Claire. Posted October 13, 2016 #1 Share Posted October 13, 2016 (edited) Oldest Known Avian 'Squawk Box' Helped Ancient Bird Quack More than 66 million years ago, a duck-size waterbird flew around the woods of ancient Antarctica, honking and calling to its mate with what is now the oldest discovered avian vocal organ on record, a new study finds. The findings also suggest that dinosaurs, for which no vocal organ has been found, likely didn't sing and tweet like birds do. The vocal organ, known as a syrinx, is tiny: about the width of a pencil and less than 0.3 inches (1 centimeter) tall. But it's an enormous finding for experts piecing together the evolutionary history of birds. Read more: Live Science Edited October 13, 2016 by Clair Fixed source url. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbloodmoon Posted October 14, 2016 #2 Share Posted October 14, 2016 Interesting article Clair, thanks for posting it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Unicorn Posted October 14, 2016 #3 Share Posted October 14, 2016 Most people probably wouldn't think of honks or quacks as terrifying as the TV T Rexs. Those little male ducks and geese are very territorial when it comes to protecting females property lines or owners. They will chase intruders down for long distances while biting to bring blood and making a schrill attack honk. Imagining a shrill attack honk coming from a large T Rex with real sharp teeth is more frightening than growls! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vox Posted October 14, 2016 #4 Share Posted October 14, 2016 Somehow, a honking and quacking T-Rex seems somewhat anti-climatic! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nzo Posted October 14, 2016 #5 Share Posted October 14, 2016 Gets into time machine travels back to the time of dinosaurs. 'Hey Walter, do you hear that loud quacking sound?'.. 'Ya I hear it. What do you think it could be?' 'OMG! IT's a Tyrannosaurus Rex quacking toward us!!!! RUN!!!! FEAR THE QUACK! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merc14 Posted October 14, 2016 #6 Share Posted October 14, 2016 (edited) Wouldn't having sharp teeth and mouth designed to rip and chew meat alter those bird-like sounds? Edited October 14, 2016 by Merc14 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paperdyer Posted October 14, 2016 #7 Share Posted October 14, 2016 This would make Godzilla of the 70's and 80's even funnier if he quacked instead or roared. But I agree if I heard stomps and load quacking I'd run for cover. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aten Posted October 14, 2016 #8 Share Posted October 14, 2016 Hmm, what about the size of the animal? surely a large animal will have deeper tones than a small one?, my two pence 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jungleboogie Posted October 15, 2016 #9 Share Posted October 15, 2016 (edited) Logic would dictate that most extinct dinosaurs made similar sounds to those of living dinosaurs today, such as crocodiles. Much more likely than honks and quacks, imo. ***So, after browsing through the peer-reviewed journal, the author of the study states quite plainly that the bird in question is not a dinosaur, it is a waterfowl related closely to the duck. So sorry to disappoint. So, that makes this armchair journalist type article rubbish and therefore nothing but clickbait. Edited October 15, 2016 by Jungleboogie After reading the peer reviewed journal 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rattpoison Posted October 15, 2016 #10 Share Posted October 15, 2016 I think it's obvious that a T-rex would be singing T-Rex songs. I'm sure others were singing Dinosaur Jr. and possibly even doing "the dinosaur". I suppose Godzilla would make sounds that sound very similar to Blue Oyster Cult. Just an educated guess 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldrover Posted October 15, 2016 #11 Share Posted October 15, 2016 (edited) 8 hours ago, Jungleboogie said: Logic would dictate that most extinct dinosaurs made similar sounds to those of living dinosaurs today, such as crocodiles. Much more likely than honks and quacks, imo. ***So, after browsing through the peer-reviewed journal, the author of the study states quite plainly that the bird in question is not a dinosaur, it is a waterfowl related closely to the duck. So sorry to disappoint. So, that makes this armchair journalist type article rubbish and therefore nothing but clickbait. Why would logic dictate that? I think there may be a misunderstanding here somewhere. Firstly, you've said crocodiles are living dinosaurs. This is clearly inaccurate. While it's true they are the closest living relatives to birds, that's the result of extinction among the other members of their group the Archosauria. A clade which is defined, in this case, as being the last common ancestor of birds and crocodilians, and all that ancestors descendants. But, in this case birds and crocodilians, (both of which are very derived, and to a large extent atypical of the majority of their extinct relatives) are either side of a major sub division of that group. With the crocs, and their many and varied extinct relatives, being on the Pseudosuchian branch. And the dinosaurs (including birds), along with the pterosaurs being on the Ornithosuchian. So, while crocodilians are archosaurs but definitely not dinosaurs, which are a specific but varied group basically comprising the Saurischians, lizard hipped, and the Ornithischians, bird hipped, dinosaurs. Birds, definitely are. They're theropods, from within the Saurischian group. So, when the authors state 'it's a waterfowl related closely to the duck', they aren't stating that it's not a dinosaur, they're stating it's not a non-avian dinosaur. Did you read the entire paper? I must admit that I haven't got access to it beyond the abstract, but even there it states; "The new data show the fossilization potential of the avian vocal organ and beg the question why these remains have not been found in other dinosaurs" Edited October 15, 2016 by oldrover 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blizno Posted October 15, 2016 #12 Share Posted October 15, 2016 The dinosaur in the cover picture on this page has no feathers. That's probably wrong too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissJatti Posted October 18, 2016 #13 Share Posted October 18, 2016 Brachiosaurus use to click to communicate, like the modern dolphins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carnoferox Posted October 18, 2016 #14 Share Posted October 18, 2016 4 hours ago, MissJatti said: Brachiosaurus use to click to communicate, like the modern dolphins I don't think so... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claire. Posted October 22, 2016 Author #15 Share Posted October 22, 2016 Here's the fossil evidence that was presented: Source: Scientific American 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highdesert50 Posted November 18, 2016 #16 Share Posted November 18, 2016 Interesting parallels made to birds. If so, can we surmise that, like birds, the act of making sounds was also used to communicate a fairly rich dictionary of emotions and needs. Birds certainly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highdesert50 Posted November 18, 2016 #17 Share Posted November 18, 2016 (edited) double posted Edited November 18, 2016 by highdesert50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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