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Fun fact, plesiosaurs are not dinosaurs. Neither are pterosaurs. The mesozoic was full of independent lineages that a single asteroid did away with. We are luck

Fun fact, plesiosaurs are not dinosaurs. Neither are pterosaurs. The mesozoic was full of independent lineages that a single asteroid did away with. We are lucky to have the few that survived.

boringg 4y ago
Did you learn that recently because you have young children into dinosaurs or did you already know that information? Curious because Im now so deep into dinosaur era fauna (which is why i know that fun fact) and space knowledge as a function of kids, and its great!
- moloch-hai 4y ago
  I have had young children, but have also been one. Besides the pterosaurs, I recently learned that proper dinosaurs appear to have evolved flight in at least four separate lineages, independently. The feathers came first. Doubt anybody will ever know why only Aves survived. I have seen a claim that the only birds that survived were flightless, and had to evolve flight all over again. (I might have misunderstood something.) Sauropods are to me the most mystifying of the proper dinosaurs, for purely mechanical reasons. So many unanswered questions. svpow.com
  - canadianfella 4y ago
    > I recently learned that proper dinosaurs appear to have evolved flight in at least four separate lineages, independently. Birds… and what else?
    - moloch-hai 4y ago
      They have only Latin names, and are not widely known. Jing-mai O'Connor seems to know about them.
      - canadianfella 4y ago
    - moloch-hai 4y ago
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK2lZaw_eMc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK2lZaw_eMc
      - canadianfella 4y ago
nier 4y ago
After some quick research online: Plesiosaurs and pterosaurs are not dinosaurs mainly due to the configuration of their skeletons. It seems that dinosaurs have their limbs under the body while plesiosaurs and pterosaurs have their limbs stick out from the side like crocodiles and turtles.
- moloch-hai 4y ago
  Technically, they are not dinosaurs because they are not descended from the common ancestor of all dinosaurs, which had limbs so configured. Some "allied" lineages had them, too, omitted from Dinosauria proper for technical reasons. Some isolates developed it independently, mammals notably among them. Probably some dinosaurs developed a sprawling gait "secondarily". Biology is a messy business.

Fun fact, plesiosaurs are not dinosaurs. Neither are pterosaurs. The mesozoic was full of independent lineages that a single asteroid did away with. We are lucky to have the few that survived.

boringg 4y ago

Did you learn that recently because you have young children into dinosaurs or did you already know that information? Curious because Im now so deep into dinosaur era fauna (which is why i know that fun fact) and space knowledge as a function of kids, and its great!

moloch-hai 4y ago
I have had young children, but have also been one. Besides the pterosaurs, I recently learned that proper dinosaurs appear to have evolved flight in at least four separate lineages, independently. The feathers came first. Doubt anybody will ever know why only Aves survived. I have seen a claim that the only birds that survived were flightless, and had to evolve flight all over again. (I might have misunderstood something.) Sauropods are to me the most mystifying of the proper dinosaurs, for purely mechanical reasons. So many unanswered questions. svpow.com
- canadianfella 4y ago
  > I recently learned that proper dinosaurs appear to have evolved flight in at least four separate lineages, independently. Birds… and what else?
  - moloch-hai 4y ago
    They have only Latin names, and are not widely known. Jing-mai O'Connor seems to know about them.
    - canadianfella 4y ago
  - moloch-hai 4y ago
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK2lZaw_eMc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK2lZaw_eMc
    - canadianfella 4y ago

nier 4y ago

After some quick research online: Plesiosaurs and pterosaurs are not dinosaurs mainly due to the configuration of their skeletons. It seems that dinosaurs have their limbs under the body while plesiosaurs and pterosaurs have their limbs stick out from the side like crocodiles and turtles.

moloch-hai 4y ago
Technically, they are not dinosaurs because they are not descended from the common ancestor of all dinosaurs, which had limbs so configured. Some "allied" lineages had them, too, omitted from Dinosauria proper for technical reasons. Some isolates developed it independently, mammals notably among them. Probably some dinosaurs developed a sprawling gait "secondarily". Biology is a messy business.