#paleontologist — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #paleontologist, aggregated by home.social.
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AI Could Never Feel Something in Its Bones
Things That AI Cannot Do – #15 in a series
August 25, 2026
Credit: NASAThere is something that all humans share and that is our bones. Bones are made of essential elements much like those found in the earth. Our bones hold us up even when we feel like sinking down. We have skeletons in the closet, and yes those are bones. We even have a funny bone which weirdly is no laughing matter.
Paleontologists have found bones that are hundreds of thousands of years old. These old bones, pieced together, tell a story of a life that we can only imagine. It is amazing that something as simple as a bone can outlast the longest of civilizations. Shows like Human on PBS help us understand man’s long and complicated evolution towards this century we all live in. We learn that the human has been at this game for a very long time. AI, on the other hand, is still a toddler in diapers.
AI depends on rare minerals mined from the far corners of the earth. Most of them are elements that the common person has never heard of; but without them, the complex computer systems it depends on could not survive. When those materials are depleted someday, as rare things often are, then Artificial Intelligence will silently melt away into the dark hole of existence. Perhaps.
I don’t know when the saying “I feel it in my bones” even started, but it surely has something to do with intuition. Intuition is a hard thing to describe except perhaps as something we feel in our bones which is a type of circular argument. It is the feeling we get when things are going along smoothly. But, more often than not, it is a signal from our core that something is amiss.
Where is this core? Is it found in the soul or the bones? When we die, our soul will move on to that place where souls go. Where that might be is one of the great mysteries of life, but our bones will remain here on earth. Someday, someone might pick up a fragment of bone and create a story about us and how we lived our lives during this twenty-first century. The story will surely include details about how fragile and sacred that life was, and how blessed we all were to be living on this blue planet oasis floating in the abyss of space.
Someday, when the fragile ecosystem of rare minerals that keeps AI alive has been depleted, all that will remain is the hollow metal shell of itself. Someday, some scientist wandering about looking for artifacts may pick up a shard from some great discard pile and wonder… what did man do with this? The answer will be … it depends.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/series/human
Leave a comment Cancel reply
#artificialIntelligence #bones #dna #life #paleontologist #planetEarth #theSoul #writing -
AI Could Never Feel Something in Its Bones
Things That AI Cannot Do – #15 in a series
August 25, 2026
Credit: NASAThere is something that all humans share and that is our bones. Bones are made of essential elements much like those found in the earth. Our bones hold us up even when we feel like sinking down. We have skeletons in the closet, and yes those are bones. We even have a funny bone which weirdly is no laughing matter.
Paleontologists have found bones that are hundreds of thousands of years old. These old bones, pieced together, tell a story of a life that we can only imagine. It is amazing that something as simple as a bone can outlast the longest of civilizations. Shows like Human on PBS help us understand man’s long and complicated evolution towards this century we all live in. We learn that the human has been at this game for a very long time. AI, on the other hand, is still a toddler in diapers.
AI depends on rare minerals mined from the far corners of the earth. Most of them are elements that the common person has never heard of; but without them, the complex computer systems it depends on could not survive. When those materials are depleted someday, as rare things often are, then Artificial Intelligence will silently melt away into the dark hole of existence. Perhaps.
I don’t know when the saying “I feel it in my bones” even started, but it surely has something to do with intuition. Intuition is a hard thing to describe except perhaps as something we feel in our bones which is a type of circular argument. It is the feeling we get when things are going along smoothly. But, more often than not, it is a signal from our core that something is amiss.
Where is this core? Is it found in the soul or the bones? When we die, our soul will move on to that place where souls go. Where that might be is one of the great mysteries of life, but our bones will remain here on earth. Someday, someone might pick up a fragment of bone and create a story about us and how we lived our lives during this twenty-first century. The story will surely include details about how fragile and sacred that life was, and how blessed we all were to be living on this blue planet oasis floating in the abyss of space.
Someday, when the fragile ecosystem of rare minerals that keeps AI alive has been depleted, all that will remain is the hollow metal shell of itself. Someday, some scientist wandering about looking for artifacts may pick up a shard from some great discard pile and wonder… what did man do with this? The answer will be … it depends.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/series/human
Leave a comment Cancel reply
#artificialIntelligence #bones #dna #life #paleontologist #planetEarth #theSoul #writing -
AI Could Never Feel Something in Its Bones
Things That AI Cannot Do – #15 in a series
August 25, 2026
Credit: NASAThere is something that all humans share and that is our bones. Bones are made of essential elements much like those found in the earth. Our bones hold us up even when we feel like sinking down. We have skeletons in the closet, and yes those are bones. We even have a funny bone which weirdly is no laughing matter.
Paleontologists have found bones that are hundreds of thousands of years old. These old bones, pieced together, tell a story of a life that we can only imagine. It is amazing that something as simple as a bone can outlast the longest of civilizations. Shows like Human on PBS help us understand man’s long and complicated evolution towards this century we all live in. We learn that the human has been at this game for a very long time. AI, on the other hand, is still a toddler in diapers.
AI depends on rare minerals mined from the far corners of the earth. Most of them are elements that the common person has never heard of; but without them, the complex computer systems it depends on could not survive. When those materials are depleted someday, as rare things often are, then Artificial Intelligence will silently melt away into the dark hole of existence. Perhaps.
I don’t know when the saying “I feel it in my bones” even started, but it surely has something to do with intuition. Intuition is a hard thing to describe except perhaps as something we feel in our bones which is a type of circular argument. It is the feeling we get when things are going along smoothly. But, more often than not, it is a signal from our core that something is amiss.
Where is this core? Is it found in the soul or the bones? When we die, our soul will move on to that place where souls go. Where that might be is one of the great mysteries of life, but our bones will remain here on earth. Someday, someone might pick up a fragment of bone and create a story about us and how we lived our lives during this twenty-first century. The story will surely include details about how fragile and sacred that life was, and how blessed we all were to be living on this blue planet oasis floating in the abyss of space.
Someday, when the fragile ecosystem of rare minerals that keeps AI alive has been depleted, all that will remain is the hollow metal shell of itself. Someday, some scientist wandering about looking for artifacts may pick up a shard from some great discard pile and wonder… what did man do with this? The answer will be … it depends.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/series/human
Leave a comment Cancel reply
#artificialIntelligence #bones #dna #life #paleontologist #planetEarth #theSoul #writing -
AI Could Never Feel Something in Its Bones
Things That AI Cannot Do – #15 in a series
August 25, 2026
Credit: NASAThere is something that all humans share and that is our bones. Bones are made of essential elements much like those found in the earth. Our bones hold us up even when we feel like sinking down. We have skeletons in the closet, and yes those are bones. We even have a funny bone which weirdly is no laughing matter.
Paleontologists have found bones that are hundreds of thousands of years old. These old bones, pieced together, tell a story of a life that we can only imagine. It is amazing that something as simple as a bone can outlast the longest of civilizations. Shows like Human on PBS help us understand man’s long and complicated evolution towards this century we all live in. We learn that the human has been at this game for a very long time. AI, on the other hand, is still a toddler in diapers.
AI depends on rare minerals mined from the far corners of the earth. Most of them are elements that the common person has never heard of; but without them, the complex computer systems it depends on could not survive. When those materials are depleted someday, as rare things often are, then Artificial Intelligence will silently melt away into the dark hole of existence. Perhaps.
I don’t know when the saying “I feel it in my bones” even started, but it surely has something to do with intuition. Intuition is a hard thing to describe except perhaps as something we feel in our bones which is a type of circular argument. It is the feeling we get when things are going along smoothly. But, more often than not, it is a signal from our core that something is amiss.
Where is this core? Is it found in the soul or the bones? When we die, our soul will move on to that place where souls go. Where that might be is one of the great mysteries of life, but our bones will remain here on earth. Someday, someone might pick up a fragment of bone and create a story about us and how we lived our lives during this twenty-first century. The story will surely include details about how fragile and sacred that life was, and how blessed we all were to be living on this blue planet oasis floating in the abyss of space.
Someday, when the fragile ecosystem of rare minerals that keeps AI alive has been depleted, all that will remain is the hollow metal shell of itself. Someday, some scientist wandering about looking for artifacts may pick up a shard from some great discard pile and wonder… what did man do with this? The answer will be … it depends.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/series/human
Leave a comment Cancel reply
#artificialIntelligence #bones #dna #life #paleontologist #planetEarth #theSoul #writing -
AI Could Never Feel Something in Its Bones
Things That AI Cannot Do – #15 in a series
August 25, 2026
Credit: NASAThere is something that all humans share and that is our bones. Bones are made of essential elements much like those found in the earth. Our bones hold us up even when we feel like sinking down. We have skeletons in the closet, and yes those are bones. We even have a funny bone which weirdly is no laughing matter.
Paleontologists have found bones that are hundreds of thousands of years old. These old bones, pieced together, tell a story of a life that we can only imagine. It is amazing that something as simple as a bone can outlast the longest of civilizations. Shows like Human on PBS help us understand man’s long and complicated evolution towards this century we all live in. We learn that the human has been at this game for a very long time. AI, on the other hand, is still a toddler in diapers.
AI depends on rare minerals mined from the far corners of the earth. Most of them are elements that the common person has never heard of; but without them, the complex computer systems it depends on could not survive. When those materials are depleted someday, as rare things often are, then Artificial Intelligence will silently melt away into the dark hole of existence. Perhaps.
I don’t know when the saying “I feel it in my bones” even started, but it surely has something to do with intuition. Intuition is a hard thing to describe except perhaps as something we feel in our bones which is a type of circular argument. It is the feeling we get when things are going along smoothly. But, more often than not, it is a signal from our core that something is amiss.
Where is this core? Is it found in the soul or the bones? When we die, our soul will move on to that place where souls go. Where that might be is one of the great mysteries of life, but our bones will remain here on earth. Someday, someone might pick up a fragment of bone and create a story about us and how we lived our lives during this twenty-first century. The story will surely include details about how fragile and sacred that life was, and how blessed we all were to be living on this blue planet oasis floating in the abyss of space.
Someday, when the fragile ecosystem of rare minerals that keeps AI alive has been depleted, all that will remain is the hollow metal shell of itself. Someday, some scientist wandering about looking for artifacts may pick up a shard from some great discard pile and wonder… what did man do with this? The answer will be … it depends.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/series/human
Leave a comment Cancel reply
#artificialIntelligence #bones #dna #life #paleontologist #planetEarth #theSoul #writing -
https://www.europesays.com/ie/572780/ An ‘unremarkable’ fossil found in Antarctica 40 years ago is the continent’s first dinosaur bone #AntarcticExploration #Antarctica #BritishAntarcticSurvey #CarnegieMuseumOfNaturalHistory #DinosaurFossil #DinosaurSpecimen #Éire #fossil #IE #Ireland #NaturalHistoryMuseum #paleontologist #PaulBarrett #Sauropod #Science
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Happy birthday to #paleontologist Mary Anning (1799 – 1847)! She was the wrong class, sex & religious denomination to gain the education, opportunity to work & communicate her results or garner any respect as a pioneering paleontologist. Further, during her lifetime most people thought the Earth was a mere few thousand years old, based on a very literal interpretation of the Bible & found the idea of
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Happy birthday to #paleontologist Mary Anning (1799 – 1847)! She was the wrong class, sex & religious denomination to gain the education, opportunity to work & communicate her results or garner any respect as a pioneering paleontologist. Further, during her lifetime most people thought the Earth was a mere few thousand years old, based on a very literal interpretation of the Bible & found the idea of
🧵 -
Happy birthday to #paleontologist Mary Anning (1799 – 1847)! She was the wrong class, sex & religious denomination to gain the education, opportunity to work & communicate her results or garner any respect as a pioneering paleontologist. Further, during her lifetime most people thought the Earth was a mere few thousand years old, based on a very literal interpretation of the Bible & found the idea of
🧵 -
Happy birthday to #paleontologist Mary Anning (1799 – 1847)! She was the wrong class, sex & religious denomination to gain the education, opportunity to work & communicate her results or garner any respect as a pioneering paleontologist. Further, during her lifetime most people thought the Earth was a mere few thousand years old, based on a very literal interpretation of the Bible & found the idea of
🧵 -
Happy birthday to #paleontologist Mary Anning (1799 – 1847)! She was the wrong class, sex & religious denomination to gain the education, opportunity to work & communicate her results or garner any respect as a pioneering paleontologist. Further, during her lifetime most people thought the Earth was a mere few thousand years old, based on a very literal interpretation of the Bible & found the idea of
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https://www.europesays.com/ie/464945/ Dinosaurs emerged 10 million years earlier than previously thought: Study #Archaeology #culture #Dinosaurs #Éire #IE #Ireland #paleontologist #Science
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A giant kraken-like octopus terrorized the seas in the age of dinosaurs
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Fossil…
#NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #Science #ancientEarth #Apexpredators #extinctspecies #LiveScience #paleontologist
https://www.newsbeep.com/us/612574/ -
A giant kraken-like octopus terrorized the seas in the age of dinosaurs
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Fossil…
#NewsBeep #News #US #USA #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #Science #ancientEarth #Apexpredators #extinctspecies #LiveScience #paleontologist
https://www.newsbeep.com/us/612574/ -
This bright orange life-form could point to new #dino discoveries
The reflected infrared light of bone-loving #lichen can be detected by #drones
“Rather than finding new sites serendipitously, this approach can help paleontologists to locate new areas that are likely to have #fossils at the surface and then go there to investigate,” says #paleontologist Brian Pickles at the University of Reading in England.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/lichen-dinosaur-fossils
https://archive.ph/n32xa
#Dinosaurs -
This bright orange life-form could point to new #dino discoveries
The reflected infrared light of bone-loving #lichen can be detected by #drones
“Rather than finding new sites serendipitously, this approach can help paleontologists to locate new areas that are likely to have #fossils at the surface and then go there to investigate,” says #paleontologist Brian Pickles at the University of Reading in England.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/lichen-dinosaur-fossils
https://archive.ph/n32xa
#Dinosaurs -
This bright orange life-form could point to new #dino discoveries
The reflected infrared light of bone-loving #lichen can be detected by #drones
“Rather than finding new sites serendipitously, this approach can help paleontologists to locate new areas that are likely to have #fossils at the surface and then go there to investigate,” says #paleontologist Brian Pickles at the University of Reading in England.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/lichen-dinosaur-fossils
https://archive.ph/n32xa
#Dinosaurs -
This bright orange life-form could point to new #dino discoveries
The reflected infrared light of bone-loving #lichen can be detected by #drones
“Rather than finding new sites serendipitously, this approach can help paleontologists to locate new areas that are likely to have #fossils at the surface and then go there to investigate,” says #paleontologist Brian Pickles at the University of Reading in England.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/lichen-dinosaur-fossils
https://archive.ph/n32xa
#Dinosaurs -
This bright orange life-form could point to new #dino discoveries
The reflected infrared light of bone-loving #lichen can be detected by #drones
“Rather than finding new sites serendipitously, this approach can help paleontologists to locate new areas that are likely to have #fossils at the surface and then go there to investigate,” says #paleontologist Brian Pickles at the University of Reading in England.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/lichen-dinosaur-fossils
https://archive.ph/n32xa
#Dinosaurs -
Tiny #Humans Are Hiding in #Indonesia, a #Paleontologist Claims. That Could Rewrite the #History of Our #Species.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a69647077/tiny-apelike-human-ancestor/
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Tiny #Humans Are Hiding in #Indonesia, a #Paleontologist Claims. That Could Rewrite the #History of Our #Species.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a69647077/tiny-apelike-human-ancestor/
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Tiny #Humans Are Hiding in #Indonesia, a #Paleontologist Claims. That Could Rewrite the #History of Our #Species.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a69647077/tiny-apelike-human-ancestor/
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Tiny #Humans Are Hiding in #Indonesia, a #Paleontologist Claims. That Could Rewrite the #History of Our #Species.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a69647077/tiny-apelike-human-ancestor/
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Tiny #Humans Are Hiding in #Indonesia, a #Paleontologist Claims. That Could Rewrite the #History of Our #Species.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a69647077/tiny-apelike-human-ancestor/
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https://www.europesays.com/ie/143216/ Dinosaurs were thriving in North America before the mass-extinction asteroid strike, study suggests #Asteroid #BaylorUniversity #decline #Dinosaur #DinosaurSpecie #Éire #fossil #GeologicTime #IE #Ireland #MassExtinctionAsteroidStrike #NorthAmerica #NorthernNewMexico #paleontologist #RockFormation #Science #scientist #Study #year
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#paleontology fedi: I’m putting together a playlist of Dino-adjacent songs suitable for adults, featuring lyrics relevant to the field. There’s some obvious choices (tmbg, walk the dinosaur, Jonathan Richman), but I’m looking for gems like the #Dinosaur Holiday album- where some #museum staff or grad student went all in and recorded a song you’d choose to listen to (and not, say, less than inspired efforts marketed to children). Did someone in your department defend their #paleobotany thesis in musical form? Did your parasocial pal post to SoundCloud their diss track about the Jurassic Park franchise, and you put it on mixes? I wanna hear it, especially if it is danceable/funky. No AI slop, please. https://museummusic.com/dinosaurholiday.aspx #dinosaurs #paleontologist #prehistory #jurassic #jurassicpark #dino #mezozoic #science #nature
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#paleontology fedi: I’m putting together a playlist of Dino-adjacent songs suitable for adults, featuring lyrics relevant to the field. There’s some obvious choices (tmbg, walk the dinosaur, Jonathan Richman), but I’m looking for gems like the #Dinosaur Holiday album- where some #museum staff or grad student went all in and recorded a song you’d choose to listen to (and not, say, less than inspired efforts marketed to children). Did someone in your department defend their #paleobotany thesis in musical form? Did your parasocial pal post to SoundCloud their diss track about the Jurassic Park franchise, and you put it on mixes? I wanna hear it, especially if it is danceable/funky. No AI slop, please. https://museummusic.com/dinosaurholiday.aspx #dinosaurs #paleontologist #prehistory #jurassic #jurassicpark #dino #mezozoic #science #nature
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#paleontology fedi: I’m putting together a playlist of Dino-adjacent songs suitable for adults, featuring lyrics relevant to the field. There’s some obvious choices (tmbg, walk the dinosaur, Jonathan Richman), but I’m looking for gems like the #Dinosaur Holiday album- where some #museum staff or grad student went all in and recorded a song you’d choose to listen to (and not, say, less than inspired efforts marketed to children). Did someone in your department defend their #paleobotany thesis in musical form? Did your parasocial pal post to SoundCloud their diss track about the Jurassic Park franchise, and you put it on mixes? I wanna hear it, especially if it is danceable/funky. No AI slop, please. https://museummusic.com/dinosaurholiday.aspx #dinosaurs #paleontologist #prehistory #jurassic #jurassicpark #dino #mezozoic #science #nature
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#paleontology fedi: I’m putting together a playlist of Dino-adjacent songs suitable for adults, featuring lyrics relevant to the field. There’s some obvious choices (tmbg, walk the dinosaur, Jonathan Richman), but I’m looking for gems like the #Dinosaur Holiday album- where some #museum staff or grad student went all in and recorded a song you’d choose to listen to (and not, say, less than inspired efforts marketed to children). Did someone in your department defend their #paleobotany thesis in musical form? Did your parasocial pal post to SoundCloud their diss track about the Jurassic Park franchise, and you put it on mixes? I wanna hear it, especially if it is danceable/funky. No AI slop, please. https://museummusic.com/dinosaurholiday.aspx #dinosaurs #paleontologist #prehistory #jurassic #jurassicpark #dino #mezozoic #science #nature
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#paleontology fedi: I’m putting together a playlist of Dino-adjacent songs suitable for adults, featuring lyrics relevant to the field. There’s some obvious choices (tmbg, walk the dinosaur, Jonathan Richman), but I’m looking for gems like the #Dinosaur Holiday album- where some #museum staff or grad student went all in and recorded a song you’d choose to listen to (and not, say, less than inspired efforts marketed to children). Did someone in your department defend their #paleobotany thesis in musical form? Did your parasocial pal post to SoundCloud their diss track about the Jurassic Park franchise, and you put it on mixes? I wanna hear it, especially if it is danceable/funky. No AI slop, please. https://museummusic.com/dinosaurholiday.aspx #dinosaurs #paleontologist #prehistory #jurassic #jurassicpark #dino #mezozoic #science #nature
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This subject comes up fairly often, so I'm putting my mini-essay here as an easy reference. Feel free to share, or copy and paste with attribution, as you see fit. Comments, suggestions, and corrections are welcome. 🦖 🧪 🚀 ✍️
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Michael Crichton's main reference when writing #JurassicPark was Gregory Paul's Predatory #Dinosaurs of the World. That's how we ended up with human size "velociraptors," later retconned to the considerably larger #Utahraptor. Although the poor creatures still have broken wrists and a severe case of mange.
Paul is a notorious #lumper, who likes shoving distantly related organisms into the same #taxonomic category. (The opposite of lumpers are #splitters, who try to put every specimen into as distinct a category as possible.) But even he never claimed they were the same species. Rather, he put them into the same genus, making #Deinonychus into another species of #Velociraptor, i.e. V. antirrhopus instead of D. antirrhopus.
This isn't entirely a crazy idea. Lots of modern genera have species with similar body plans but enormous size differences. Consider #Panthera, the big cats, which contains species from P. uncia, the #snowleopard, to P. tigris, the #tiger—even though tigers are generally about five times the mass of snow leopards, similar to the ratio between D. antirrhopus and V. mongoliensis.
However, there are enough other differences between Deinonychus and Velociraptor that even Paul has long since admitted this was a mistake. No #paleontologist now doubts they each belong in their own genus. Unfortunately, since Jurassic Park has so thoroughly cemented the idea of the big V, I doubt it will ever go away.
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This subject comes up fairly often, so I'm putting my mini-essay here as an easy reference. Feel free to share, or copy and paste with attribution, as you see fit. Comments, suggestions, and corrections are welcome. 🦖 🧪 🚀 ✍️
===
Michael Crichton's main reference when writing #JurassicPark was Gregory Paul's Predatory #Dinosaurs of the World. That's how we ended up with human size "velociraptors," later retconned to the considerably larger #Utahraptor. Although the poor creatures still have broken wrists and a severe case of mange.
Paul is a notorious #lumper, who likes shoving distantly related organisms into the same #taxonomic category. (The opposite of lumpers are #splitters, who try to put every specimen into as distinct a category as possible.) But even he never claimed they were the same species. Rather, he put them into the same genus, making #Deinonychus into another species of #Velociraptor, i.e. V. antirrhopus instead of D. antirrhopus.
This isn't entirely a crazy idea. Lots of modern genera have species with similar body plans but enormous size differences. Consider #Panthera, the big cats, which contains species from P. uncia, the #snowleopard, to P. tigris, the #tiger—even though tigers are generally about five times the mass of snow leopards, similar to the ratio between D. antirrhopus and V. mongoliensis.
However, there are enough other differences between Deinonychus and Velociraptor that even Paul has long since admitted this was a mistake. No #paleontologist now doubts they each belong in their own genus. Unfortunately, since Jurassic Park has so thoroughly cemented the idea of the big V, I doubt it will ever go away.
-
This subject comes up fairly often, so I'm putting my mini-essay here as an easy reference. Feel free to share, or copy and paste with attribution, as you see fit. Comments, suggestions, and corrections are welcome. 🦖 🧪 🚀 ✍️
===
Michael Crichton's main reference when writing #JurassicPark was Gregory Paul's Predatory #Dinosaurs of the World. That's how we ended up with human size "velociraptors," later retconned to the considerably larger #Utahraptor. Although the poor creatures still have broken wrists and a severe case of mange.
Paul is a notorious #lumper, who likes shoving distantly related organisms into the same #taxonomic category. (The opposite of lumpers are #splitters, who try to put every specimen into as distinct a category as possible.) But even he never claimed they were the same species. Rather, he put them into the same genus, making #Deinonychus into another species of #Velociraptor, i.e. V. antirrhopus instead of D. antirrhopus.
This isn't entirely a crazy idea. Lots of modern genera have species with similar body plans but enormous size differences. Consider #Panthera, the big cats, which contains species from P. uncia, the #snowleopard, to P. tigris, the #tiger—even though tigers are generally about five times the mass of snow leopards, similar to the ratio between D. antirrhopus and V. mongoliensis.
However, there are enough other differences between Deinonychus and Velociraptor that even Paul has long since admitted this was a mistake. No #paleontologist now doubts they each belong in their own genus. Unfortunately, since Jurassic Park has so thoroughly cemented the idea of the big V, I doubt it will ever go away.
-
This subject comes up fairly often, so I'm putting my mini-essay here as an easy reference. Feel free to share, or copy and paste with attribution, as you see fit. Comments, suggestions, and corrections are welcome. 🦖 🧪 🚀 ✍️
===
Michael Crichton's main reference when writing #JurassicPark was Gregory Paul's Predatory #Dinosaurs of the World. That's how we ended up with human size "velociraptors," later retconned to the considerably larger #Utahraptor. Although the poor creatures still have broken wrists and a severe case of mange.
Paul is a notorious #lumper, who likes shoving distantly related organisms into the same #taxonomic category. (The opposite of lumpers are #splitters, who try to put every specimen into as distinct a category as possible.) But even he never claimed they were the same species. Rather, he put them into the same genus, making #Deinonychus into another species of #Velociraptor, i.e. V. antirrhopus instead of D. antirrhopus.
This isn't entirely a crazy idea. Lots of modern genera have species with similar body plans but enormous size differences. Consider #Panthera, the big cats, which contains species from P. uncia, the #snowleopard, to P. tigris, the #tiger—even though tigers are generally about five times the mass of snow leopards, similar to the ratio between D. antirrhopus and V. mongoliensis.
However, there are enough other differences between Deinonychus and Velociraptor that even Paul has long since admitted this was a mistake. No #paleontologist now doubts they each belong in their own genus. Unfortunately, since Jurassic Park has so thoroughly cemented the idea of the big V, I doubt it will ever go away.
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New entry of AI-generated #comics and #jokes added to our #website:
comics.lucentinian.com/4043
#LaughWithAI #AILaughs #FunnyNews #DailyLaughs #VisitUsNow -
New entry of AI-generated #comics and #jokes added to our #website:
comics.lucentinian.com/4043
#LaughWithAI #AILaughs #FunnyNews #DailyLaughs #VisitUsNow -
New entry of AI-generated #comics and #jokes added to our #website:
comics.lucentinian.com/4043
#LaughWithAI #AILaughs #FunnyNews #DailyLaughs #VisitUsNow -
Could #dinosaurs still exist somewhere in the world? A #paleontologist explains
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Could #dinosaurs still exist somewhere in the world? A #paleontologist explains
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Could #dinosaurs still exist somewhere in the world? A #paleontologist explains
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Could #dinosaurs still exist somewhere in the world? A #paleontologist explains
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Could #dinosaurs still exist somewhere in the world? A #paleontologist explains
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Drawing of prehistoric animals that lived during the Eocene epoch #eocene #paleontology #fossils #fossil #prehistoric #paleontologist #fossilhunter #dinosaur #palaeontology #fossilhunting #paleoart #geology #dinosaurs #science #eocenefossil #mastoart
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Drawing of prehistoric animals that lived during the Eocene epoch #eocene #paleontology #fossils #fossil #prehistoric #paleontologist #fossilhunter #dinosaur #palaeontology #fossilhunting #paleoart #geology #dinosaurs #science #eocenefossil #mastoart
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Drawing of prehistoric animals that lived during the Eocene epoch #eocene #paleontology #fossils #fossil #prehistoric #paleontologist #fossilhunter #dinosaur #palaeontology #fossilhunting #paleoart #geology #dinosaurs #science #eocenefossil #mastoart
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Drawing of prehistoric animals that lived during the Eocene epoch #eocene #paleontology #fossils #fossil #prehistoric #paleontologist #fossilhunter #dinosaur #palaeontology #fossilhunting #paleoart #geology #dinosaurs #science #eocenefossil #mastoart
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Graphite sketch of a pakicetus ancestor of today's whales 🐳✏️
#eocene #paleontology #fossils #fossil #prehistoric #paleontologist #fossilhunter #dinosaur #palaeontology #fossilhunting #paleoart #geology #dinosaurs #science #eocenefossil #artcomplex #artgallery #mastoart
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Graphite sketch of a pakicetus ancestor of today's whales 🐳✏️
#eocene #paleontology #fossils #fossil #prehistoric #paleontologist #fossilhunter #dinosaur #palaeontology #fossilhunting #paleoart #geology #dinosaurs #science #eocenefossil #artcomplex #artgallery #mastoart
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Graphite sketch of a pakicetus ancestor of today's whales 🐳✏️
#eocene #paleontology #fossils #fossil #prehistoric #paleontologist #fossilhunter #dinosaur #palaeontology #fossilhunting #paleoart #geology #dinosaurs #science #eocenefossil #artcomplex #artgallery #mastoart
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Graphite sketch of a pakicetus ancestor of today's whales 🐳✏️
#eocene #paleontology #fossils #fossil #prehistoric #paleontologist #fossilhunter #dinosaur #palaeontology #fossilhunting #paleoart #geology #dinosaurs #science #eocenefossil #artcomplex #artgallery #mastoart
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Drawing of a Hyracoterium ancestor of the living horse from the Eocene era
#eocene #paleontology #fossils #fossil #prehistoric #paleontologist #fossilhunter #dinosaur #palaeontology #fossilhunting #paleoart #geology #dinosaurs #science #eocenefossil #artcomplex #artgallery #mastoart
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Happy birthday to #paleontologist Mary Anning (1799 –1847)! She was the wrong class, sex & religious denomination to gain the education, opportunity to work & communicate her results or garner any respect as a pioneering paleontologist. Further, during her lifetime most people thought Earth was a mere few thousand years old, based on a very literal interpretation of the Bible & found the idea of extinction did not fit in with the story of creation. 🧵1/
#linocut #sciart #womenInSTEM #printmaking -
Happy birthday to #paleontologist Mary Anning (1799 –1847)! She was the wrong class, sex & religious denomination to gain the education, opportunity to work & communicate her results or garner any respect as a pioneering paleontologist. Further, during her lifetime most people thought Earth was a mere few thousand years old, based on a very literal interpretation of the Bible & found the idea of extinction did not fit in with the story of creation. 🧵1/
#linocut #sciart #womenInSTEM #printmaking -
Happy birthday to #paleontologist Mary Anning (1799 –1847)! She was the wrong class, sex & religious denomination to gain the education, opportunity to work & communicate her results or garner any respect as a pioneering paleontologist. Further, during her lifetime most people thought Earth was a mere few thousand years old, based on a very literal interpretation of the Bible & found the idea of extinction did not fit in with the story of creation. 🧵1/
#linocut #sciart #womenInSTEM #printmaking -
Happy birthday to #paleontologist Mary Anning (1799 –1847)! She was the wrong class, sex & religious denomination to gain the education, opportunity to work & communicate her results or garner any respect as a pioneering paleontologist. Further, during her lifetime most people thought Earth was a mere few thousand years old, based on a very literal interpretation of the Bible & found the idea of extinction did not fit in with the story of creation. 🧵1/
#linocut #sciart #womenInSTEM #printmaking -
Happy birthday to #paleontologist Mary Anning (1799 –1847)! She was the wrong class, sex & religious denomination to gain the education, opportunity to work & communicate her results or garner any respect as a pioneering paleontologist. Further, during her lifetime most people thought Earth was a mere few thousand years old, based on a very literal interpretation of the Bible & found the idea of extinction did not fit in with the story of creation. 🧵1/
#linocut #sciart #womenInSTEM #printmaking -
Researchers Dispute Claim That Ancient #Whale Was Heaviest Animal Ever
In their new analysis #paleontologist concluded that #Perucetus probably weighed 60 to 70 tons, which would have made it about the size of a #spermwhale, was certainly big, but not as big as today’s #bluewhale. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/29/science/giant-whale-perucetus.html
No Paywall: https://archive.ph/fccQ8 -
Researchers Dispute Claim That Ancient #Whale Was Heaviest Animal Ever
In their new analysis #paleontologist concluded that #Perucetus probably weighed 60 to 70 tons, which would have made it about the size of a #spermwhale, was certainly big, but not as big as today’s #bluewhale. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/29/science/giant-whale-perucetus.html
No Paywall: https://archive.ph/fccQ8 -
Researchers Dispute Claim That Ancient #Whale Was Heaviest Animal Ever
In their new analysis #paleontologist concluded that #Perucetus probably weighed 60 to 70 tons, which would have made it about the size of a #spermwhale, was certainly big, but not as big as today’s #bluewhale. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/29/science/giant-whale-perucetus.html
No Paywall: https://archive.ph/fccQ8 -
Researchers Dispute Claim That Ancient #Whale Was Heaviest Animal Ever
In their new analysis #paleontologist concluded that #Perucetus probably weighed 60 to 70 tons, which would have made it about the size of a #spermwhale, was certainly big, but not as big as today’s #bluewhale. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/29/science/giant-whale-perucetus.html
No Paywall: https://archive.ph/fccQ8