26 replies to this topic

[TroodonMan56]

Hi, y'all! So, I was just now wondering whether it was possible for a lizard to become fully bipedal, like a theropod dinosaur. I'm not just talking about running on 2 legs for short distances to escape predators, or anything like that. I'm talking about full bipedalism. The reason why I asked this question is because I read a sighting report online of an 18-year-old and his grandfather seeing an animal resembling a featherless Velociraptor, while out hunting for deer at night. It was described as looking "lizard-like". Therefore, I was wondering if a highly-evolved, bipedal species of lizard could be behind that sighting.

So, does the anatomy of lizards permit them to evolve full bipedalism, reminiscent of the theropod dinosaurs? And also, is it possible for a lizard to evolve warm-bloodedness, as well? Thanks!

Edited by TroodonMan56, 23 January 2013 - 05:14 AM.

[Clobhair-cean]

While many lizards are capable of running bipedally, and there is no reason why bipedal locomotion could not evolve in lizards, this story is still weird. Lizards aren't nocturnal because they need the heat of the sun to keep them going (outside of desert climates, where there are a few nocturnal species), so seeing one at night would be nigh impossible.

[tyrant lizard]

I'm pretty sure lizard's legs come out of the side of their bodies, while raptors and other bipedal dinosaurs legs' came out of the bottom of their bodies. I suppose it would be possible to evolve like that, but they'd all be walking around like Charlie Chaplin...

[Abramelin]

TroodonMan56, on 23 January 2013 - 05:14 AM, said:

Hi, y'all! So, I was just now wondering whether it was possible for a lizard to become fully bipedal, like a theropod dinosaur. I'm not just talking about running on 2 legs for short distances to escape predators, or anything like that. I'm talking about full bipedalism. The reason why I asked this question is because I read a sighting report online of an 18-year-old and his grandfather seeing an animal resembling a featherless Velociraptor, while out hunting for deer at night. It was described as looking "lizard-like". Therefore, I was wondering if a highly-evolved, bipedal species of lizard could be behind that sighting.

So, does the anatomy of lizards permit them to evolve full bipedalism, reminiscent of the theropod dinosaurs? And also, is it possible for a lizard to evolve warm-bloodedness, as well? Thanks!

This is what I remember, but I don't know if it's about the same:

The "Arica Monster" from Chile:

Witnesses describe a run in with huge kangaroo-like, bipedal monster in the deserts of northern Chile. The sightings have occurred by people who were traveling by car on different days through the remote road that links the cities of Iquique and Arica through the Atacama desert, some 2,000 kilometers north of Santiago, Chile. The newspapers in those cities collected recent accounts from citizens who claim to have seen the rare creatures. In addition, a military officer named Hernan Cuevas says that he spotted two of the beasts while traveling with two other adults and two children in a vehicle. He was quoted as seeing, "a huge beast, much like a two-legged dinosaur, with huge thighs."

http://www.syfy.com/...s/arica_monster

I can't find it right now, but if I remember it right, the 'beast' was the size of an ostrich.

And yes, the witnesses knew the South American 'ostrich', the nandu (Rhea pennata). These birds don't have a heavy tail like a kangaroo has.

.

Edited by Abramelin, 23 January 2013 - 10:50 AM.

[RingFenceTheCity]

TroodonMan56, on 23 January 2013 - 05:14 AM, said:

Hi, y'all! So, I was just now wondering whether it was possible for a lizard to become fully bipedal, like a theropod dinosaur. I'm not just talking about running on 2 legs for short distances to escape predators, or anything like that. I'm talking about full bipedalism. The reason why I asked this question is because I read a sighting report online of an 18-year-old and his grandfather seeing an animal resembling a featherless Velociraptor, while out hunting for deer at night. It was described as looking "lizard-like". Therefore, I was wondering if a highly-evolved, bipedal species of lizard could be behind that sighting.

So, does the anatomy of lizards permit them to evolve full bipedalism, reminiscent of the theropod dinosaurs? And also, is it possible for a lizard to evolve warm-bloodedness, as well? Thanks!

(i) There's no biological reason why a lizard couldn't evolve full bipedalism. The frilled lizard can run on two legs and the Jesus Christ lizard can run on water!



(ii) I imagine if a lizard species had an easy supply of high energy food then it could evolve to move around at night and not be so dependent on sunlight for temperature regulation.

(iii) Do you have a link to the 18 year-old's cryptid sighting at all?

Edited by Rewlahool, 23 January 2013 - 02:38 PM.

[Abramelin]

Rewlahool, on 23 January 2013 - 02:36 PM, said:

(iii) Do you have a link to the 18 year-old's cryptid sighting at all?

The Arica Monster was first spotted at the Atacama desert in Chile 1980.

http://www.primalcar...=4516&view=next

And here it was spotted in 2004:

http://s8int.com/phile/dino44.html

Plus some earlier reports from North America, but nothing 18 years ago, like TroodonMan56 said.


August 28 2004 at 12:08pm

Authorities in Chile are puzzled after a number of motorists reported seeing strange creatures resembling dinosaur kangaroos.

According to UOL Noticias Populares, the reports describe creatures more than two metres tall on a road north of Santiago.

http://www.iol.co.za...-chile-1.220570

[RingFenceTheCity]

He said "...an 18-year-old and his grandfather seeing an animal resembling a featherless Velociraptor, while out hunting for deer at night" which sounded a different location to the Chile encounters you link to. (NB: not 18 years ago)

Edited by Rewlahool, 23 January 2013 - 03:19 PM.

[Abramelin]

Rewlahool, on 23 January 2013 - 03:17 PM, said:

He said "...an 18-year-old and his grandfather seeing an animal resembling a featherless Velociraptor, while out hunting for deer at night" which sounded a different location to the Chile encounters you link to. (NB: not 18 years ago)

LOL, you are right.

But I also mentioned earlier reports from North America (Colorado and Tennessee).

Edited by Abramelin, 23 January 2013 - 03:27 PM.

[The New Richard Nixon]

Not this again

[Abramelin]

The New Richard Nixon, on 23 January 2013 - 03:39 PM, said:

Not this again

Why? Did someone start a thread about this in the past?

[PersonFromPorlock]

Abramelin, on 23 January 2013 - 03:21 PM, said:

LOL, you are right.

But I also mentioned earlier reports from North America (Colorado and Tennessee).

Not sure about that picture: at a guess, he's holding up 15-20 pounds of meat and he's just not braced the way he should be to counterbalance the weight. Also, the critter ought to be hanging straight down from his hand but there's not much bend at all in the neck. I suspect a Photoshop job. The shadow on the rock is a nice touch, though.

[TroodonMan56]

Rewlahool, on 23 January 2013 - 02:36 PM, said:

(iii) Do you have a link to the 18 year-old's cryptid sighting at all?

Yes, I do. The sighting was in the U.S. state of Georgia, and it occurred at 3:30 AM on Friday, July 25, 2008. Here is the link: http://www.paranorma...s_09_04_15t.htm

[TroodonMan56]

By the way, I'm not talking about the Arica Monster in Chile. The creature I'm talking about was seen in the state of Georgia, in the United States.

Edited by TroodonMan56, 23 January 2013 - 11:35 PM.

[TroodonMan56]

By the way, in my opinion, that picture of a guy holding up a dead lizard carcass is probably a hoax.

Edited by TroodonMan56, 23 January 2013 - 11:36 PM.

[Abramelin]

PersonFromPorlock, on 23 January 2013 - 10:22 PM, said:

Not sure about that picture: at a guess, he's holding up 15-20 pounds of meat and he's just not braced the way he should be to counterbalance the weight. Also, the critter ought to be hanging straight down from his hand but there's not much bend at all in the neck. I suspect a Photoshop job. The shadow on the rock is a nice touch, though.

I posted it because that's what the OP made me think of, not that I believed it all.

Btw. I don't know how to handle a velociraptor or how it bends when you hold it in your hands. There are not many around here.

TroodonMan56, on 23 January 2013 - 11:31 PM, said:

By the way, I'm not talking about the Arica Monster in Chile. The creature I'm talking about was seen in the state of Georgia, in the United States.

Why didn't you say so from the start?