Some Dinosaurs May Have Lived a Little Longer

Kinda knocks off the overnight extinction theory.
Thoughts?

Well, there is another thread about this very same topic. I'm not surprised. It's well-near impossible for a small population of dinosaurs to have survived.

Well, didn't most of all dinosaurs actually survive the initial impact?
wasn't it the rapid ecological change and climate change that really killed off most, except the small ones which would need less food to survive.
I guess it's a possibility, then again... we're all dinosaurs =p

Joe wrote:

Well, didn't most of all dinosaurs actually survive the initial impact?
wasn't it the rapid ecological change and climate change that really killed off most, except the small ones which would need less food to survive.
I guess it's a possibility, then again... we're all dinosaurs =p

Actually, most dinosaurs were killed after the event, however, birds proliferated after the dinosaurs.

Birds actually dominated for the first 15 million years or so after the K/T event. They were the first to dominate the large bodied predator niches, and in some places, retained those niches until recently.

Titanis was one of the last of the Phorusrhacids, who dominated in South America (and elsewhere) earlier in the Tertiary. Titanis came north during the Great American Interchange (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_I... ) from South America.

Duh,dinos are birds ancesters.

Christopher Pearsoll wrote:

Birds actually dominated for the first 15 million years or so after the K/T event. They were the first to dominate the large bodied predator niches, and in some places, retained those niches until recently.
Titanis was one of the last of the Phorusrhacids, who dominated in South America (and elsewhere) earlier in the Tertiary. Titanis came north during the Great American Interchange (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_I... ) from South America.

Yeah, that's what I said.

Oh, and BTW, Chris, how heavy do you think T. rex was? At the largest?

Sakib wrote:

<quoted text>
Yeah, that's what I said.
Oh, and BTW, Chris, how heavy do you think T. rex was? At the largest?

I'm thinking 7 or 8 tons at most for the largest specimens (like Sue or Stan).

Thanks.

However, do you think Stan and Sue were abnormally large?

Sakib wrote:

However, do you think Stan and Sue were abnormally large?

Lets see. Animal 35-50 feet in length, standing as tall as the tallest giraffe, heavyset legs, muscular tail -- and a head the size of a small European country -- Yeah I'd say (as far as estimates go) those rough estimates are pretty good. T-Rex was heavily built and I'd say its entirely possible for this hunk of reptile to weigh upward of 6 tons, maybe going to 7. Ball park figure = a little heavier than the heaviest African Elephant. That makes for a pretty big animal, which was his ultimate downfall. With the great impact 65 mya, since the entire foodchain was wiped out from therblig level, T-Rex demanded just too much food to have been sustained, until the effects of the blast (the dust clouds/adverse weather patterns/non-availability of food) subsided -- a process which may have lasted a thousand years or so. But, if evidence should arise that a small species of dinosaur (e.g Wannasaurus or Compsognathus) may have survived the impact I will not complain too much. We all know after the great extinction mammals took over and one of the biggest advantages in that hostile environment is that mammals take care and nurture their young, making them a better fit species for those particular conditions -- It's possible that mammals gave dino's the final deathblow. However this is all just me speculating but I would like to know your thoughts?

Christopher Pearsoll wrote:

Birds actually dominated for the first 15 million years or so after the K/T event. They were the first to dominate the large bodied predator niches, and in some places, retained those niches until recently.
Titanis was one of the last of the Phorusrhacids, who dominated in South America (and elsewhere) earlier in the Tertiary. Titanis came north during the Great American Interchange (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_I... ) from South America.

Yeah birds are very adaptaple and intelligent. I would also not argue against them actually dominating for extended periods of time, as they are so close to dinosaurs

Joe wrote:

Well, didn't most of all dinosaurs actually survive the initial impact?
wasn't it the rapid ecological change and climate change that really killed off most, except the small ones which would need less food to survive.
I guess it's a possibility, then again... we're all dinosaurs =p

Yup. What happened was that the foodchain was distroyed as no photosynthesis could occur for hundreds of years. No plants could grow and the herbavores (those damned Triceratops and their mates!!) depleted the vegetation on the earth. Pretty soon these animals starved and died, leaving the carnivores shit out of luck. T-Rex and his doomed friends could simply not prey on the animal scurrying around at that time, meaning they starved as well. Then the smaller animals evolved into the gaps -- mega herbivores and apex predators -- after the effects subsided.

Interestingly let's talk about the blast itself. It would have been roughly a billion times more devastating that the Hiroshima bomb (we are talking 15 kilotonnes x 1 billion here = 1.5 Teraton)and would basically have caused massive quakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and all other forms of hellish fury all over the globe. This would have killed off a fair amount of dinosaurs. However the killer was a large amount of matter (e.g dust) which circled the globe and cut off sunlight. Sunlight is the reason all of us are in existence and cutting it off would deplete O2 regeneration, thus ending all life on the planet. However the cloud lifted (thankfully) before this could happen and sunlight dawned on an earth with no major carnivores or herbivores. Natural selection prevailed and the most adaptable specie could dominate the world

Voice of reason wrote:

<quoted text>
Lets see. Animal 35-50 feet in length, standing as tall as the tallest giraffe, heavyset legs, muscular tail -- and a head the size of a small European country -- Yeah I'd say (as far as estimates go) those rough estimates are pretty good. T-Rex was heavily built and I'd say its entirely possible for this hunk of reptile to weigh upward of 6 tons, maybe going to 7. Ball park figure = a little heavier than the heaviest African Elephant. That makes for a pretty big animal, which was his ultimate downfall. With the great impact 65 mya, since the entire foodchain was wiped out from therblig level, T-Rex demanded just too much food to have been sustained, until the effects of the blast (the dust clouds/adverse weather patterns/non-availability of food) subsided -- a process which may have lasted a thousand years or so. But, if evidence should arise that a small species of dinosaur (e.g Wannasaurus or Compsognathus) may have survived the impact I will not complain too much. We all know after the great extinction mammals took over and one of the biggest advantages in that hostile environment is that mammals take care and nurture their young, making them a better fit species for those particular conditions -- It's possible that mammals gave dino's the final deathblow. However this is all just me speculating but I would like to know your thoughts?

Oh no, I'm talking about whether they were abnormally large as T. rexes, not as animals overall.

HArdly news...

Sakib wrote:

<quoted text>
Oh no, I'm talking about whether they were abnormally large as T. rexes, not as animals overall.

Thats hard to say mate. Problem is finding a decent T-Rex skeleton is easier said than done. Beats the heck out of me why but I'm sure other pollsters will have a fair idea?

Voice of reason wrote:

<quoted text>
Thats hard to say mate. Problem is finding a decent T-Rex skeleton is easier said than done. Beats the heck out of me why but I'm sure other pollsters will have a fair idea?

Good reply. Seriously.