Is there a reason why they don't suggest the possibility that this was a mammal
scavenging the carcass of a dinosaur?
And would this be a surprise, other than providing an interesting specimen?
Fossil shows mammal sinking teeth into dinosaur
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Re: Fossil shows mammal sinking teeth into dinosaur
#22Is there a reason why they don't suggest the possibility that this was a mammal scavenging the carcass of a dinosaur? And would this be a surprise, other than providing an interesting specimen?
Yes, there is a reason: “The lack of bite marks on the dinosaur skeleton, the position of the mammal atop the dinosaur, and the grasping and biting actions of the mammal, collectively signal that the mammal was preying on the weakened dinosaur when the two were suddenly entombed by a volcanic debris flow,”
Re: Fossil shows mammal sinking teeth into dinosaur
#23Seems dangerous to infer too much about the general behavior of entire species based on the observed behavior captured in two individuals at the moment they were being entombed in the lava flow from a volcanic eruption. Like assuming that based on some skeletons found under a volcanic ash flow that the normal behavior of humans was running with your hands in the air and screaming really loudly.
In this specific case the assumption is for the entire Mammalia class rather than just species
Re: Fossil shows mammal sinking teeth into dinosaur
#24Pretty sure it would have gone both (all) ways where the opportunity arose just as it does between today's animals. I doubt people truely think that only dinosaurs were top predators across all sizes, groups and timeframes.
Re: Fossil shows mammal sinking teeth into dinosaur
#25But Brusatte said there remained some legitimate concerns about the integrity of the fossil. “There have been doctored fossils from this part of the world before, and the scientists did not dig up this specimen themselves. The skeletons are no doubt genuine, but I suppose the poses of the bones could have been altered, although I have no direct evidence for this,” he said. The downstream effects of a post-truth post-…
> The downstream effects of a post-truth post-trust era. All this era has shown us, is that we should never have been relying on trust in anything even close to science. Trusting people to put the truth their own career advancement is how we got into this mess with the replication crisis.
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Re: Fossil shows mammal sinking teeth into dinosaur
#26Seems dangerous to infer too much about the general behavior of entire species based on the observed behavior captured in two individuals at the moment they were being entombed in the lava flow from a volcanic eruption. Like assuming that based on some skeletons found under a volcanic ash flow that the normal behavior of humans was running with your hands in the air and screaming really loudly.
This drives me mad about these sciences. They seemingly get captured by the PR need to sell a digestible narrative. I appreciate if they want to posit ideas, but so often there’s this tone of absoluteness to them. I wonder if part of it is just the desire to make one’s discipline more exciting.
You don't think that has more to do with science reporting?
Re: Fossil shows mammal sinking teeth into dinosaur
#27But Brusatte said there remained some legitimate concerns about the integrity of the fossil. “There have been doctored fossils from this part of the world before, and the scientists did not dig up this specimen themselves. The skeletons are no doubt genuine, but I suppose the poses of the bones could have been altered, although I have no direct evidence for this,” he said. The downstream effects of a post-truth post-…
"There have been doctored fossils from this part of the world before" - so, he obviously means "from China". This kind of etiquette is weird. (And of course I pretty immediately felt the voting feedback on why. So much pride in a dictatorship; that is also weird.)
Maybe they meant that region of China. Or maybe they just liked that phrase. I think you're reading too much into this.
Re: Fossil shows mammal sinking teeth into dinosaur
#28In my opinion, it’s more likely that the mammal climbed the carcass to access meat that larger mammals already consumed from the ground level. Zero chance something this small is actively trying to take down prey as large as this.
It states in the article that there are zero bite marks on the fossil, so it could not have been attacked prior.
Re: Fossil shows mammal sinking teeth into dinosaur
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
This drives me mad about these sciences. They seemingly get captured by the PR need to sell a digestible narrative. I appreciate if they want to posit ideas, but so often there’s this tone of absoluteness to them. I wonder if part of it is just the desire to make one’s discipline more exciting.
You don't think that has more to do with science reporting?
It is due to science reporting, which is in an eternal crisis. It can probably never catch up with the state of the arts.
Re: Fossil shows mammal sinking teeth into dinosaur
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
This single group of humans almost always assumed the fetal position. Fortunately we were able to get a glimpse of this because they were captured in a lava flow. We may never know why they did that.
Its the position you assume when in extreme pain.
That’s the joke