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Dinosaur Food: 100M year old foods we still eat today (2022)

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Re: Dinosaur Food: 100M year old foods we still eat today (2022)

#81

Post by throwup238 »

andrewflnr wrote: post #30

Fun idea. At least one correction for the table: For wila/bryorii fremonti's age of 250mya they cite the "geologic history" of... moss. Wila is a lichen, which is primarily fungal with algal symbiotes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryoria_fremontii And even given an edible moss, the fact that moss existed 250mya would not imply that particular species existed "morphologically unchanged". The "reindeer lichen" entry…

"morphologically unchanged" seems like a very low bar for lichen too. Are we talking like electron microscope slides that compare their microstructure? It seems like fossilized lichen will have a lot of morphological overlap between many species, possibly ones that aren't even lichen.

Re: Dinosaur Food: 100M year old foods we still eat today (2022)

#82

Post by masfuerte »

siriaan wrote: post #71
munificent wrote: post #2

If you don't restrict the list to living things, then salt and water are surely the oldest answers. :)

Don't forget dirt - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geophagia#Humans

I remember when I was a very young child - more than half a century ago - getting into trouble for eating dirt. I was amused more recently to hear about my nephew doing the same thing. It seems, from my point of view, to be instinctive. I wonder why?

Re: Dinosaur Food: 100M year old foods we still eat today (2022)

#84

Post by imoverclocked »

masfuerte wrote: post #82
siriaan wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't forget dirt - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geophagia#Humans

I remember when I was a very young child - more than half a century ago - getting into trouble for eating dirt. I was amused more recently to hear about my nephew doing the same thing. It seems, from my point of view, to be instinctive. I wonder why?

Bored? Low on minerals? Too many parasites?

Dogs do this instinctively too when they might need something from the dirt.

Re: Dinosaur Food: 100M year old foods we still eat today (2022)

#85

Post by grimgrin »

masfuerte wrote: post #82
siriaan wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't forget dirt - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geophagia#Humans

I remember when I was a very young child - more than half a century ago - getting into trouble for eating dirt. I was amused more recently to hear about my nephew doing the same thing. It seems, from my point of view, to be instinctive. I wonder why?

don't little kids sometimes eat play-doh, bugs, crayons, etc? new experiences/curiosity i'd imagine

Re: Dinosaur Food: 100M year old foods we still eat today (2022)

#86

Post by andrewflnr »

throwup238 wrote: post #81
andrewflnr wrote: post #30

Fun idea. At least one correction for the table: For wila/bryorii fremonti's age of 250mya they cite the "geologic history" of... moss. Wila is a lichen, which is primarily fungal with algal symbiotes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryoria_fremontii And even given an edible moss, the fact that moss existed 250mya would not imply that particular species existed "morphologically unchanged". The "reindeer lichen" entry…

"morphologically unchanged" seems like a very low bar for lichen too. Are we talking like electron microscope slides that compare their microstructure? It seems like fossilized lichen will have a lot of morphological overlap between many species, possibly ones that aren't even lichen.

You'd be surprised what they can find these days with an electron microscope and a sufficiently well-preserved fossil. Microstructure is sometimes visible. But yeah, there's still only so much you can do.

Re: Dinosaur Food: 100M year old foods we still eat today (2022)

#87

Post by jasonwatkinspdx »

magneticnorth wrote: post #18

This is an interesting way to think about plants and animals. I'm finding it surprisingly hard to find sources for known age of species - is that information collected somewhere? Or is it something we often just don't know because of how sparse the fossil record is? Wondering because of trying to look up the age of fern species I do eat (no cinnamon fern near me) and I can't find out.

What you're looking for is the phylogenetic tree. Here's an explorable one: https://www.onezoom.org/

Keep in mind that the further you go back the bigger the error bars on these date estimates, and that a tidy split is an abstraction over a more messy reality (example: we know the hominid groups interbred, giving people with european ancestry some fraction of neanderthal dna).

Re: Dinosaur Food: 100M year old foods we still eat today (2022)

#88

Post by jasonwatkinspdx »

ch4s3 wrote: post #6
kleiba wrote: post #3

Hands up who has ever eaten anything from that list!

Lotus root is pretty common in Chinese and Japanese cuisine. I've had it pickled and in a Sichuan dry pot. It's crunchy and takes on flavors pretty well.

Yeah, lotus and ginkgo are both fairly common, I'm sure a lot of us have had them.

Lichen and moss being the most ancient foods makes sense to me based on watching episodes of Alone. You can get calories from that stuff if you're desperate, but it sure doesn't seem a pleasant way to sustain yourself.

Re: Dinosaur Food: 100M year old foods we still eat today (2022)

#89

Post by wileydragonfly »

siriaan wrote: post #71
munificent wrote: post #2

If you don't restrict the list to living things, then salt and water are surely the oldest answers. :)

Don't forget dirt - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geophagia#Humans

Family ancestors in very rural Texas used to drink “sour dirt” which was a tablespoon or two of dirt mixed with water. Intermediate generation did gather some from their favored spot and have it tested. Several essential minerals in it. Go figure.

Re: Dinosaur Food: 100M year old foods we still eat today (2022)

#90

Post by jkdorio »

andrewflnr wrote: post #30

Fun idea. At least one correction for the table: For wila/bryorii fremonti's age of 250mya they cite the "geologic history" of... moss. Wila is a lichen, which is primarily fungal with algal symbiotes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryoria_fremontii And even given an edible moss, the fact that moss existed 250mya would not imply that particular species existed "morphologically unchanged". The "reindeer lichen" entry…

This guy parties
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