Wee Rex
Posted at 5:00 AM on September 18, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(27 Comments)
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Scientists have concluded after examining an illicitly excavated Chinese fossil, that Raptorex kriegsteini, the predecessor of the feared gargantuan Tyrannosaurus rex, was a similarly configured "mouth on legs" no bigger than a typical human - about 150 pounds worth of bad attitude.
This contradicts the conventional wisdom about how T. rex developed. Earlier scholarship assumed the animal had a huge head and tiny, comical arms because its skeleton had to adapt that way in order to survive as a very large predator. The new observations, published Thursday in the journal Science, turn that theory on its head. Dr. Stephen Brusatte of the American Museum of Natural History in New York said "In short, much of what we thought we know about tyrannosaur evolution turns out to be either simplistic or out-and-out wrong."
Now there's a new mystery. Over the course of 60 million years, a huge growth spurt happened. But what could make humble human-sized creatures swell to such mythic proportions? The floor is open for theories.
My own hypothesis has to do with those undersized, embarassingly inadequate arms. Raptorex kriegsteini may have become involved in something that had wild, unintended side effects.
Perhaps this document, recovered with the fossil, explains it all.
Ever fall for an offer that was, in the end, too good to be true?
Comments (27)
Snort! Dale, you are too too funny.
Unfortunately, if we're all honest with each other, then you're also right on. Most of my "too good to be true" adventures revolve around kitchen toys. Slicers, dicers, choppers.. I can't stay away. And, even when I realize the item doesn't work very well, I have trouble getting rid of it. The tortilla maker is top of the list. So much work for a product that isn't any better than fresh tortillas from the local Mexican shop. Haven't used it in years -- but I still have it!
so funny, Dale. it's scary how good you are getting photoshop.
and oh yeah, Sherrilee! kitchen gadgets.
and what about garden tools? remember that thing with revolving, spikey wheels on a long handle that (purportedly) you rolled over your garden and all the weeds would disappear? it made a lot of noise, as i remember. not much else happened. still have it.
Good morning!
Somebody should have done those T- rexes a favor and told them, even though it's a lie, that size doesn't matter.
Any time to fit in that song, I Love the Unknown? Haven't heard it in megayears.
Have a great weekend Heartlanders!
Dale-great scholarly work. I think you may have also tumbled to how the dinosaurs became extinct....."Just a little bigger, honey" and then they exploded like balloons at the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade.
Thanks for the opportunity to spend part of my birthday with the eclectic RH and TB.....dinosaurs, rainbows, tortilla makers, and music who could ask for more!
Greetings Heartlanders! Too funny, Dale! The T-Rex's tiny arms always amused me -- but you better not say that to it's face!
The few kitchen gadgets I bought usually worked fine. I'm a sucker for energy/vitality/weight loss supplements -- and I should have known better on a couple of them because I"m fairly knowledgable of such things. A well-written ad with pseudo-scientific sounding studies can part me from my money fairly quickly.
I have fallen for the beauty-product stuff more than once (ouch). Nothing extraordinary, but hand creams that were supposed to be *that* much better than what I could find in the drug store (including one where you scrubbed with sea salt stuff first and then put it on) or potions to make my skin clear and clean (that made my face break out). Fie on them all. I buy my hand lotion at the drug store and my facial cleanser at the grocery store now.
Yes, Dale, this is harvest season for many vegetables. I'm working on canning tomatoes and freezing some other vegetables.
I think squirels will try to eat almost any thing, so they might be your problem. Get some bird netting from a garden shop and drape it over the tomotoes holding down the edges with rocks. This probably will put a stop to the damage.
I gave into a deal to get a free computer offered over the internet. I couldn't manage to fill out all of the information they required, but I did get a lot of junk email.
happy birhtday beth ann. any desire to change anything for you? wouldn't it be great if you could just change the way it has always been and make a whole new premise for the way it could be? enjoy your day.
Wow! I am astounded by the design and publishing skills of those pre-human marketers. Was the ad published by the same aliens who millions of years later helped people build Stonehenge?
Off topic, but it's Jimmie Rodger's 76th birthday today - the one who sang 'Honeycomb' or one of my favorites, 'Woman from Liberia'. I know you've played some of his music (as opposed to the other Jimmie R.), could we have one to wish him a happy one?
Yes, Ken, it's true that these techniques are older than we think.
First there was Marketing, followed shortly by the toll free line that was answered in a prehistoric "boiler room" where the heat created an environment that nurtured the development of life itself.
and here we thought supersizing had its origins american fast food establishments.
have a great weekend, all.
i'm looking forward to attending the lucinda williams concert at first ave!
Had to think a little about the question posed by Dale today. I guess my vote for Jesse Ventura as governor would be the offer I most regret falling for.
Sorry Mike,
There's nothing by Jimmie F. Rodgers in the library. At least not that we can put our hands on at the moment. Perhaps Jim Ed took the discs with him into retirement? Happy Birthday to JFR at any rate!
Actually, they didn't have all of those fancy graphs and Lizard Growth Hormones back then. What really happened was that Raptorex "Mac" Kriegsteini was at the beach with his girlfriend when a larger, meaner, tougher dino kicked sand in his face. He went home and kicked a chair while saying, "Darn it! I'm tired of being a skinny dinoscarecrow. Charles Raptorlas says he can make me a new dinosaur. I'll gamble a stamp and get his FREE BOOK." A short while later, after applying Raptorlas' trademarked "Dynametric Tension" exercises, "Mac" saw his now puny rival. "Mac" said, "Here's something I owe you." The following details are too gruesome to name here but they involve "Mac" using his now-mighty arms to rip the smaller ones off those of his rival, beathing him soundly with them, and feasting on his still-throbbing entrails.
Thanks for checking Dale & Mike, it seemed like you'd played Honeycomb in recent memory. It seems like some of JFR's late 50s, early 60s works might fit into the RH playlist sometime. I only have a 45 of "Woman from Liberia" but have wanted to check on getting something more by him.
Happy Brrrrrrrrthday, Beth-Ann! (my brother emails that it is "talk like a pirate day" at his work) have a good one! Arrrrrrrrr
Barb, actually tomorrow is International Talk Like A Pirate Day. But, in truth, any day is a good day to talk like a pirate. Arr.
Hey TGiTHat -- I really like your version of the T-Rex story -- what a riot! By the way, when are you going to publish your latest book? You teased us with a "trailer" a while back ... what's the scoop?
Hey, did you know that a goat made an appearance on Colbert last night? Apparently, years ago, the army tried to test telepathic powers on them. However, you will be glad to know that when they tried this on the show the animal came out victorious. A mighty bleat for goats everywhere! Have a great morning.
Joanne,
Wow, thanks for remembering. I submitted everything to my publisher a couple of weeks ago. I haven't heard a definite date on when he's going to have it ready but, hopefully, soon.
No doubt the smaller version found in China eventually developed into something as gargantuan as the T-Rex, due to many acquisitions and mergers of other dinosaurs. This is clear evidence that the downfall of the dinosaurs was not the result of an asteroid. The other dinosaurs were merely swallowed up, and/or outsourced. When none were left, the T-Rex collapsed under its massive weight, with nothing to prey upon. Will future archaeologists discover the remains of the CEOs from ENRON and TYCO?
The offer we got sucked into was at one of those "free" dinners where they offered us discounted chain-motel stays for an eon, if we bought the multi-thousand $ Hawaii trip package. What we'd forgotten during the time pressure sales pitch was that we usually opt for cute, funky local places rather than chain motels, so we hever got to take advantage of all those deals. But we probably wouldn't ever have gotten to Hawaii with out it...
I love that Honeycomb song too, Mike, I think there's a cover of it by Ricky Nelson.
Dale, the paleontologists are going to be really upset to learn all this!
Jim, I apparently missed what Dale said about veggies, but we are up to our knees here in eggplant, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, green beans, peppers, zucchini... Been canning and freezing and drying, it's become my full time job. Anybody know if ratatouille freezes well?
I almost never miss Stephen Colbert, and I thought of Y'All, last night when he was trying to explode a goat's heart with his thoughts.
My dog Beatrice was supposed to be 20-25 pounds and she grew to a strapping 63 pounds. She was an adorable little 8 pound fuzzball when we brought her home. At first we were disappointed, but in the end, there is just more of her to love; 3 times as much, in fact.
Hey Barbara,
Ratatouille freezes brilliantly and Danial Pinkwater did a piece on NPR years ago about what a great and healthy weightloss meal it is.
My garden isn't anything like as productive as yours (due to profound neglect), but I'm thinking a trip to the Farmer's Market should get me well stocked.
Thanks for the inspiration.
Thanks, Catherine! Off to make ratatouille...
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