rexy's got back

[Griffin]

"Oh but unlike crocs and lizards, the theropods were supposed to "use" the tail to equlibrate the rest of the body, right? Being almost totally horizontal needs a sorta heavy tail at the end, I suppose. Otherwise the animal would bite the dust as happens with many of our figures wich aren't correctly equilibrated."

If it was not stiff enough it would have been exhausting to keep up in the air I guess would be my point. Theropods despite some of which being huge weren't really that heavy in the grand scheme of things.

Regardless of whether or not anyone thinks a strict diet of fish would be sufficient enough for a spinosaur it really doesn't change the fact that they were not physically designed to be a swimmer. Even so like sbell said, it is more than possible to live off a diet of fish and be a wader. You used my grizzly example to argue but you left out my heron example.

[foxilized]

So, just in terms of imaginary reconstruction, would you say the tails would bend at some point, or where they totally stiff (in general terms, I know not all tails were exactly the same).

In terms of swimming, if the tails were actually so rigid, what if they used the legs to swim? I suppose they could not use the tail to swim then, but actually leaving it floating behind and then kicking their legs on the water, just like, er well just like birds do to swim! (and also as many land mammals do to swim).

Any idea if a webbed theropod could have existed? Of course this could be a bad design if the animal was meant to run after a prey but in case it was an animal who lived mainly in swamps and near-water, that could have been really useful when needed to go some place to another.
When I was a kid and visited the dino footprints remains on Spain I saw one wich was labelled as a "webbed feet" theropod; now this was like 15 years back and that was probably a mistake. As far as I know no webbed theropod evidence has been found, right?


About the heron, you are right I ignored the example simply cause I ignored the meaning of that word. Now I can see your point and yeah, I can imagine Baryonyx and relatives being a sort of mix between a Heron and a Grizzly, combining both snout and claw techniques.
The movement of the head on the spinosauroids couldn't be like a heron's, though. Not like a torpedo (from back to behind). Right?

[paleofreak]

Nov 21, 2010 14:02:16 GMT foxilized said:

As far as I know no webbed theropod evidence has been found, right?

I see lots of them through my window everyday ;D

[Horridus]

Nov 21, 2010 15:26:30 GMT paleofreak said:

Nov 21, 2010 14:02:16 GMT foxilized said:

As far as I know no webbed theropod evidence has been found, right?

I see lots of them through my window everyday ;D

Beat me to it...

Dinosaur says: "Quack!"

[[][][]cordylus[][][]]

Even dinosaurs who lived in swampy areas might not have had webbed feet; instead they switched to a plantigrade locomotion form when walking across surfaces such as mud/reeds/etc. I think there's evidence of Ceratosaurus walking on it's entire foot to get across a mudflat; before people knew it was ceratosaurus footprints, though, they thought they were giant human footprints from the bible times

[Griffin]

"So, just in terms of imaginary reconstruction, would you say the tails would bend at some point, or where they totally stiff (in general terms, I know not all tails were exactly the same)."

Dromaeosaur tails were very rigid. I guess according to that one study mentioned earlier they had some movement to them but still, quite rigid. Same can be said for pachycephalosaurs.

Other theropods would be significantly less rigid since they don't have the ossified tendons in there but still, the skeletal structure wouldn't have allowed them to be super flexible.

"In terms of swimming, if the tails were actually so rigid, what if they used the legs to swim? I suppose they could not use the tail to swim then, but actually leaving it floating behind and then kicking their legs on the water, just like, er well just like birds do to swim! (and also as many land mammals do to swim)."

I'm not saying they couldn't swim. But I don't think they could have been considered great swimmers as in cruising around underwater and hunting for fish that way. In my opinion I'm sure they could have dino-paddled from place to place if they needed to. They probably could have used the tail as well but not like a crocodillian does.

I have no idea about webbed non-avian theropods.

Cordy: That sounds interesting I've never heard of that do you have a link or something?

[[][][]cordylus[][][]]

I don't, sadly. I believe it was posted here a while ago though, maybe from darren naish's blog.

[foxilized]

I remember reading about that somewhere too... Some footprints in a muddy floor wich suggested the animal was actually swimming and using the legs as paddles... I remember it being labelled as a Dilophosaurus though.

Yep, it's in "Predatory dinosaurs of the World" of Greg Paul.
Page 46.











Are ducks theropods??? ;D

[Seijun]

Would it be evil to sculpt a feathered t-rex with webbed feet?

[Horridus]

Nov 21, 2010 21:10:57 GMT Seijun said:

Would it be evil to sculpt a feathered t-rex with webbed feet?

Yes.

[sid]

Nov 21, 2010 16:33:55 GMT [][][]cordylus[][][] said:

. I think there's evidence of Ceratosaurus walking on it's entire foot to get across a mudflat; before people knew it was ceratosaurus footprints, though, they thought they were giant human footprints from the bible times

Wow, didn't know that!

Could you be more specific?

[Himmapaan]

Nov 21, 2010 21:18:42 GMT Horridus said:

Nov 21, 2010 21:10:57 GMT Seijun said:

Would it be evil to sculpt a feathered t-rex with webbed feet?

Yes.

Any less wicked were one to draw it? ;D

Just kidding. I wouldn't. ;D

[Griffin]

Nov 21, 2010 21:26:55 GMT Himmapaan said:

Nov 21, 2010 21:18:42 GMT Horridus said:

Yes.

Any less wicked were one to draw it? ;D

Just kidding. I wouldn't. ;D

I suppose you could. You would just have to depict it hanging out with unicorns and faeries though just to clarify that it is indeed a creature of pure imagination.

[Himmapaan]

Who said unicorns and fairies were imaginary? ;D

Though I doubt anyone could have mistaken a web-footed tyrannosaur as a serious reconstruction, really... ;D

[Seijun]

Nov 21, 2010 21:19:15 GMT sid said:

Nov 21, 2010 16:33:55 GMT [][][]cordylus[][][] said:

. I think there's evidence of Ceratosaurus walking on it's entire foot to get across a mudflat; before people knew it was ceratosaurus footprints, though, they thought they were giant human footprints from the bible times

Wow, didn't know that!

Could you be more specific?

I second this.

[foxilized]

Don't worry, we have Kirk Cameron. ^^

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f6/Kirkcameroncrocoduck.JPG

[foxilized]

Oh, what da hell... DUCK YOU, Kirk!!!!

There we go:

[[][][]cordylus[][][]]

Nov 21, 2010 20:27:41 GMT foxilized said:

I remember reading about that somewhere too... Some footprints in a muddy floor wich suggested the animal was actually swimming and using the legs as paddles... I remember it being labelled as a Dilophosaurus though.

Yep, it's in "Predatory dinosaurs of the World" of Greg Paul.
Page 46.











Are ducks theropods??? ;D

This was different, this was a ceratosaurus walking across mud in the plantigrade form of walking. It wasn't swimming like in the dilophosaurus study you mentioned (I've heard of that one! There also one where apparently albertosaurus was swimming and left scratch marks on the bottom silt)

[Himmapaan]

Nov 21, 2010 22:55:05 GMT foxilized said:

Oh, what da hell... DUCK YOU, Kirk!!!!

There we go:

Haha. ;D

[sid]

Nov 21, 2010 23:15:16 GMT [][][]cordylus[][][] said:

This was different, this was a ceratosaurus walking across mud in the plantigrade form of walking. It wasn't swimming like in the dilophosaurus study you mentioned (I've heard of that one! There also one where apparently albertosaurus was swimming and left scratch marks on the bottom silt)

It's strange to imagine a theropod walking in the plantigrade way... Maybe he was crouched when he left those footprints?