When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth!

Two Australian Dinosaurs

Muttaburrasaurus:

Minmi:

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It seems we are in need of some education as it seems some of you can’t tell the difference between large theropods and just think every large theropod is a Tyrannosaurus rex. So, here we go.

This is a T-Rex:

Tyrannosaurus rex is a late Cretaceous theropod from North America notable for a large head and tiny two-clawed arms.

This is a Giganatosaurus (and my current profile pic):

Giganatosaurus is a three-clawed theropod from the late Cretaceous (though older than T-Rex) South America. It’s theorized to be larger than a Rex.

This is Ceratosaurus (and my previous profile pic):

Ceratosaurus is a late Jurassic theropod from North America known for the small horn on its nose.

Finally, here’s Allosaurus (and my original profile pic):

Allosaurus was a large theropod from the late Jurassic in North America with large three-clawed hands. It is considered to be the top predator in its ecosystem much the same T-Rex was in its ecosystem.

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[cough] @MrColdStream [cough]

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Shhh! I wasn’t going to name names. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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Well, thanks for the crash course!

I was a dinosaur fan as a kid and had many dino books I used to read a lot - and I’ve seen the Jurassic Park movies multiple times (I know they aren’t scientifically accurate in all cases) - and I still can’t remember the differences between all of those.

So I expect to forget this by tomorrow and go back to calling everything a T-rex!

It’s great to have someone here who knows their dinosaurs, though, and I apologize in advance for my further ignorance!

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No problem. I get that not everyone has my… enthusiasm, level of detail, level of pedanticness about this subject. For the record, a Giganatosaurus is what the Rex and Therizinosaurus (scythe-clawed herbivore) were fighting in the finale of Jurassic World: Dominion.

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A Nothosaurus, a Triassic marine reptile (ancestor to Plesiosaurs):

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Pentaceratops (Five-horned face):

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Suchomimus:

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A Pair of Utahraptor:

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My favorite dinosaur fact is that the time between the last dinosaurs and today is shorter than the time from the first dinosaurs to the last ones.

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Pyroraptor hunting:

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Do love a good Muttaburrasaurus, and seeing its skeleton irl was amazing

image

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Well, that took me a moment.

For a minute there I thought you were saying dinosaurs weren’t really part of your childhood, and you’d only seen a handful.

Then I checked what it was you were responding to.

It was funnier before I checked.

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Dryosaurus:

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I just got a nice book from the library titled A Dinosaur a Day by Miranda Smith. I plan on using it as a template for looking at a new dinosaur each day next year and I might share some of my findings in this thread.

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