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 Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 3:17 pm
Mr. Investi-Gator! Did you know that...?
Username: Fatal Irony
Prize Preferences: 1, 2, 4, 7, 3, 5, 6
Prompt: Prompt 5
What's so interesting about that? As to whether early crocodilians played a small or large role in the Triassic, that is a matter of perspective. Archosaurs displaced therapsids as the dominant amniotes. This is perhaps what caused the evolution of mammals, which in the larger scheme of things is huge. I'm sure living in the time it was perhaps not so obvious how important they were in the grand scheme of things. Displacing the therapsids to become notrunal insectivores is possibly what caused them to develop fur and higher metabolisms.
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 6:15 pm
Mr. Investi-Gator! Did you know that...?
Username: Teh Cheryl
Prize Preferences: 6 5
Prompt: 3
What's so interesting about that? Certain labyrinthodont amphibians had the basic crocodile shape. However, they are amphibians instead of reptiles. Phytosaur were semi-aquatic reptiles that resemble crocodiles in appearance and lifestyle, but actually have a lot of smaller differences. Phytosaur ankle structure is much more primitive and they also lack the bony secondary palate that crocodiles use to breathe even when the mouth is full of water. More noticeably, phytosaurs had nostrils near or above eye level, whereas crocodiles have nostrils at the end of the snout. Crocodile like features likely continue to evolve separate this simply because these crocodile like features enable them to survive. Crocodile features are likely the convergence of several characteristics that are well adapted to survive in a variety of of ecosystems or settings, therefore creatures continue to evolve toward that direction.
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 7:31 pm
Mr. Investi-Gator! Did you know that...?
Username: Teh Cheryl
Prize Preferences: 6 5
Prompt: 5
What's so interesting about that? During the Triassic, crocodile ancestors dominated the terrain, including animals such as the aetosaurs and the rauisuchids. Dinosaurs were smaller and less diverse during the Triassic. Crocodile ancestors had armored carapaces, often covered with sharp spikes, generally inhabited river floodplain where they ate plants, insects, and smaller animals. They likely played a larger part in the ecosystem considering their size and dominance during the time and the relatively low population of dinosaurs during the era.
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 8:11 pm
Mr. Investi-Gator! Did you know that...?
Username: LunaRei_SilverBlood
Prize Preferences: 2 - reroll
Prompt: 7
What's so interesting about that?
I feel like it's ironic that Jurassic Park is not on Netflix while this event is going on and I'm watching it while answering this question...
SO after reading this long and rather complicated article since science isn't really my strong suit, As early as 1993 biological material has been discovered. A grad student had reported discovering red blood cells in blood vessels and then you can fast forward to 2015. A group examined eight Cretaceous dinosaur bones and found supposed soft tissue. Amino-acid fragments which is typical of collagn and in another study proteins.
Mr. Investi-Gator! Did you know that...?
Username: LunaRei_SilverBlood
Prize Preferences: 2 - reroll
Prompt: 8
What's so interesting about that?
In 1993 a researcher named Varricchio used histology to determine that troodontid dinosaurs reached their full adult size in less than 5 years. Another researcher used the method to determine that pterosaurs had fast metabolisms. Not only that but that they had a growth rate similar to birds rather than other reptiles. Even Theropod's had bones histology that showed they grew at a rate and structure that is typical of today's large birds.
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 8:26 pm
Mr. Investi-Gator! Did you know that...?
Username: Teh Cheryl
Prize Preferences: 6 5
Prompt: 6
What's so interesting about that? Structural coloration is caused by interference effects from visible light rather than by pigments. The coloration created by pigments is independent of the structure of the feather. Based on this, even though we have found dinosaur feather pigments, that doesn't mean we know what color their feathers really were. The pigment might have been one color but the structural color that is formed from the refraction of light off feather proteins mean that the visible color of the feather may have been drastically different. Blues and iridescent colors, for example, are always structural coloration that can not be formed from simply pigments. Therefore, feather pigments can only tell a part of the story and to know actual colors, an intact feather would likely be required.
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 9:03 pm
Mr. Investi-Gator! Did you know that...?
Username: Teh Cheryl
Prize Preferences: 6 5
Prompt: 7
What's so interesting about that? As of December 2015, researchers have blood vessels and red blood cells! After finding what looked like red blood cells in two of the fossils, researchers initially speculated that it was likely the result of contamination . When they cut through one of the red blood cells, they saw what appeared to looked like a nucleus. The red blood cells of humans are unusual among vertebrates because they lack a cell nucleus, therefore they felt confident that it wasn't human blood. These finding could be groundbreaking, as by studying soft tissue, scientists find tons of information about dinosaur evolution, physiology and behavior. Not only that, but this means that even fragments of dinosaur DNA could be found!
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 9:29 pm
Mewsings of An Angel Letting you know that I have won a big prize and would like to taken out of the running for anything but the familiars! Cheyriddle4 Letting you know I won a familiar for the event and am only eligible for the soq's. Great! Congrats! Please go ahead and edit your preference lists in your posts to reflect your new prefs. heart
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 9:51 pm
Quote:  Dilophosau-Registrar: HMMMM. The Investi-gator's new class seems to be full of exceptionally bright pupils. I'll have to recommend an increase in funding for his projects.
I've updated tickets until this point. Your answers are so great that the Dilophosau-Registrar has added himself to the prize pool! Amazing jobs, everyone! biggrin He is now number 7 in the prize preferences! Please edit your posts to update prize preference lists! Don't forget to update all your posts, so I don't miss anything! heart
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 10:27 pm
Mr. Investi-Gator! Did you know that...?
Username: Calixita
Prize Preferences: 1, 4, 2, 3, 7, pass (already won a familiar)
Prompt: 2
What's so interesting about that?
Rausuchians were a group of archosaurs that lived during the Triassic Period. These creatures had large heads and an erect gait, meaning their legs were positioned below them rather than sprawling to the side like lizards and crocodilians. They were all carnivorous, and it was believed that some of the larger ones were the top predators of their time.
Another group of carnivores that lived during the late Triassic period were the poposaurids. These archosaurs were obligate biped, which led many to believe they were dinosaurs, but they have a much closer relation to crocodiles. Both poposaurids and rausuchians split off from the larger group, Rauisuchia.
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2016 10:48 pm
Mr. Investi-Gator! Did you know that...?
Username: Calixita
Prize Preferences: 1, 4, 2, 3, 7, pass (already won a familiar)
Prompt: 4
What's so interesting about that? Aetosaurs, rauisuchians, and sphenosuchians all walked upright, which their legs positioned directly below them, unlike crocodilians whose legs are spread out much wider on their sides. Modern crocodilians' nostrils are located at the end of their noses, while ancient crocodiles' nostrils were located above their eyes. In addition, the aetosaurs, rauisuchians, and sphenosuchians were all land-dwelling creatures. Some of them were even herbivores!
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Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2016 8:37 am
Mr. Investi-Gator! Did you know that...?
Username: Fatal Irony
Prize Preferences: 1, 2, 4, 7, 3, 5, 6
Prompt: Prompt 6
What's so interesting about that?
Pigments use three key things to make color: Carotenoids, Melanins, Porphyrins. Carotenoids are produced by plants, and are acquired by eating plants or by eating something that has eaten a plant. Melanins are tiny granules of color in both skin and feather and can range in color from dark black to browns to yellow. Melanin also makes feathers stronger. Porphyrins are made by manipulating amino acids and can create a range of colors including pink, browns, reds, and greens.
Structural colors: One way structural color is achieved as result of the refraction of incident light caused by the microscopic structure of the feather barbules. This will change the color of the feather based on viewing angle. Also, tiny air pockets in feathers can scatter the light, refracting it into different colors. Blue colors are almost always produced this way.
If it's possible to know how a dinosaur's pigment is created, it's possible to know at least a range of colors they might have been, based on the above knowledge. Different colors are produced by different means, so it's possible to know what colors dinosaurs might have been, within a range.
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Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2016 10:30 am
Mr. Investi-Gator! Did you know that...?
Username: Nisshou H
Prize Preferences: Sharp student-saurus, Dilophsau-registrar, bloody student-saurus, Investigator, dimetrodon intern, desmatosuchus intern, reroll please!
Prompt: 1
What's so interesting about that? The closest living evolutionary relative to crocodilia are birds. While trying to map out the genome of 45 different bird species scientists found an ancestor: the archosaur. This “ruling reptile” lived about 250 million years ago and it didn’t just evolve into modern birds, it also evolved into modern crocodilians. By tracing the genome of the modern crocodile they discovered that modern birds and modern crocodilians both evolved from the archosaur.
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Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2016 10:54 am
Mr. Investi-Gator! Did you know that...?
Username: Fatal Irony
Prize Preferences: 1, 2, 4, 7, 3, 5, 6
Prompt: Prompt 7
What's so interesting about that?
Scientists had found some soft tissue preserved from a T-rex and argued about it for some time. Finally, after examination, they have found some proteins and perhaps DNA, though they can't be sure. They have also found collagen, red blood cells, and other soft tissues. Apparently the presence of iron in the blood, as well as the fossilization conditions are what allowed the soft tissues to be preserved.
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Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2016 10:56 am
Mr. Investi-Gator! Did you know that...?
Username: Nisshou H
Prize Preferences: Sharp student-saurus, Dilophsau-registrar, bloody student-saurus, Investigator, dimetrodon intern, desmatosuchus intern, reroll please!
Prompt: 2
What's so interesting about that? Popsaurids lived in the late Triassic period and based on North American fossil finds they also lived fairly close to where I do now. They were herbivores and could grow to about four meters long. They were at one point believed to be various dinosaurs like iguanodonts and stegosaurs. At one point they were labeled as being part of the Rauisuchidae but better classification let them split away and establish the Poposauridae.
Rauisuchids, on the other hand, could grow up to six meters in length and were considered the top predators in the middle and upper Triassic. Rauisuchids have been mistaken for dinosaurs themselves or for actual dinosaurs but they too are more closely related to crocodiles. Where Poposaurids were bipedal, rauisuchians were often portrayed as being quadrupedal. The group died out in the Triassic-Jurassic extinction event
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Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2016 11:02 am
Mr. Investi-Gator! Did you know that...?
Username: Fatal Irony
Prize Preferences: 1, 2, 4, 7, 3, 5, 6
Prompt: Prompt 8
What's so interesting about that?
Taking bone slices and studying them can offer a variety of different information. One Scientist in particular decided to take it upon herself to use bone slicing to determine the rate at which dinosaurs grew. It was theorized that dinosaurs would grow slowly, as with modern reptiles. However, research using bone slicing has determined that dinosaurs actually aged quite quickly, realizing their full size in 10-12 years.
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