39 replies to this topic

[draconic chronicler]

It has everthing to do with the formation of the skull and other structures.  Mosasaurs have a skull very similar to snakes, which is why paleontologists think they could be their ancestors.  There are several species of lizards that have "lost" their legs and do look a lot like snakes, but they are true lizards.

[Daughter of the Nine Moons]

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That's not a snake, so doesn't dispute the Mosasaur to snake theory.

Never said it was a snake draconic chronicler.  It is an ajolote (see my previous post for the description)

[draconic chronicler]

But wasn't the point of the post  to lend credence the the theory that snakes once had legs?  It is a mute point anyway, because one could argue that the mososaurs once had "legs".  My point was only that by the time they evolved into snakes, those appendages had already developed into flippers millions of years earlier.

[Daughter of the Nine Moons]

Nope, the point of the post was that Denzanrom mentioned a picture in the gallery, and I posted the pic for easy access

[Conspiracy]

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All that is fake

bible doesnt count

[draconic chronicler]

It is unfortunate how many Christians cling to some of the silliest and unsupportable Biblical myths, like "God" taking away the snakes legs as punishment for Eden.  This is about as realistic as kiplings story of how "Mr. Crocodile stretched Elephant child's nose into the first elephant's trunk".  For intelligent people who believe in God certain Biblical stories must be regarded as "mythology".  Not only from a scientific standpoint, such as the truth behind snakes and their legs, but also from a historical standpoint in that it is unquestionable that the Eden story saw its origins in a much earlier Eden story in Sumerian pagan religion. And we also see a snake tricking Gilgamesh out of his eternal life, and this story is much earlier than the bible.

[Accident]

um.. snakes + legs = Lizards......

[FrothyDog]

where do the two kinds of sea snakes fit into all of this?

[sourpatchkid]

just to be tool, I wanted to point out to the couple of you who used the term: there is no such thing as "Devolving" or de-evolving, to say that assumes that the creature has reached its evolutionary peak and is not working against the laws of nature to become less adaptive to its environment.

[Vidgange]

I'm rather interested in this due to the fact that we here up in Scandinavia got a mythological creature called the "lindorm", or as i imagen the english word must be "lindworm" since "orm" means snake/serpent. These creatures are said look like bigger snakes but have forearms with claws... You see why it's so fascinating?

EDIT: I forgot to say that as they grow bigger they get a harder time moving around on land and therefore escapes down in the water where they continue to grow (and could explain the lack of ecivence suck as bones)...

Edited by Vidgange, 18 November 2005 - 11:38 AM.

[draconic chronicler]

The trouble with identifying dragons as non-supernatural creatures to justify all of the dragonslaying legends, is that if any were really killed, their skins and bones would be worth a fortune and people would flock to see them displayed in a church associated with a legendary saint, which would bring revenue from pilgrims.  This is why narwhale horns were so treasured, they were believed to have come from a unicorm.  Yes, there are some fossils found and displayed as dragon relics which made the chruches that had them very famous, such as the Klagenfurt Austria dragon, though this turned out to be a fossillized wooly rhino skull.

But there could be some kind of crypto sea serpent in the waters of scandanavia that started the lindwurm legends.  As you know there are some very reliable sightings, far more evidence than "nessie".

[Vidgange]

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But there could be some kind of crypto sea serpent in the waters of scandanavia that started the lindwurm legends.  As you know there are some very reliable sightings, far more evidence than "nessie".

No, I did not know this... I would appreciate if you could direct me to this eyewitness' or possible tell me a litle more about them?
   I know of two scandinavien lake "monsters" (really don't like calling them monsters though),  we got the monster in Storsjön (Great Lake) and the monster Selma in Norway (although I can't remember the lake now), and I gues there's quite a few of them in Finland - the land of of a thousand lakes...

[draconic chronicler]

I ran into a website dedicated just to the scandanavian sea serpents, water creatures.  There was really a lot of them.  I don't have the link anymore, but if I run across it I will let you know.  I thought I read once that the creatures were believed in so thoroughly that they were "protected".  I think there are laws like that for nessie too.

[Vidgange]

Yes, we had a law against hunting after Storsjöodjuret (or the Great Lake monster ), but this law was lifted awhile ago... Since there's no evidence of the creature they can't be protected by law they said... hrhrm...

[frogfish]

That picture is not a snake, it is a caecellian. Snakes ONCE DID have limbs...Pythons and boas, the most primitive of snakes have vestigial limbs (limbs that have diminished to nothing more than spurs) These were once legs. The most primitive snake, and oddball colubrid called the Sunbeam snake, even has vestigial forelimbs!