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Post by Samildanach on Oct 27, 2009 15:47:49 GMT -5
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Post by blazingsaddle on Oct 27, 2009 16:49:03 GMT -5
Hahaha, nice!
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Post by Doomy on Oct 27, 2009 17:42:11 GMT -5
I hope this video has been seen by the people at Top Trumps, they need to update their Sea Monsters edition.
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Post by Samildanach on Oct 27, 2009 17:47:43 GMT -5
It can swallow a T-Rex whole, apparently.  |
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Post by Doomy on Oct 27, 2009 17:50:04 GMT -5
Makes Jaws look a bit rubbish, doesn't it?
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Post by jan on Oct 28, 2009 6:43:34 GMT -5
I like the enthusiasm of this man, the way he explain things. I wish other scientists were similar...
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Post by Samildanach on Oct 28, 2009 6:51:05 GMT -5
I'll tell him that. He'll probably be flattered.  It's strange actually. I've lost count of how many times I've drunk tea in his kitchen, yet I've never heard him talk about dinosaurs before, even though he's a palaeontologist and I like dinosaurs.  |
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Post by Doomy on Oct 28, 2009 6:54:12 GMT -5
As your friend's dad would probably point out, technially that's not a dinosaur. It's a marine reptile.  |
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Post by Samildanach on Oct 28, 2009 7:01:13 GMT -5
It's a bloody dinosaur!  And yes, you're right, he would. Richard is quite pedantic, particularly about science. Coming from someone as pedantic as me, that's quite a proclamation. I thought the teeth were kind of strange. Hooked teeth at the back to make sure the food can't escape? Pretty alarming stuff, if you imagine being the food. The forward-facing eyes surprised me too. I think I have a default assumption that all marine life has side-mounted eyes. |
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Post by Doomy on Oct 28, 2009 7:15:22 GMT -5
Almost all of it does, although a fish with forward-facing eyes was recently discovered. Presumably our big honkin' lizard friend here was "recently" adapted for marine life and would have eventually evolved sideways eyes if it hadn't become extinct. Incidentally, Richard has now achieved the immortality of being quoted in Wikipedia. |
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Post by Samildanach on Oct 28, 2009 7:29:19 GMT -5
That's a weird looking fish. It looks like a Final Fantasy enemy to me. Thanks for the Wikipedia tip-off. I wonder if he knows. He may have done it himself. ;D |
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Post by Seneschal on Oct 29, 2009 18:53:19 GMT -5
My vague secondary-school-biology understanding was that, generally speaking, predators had forward facing eyes (affording excellent vision within a narrow "target" band), and animals that were usually prey had eyes on the side of their heads (giving 360 degree vision (of poor quality) and thus making it harder to sneak up on them).
This thing looks very much like a predator to me...
Whatever it is, it's awesome, so thanks for posting this!
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Post by Doomy on Oct 29, 2009 19:13:03 GMT -5
That's how it works for land animals, but marine life is different. I thnk.
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Post by Samildanach on Oct 30, 2009 6:46:36 GMT -5
Sharks have side-mounted eyes. Then again, I suppose there are probably things that eat them.
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Post by Doomy on Oct 30, 2009 7:06:46 GMT -5
Sight is less important underwater. Sharks, for instance, primarily hunt by scent.
As for sharks being eaten, if you ignore Man's predations great whites and hammerheads are at the top of the food chain. But sharks will eat other sharks,
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It's strange actually. I've lost count of how many times I've drunk tea in his kitchen, yet I've never heard him talk about dinosaurs before, even though he's a palaeontologist and I like dinosaurs. 
