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More Antarctic Dinosaurs
RockDoctor writes "The highly respected palaeontology journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica has published its December number for free access on the Web, with the headline paper concerning new discoveries of dinosaurs from Antarctica. (Paper here, PDF.) The first major part of these discoveries was made in 1991, when isolated bones of a sauropod (a relative of the Apatosaurus, formerly known as Brontosaurus) were found associated with a theropod (ancestor or cousin of Tyrannosaurus rex). The sauropod has been named Glacialisaurus hammeri (the reason for the genus name is obvious, and Professor Hammer led the field expeditions under 'extremely difficult conditions'). The herbivore was some 25 ft. long and weighed 4 to 6 tons; at the time of life, the area was between 55 and 65 degrees south, suggesting a climate similar to the Falkland Islands or Tierra del Fuego."
So that's where Jesus hid them all!
I'm ready to be modded down, now.
Those who believe the Internet is private,
find their privates are on the Internet.
Why did they change the name of the brontosaurus? I liked that name better.
Life is pain. Anyone who says differently is selling something.
When & why did we stop calling a brontosaurus a brontosaurus?
Next thing you'll tell me we only have 8 planets!
There is an image of the thing on this blog if you are interested. http://thedragonstales.blogspot.com/2007/12/hail-glacialisaurus-hammeri.html
ahm, how so? The Antarctic used to be in a warmer region so it should have all sorts of remnants on it.
Researchers have still to uncover this creature's habitat, but they did find the petrified parts of a corpse belonging to a rather large creature, which is referred to more commonly by its Latin name, Nix Quintis, as well as remains of another animal known as Distriae Berkeleyus; the latter was known to have been wiped out approximately sixteen million years ago due to the Netcraft epidemics, which gives us a rough idea as to how old Minix is.
A lean predator, Minix was known to be a vicious and somewhat egotistical creature, prone to fits of foaming anger and long diatribes, with which it used as a means to kill its prey.
While we do not yet know the full extent of Minix, it is well studied by previously found fragments, and today's discovery should present a far clearer picture in the years to come as it reveals its secrets.
Meanwhile, paradoxically, no trace has yet to be found of the species known as Bloatasaurus, or Vista Microsoftae. A large, slow-moving creature, this dinosaur was well known to have been a common victim of predatory attacks, and yet very few have been found. Archaeologist Steve Ballmer is heading the team searching for Bloatasaurus, though his peers still doubt his claims that "They're everywhere! It was the most popular friggin' beast alive!" Whether this creature actually existed still remains in doubt among some.
Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
Actually, the dinosaurs lived there before the continents moved to their current locations. It was quite a bit closer to the equator at that time, so whether or not the antarctic heating up is a good thing or a bad thing is still up in the air. Also, you seem to have switched your attacks from "global warming != bad" to "humans aren't causing it", which is somewhat confusing and makes your post harder to understand.
From the article...
"This was probably due to the fact that major connections between the continents still existed at that time, and because climates were more equitable across latitudes than they are today," Smith said.
Can we just go one discussion without bringing up global warming? While it's midly related, this is more about Pangaea and where Antarctica was 190 million years ago.
I prefer the traditional name for that Dino, thanks.
The name Brontosaurus strikes an image of a colossal behemoth that would crush you to paste if you got in its way.
Apatosaurus sounds like it should be serving you tea cakes.
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
Yeah, but then someone hired by Tonya Harding comes along and whacks it in the knees. It's not a pretty picture.
Hammeri Time
My, my, my, my dino hits me so hard
Makes me say oh my word
Thank you for proving me
With a mind to dig and two cold feet
Feels good when you know you're down
A superdope therapod from the oldtown
And I'm known
as such
And this is a beat uh you can touch
The sauropod has been named Glacialisaurus hammeri (the reason for the genus name is obvious, and Professor Hammer led the field expeditions under 'extremely difficult conditions')
Ave Molech Setting
The same mechanisms that are said to cause globabl warming today; CO2 levels for earth peaked in the triassic period at about 3000ppm (currently at 381ppm, under 300ppm pre-industrial revolution). The higher CO2 levels led to higher levels of water vapor, and the two together made earth a big greenhouse.
Reference
On a bit of a tangent, I saw an interesting documentary about four years ago where a group of scientists tried to deduce of all the things needed for life on earth, what would run out first. They came to the conclusion that CO2 levels would continue to fall, till Earth became incapable of supporting plant life, and as a result any higher life form.
Hear that, penguins?
Out!
How dare you be so modest!! You conceited bastard!!
It's a well-known fact that cows produce massive amounts of GHG's.
So just think how much global warming DINO FARTS would have produced!
Seriously, it's no wonder our ancestors never got a break until those polluting beasts kicked the bucket.
You make a very good point. Statistically it is unlikely that today's global temperature is "normal" for our epoch, and that normal baseline almost certainly has changed in the past 10's of millions of years and will continue to change on that same timescale into the future.
That said, the discussion and concern about "global warming" has nothing to do with what's "normal" for the planet. The concern is for effects that occur too quickly for our societies to adapt without massive disruption and accompanying economic collapse, famine, and war that might accompany such.
The planet doesn't care, and will be fine in the long run. It's we humans, and our civilization, that worry about survival.
Also, dinosaurs are cool.
Well that's why they found dinosaur *bones* and not living dinosaurs!
Duh...
Tesla was a genius. Edison however was a overrated hack who liked to torture puppies.
Actually no. The only reason we have ice at the poles is because we are coming out of an ice age. There have only been four known ice ages in the planets history and outside of these (which is the vast majority of the time) the planet, even at the poles and highest latitudes has been ice free.
The planet has ben changing from completely ice covered to completely ice free long before people ever showed up.
Tesla was a genius. Edison however was a overrated hack who liked to torture puppies.
The earth is what? Like hundreds of millions of years old? Only 10 million, okay, whatever...
The point is the same. Many upon many catastrophic events (HUGE earthquakes, volcanic events, great floods even, recorded by every civilization of the world) change lots of stuff. Plates in the earth move. Sometimes a lot. Antarctica is a moving target on a geological time scale.
A speaker at last month's conference on "South Atlantic Petroleum Systems", where Antarctica was the "elephant seal in the room which no one mentioned", summarised the prospectivity of Antarctica thus : "Don't drill on an Archean shield (East Antarctica); don't drill in an active volcanic island arc (West Antarctica/ Antarctic Peninsula) ; and for the remaining area, where there are real uncertainties about presence of and quality of source rocks, and the thermal history of the area to mature those source rocks, and the sediment sources to provide clastic reservoir rocks
It's your money. You have the hassle of organising it ; I'll do your wellsite geology. It'll be $1000/day if you're starting in the next 3 years, beyond that I'm not able to commit myself to a price, but it's likely to be higher.
Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"