Comments on: Aquatic Dinosaurs? Not So Fast!

By: David

David — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 20:16:07 +0000

Brian Ford on May 14th 2012 presented a 54 min lecture entitled “Bringing dinosaurs to life” on his theory and the critique it has provoked, it is at the link below if of interest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwnfV1WrBF4

It’s not clear where the lecture was held and described as a ‘Public presentation’ on his own website where he has collated early responses to his theory.

http://www.brianjford.com/w-dino01.htm

By: robert reyes

robert reyes — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 18:56:47 +0000

i think mr. ford is partly right,i think the t-rex hunted on the land and in the water,and in shallower water he would stalk and anchor itself to the bottom with those infamous front legs,and lunge out with those rear guns,with mouth wide open catching and/or killing its prey in one bite,similar to the nile crocodile.in esscence t-rex could have acted like a giant killer frog!!!

By: Terence A. Milligan

Terence A. Milligan — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 21:47:03 +0000

I agree totally with your “Bad science – Bad reporting verdict but did you know that Tyler Lyson (sp?) at the Marmarth Research foundation has reported that the Hadrosaur “mummy” that he found (species not yet known)has now been freed from its matrix enough to fully view the feet and they are definitely webbed! (Personal communication)so it may be that a few depended enough on aquatic maneuvering to evolve webbed feet.

By: Chris Noto

Chris Noto — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 17:53:35 +0000

Thanks for the nod to my research!

By: Mike Taylor

Mike Taylor — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 14:08:34 +0000

I am now collecting palaeontologists’ signatures for a letter to BBC Radio 4 requesting a formal retraction. For details, see http://www.miketaylor.org.uk/tmp/radio4.txt

By: Harold

Harold — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 02:38:34 +0000

From Monty Python’s Flying Circus:

Miss Anne Elk: My theory by A. Elk, brackets, Miss, brackets. This theory goes as follows and begins now. All brontosauruses are thin at one end, much much thicker in the middle, and the thin again at the far end. That is my theory, it is mine, and it belongs to me, and I own it, and what it is, too.
‘Thrust’ Presenter: That’s it, is it?
Miss Anne Elk: Spot on, Chris.
‘Thrust’ Presenter: Well, uh, this theory of yours appears to have hit the nail on the head.
Miss Anne Elk: And it’s mine.

…and that was dominating my thoughts until I got to the “Imagine a submerged Tyrannosaurus, trying to peer down at a fish in its arms” part, and was immediately transported to the “T-Rex Trying…” website.

http://trextrying.tumblr.com/

By: Henrique Niza

Henrique Niza — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 21:58:53 +0000

Are we definitely sure this isn’t an April’s Fools prank? The following video looks to be acted rather than someone thinking by himself.

http://www.labnews.co.uk/news/prehistoric-revolution/

“In fact, with the exception of feathery dinosaurs that took to the air, all dinosaurs were land-dwellers.”

Hesperornithes were limited to aquatic habitats. Penguins can too be considered aquatic.

By: Shannon

Shannon — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 20:25:16 +0000

I’m not sold on the tree-hugging T. rex hypothesis, but it’s infinitely better thought out than this nonsense.

By: AbrashTX

AbrashTX — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 19:51:21 +0000

I gotta admit, I was convinced that Ford’s whole post was an elaborate April Fool’s prank that just got published a couple days late. I noticed that he referenced a CREATIONIST website, had the same initials as notorious anti-science hatemonger Bryan J. Fischer–I thought our legs were being collectively pulled by a party unknown. Still amazed that Ford is for real and is trying to pass off this article as legitimate science.

By: Leigh

Leigh — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 18:26:00 +0000

Aha. The real reason T-rex went extinct! As they got older, like middle-aged humans, they got farsighted. No longer able to hold their food far enough away to inspect it, they starved to death.

By: uninterestingthings aka Dominic

uninterestingthings aka Dominic — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 18:12:10 +0000

Oh yes – shades of Elaine Morgan!

By: uninterestingthings aka Dominic

uninterestingthings aka Dominic — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 18:10:40 +0000

I was listening to this dumbfounded, recalling the book I had that got me interested in dinosaurs in the 1960s, the How and Why Wonder Book of Dinosaurs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_and_Why_Wonder_Books
That book showed most dinosaurs as land animals but with brachiosaurs as aquatic, but that was 50 years ago & books I got in the 70s had rejected that – I am sure it was dead long before that among experts. Why did Tom Fielden feel constrained to do this piece when there is so much interesting science news out there?!

By: Mike Huggins

Mike Huggins — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 17:54:10 +0000

“Elaine Morgan, Call your office.”

By: Babbletrish

Babbletrish — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 17:40:31 +0000

Sweet Raptor Jesus, thank you for sharing “Treeosaurus” with us. I needed the belly-laugh. Good for the stomach muscles.

(Fun Fact: Human hunters are very successful with the stand-hunting method because [a]they are relatively small [b]they have all kinds of camo and blinds and scents and whatnot but most of all [c]GUNS.)