102 replies to this topic

[Twisted]

Allosaurus_Stegosaurus

[Twisted]

Deinonychus

[frogfish]

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giganotosaurus_vs_argentinosaurus

That is actually an amaragasaurus. The Argentinosaurus are in the background.


Rugops Primus.

[Pilgrim_Shadow]

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Hey froggy.

What's that Dinosaur that spits venom in your face like a cobra! Post a pic if you got one!

I realize we have already had the art of the day, but I just thought I'd sneak in this request.

Dilophosaurus, the animal, was real. What Frogfish meant was that it did not have a frill and it did not spit venom. It was, in fact, much larger than shown in the film (15 feet at the shoulder) and was the top predator of its environment. The jaws are weak compared to tyranosaurus, but they are designed for neatly slicing through meat rather than ripping and tearing. Think of them as a large pair of scissors.



-Pilgrim

[Rare and Unusual Human Creature]

They don't know for a fact it didn't spit venom, do they?

Nice pics in this thread, by the way.

[Pilgrim_Shadow]

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They don't know for a fact it didn't spit venom, do they?

Nice pics in this thread, by the way.

Yes and no. It wasn't venomous in the sense that it injected venom with a bite; that would require hollow fangs, or at least a groove to direct the venom. Nothing even remotely resembling that has been found in any dinosaur, and it is believed that venom didn't evolve until later.

However, it is possible that it could spit venom. That would require only a venom gland; glands don't fossilize, so we can never know for sure that it didn't have one.

That said, the odds are very much against it. As I said, dilophosaurus was an apex predator; it was the biggest, baddest, strongest dinosaur around. It had no use for venom because it could out-muscle its prey. Modern animals in a similar position as dilophosaurus - lions, eagles, crocodiles, etc - are, without exception, non-venomous. The only even remotely venomous apex predator is the komodo dragon, which is not venomous but its saliva contains lethal bacteria. Even then, the dragon kills by biting, not spitting, as the bacteria requires an open wound to infect the bloodstream. Furthermore, the closest living reletives of dinosaurs are birds. No birds are venomous, which suggests that the line of dinosaurus that gave rise to birds - and dilophosaurus is a close reletive of that line - probably also lacked venom.

Thus, while we can't say with absolute certainty that they were non-venomous, we are about 95% sure.

-Pilgrim

[Rare and Unusual Human Creature]

Thanks for the info. I still hold out a slight hope that they could have been venomous... wasn't it the crest that made Crichton develop that theory? They didn't know what the crest was for, and he thought it contained venom... er, or something?  

[kaknelson]

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I realize we have already had the art of the day, but I just thought I'd sneak in this request.

Dilophosaurus, the animal, was real. What Frogfish meant was that it did not have a frill and it did not spit venom. It was, in fact, much larger than shown in the film (15 feet at the shoulder) and was the top predator of its environment. The jaws are weak compared to tyranosaurus, but they are designed for neatly slicing through meat rather than ripping and tearing. Think of them as a large pair of scissors.



-Pilgrim

Thanks man for the input. I like the Dilophosaurus that your describing! But.... i still like Jurassic Parks Spitting Cobra Dinosaur   

[kaknelson]

Lufengosaurus: I don't know much about these ones, but they are beauties.

[Pilgrim_Shadow]

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Thanks for the info. I still hold out a slight hope that they could have been venomous... wasn't it the crest that made Crichton develop that theory? They didn't know what the crest was for, and he thought it contained venom... er, or something?  

The idea was twofold. One, Chriton wanted to make dinosaurs seem less like monsters and more like animals (this was the 1970's, remember, when dinosaurs were still widely seen as lumbering giants that ate anything they could catch). Two, he knew that dilophosaurus had weak jaws compared to other large theropods. From this he reasoned that it may have been venomous and thus didn't need muscular jaws. It was a bit of artistic license. In my opinion, it was a minor point and the story was rather well-told and interesting, so I can't complain much if he got a few things wrong.

The film version was considerably less accurate, and did not address advances made in the field since the book was written. At the time of the novel, dinosaurs evolving into birds was an exciting, radical new theory. By the time of the film it was widely accepted and not especially controversial.

As for dilophosaurus's double crest, most likely it was used for sexual display and identification. It was too small to serve as a thermal regulator. As a warning display it would have been superfluous - as the biggest bully on the block, dilophosaurus was already frightening enough. However, it does make it easy to differentiate potential prey from a potential mate.

-Pilgrim

[frogfish]

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As for dilophosaurus's double crest, most likely it was used for sexual display and identification. It was too small to serve as a thermal regulator. As a warning display it would have been superfluous - as the biggest bully on the block, dilophosaurus was already frightening enough. However, it does make it easy to differentiate potential prey from a potential mate.

One of my favorite dinosaurs:



Therizinosaurus

[SG7]

Looking for a microraptor pic.

[Pilgrim_Shadow]

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Looking for a microraptor pic.

Try doing an image search on google.

http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/dinosaurs/...microraptor.jpg

http://www.indyrad.iupui.edu/public/jrafer...-zhaoianus2.jpg

http://www.indyrad.iupui.edu/public/jrafer...-(Cryptovol.jpg

http://members.aol.com/Dinoplanet/microraptor.jpg

http://www.luisrey.ndtilda.co.uk/jpegs/256...crocorrect1.jpg

...A few of what I consider to be the better pictures...

-Pilgrim

[RamboIII]

P
llll
l
....

^That's my attempt...

GRRRRRR

[SG7]

[attachmentid=25130]    


    
Bambiraptor

  
  

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Edited by SG7, 24 April 2006 - 12:26 AM.