Biggest find in the history of paleontology

Guardsman Bass · Post by **Guardsman Bass** » 2005-03-24 05:00pm

I imagine there will be some more lively debates in the future . . .

Styphon · Post by **Styphon** » 2005-03-24 05:10pm

Majin Gojira wrote:Sweet Robot Monkey Jesus! This is amazing! I hope that we'll see some interesting findings from this discovery.

And I also welcome our Saurian Overlords.

now we just need to leave one of the samples inside a nuclear reactor... or possibly detonate an H-bomb on top of it...

RedImperator · Post by **RedImperator** » 2005-03-24 05:23pm

This should put the final nail in the ectotherm coffiin, at any rate. Unless it doesn't, in which case a lot of what we thought we knew about dinosaurs goes out the window.

wolveraptor · Post by **wolveraptor** » 2005-03-24 05:27pm

the best part is that they didn't find the tissue of some wussy little lesethosaur or hypsolophodontid. they found a badass, mutherfucking Tyrannosaurus rex!! hoo-rah!!

if they can clone one, they should release it into the African savannah, just for the hell of it.

on a more serious note, they'd probably be gasping for air, since their bodies would be accustomed to higher o2 levels than what we have today.

Chmee · Post by **Chmee** » 2005-03-24 05:46pm

unbeataBULL wrote:the best part is that they didn't find the tissue of some wussy little lesethosaur or hypsolophodontid. they found a badass, mutherfucking Tyrannosaurus rex!! hoo-rah!!

if they can clone one, they should release it into the African savannah, just for the hell of it.

on a more serious note, they'd probably be gasping for air, since their bodies would be accustomed to higher o2 levels than what we have today.

Of course it's all wildly speculative, but what's the theory on how long T-Rex's were dependent on mother & family? Were they like modern large mammalian carnivores and dependent on the family for years, or more like gators or crocs and pretty much self-sufficient after hatching?

If they're more like mammalian predators, you couldn't 'clone & release,' they'd be helpless idiots with no idea of how to hunt.

Queeb Salaron · Post by **Queeb Salaron** » 2005-03-24 05:56pm

Chmee wrote:Of course it's all wildly speculative, but what's the theory on how long T-Rex's were dependent on mother & family? Were they like modern large mammalian carnivores and dependent on the family for years, or more like gators or crocs and pretty much self-sufficient after hatching?

If they're more like mammalian predators, you couldn't 'clone & release,' they'd be helpless idiots with no idea of how to hunt.

Oh, there are ways to teach them how to hunt. Set one loose in Arkansas, and he'll not only learn how to catch food, but learn how to dodge 12-gauge rounds in the process.

Quadlok · Post by **Quadlok** » 2005-03-24 06:24pm

Mmm..70 million year old dinosaur jerky.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2005-03-24 07:16pm

Frank Hipper wrote:70 million years old, indeed.
More like 6-10 thousand years old.

*rimshot*

Cloning may be problematic, as there's no close biological relative to grow the thing in to egg-stage. Mammoths you can do in elephants, and most mammals have close living relatives. For T-Rex you'd have to grow it in an ostrich or some weird shit like that.

wolveraptor · Post by **wolveraptor** » 2005-03-24 08:38pm

therein lies the problem that no one likes to talk about. thank you for fucking up my fantasy.

Pick · Post by **Pick** » 2005-03-24 08:48pm

There are no fucking words for how awesome this is. Seriously.

I hope sincerely no creationist fucks start getting pissy if we try to clone it.

Eee!

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2005-03-24 09:00pm

Frank Hipper wrote:70 million years old, indeed.
More like 6-10 thousand years old.

I've already come across someone waving this as evidence of YEC.

Firefox · Post by **Firefox** » 2005-03-24 09:03pm

I have to see this discussion. It's not somewhere on RR, is it?

I hope sincerely no creationist fucks start getting pissy if we try to clone it.

Why worry? They'd make excellent T-Rex chow.

Solauren · Post by **Solauren** » 2005-03-24 09:14pm

I hereby voice my desire to make the first Rex clone male, dye his skin purple, and give him a meglomaniac genius personality

Firefox · Post by **Firefox** » 2005-03-24 09:17pm

"They shall all taste oblivion. Which tastes just like Red Bull. Which is disgusting.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2005-03-24 09:21pm

Solauren wrote:I hereby voice my desire to make the first Rex clone male, dye his skin purple, and give him a meglomaniac genius personality

Yeeeessss.

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2005-03-24 09:22pm

unbeataBULL wrote:therein lies the problem that no one likes to talk about. thank you for fucking up my fantasy.

You're welcome

Post by **Alyrium Denryle** » 2005-03-24 10:17pm

My god, the awesome sexyness.

Though I do have to say it may be possible to eventually create an artificial womb of sorts for the t-rex hatchling.

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2005-03-24 10:34pm

DPDarkPrimus wrote:
Frank Hipper wrote:70 million years old, indeed.
More like 6-10 thousand years old.
I've already come across someone waving this as evidence of YEC.

I knew they'd be on this like stink on shit the instant I saw "soft tissue"...

Firefox · Post by **Firefox** » 2005-03-24 10:38pm

Alyrium Denryle wrote:Though I do have to say it may be possible to eventually create an artificial womb of sorts for the t-rex hatchling.

That raises an interesting question (can't say there's any usable DNA for cloning, but I digress): was T-Rex a placental animal, or did it lay eggs?

wolveraptor · Post by **wolveraptor** » 2005-03-24 10:39pm

Alyrium Denryle wrote:My god, the awesome sexyness.

Though I do have to say it may be possible to eventually create an artificial womb of sorts for the t-rex hatchling.

great. now all my hopes and dreams for the next decade will be pinned on that last sentence of yours. and tomorrow i'll find out that they can't do it.

Firefox · Post by **Firefox** » 2005-03-24 10:42pm

Not necessarily. They can probably use a host animal if cloning is possible. If T-Rex was an egg-layer, an ostrich could work; if placental, something like a cow.

Post by **Alyrium Denryle** » 2005-03-24 10:45pm

Firefox wrote:
Alyrium Denryle wrote:Though I do have to say it may be possible to eventually create an artificial womb of sorts for the t-rex hatchling.
That raises an interesting question (can't say there's any usable DNA for cloning, but I digress): was T-Rex a placental animal, or did it lay eggs?

probably eggs. But to be hinest, yolk I would imagine wouldnt be hard to replicate, neither would an amnion

Post by **Alyrium Denryle** » 2005-03-24 10:46pm

albumen rather... an egg white

wolveraptor · Post by **wolveraptor** » 2005-03-24 11:00pm

could a human baby be birthed by a cow? i don't think so. and ostriches are even more distantly related to rexes than we are to cows.

Firefox · Post by **Firefox** » 2005-03-24 11:04pm

Why not? As far as I know, all that's needed is to ensure the surrogate maintains the right diet. IIRC, there's been speculation about using elephants to gestate mammoths cloned from preserved DNA.