Guest Nicholas Posted November 1, 2008 Share Posted November 1, 2008 How a little luck—and a large extinction—aided dinosaurs’ dominance. Find the article HERE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted November 1, 2008 Share Posted November 1, 2008 Highly specialized creatures occupy a tenuous existance in the face of rapid climate change. With one dominant family filling a wide range of niches, the dominoes were ready for a nudge. The sword of being "better" cuts both ways; there is an absolute limit to how quickly an organism (or biome) can adapt, and the corner of that envelope gets pretty narrow as competition hones the competitors. Those "on top" ultimately wind up being the losers. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommabetts Posted November 2, 2008 Share Posted November 2, 2008 Good article, thanks for posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFossilHunter Posted November 3, 2008 Share Posted November 3, 2008 The triassic - jurassic extintion is one of the most interesting extinxctions throuhout history. I am fortunate to live near the rocks of that age. it would be strange to explain the dominance of dinosaurs by pure luck. The extinction event wiped out species all over the worls, how were dinosaurs lucky? there has to be a reason why they didn't die out and archosaurs did. it may have to do with size. If that's what they call being lucky ( being rathersmall) then i can agree. Paul Olsen is a great scientist and a huge inspiration for me, but he has a tendency to always simplify theories. Besides having luck , being at the right place in the right time, you have to have certain characteristics that will allow you to diversify and compete with others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted November 3, 2008 Share Posted November 3, 2008 ...how were dinosaurs lucky? Perhaps they were less specialized, and thus better able to adapt to a rapidly changing environment. "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nicholas Posted November 5, 2008 Share Posted November 5, 2008 To me it is as simple as the laws of nature, when types of organisms die out others take their place. This can happen many ways, population growth, an actual evolutionary ascending, diversification...etc. Organisms are astounding in the way they tend to always cut out a niche, and given the opportunity they can be very innovative in making a bigger or smaller niche. To me this tends be lucky, in the sense that the balance of power among animals is a slippery sloop and works on a correlative causation basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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