tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3653345901774701895.post866283376403265150..comments2024-03-23T12:02:36.626-07:00Comments on Mark P. Witton's Blog: A salute to the ErythrosuchidaeMark Wittonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02524696111911168322noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3653345901774701895.post-70780691079645822732016-11-09T01:10:41.629-08:002016-11-09T01:10:41.629-08:00They did help. I can say that for sure! :)They did help. I can say that for sure! :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17462434190412501051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3653345901774701895.post-88473144230243723142016-11-09T01:08:58.947-08:002016-11-09T01:08:58.947-08:00Why do I find these gatordogs so cute? No joke! Th...Why do I find these gatordogs so cute? No joke! They are damn adorable!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17462434190412501051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3653345901774701895.post-72786363325847740042016-09-16T06:54:03.499-07:002016-09-16T06:54:03.499-07:00Rule of thumb: if it's speculated to be aquati...Rule of thumb: if it's speculated to be aquatic, chances are that it isn't.<br /><br />That said, I agree that the "hooked" jaw tips are suspicious.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3653345901774701895.post-22525554462012024232016-09-15T14:13:19.389-07:002016-09-15T14:13:19.389-07:00I wonder what exactly they hunted. Their jaws seem...I wonder what exactly they hunted. Their jaws seem wildly oversized for hunting any known contemporary. A 0.45-meter skull on a 2-meter animal is like putting a 2.25-meter skull on a 10-meter animal.<br /><br />Or thinking another way, the torso length is about 1.5 heads long. Compare H. Sapiens, where your torso is 3 heads long, or T. Rex, with a Torso still about 2 heads long, and extremely massive tail and neck vertebrae as well.<br /><br />Also significant is how robust this jaw is. Much more like T. Rex than, say, Abelisaurs.<br /><br />I wonder, in that case, what it was using that jaw for? Especially at the upper end, a 1.1-meter skull on a 5-meter animal seems plainly excessive for normal hunting. Maybe they hunted large animals by latching on and flailing like mad?? Or maybe they were the ultimate ambush predator, only needing one strong bite to kill?Pds3.14https://www.blogger.com/profile/01042151103642336762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3653345901774701895.post-8005294248426599452016-09-14T03:11:58.801-07:002016-09-14T03:11:58.801-07:00The skull does look pretty massive in skeletal rec...The skull does look pretty massive in skeletal reconstruction no. 1, but much shorter in relation to the body than in MW's restoration.David Lambertnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3653345901774701895.post-18694630391101808262016-09-14T02:46:38.059-07:002016-09-14T02:46:38.059-07:00This is a fascinating article, and the restoration...This is a fascinating article, and the restoration is an impressive piece of artwork, but was Garjaina's head really so massive and long in relation to the rest of its body? The Russian skeletal reconstruction suggests not. David Lambertnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3653345901774701895.post-4523729671881987452016-09-13T09:18:14.875-07:002016-09-13T09:18:14.875-07:00Wow, these were some outlandish creatures, at leas...Wow, these were some outlandish creatures, at least cranially. I appreciate your celebration of them as succesful and highly interesting archosauromorphs. The fact that you mention that archosauriforms/archosauromorphs in general may have been endotherms or nearly so, combined with scutes and reticulae being likely stunted feathers plus the presence of 'the feather gene' in crocodiles certainly makes one wonder just how far down the archosaur base feathers (or perhaps better, 'fuzz') first developed. Should we imagine the majority of archosaurs, archosauriforms or even archosauromorphs to have been fuzzy? A fuzzy erythrosuchid would make for an even more peculiar creature than they already are. BrianLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17880867575515761505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3653345901774701895.post-19820028890968132392016-09-12T17:09:16.873-07:002016-09-12T17:09:16.873-07:00Nice blogpost!
I have more the feeling that the v...Nice blogpost!<br /><br />I have more the feeling that the very short time these weirdos exited make them less popular, their quick extinction after having evolved makes them look a little like evolutionary failures. At least this might contribute to it. The Triassic overall is often overlooked, in many books it's just the time when the first dinosaurs appeared. I hope your articles here will helpto open up some minds for this incredible time!Joschua Knüppehttp://hyrotrioskjan.deviantart.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3653345901774701895.post-80612147097941257302016-09-12T14:56:30.919-07:002016-09-12T14:56:30.919-07:00There's probably good reason to dismiss this, ...There's probably good reason to dismiss this, but in terms of being massively outsized for prey items I can't help but be reminded of the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) - pygmy elephants aside, of course. The skull is different, but presumably it's a niche that's been exploited in many ways; this particular skull just seems ideal for latching onto prey and waiting for the prey to tire, but that's probably a naive view (how does it look like it would handle torsional forces?). Similarly, those legs look like they're not chasing anything down, but might well hit top speed in a very short distance.Canocolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12836693982354429767noreply@blogger.com