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Kil
Evil Skeptic
USA
13477 Posts |
 Posted - 11/20/2009 : 16:00:57
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Fossils of dinosaur-era crocodiles found in Sahara
They were given nicknames by the scientists, based on their unusual physical features.
''BoarCroc'' (Kaprosuchus saharicus): A 20 feet upright meat-eater with an armoured [sic] snout and three sets of dagger-shaped fangs.
''RatCroc'' (Araripesuchus rattoides): Discovered in Morocco, this was a three-foot-long upright plant and grub-eater. It had a pair of lower jaw buckteeth which were used to dig for food.
''PancakeCroc'' (Laganosuchus thaumastos): This animal's fossils were found in Niger and Morocco. It was a 20-foot-long squat fish-eater with a three-foot-long pancake-flat head and spiky teeth on slender jaws.
''DuckCroc'' (Anatosuchus minor): A three-foot upright species that ate fish, frogs and grubs. It had a broad, overhanging snout and a long nose. Sensory areas on the snout helped it root around shallow waters for prey.
''DogCroc'' (Araripesuchus wegeneri): Fossils found in Niger included five skeletons next to each other on a single block of rock. DogCroc was a three-foot-long upright plant and grub eater with a soft, doglike forward-pointing nose.
Describing the finds in National Geographic Magazine, Prof Sereno wrote: ''My African crocs appeared to have had both upright, agile legs for bounding overland and a versatile tail for paddling in water.
''Their amphibious talents in the past may be the key to understanding how they flourished in, and ultimately survived, the dinosaur era.'' |
Cool finds! This should keep filthy going for awhile.
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Uncertainty may make you uncomfortable. Certainty makes you ridiculous.
Why not question something for a change?
Genetic Literacy Project |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 11/20/2009 : 16:31:02 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by Kil
Fossils of dinosaur-era crocodiles found in Sahara
They were given nicknames by the scientists, based on their unusual physical features.
''BoarCroc'' (Kaprosuchus saharicus): A 20 feet upright meat-eater with an armoured [sic] snout and three sets of dagger-shaped fangs.
''RatCroc'' (Araripesuchus rattoides): Discovered in Morocco, this was a three-foot-long upright plant and grub-eater. It had a pair of lower jaw buckteeth which were used to dig for food.
''PancakeCroc'' (Laganosuchus thaumastos): This animal's fossils were found in Niger and Morocco. It was a 20-foot-long squat fish-eater with a three-foot-long pancake-flat head and spiky teeth on slender jaws.
''DuckCroc'' (Anatosuchus minor): A three-foot upright species that ate fish, frogs and grubs. It had a broad, overhanging snout and a long nose. Sensory areas on the snout helped it root around shallow waters for prey.
''DogCroc'' (Araripesuchus wegeneri): Fossils found in Niger included five skeletons next to each other on a single block of rock. DogCroc was a three-foot-long upright plant and grub eater with a soft, doglike forward-pointing nose.
Describing the finds in National Geographic Magazine, Prof Sereno wrote: ''My African crocs appeared to have had both upright, agile legs for bounding overland and a versatile tail for paddling in water.
''Their amphibious talents in the past may be the key to understanding how they flourished in, and ultimately survived, the dinosaur era.'' |
Cool finds! This should keep filthy going for awhile.
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Good read, Kil. Thanks! At the moment, Ive got somethng else going but I'll dig into it a little deeper.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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R.Wreck
SFN Regular
USA
1191 Posts |
Posted - 11/21/2009 : 12:41:47 [Permalink]
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A Crockoduck! Yes! Take that Kirk & Ray! |
The foundation of morality is to . . . give up pretending to believe that for which there is no evidence, and repeating unintelligible propositions about things beyond the possibliities of knowledge.
T. H. Huxley
The Cattle Prod of Enlightened Compassion
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 11/21/2009 : 14:26:05 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by R.Wreck
A Crockoduck! Yes! Take that Kirk & Ray! |
If those turkeys have anything to do with it, they'll soon turn it into a Crock-o'-quack merely by the assocation.
Kind of a neat, little guy, though.
| ("duck crocodile", for the broad, duck-like snout) is an extinct genus of notosuchian crocodylomorph discovered in Gadoufaoua, Niger, and described by a team of palaeontologists led by the American Paul Sereno in 2003, in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.[1] |
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 11/21/2009 : 23:40:45 [Permalink]
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| Sahara, huh? Then where are the big-humped Dromediles? Put up or shut up, science and reason! |
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 11/21/2009 : 23:50:41 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by filthy
Originally posted by R.Wreck
A Crockoduck! Yes! Take that Kirk & Ray! |
If those turkeys have anything to do with it, they'll soon turn it into a Crock-o'-quack merely by the assocation. |
If I know those two, it'll be another Crock-o-shit. |
“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 11/23/2009 : 16:59:05 [Permalink]
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I suggest reading about each species, googling the Latin names, It's very interesting.
Speaking of toothy items, I wonder; do they have sand tigers in the Sahara?
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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Dino era crock fossils found in Sahara
