olyclimber Posted June 13, 2007 Posted June 13, 2007 Remains of giant, bird-like dinosaur found in China Scientists studying the evolutionary process of birds are in a flap after discovering the skeletal remains of a giant, bird-like dinosaur that stood as tall as the Tyrannosaurus rex. Skeletal remains of the feathered but flightless big bird were found in the Gobi desert in Inner Mongolia, China, officials announced on Wednesday. The fossilized bones suggest the new species, believed to be the biggest toothless dinosaur ever found, was about eight metres long, stood five metres tall and weighed about 1,400 kilograms. Called Gigantoraptor elrianensis, the bird had a beak and slender legs, making it 35 times larger than its likely close relation, the Caudiperyx, a small, feathered dinosaur species. The Gigantoraptor lived about 85 million years ago. Scientists haven't determined if the dinosaur was a herbivore, which had small heads and long necks, or a carnivore, which had sharp claws. The dinosaur has both, said Xu Xing, a paleontologist at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing. The discovery challenges the evolutionary theory that dinosaurs became smaller as they evolved into birds and bigger dinosaurs, Xu said. Scientists also thought bigger dinosaurs had less bird-like characteristics. "This is like having a mouse that is the size of a horse or cow," said Xu, who co-authored a paper on the finding published Thursday in the journal Nature. "It is very important information for us in our efforts to trace the evolution process of dinosaurs to birds. It's more complicated than we imagined." The Gigantoraptor and Caudiperyx belong to a group of dinosaurs called oviraptors, which tend to be human-sized or smaller. Paleontologists have found turkey-sized, feathered representatives of the group in recent years, but they've never found anything close to the scale of Gigantoraptor. "It's one of the last groups of dinosaurs that we would expect to be that big," said Mark Norell, curator of paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. A paleontologist at the University of Alberta, however, said the size of the Gigantoraptor would be a natural step in the evolutionary process of the oviraptors. "Almost every group that has evolved has tended to evolve giant forms," said Philip Currie. Animals tend to become bigger with evolution because larger creatures have an easier time getting food. Their size allows them to avoid predators and helps them attracts more potential mates. But size has disadvantages, too, as bigger animals need more food and territory. Large species have fewer offspring and reproduce less frequently than smaller animals. Large animals are also particularly vulnerable when environmental conditions change. Just a few million years after Gigantoraptor evolved, every dinosaur species on Earth became extinct. Scientists who made the discovery originally thought the fossils belonged to a tyrannosaur because of its size, but a closer look revealed it was an oviraptor. "It was an unexpected finding," Xu said. The area where the bones were found has attracted paleontologists from around the world for a long time because of the richness of its fossils. Quote
olyclimber Posted June 13, 2007 Author Posted June 13, 2007 this WAS Kansas! Clearly climate change was bad for these poor dinosaurs. Quote
Mal_Con Posted June 13, 2007 Posted June 13, 2007 (edited) Can't be Kansas, I don't see the ark or Cain and Abel playing with Rodan or Nessie. Edited June 13, 2007 by Mal_Con Quote
catbirdseat Posted June 13, 2007 Posted June 13, 2007 I think they are making too much of the size thing. Size is one of those traits that can change very rapidly with relatively minor genetic alterations. Quote
rob Posted June 13, 2007 Posted June 13, 2007 (edited) I think they are making too much of the size thing. Size is one of those traits that can change very rapidly with relatively minor genetic alterations. Edited June 13, 2007 by robmcdan Quote
lI1|1! Posted June 13, 2007 Posted June 13, 2007 this is how some of the first people went to hell in canada: Quote
TrogdortheBurninator Posted June 13, 2007 Posted June 13, 2007 Pretty sure these bad mofos from cybertron caused the extinction of lame real dinosaurs Quote
lI1|1! Posted June 13, 2007 Posted June 13, 2007 WHAT DID THE GIANT BIRD TASTE LIKE? hmmm, sorta like giant chicken. Quote
Kat_Roslyn Posted June 13, 2007 Posted June 13, 2007 If you could be a dinosuar, what would it be? Quote
G-spotter Posted June 13, 2007 Posted June 13, 2007 If God loves humans why did he make them without a baculum? Quote
RogerJ Posted June 13, 2007 Posted June 13, 2007 I believe dinosaurs were quickly abandoned as pets by early man due to the paleolithic poop scooping laws. -r Quote
RogerJ Posted June 13, 2007 Posted June 13, 2007 If God loves humans why did he make them without a baculum? Why then do we call it a boner? -r Quote
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