The horror that is LOLSAUROPODS

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Dr David Hone is well known for many scientific achievements. For the description of the new rhynchosaur Fodonyx (Hone & Benton 2007a). For his papers on Cope's rule and macroevolutionary trends in archosaurs (Hone & Benton 2005, Hone et al. 2005). For his PhD work on the phylogenetic position of pterosaurs (Hone & Benton 2007b). For the organisation of the awesome Munich pterosaur meeting. And for the philanthropic wonder that is the Ask A Biologist site. But even such a noble creator can spawn a monster. Yes world, I give you the horror that is lol-sauropods, brain-child of Dave Hone (and with a nod to Mike P. Taylor and all the artists ripped off in this little endeavour)...

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Maybe this would have better appeared on SV-POW.. yeah, if some of the pictures featured the vertebrae of the animals concerned. If you like Luis Rey's carcharodontosaur vs Amargasaurus piece shown at the very top, note that Luis has recently updated this picture and changed it entirely: go here.

Refs - -

Hone, D. W. E. & Benton, M. J. 2005. Cope's rule in the Pterosauria, and differing perceptions of Cope's Rule at different taxonomic levels. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 20, 1164-1170.

- . & Benton, M. J. 2007a. A new genus of rhynchosaur from the Middle Triassic of south-west England. Palaeontology 51, 95-115.

- . & Benton, M. J. 2007b. An evaluation of the phylogenetic relationships of the pterosaurs among archosauromorph reptiles. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 5, 465-469.

- ., Keesey, T. M., Pisani, D. & Purvis, A. 2005. Macroevolutionary trends in the Dinosauria: Cope's rule. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 18, 587-595.

More like this

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Last year Dave Hone (of Archosaurs Musings) and Mike Benton published their analysis of the English rhynchosaur Fodonyx spenceri. Ever one to make promises that I'm unable to fulfil (in the short term, at least), I vowed to cover the group at some stage. Neil Kelley recently reminded us that 2008…
Welcome to the third, and last, of the rhynchosaur articles. The other two are mandatory reading: part I is a general intro, part II is on jaws and teeth. This time round, we look at the form and function of the postcranial anatomy (well, predominantly at the limbs actually), and also at…
In the previous rhynchosaur article we introduced these remarkable Triassic reptiles [adjacent Hyperodapedon restoration from wikipedia]. Their amazing, specialised jaws and teeth were mentioned and discussed in passing, but I skimped on the details. Make yourself some strong coffee and be sure…

Hey, Luis! You took all the spines off the Amargasaurus!

I believe it's because Amargasaurus and Giganotosaurus did not, technically, coexist. U can not has temporal paradox.

Hey, Luis! You took all the spines off the Amargasaurus! Why?

Because it's not an Amargasaurus anymore dumbass - he's changed it into a baby argentinosaur so that it can be properly contemporaneous with Mapusaurus (which was previously Giganotosaurus in the picture). See p. 105 of the big Holtz & Rey book. Argentinosaurus is from the Cenomanian Huincul Fm, whereas Amargasaurus is from the Barremian-Aptian La Amarga Fm and Giganotosaurus is from the Turonian Rio Limay Fm. Mapusaurus, however, truly was contemporaneous with Argentinosaurus.

Because it's not an Amargasaurus anymore dumbass

Bet that'll teach you to ask reasonable questions, eh dumbass?

By Alexandra (not verified) on 21 Mar 2008 #permalink

Yes, folks, those are my friends and fellow bloggers, making up LOLsauropods and calling each other "dumbass" in public. I only hope that I can figure out a way to take credit for it.

Since Matt wants to take the credit, I will try and let him. The 'idea' came from his recent SV-POW! post on pneumaticy where he pointed out that soem sauropods were 'rilly, rilly big' and something in my brain snapped and I thought 'I can has pneumaticy?'. Then I just *had* to get it out of my brain, and well, then this happened.

I feel like Frankenstei and that I will end up at the pole trying to escape my creation, only to find a tourist there in an 'I is not playin' T-shirt....

Ooh lolpterosaurs!

I IS NOT SKIMMIN
I IS QUADRUPED TOO
MY PATAGIUM LET ME SHOW YOU IT (on a fossil with impressions)
I CAN HAS HEADCREST?
HEVIER THAN YOU THOT
QUETZALCOATLUS IS IN UR NEST EATIN UR BABYS (on a certain Mark Witton picture)

By Vertebrat (not verified) on 21 Mar 2008 #permalink

I did send out the initial e-mail to the SV-POW! boys entitled 'Oh God, NO!'. I did wonder where this would go. Can soemone please go and reserve 'www.Icanhaspneumaticy.com' so at least they all end up in one place where people can avoid them if they want to. I would hate to think the poor chumps who just like dinosaurs will suddenly find these on every blog they turn to.....

By Dave Hone (not verified) on 21 Mar 2008 #permalink

Speaking of Creating Monsters, Ectoplasmosis has picked up "Sun Goes Like This, posted in an earlier response, with added tear-inducing commentary

In case you need a refresher, "going like this" refers to a depraved modern practice illustrated here. Other examples may be observed at the site, albeit at great risk to continued (or, perhaps, recently restored) sanity.

By Nathan Myers (not verified) on 22 Mar 2008 #permalink

So, can somebody make sauropod icon for smileys. Not that boring yellow face.

@Jerzy: Give me a hint what you'd like it to look like and I'll give it a whirl.

By Andreas Johansson (not verified) on 25 Mar 2008 #permalink