didn't have a pop-up frill around the neck (though they did have a v-shaped crest on top of the head).
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Post by megadon on May 24, 2021 15:22:53 GMT
Interesting thread packed with cool facts. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, Talira Greycrest!  |
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Post by Talira Greycrest on May 25, 2021 6:19:34 GMT
Here's a dino that was relatively common in the US during the Late Jurassic.
Name: Camarasaurus
Pronunciation: Cam-ah-rah-sore-us.
Meaning of name: "Chambered lizard", due to the hollow chambers in its vertebrae.
Species: C. supremus, C. grandis, C. lentus
Size: Depending on the species, measured between 15 and 23 metres long, between 7 and 9 metres tall and weighing between 20 and 47 metric tonnes.
Family: Camarasauridae.
Diet: Herbivore. Fed on both high and low-growing vegetation.
First fossils found: Known from many specimens, the first of which was discovered by Oramel W. Lucas in the Morrison Formation of Colorado in 1877. C. supremus named in the same year by American palaeontologist, Edward Drinker Cope. C. grandis also named in 1877 by Othniel Charles Marsh. C. lentus named by Mr. Marsh in 1889.
Lived: 155 to 145 million years ago during the Kimmeridgian and Tithonian stages of the Late Jurassic in what is now the western United States.
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Post by Joey12 on May 25, 2021 6:23:24 GMT
I read about some having feathers before. At first I was surprised. I figured only the birds had feathers but we still have animals like the ostrich with feathers and can't fly. Even they look a bit prehistoric.
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Post by Talira Greycrest on May 25, 2021 8:08:10 GMT
Some non-avian dinos did have feathers which they probably used for display. The first birds appeared in China during the Oxfordian stage of the Late Jurassic, around 160 million years ago. Modern birds started to evolve during the Late Cretaceous. Thankfully, birds survived the massive extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous and are classed as avian dinosaurs.
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Post by Tix Mascot on May 25, 2021 14:16:42 GMT
When I was young, all dinosaurs were depicted in various shades of brown, green and grey. But now, science seems to think that they were a colourful gang, with much bright yellow and red, also in the feathers.
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