Jack Horner At Norman Ok This Week

[BobWill]

Wow! I'm glad I live where I do. First it was Nizar Ibrahim bringing his Spionsaurus talk in a few weeks, now we have Jack Horner at the great Sam Noble museum in Norman. I'm definitely going to leave early to see the museum if I get to go. It's this Wednesday the 4th and titled "Dinosaurs Accouterments, What Good Were They?"

http://newsok.com/noted-paleontologist-will-speak-sam-noble-museum-of-natural-history-in-norman/article/5389117

[Triceratops]

Sounds interesting! Tell us all about it.

[BobWill]

I'll do a full report, all I know now is in the Link. Never been to the Sam Noble but from what I've heard and seen on their site it's worth the trip alone.

Edited February 2, 2015 by BobWill

[KansasFossilHunter]

I'll do a full report, all I know now is in the Link. Never been to the Sam Noble but from what I've heard and seen on their site it's worth the trip alone.

Definitely! The Sam Noble is an amazing, professional and very complete museum. Anybody would enjoy it

[amour 25]

I'll do a full report, all I know now is in the Link. Never been to the Sam Noble but from what I've heard and seen on their site it's worth the trip alone.

I'll do a full report, all I know now is in the Link. Never been to the Sam Noble but from what I've heard and seen on their site it's worth the trip alone.

It sure is worth the trip, dang it,bummer, I do have pics of the back room from there.

Go if you can.

Jeff

[BobWill]

OK, my report on the lecture is ready. It's pretty heavy stuff so I'm giving it in small doses so we can take it in slowly. It's a matter of connecting some dots, one we all mostly know, another we are unlikely to think about and one I didn't know. Here's two dots to consider first:

1. remember that birds are reptiles

2. imagine dancing dinosaurs

The one I didn't know - the frills and horns of dinosaurs like the Ceratopsids are actually quite fragile.

Connect the dots

Edited February 5, 2015 by BobWill

[amour 25]

I am still not believing his idea of birds were or are Dinosaurs , sorry buddy, but it does not fly with me.

My opinion ,and I will take it to the grave.

Jeff

[Boesse]

Jeff: birds are dinosaurs, and there is a literal mountain of evidence supporting it. Nobody has even proposed a reasonable alternative ancestor, even the die-hard BAND folks. But hey, if you've got some amazing evidence you're holding out on, then you'd make the cover of Nature! So don't keep us in suspense, get cracking.

[BobWill]

I have a much easier time seeing birds as reptiles than I do seeing a Triceratops dancing on it's hind legs as was suggested in the lecture, but we do have proof they could rise up on their hind legs...baby Triceratops

If the frills and horns were not good for defense, offense, or fighting over mates than you have to answer the question in the title of the talk "what good were they?" The idea presented was that dinosaur accouterments were used like the fancy feathers on birds that do a flamboyant dance to attract a mate.

Edited February 6, 2015 by BobWill

[Ash]

I have a much easier time seeing birds as reptiles than I do seeing a Triceratops dancing on it's hind legs as was suggested in the lecture, but we do have proof they could rise up on their hind legs...baby Triceratops

If the frills and horns were not good for defense, offense, or fighting over mates than you have to answer the question in the title of the talk "what good were they?" The idea presented was that dinosaur accouterments were used like the fancy feathers on birds that do a flamboyant dance to attract a mate.

Wouldn't that make them relatively free pickings for the big carnivores then, if they lack defensive use?

[BobWill]

Remember in Jack Horner Land T-Rex is a scavenger and now a smaller predator is scared away by a flock of dancing triceratops! Besides what good is a horn that will just break off? Did I mention that the frill and the base of the horn on an adult is very thin? The other argument was that many Ceratopsids had horns that pointed in useless directions for poking something with and most herbivores had nothing.

[BobWill]

I forgot to mention that someone asked about the reverse evolution experiments from his book How to Build a T-Rex. He hinted there has been some progress on the gene that turns off tail growth in a chicken embryo. Cluck, cluck, GROWL !