Dinosaur Enthusiasts - Dinosaur/Jurassic Chat

[gamorasass]

@honeybears @Cruxich

Welcome to our first members! Thanks for joining!
Sorry our information isn't up quite yet, but life is quite busy. I'm hoping to have at least a Dino Profile up by the end of the month!
I honestly haven't filled out a form yet because I can't pick a fave dino xD

[CustardFox]

Lol I understand! Every time I think I have a favorite I find another that I really like.

[librarycat]

Username: librarycat
Favorite Dinosaur: I've always said troodon here - small therapods are definitely my favourite genre of dinosaur - but i love the ceratopsids and stegasaurids that are just Extra with the spikes. styracosaurus; kentrosaurus - I'm looking at you you dumb spiky bois.
When did your interest in dinosaurs start: when i was but a small child, watching the walking with dinosaurs double vhs. on repeat. with my plastic dinosaur toys. creating dramatic scenes with said dinosaur toys. making my parents and younger sister visit the natural history museum. playing the jurassic park 3 computer game. failing to grasp the strategy behing the 97 game Evolution: The Game of Intelligent Life (i was really little - i tink 5? 7? - it was beyond me. still played it a ton)
Other: so is this just dinosaurs and other jurrasic wildlife? what if we want to talk about early sinapsids? or thisidiot shark that has teeth on its head? or helicoprion, the shark that decided having a regular jaw was for chumps and that the buzzsaw was the best tool for the whole eating job? evolution is so weird.

[gamorasass]

Any discussion jurassic is welcome! Sorry for the late reply and lack of activity. Life is pretty busy! I hope to get a Dino profile up soon!

[librarycat]

noice.

so where do you guys stand on the tyrannosaurus fluff scale?

[CustardFox]

noice.

so where do you guys stand on the tyrannosaurus fluff scale?

Forgive me but what is a tyrannosaurus fluff scale? Like do we think the drawings are inaccurate?

[librarycat]

ok so other, earlier tyrannosaurs have been found with feathers. a T rex specimen has been found with small (human palm-sized) patches of scales impressions, indicating no feathers in those areas. Therefore:

a) t. rex was not feathered at all
b) t. rex was feathered, just not there
c) the particular specimen was suffering from an illness that made it lose its feathers
d) the particular specimen didn't fossilise until after the feathers had decomposed.

feathers are fluffy. this is a fact. have you looked at the back end of a chicken? fluffbutt.
so how fluffy was t. rex?
a) not fluffy
b) fluffy, but not as fluffy as previously thought
c) fluffy, but only when young
d) hella fluffy, like a really big, murdery ostrich

[Cruxich]

noice.

so where do you guys stand on the tyrannosaurus fluff scale?

I honestly don't think member of the tyrannosaurid family had feathers. They were simply better off without them, as they would more then likely overheat and that wouldn't be a very fun thing to go through if you were out hunting on, for example a super warm plain. Unless they were capable of shedding off the insulation, Tyrannosaurus and it's close relatives are far better off without then.

But members of the other family, tyrannosauroid like Yutyrannus were covered in a layer of primitive, filamentous feathers. They didn't resemble actual feathers, though. Instead they looked more like fur all over the tyrannosauroid. Yutyrannus lived in a more cooler, shady climate so a insulation of primitive feathers would be a big help in keeping them warm.

[librarycat]

might i counter with: ostriches have quite a lot of feathery fluff and they live in those sorts of climates too. The large areas of naked skin on the legs and neck help to thermoregulate.

i just love the idea of giant, feathery murderbirds. Practically, i think you're probably right and they had about as many feathers as elephants have hair.

[CustardFox]

ok so other, earlier tyrannosaurs have been found with feathers. a T rex specimen has been found with small (human palm-sized) patches of scales impressions, indicating no feathers in those areas. Therefore:

a) t. rex was not feathered at all
b) t. rex was feathered, just not there
c) the particular specimen was suffering from an illness that made it lose its feathers
d) the particular specimen didn't fossilise until after the feathers had decomposed.

feathers are fluffy. this is a fact. have you looked at the back end of a chicken? fluffbutt.
so how fluffy was t. rex?
a) not fluffy
b) fluffy, but not as fluffy as previously thought
c) fluffy, but only when young
d) hella fluffy, like a really big, murdery ostrich

I think earlier tyrannosaurs had feathers but THE T-rex we all know about didn't. Its earlier relatives were much much smaller and could probably handle more feathers but the sheer size of the T-rex would make feathers impractical because feathers have weight (why ostriches can't fly) and based on bone structure, the extra weight added by feathers would make it harder than it already was for rexy to run. Plus, what someone else said, it would most likely overheat. They were cold-blooded and all that exposed skin helped them cool down. Much like an elephant.