Dinosauroids

i-e3f1901806a6389635b774efbe7b2c8f-dinosauroid r&s.jpgI took a class with Dale Russell a few years ago. It was one of the most memorable classes ever, mainly because of Dale's overwhelming enthusiasm for the subjects of dinosaurs and evolution (as well as the coolest field-trip to the vaults of Carnegie Museum, getting to touch and hold and discuss fossils never seen by general public).

But I was always uneasy with Dale's overly-anthropomorphic depiction of 'alternative' evolution, i.e., what if dinosaurs did not go extinct. First of all, there is no reason to believe that anything as intelligent as us would ever have evolved. But even if it did, and even if it evolved out of dinosaurian ancestors, there is no reason why it would ever look similar to us in morphology. Now Darren Naish explains why and provides (in the comments) some examples of fish and birds (parrots, of course) with large brain:body ratios comparable to ours.

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I'm intrigued by the thought of it. Also the 'Squidworth' thought experiment. Aliens, however remote their existance may be (no pun) may have evolved from squids, look like and carry themselves about like Squidworth of Sponge Bob fame.