Shape-Shifting Dinosaurs by Jack Horner (TED Talk)

Great TED Talk about various dinosaurs that never actually existed but were only mistakenly recognized as unique, rather than belonging to another type. There have been a few ATS threads about various mislabeled dinos but this is Horner's own presentation on the matter.

Available here> TED Talks: Jack Horner: Shape-shifting dinosaurs


Horner starts by noting 12 primary types of dinosaurs




He then points out that young and juvenile dinosaur bones are more spongy than adult bones.

Using a Triceratops as a model he starts out with three ages of "triceratops", incorrectly named as different species of dinosaurs!



Then points out that the "adult triceratops" actually has spongier bone than adult dinosaurs (even though the skull is two meters long!

in comes the Torosaurus which is actually the full grown version! (although Horner thinks we should keep the triceratops name)




Three more dinosaurs were incorrectly identified when actually the same dinosaur (see what a benefit it is to cut these bones open!) : Dracorex (young); Stygimoloch (Juvenile); Pachycephalosaurus (adult).




Horner ends his talk showing there are actually only 7 primary types of dinosaurs instead of 12 as people currently believe.

It's a fun video to watch, well documented with examples of bone and skull shapes, and he goes into further depth that what I shared in the OP.

Horner's pretty funny too. Take a look - you can't go wrong with TED Talks.

Makes perfect sense, its a wonder the "Experts" didnt realise it sooner.
Young often look different to fully grown.....simple...well done.

Now maybe they can use their intelligence and work out what the survivors of the Dinosaurs evolved into, after 65 millions of years......

And none of this...they all died out rubbish!!!

Birds anyone? Crocodiles/Alligators anyone? Lizard Men anyone?

Why is it sooooo hard to consider.....

After All, we Humans are here? All from little rats type creatures, 65 millions of years ago.

Jeesh....

S&F absolutely brilliant.

Thanks.

Can't believe these beasts walked the earth.

Very intersting speech

He was also entertaining in some weird way

Good stuff. It goes to show how much more complex and and dominant a creature becomes the longer it survives.

I've always pondered the longevity of a dinosaur's life. Without a sense of time, along with the pre-conceived notion that our organs have a time limit, we wouldn't have a sense of death either. Wouldn't a creature continue to live and grow only until something else kills it (be it the environment or a bigger creature)?

reply to post by Dimitri Dzengalshlevi


interesting point - I have no idea how they could calculate the longevity/life span.
Concerning your mention of with a lack of knowledge of time... I point to the cows and nearly all animals of today. Pretty sure they have no concept of time.

Originally posted by Thermo Klein
reply to post by Dimitri Dzengalshlevi

 

interesting point - I have no idea how they could calculate the longevity/life span.
Concerning your mention of with a lack of knowledge of time... I point to the cows and nearly all animals of today. Pretty sure they have no concept of time.

I've put a lot of thought into this.

So my grand question on the subject is, to anyone, have you ever seen a wild animal die of old age? What I've noticed is that the older a wild animal, the higher on the food chain it becomes (ie, a buck vs a trophy buck).

In fact, I think domesticed life based on time is the cause of old-age death. People who die of old age, really only die because their generation's relevance has long since past and their existence becomes less relevant. I mean, yeah, there's such thing as disease that can cause death but just dying from "giving into" death seems to be the end for those who could not be killed by other means.

My point here relating to dinosaurs is that back then, it was primal living- kill or be killed. No sense of time or social progression, just surviving. I assume that in that situation, you'll stay alive as long as you survive.

as something totally unrelated, I just got 2,000 Flags!!

I love this site! So thankful for all the great information shared by the members here, including me