BFFT's Dumb Question

I should know the answer, and im sure i've read on it at some point (or, would believe I have)....

....but dinosaurs evolved into birds eventually, as the current popular theory goes. But that only accounts for the body style of therapods. What about the 4 legged, non raptor type of dinosaur? what became of the sauropods?

is there evidence to indicate that they are the same general phylum?

On a side note, we seem to have a deficit of 2 legged land predators.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

….but dinosaurs evolved into birds eventually, as the current popular theory goes.

'Dino' skeletons resemble birds, imo were birds, just bigger and longer lived than todays descendants. The same is true of Alligators, Sharks, Porpoises, certain flora and some insects.

The worlds environment was far different, if Jaws grew to 50 feet, who's to say birds didn't also get proportionally larger, live longer?

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan

On a side note, we seem to have a deficit of 2 legged land predators.

Not really. We have over 6 billion of them.

Other than that, I thought most sauropods were thought to have died out rather than evolve.

a reply to: Liquesence

My issue may be not seeing the scale of time properly.

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

….but dinosaurs evolved into birds eventually, as the current popular theory goes.

'Dino' skeletons resemble birds, imo were birds, just bigger and longer lived than todays descendants. The same is true of Alligators, Sharks, Porpoises, certain flora and some insects.

The worlds environment was far different, if Jaws grew to 50 feet, who's to say birds didn't also get proportionally larger, live longer?

Which is my line of reasoning: are theropods essentially birds without beaks and rearward flight worthy wings, and sauropods are something else entirely?

I was under the impression that all non-avian dinosaurs became extinct 65 Mya.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

On a side note, we seem to have a deficit of 2 legged land predators.

Hoomans

a reply to: zazzafrazz

well...carnivorous predator is more like what im talking about.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

Have you read this? Where have all the Saurpods Gone?

a reply to: zazzafrazz

I have not...but that is just the kind of thing that i made this thread for.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

You've obviously never seen me eat steak.

Seriously though...This might help

www.sciencemag.org...

I think the meteor created a mass extinction event meaning most lines of dinosaur died, but a there was this one line ... at band camp ... that was small and bird-like and somehow survived like the ancestors of modern crocodilians did.

Generally, I think your best defense in those days was to either be very small or aquatic.

a reply to: ketsuko

The article that david posted make mention of the strength that the size diversity gave the raptors in the end.


What changed the extinction that drove increasingly smaller sizes in the fauna on Earth, I wonder?



Side note: i was reading up on the pronghorn the other day, and found that they are the fastest animal in our hemisphere. I would bet that they have slowed considerably in the last 8k years, but they developed their immense speed outrunning giant cheetahs, and now are so fast that no predators in the area can catch them.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

I suppose what I was getting at, more specifically, is that whatever (extinction-level) event happened (meteorite?) to kill off such a large number of reptiles, likely killed them. Due to environmental and atmospheric changes to the earth, most of the larger animals/creatures were unable to survive, whereas the smaller ones, some of which eventually evolved, did survive.

As far as time...65-80 million years ago-ish?

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

Pronghorn are fascinating critters and I believe if I remember correctly they're also our only true antelope.

a reply to: Liquesence

Yeah, i suppose its common sense: creatures who can make a meal from 2 grains of grass, or from a field mouse, likely would fare better than creatures needing to eat an entire canopy of leaves, or a 200lb serving of fresh meat.



On why mammals don't get to sauropod size, i found this interesting, informative tidbit:

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov...

a reply to: ketsuko

I was intersted to find that they actually are antelopes, and not deer. Never eaten one, so have no opinion on that, but they sure look like a deer.

I was also interested to find that deer are fairly closely related to cows, being from the bovidae family. Antelopes are more like giraffes. Which I can see.

Anyway, it was an interesting read about an animal i've seen mounted on a wall a million times, but knew nothing about.

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

….but dinosaurs evolved into birds eventually, as the current popular theory goes.

'Dino' skeletons resemble birds, imo were birds, just bigger and longer lived than todays descendants. The same is true of Alligators, Sharks, Porpoises, certain flora and some insects.

The worlds environment was far different, if Jaws grew to 50 feet, who's to say birds didn't also get proportionally larger, live longer?

Which is my line of reasoning: are theropods essentially birds without beaks and rearward flight worthy wings, and sauropods are something else entirely?

If we consider bone structure, the two legged 'dino' ancestors are 'hollow' like birds, light weight structure (for flight). Was T Rex a big bird? Some big birds are flightless today.

I think when it comes to therapods their bone structure was heavier, lending to supporting greater weight, like whales for instance.

Hollow bones for flight or…