SFR Brigade: Dinosaurs Outgrew Their Baby Feathers

Friday, May 7, 2010

Dinosaurs Outgrew Their Baby Feathers

This is so incredible. The odds against finding an adult and a juvenile of the same species for such a comparison are astronomical, but sometimes the palaeontologists get lucky. These Similicaudipteryx, a type of oviraptor, were found in China.

Oh, boy, the dinosaur books on my shelf are looking pretty dated...

Dinosaurs outgrow their baby feathers: Fossils highlight differences between youth and adulthood.

5 comments:

Laurie Green said...: This sort of new discovery always gets my muse wheels turning. Imagine what secrets we are yet to discover buried in some rock.; May 7, 2010 at 8:04 PM
Sandra Stixrude said...: It gets me all excited because we're watching the evolution of science itself. Always something to revise and relearn and new directions in which to branch out!

When I was small, and first fascinated with dinosaurs, they were big, clumsy, cold-blooded lizards. T-Rex dragged his tail. Archeopteryx wasn't considered a dinosaur. Brontosaurus was still considered a legitimate specimen instead of a cobbled together mistake.

Now, when I look out the window at the cardinals and the robins and finches, I smile. My backyard is full of dinosaurs.; May 8, 2010 at 4:27 AM
Pauline B Jones said...: My hubby is a geologist and he says we are like the blind men and the elephant. what we think we know and what we actually know is not as close as we think. if that makes sense. LOL!; May 8, 2010 at 9:51 AM
Sandra Stixrude said...: I think hubby hit it on the head, there, Pauline, lol. The circumstances under which organic matter might be preserved in the geologic record are so few, that we will be forever blind to certain parts of our planet's history.

Unless I get that time machine built...gotta get back to work on that...; May 8, 2010 at 10:21 AM
Laurie Green said...: Total sense, Pauline. Our knowledge base is probably the size of the Moon in a whole galaxy of information, and just like the Moon, we're constantly discovering new things with what we thought we understood well. (I would put it in SFR terms, huh? LOL)

I love how scientific discoveries translate into mind fuel. Can you imagine how the roots of an alien species might affect their physiology, traditions, culture, psychology, or religions? Maybe there's a land species who once flew and diefies flight or bird-like species. Or possibly the total opposite, they consider flight backward and neanderthal and are attempting to eradicate all flying species on their planet.

I once read a SF novel (a point to anyone who can recall the title!) where the MC's job was terraforming new worlds. They'd "build" them complete with a geological record. Just for fun, his colleagues would sometimes play practical jokes like embedding a T-rex skeleton in bedrock holding a Coke can, amusing themselves at the thought of the mystified scientist who stumbled on that fossil record.; May 8, 2010 at 10:36 AM

Blogging Rules

The SFR Brigade "Golden Rules" for posting:

1. Please allow at least 3-4 hours since the last post to give everyone a little time at the top of the blog. (Time sensitive posts or information that must reach members immediately are the exception. Please use your discretion.)

2. No "hit-and-run" posts, please. Promotional posts by any member who is not otherwise active in the community will be deleted without notice. Repeats may result in loss of blog author privileges. The community blog is intended to share information between members and not to be used solely as a self-promotion bulletin board.

FAQ

Can anyone join SFR Brigade?

Anyone who writes, publishes, reads, is a fan of or is involved with Science Fiction Romance in literature is welcome to join. The site can only accomodate up to 100 authors, so it would be counter-productive to open it to a wider membership (such as those who are primarily interested in SF/R movies or television instead of literature) due to these limitations. (Which is not to say we don't banter about film culture SF/R on a regular basis, which will soon be evident.)

If this is SFR Brigade, why is the address http://www.sfrcontests.blogspot.com?

This is actually the second incarnation of the SFR Brigade. The original (which still owns the site name) was a private site where a few SFR writers privately discussed the subgenre and plotted to take over the universe. From zero hour, the plan was to expand the SFR Brigade to other writers, but when the time came, it seemed the best way to accomplish that was to construct a brand new site instead of trying to rebuild and clean out the cobwebs of the rusty one. And here we are, all bright and shiny. Hello!

What's the point of SFR Brigade?

*Yoda laugh* Epic plans, we have. Yes. Very epic. Patience, Padawan, and our plans will be revealed. First you must seek out our Welcome Message on the planet Degobah so you may begin your training.

What can SFR Brigade do for me?

Ask not what SFR Brigade can do for you... :) I think Five Reasons Why You Should Join will address that nicely.

OK, I think I've been drafted. Where do I report?

Since some of our requests to join the Brigade have been spirited away by evil Reavers (and we had to form an emergency task force to wrest them back from the crazed space cannibals) we've gone to an "automated" enlistment system.

Please go to the SFR Brigade Facebook Group Page and request to join. Then open the Files (link at the top of the FB page) and look for the doc that says "Add Me to the Brigade Roster."

There, you'll type in your name as you want it to appear and the web site or blog you'd like linked to your name. We'll add you asap.

That's it! You're in!

What's that? You don't have a Facebook account? Not to worry. Just leave a comment here with your name as you'd like it to appear and the web site/blog you'd like your name linked to and we'll beam you up next sweep.

Pages

Friday, May 7, 2010

Dinosaurs Outgrew Their Baby Feathers

5 comments:

SFR Brigade Bases of Operation