New Dinosaur 'Siats Meekerorum' Discovered In Utah

minty3 writes with word of the discovery of a new carnivorous dinosaur from a time when T-Rex's ancestors were the size of small dogs "Named Siats meekerorum, after the man-eating monster from the Ute tribal legend, the fossil belongs to a species of giant meat eaters known as carcharodontosaurs and is the second one discovered in North America. 'This thing is gigantic,' Lindsay Zanno, a paleontologist at North Carolina State University, who discovered the species, said. 'There's simply nothing even close in this ecosystem to the size of this animal that could've been interpreted as an apex predator.'"

Comments

CUTE!

[ColdWetDog]

I dunno.

I'm finding it hard to get scared by fuzzy dinosaurs. I mean, look at that picture. So soft and cuddly. You want to pet it.

I don't think even Randall would be impressed.

Re:CUTE!

[flyneye]

Just think of it as a petting zoo where YOU feed the animals.
In a way,reminiscent of the Restaurant at the end of the universe where the Beef takes your order .
I would hope it to evolve to pizza parlors with cold beer on tap.

Re:CUTE!

[laejoh]

The bloody thing did all its programming in COBOL, isn't that sufficient enough to hate IT???

Re:CUTE!

[Anonymous Coward]

IT'S A KITTY!!!

how about a page without login?

[ganjadude]

this is first day stuff people, dont make me sign up to a page just to view an article, and dont use that article for the summary. Find a link that "just works"

here you guys go http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/5036/20131122/siats-meekerorum-new-carnivorous-dinosaur-species-kept-t-rex-check.htm

Re:how about a page without login?

[thegarbz]

Huh what logon? Wait you don't browse the the web without noscript do you?

Though I agree, this is actually a dick move. I fired the page up in another browser and it won't let you bypass it at all. Very VERY average from a media company like National Geographic which I actually respect somewhat.

Re:how about a page without login?

[93 Escort Wagon]

So that little "X" up in the upper right corner of the pop up window didn't do it for you?

I read the story without having to register. They made it simple to close the "we'd like you to register" pop up - I've got no complaints about the site.

Re:how about a page without login?

[Anonymous Coward]

So that little "X" up in the upper right corner of the pop up window didn't do it for you?

Pop up window?! Are we still in the 90s?

If the first time I go to a site to browse something and it showed me a pop up window, I will close the tab and never visit that site again.

Re:how about a page without login?

[Espectr0]

if you have visited the site before it won't allow you to close the window and forces you to create an account or login

Ironic, Utah doesn't believe in dinosaurs!

[Anonymous Coward]

Always like when evolution enforcing finds are found in Utah.

Re:Ironic, Utah doesn't believe in dinosaurs!

[Anonymous Coward]

LOL!!! Your "straw man" argument doesn't work.

Re:Ironic, Utah doesn't believe in dinosaurs!

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm Mormon, and I think evolution is awesome. BYU houses a huge dinosaur bone collection too. We like dinosaurs. :D

Re:Ironic, Utah doesn't believe in dinosaurs!

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah... Mormons are cool with evolution.

Re:genuine equipment virgins still contesting

[Anonymous Coward]

I'LL HAVE WHAT HE'S HAVING!!!

Yay NSA!

[Anonymous Coward]

Mass Surveillance works for something in Utah.

Leaps of Imagination

[Toad-san]

It always amazes me, the staggering conclusions not just the media but the scientists themselves draw from such sketchy evidence.

Three-clawed, they say (as opposed to T-Rex's two) .. but with NO, repeat, NO hand bones. Not a trace of the head: do we even KNOW it's a carnivore?

Yeah, I know .. if you want to get published, you have to use a little imagination. Still ...

I submit that Siats probably would enjoy a nice tea and biscuit snack if he were still around.

Re:Leaps of Imagination

[Anonymous Coward]

but with NO, repeat, NO hand bones

They have bones from the hands and feet. There is a diagram in the Nature article, which doesn't require the subscription to see.

Not a trace of the head: do we even KNOW it's a carnivore?

The rest of the skeleton is incredibly similar to other carnivores. It is possible some side branch evolved back to not being a carnivore, but it is probably a pretty safe guess that this one didn't deviate that much. A drastic change in diet would be a bigger deal than a change in the number of digits.

Re:Leaps of Imagination

[93 Escort Wagon]

You must've missed the mention of a steak knife and bottle of A-1 that was also found with the skeleton.

Re:Leaps of Imagination

[ColdWetDog]

They assume that since it appears to be related to another dinosaur it looks like that other dinosaur.

Distinctive anatomic features on the bones mark Siats as a newly recognized type of predator called a neovenatorid, cousins of the earlier, well-known Allosaurus.

It would have been better if they admitted that they really have a time machine, but they aren't talking.

Re:Leaps of Imagination

[femtobyte]

After I finish a meal, there is sometimes a steak knife and a bottle of A-1 left with a skeleton. This is not generally a reliable indicator that said skeleton originally supported a carnivore.

Re:Leaps of Imagination

[Anonymous Coward]

Why do you wack-jobs even read Slashdot?

Re:Leaps of Imagination

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.ted.com/talks/jack_horner_shape_shifting_dinosaurs.html

Re:Leaps of Imagination

[Daniel Dvorkin]

Okay, tell you what: bury half a human skeleton in your yard, call the cops, and tell them you've found some interesting bones but you're not sure what they are. Be sure to let us know what happens next.

Re:Leaps of Imagination

[Anonymous Coward]

"Three-clawed, they say (as opposed to T-Rex's two) .. but with NO, repeat, NO hand bones."

It's an acrocanthosaur and allosaur. They all had 3 claws. Same for most of the theropods. I suppose this one could be an exception to the usual pattern, but in reality T. rex is the one that is unusual. It's more like "In the absense of evidence to the contrary, it probably had the normal number of claws for this group." The same is true for carnivory. All the known acrocanthosaurs and allosaurs with skull remains were carnivores, and most theropods were as well (a few were omnivores). Suprises are possible, but it's a reasonable prediction in both cases.

They don't hide the fact of what portions of the skeleton are preserved. It's there in the first illustration in the paper, and people are free to imagine that the parts that are unpreserved have whatever bizarre and completely unexpected anatomy they like. But until those remains turn up the proposed interpretation is a pretty reasonable hypothesis.

Re:Leaps of Imagination

[devent]

Because you have no clue how anatomy works?
We have thousands of fossils and skeletons of dinosaurs so we do know how the skeletons of those animals looks like. And it's not like every species is different, all Tetrapods following the same basic skeleton plan. Palaeontologist have enough knowledge and expertise to identify the species of a single bone correctly and if you can find some teeth you already know if it's a carnivore or herbivore.

It's basically Tetrapods>Reptiliomorpha>Amniota>Diapsida>Archosauromorpha>Archosauria>Dinosauria
http://tolweb.org/Dinosauria/14883

How would you fight him?

[Anonymous Coward]

If you and a Siats meekerorum were in Jurassic Park, and if you only had a few simple tools (no gun), how would you fight him?

It's a longshot, but all I can think of is to predict where he will run between two trees. Tie a rope between the trees, and lay it on the ground. Just before he gets there, raise the rope a couple of feet. Hopefully he'll trip over the rope, and injure his knees so badly that he can't run. His short arms wouldn't be able to break his fall very well.

Re:How would you fight him?

[femtobyte]

I would start by using my rope to tie up the idiot who decided to clone a gigantic top predator, put it in a half-assed cage, and invite me over to see a "surprise." Hopefully, while Mr. Meekeycheeks was eating the little snack I left tied up for him, I'll have time to position myself on the opposite side of something much larger, slower moving, and delicious looking.

Re:genuine equipment virgins still contesting

[Anonymous Coward]

Not sex...I hope.

misread as "SLats'

[cellocgw]

That way, the name sounds vaguely like a neighborhood bully in a Mike Royko column :-)

New dinosaurs?

[Pnarp]

They're still making new dinosaurs?!