• 𝕽𝖚𝖆𝖎𝖉𝖍𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖍@midwest.social
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      5 days ago

      Comrade here forgetting that not only do sharks predate dinosaurs, but - unlike birds - have hardly changed.

      Orcas are still kings of the oceans, and it seems they’ve finally decided they’ve had enough of our shenanigans, so maybe we should be more worried about them that either of the others.

      • Trainguyrom@reddthat.com
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        4 days ago

        not only do sharks predate dinosaurs, but - unlike birds - have hardly changed.

        They at least lost their armor. Imagine a shark with one of these covering its head!

        • Oooh, what’s best about Dunkleosteus is that modern theory is that this was just their skull, and that they had skin over it:

          Less bizarre looking than earlier renditions, which made them look a bit like turtles, but still… bad ass!

          • Trainguyrom@reddthat.com
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            4 days ago

            modern theory is that this was just their skull, and that they had skin over it:

            I was curious about that! My recent trip to the field museum in Chicago indicated that they believed the armor to be external but it would make more sense for it to be beneath the skin if there’s not evidence to suggest otherwise

            Edit: Also turtles are fucking badass. You do not want to meet a snapping turtle on the Riverwalk!

            • There’s so much media representing Dunk with external armor, it’s going to take forever and cost a lot to clean everything up. AFAIK, the “internal” theory only became dominant recently, and I think it might have been because they found evidence of skin patterning in a recent fossil? I might be conflating that with the (also recent) Ankylosaurus find, which had spectacular preservation of skin patterns.