Dinosaurs, early relatives coexisted

sfgate.com ^ | Friday, July 20, 2007 | David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor

[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

UC Berkeley scientists, digging deep into a remote New Mexico hillside, have discovered a trove of fossil bones that they say is evidence that dinosaurs and their early relatives lived side by side for tens of millions of years before the relatives slowly died off and left the dinosaurs to dominate the ancient world.

Until now many scientists had thought that dinosaur "precursors" -- perhaps their ancestors -- disappeared suddenly long before the dinosaurs themselves rose to prominence, but the bones dug up by Berkeley paleontologists show evidence of a different story.

The discovery of a wide variety of creatures all mingled together in layer upon layer of rocks dating from Earth's late Triassic period between 235 million and 200 million years ago, they say, shows that the strange relatives of the dinosaurs remained on the scene while the dinosaurs evolved into truly dominant creatures during the Jurassic period, between 120 million and 200 million years ago.

[Natural Law]

"The earth is only 9,000 years old."

Are you serious?

[Nathan Zachary]

That baby elephant dug up in the arctic circle( one of thousands now) show the catastrophic event known as the great flood was only about 4000 years ago. Of course 100 million year earther’s have a different theory.(Mass continental drift that defies current theories) It’s hard to explain preserved flesh that old however, especially when it has vegetation in it’s stomach. But recent catastrophic event can.

[KarlInOhio]

I bet they’ve already found human bones and dinosaur bones together, but covered it up.

Did they find any cars with stone wheels and no floorboards at the same time?

[Red_Devil 232]

I will agree!

[Cheburashka]

All species are transitional. Until they become final. Immediately after becoming final they become extinct.

[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

And there is no "transitional stage" for any species - evolution isn't a process of refinement or improvement, simply adaptation based on inherited traits and mutations.

I agree. I was just trying to following THEIR line of reasoning.

[Resolute Conservative]

Yes and I went to college and have a B.S. in case you wonder.

[Cheburashka]

Thank you for just posting the concept of a Helen Thomas picture, instead of an actual picture.

Thousands of FReepers across the country thank you. Thousands of Emergency Rooms across the country thank you.

[Nathan Zachary]

The cartoon just goes to show that Evo’s can’t read.

[Kimmers]

LOL....excellent !!!!!!

[rfp1234]

[rfp1234]

Wonder if they’ll find the “missing link”

[Nathan Zachary]

"Something determined mostly by us. Though evolution brought us to where we are,"

Absolutely ZERO proof that we "evolved in any way. We are as we always have been.

[gracesdad]

But I’ve had others tell me it’ss 6,000 years? Can’t you all agree?

[mtbopfuyn]

Helen!

[gov_bean_ counter]

One of the reasons the enviros must believe that climate change is man made is that rapid natural cyclical climate change throws off the geological side of the “how old is earth”? debate.

[Red_Devil 232]

A conspiracy theory worthy of, uh, ridicule.

Not according to this ancient text!!!

(Oop-oop, oop, oop-oop)
(Alley Oop, oop, oop, oop-oop)

There's a man in the funny papers we all know
(Alley Oop, oop, oop, oop-oop)
He lived 'way back a long time ago
(Alley Oop, oop, oop, oop-oop)
He don't eat nothin' but a bear cat stew
(Alley Oop, oop, oop, oop-oop)
Well, this cat's name is-a Alley Oop
(Alley Oop, oop, oop, oop-oop)

(Alley Oop) He's the toughest man there is alive
(Alley Oop) Wearin' clothes from a wildcat's hide
(Alley Oop) He's the king of the jungle jive
(Look at that cave man go!!) (SCREAM)

(Alley Oop, oop, oop, oop-oop)
He got a chauffeur that's a genuwine dinosawruh
(Alley Oop, oop, oop, oop-oop)
And he can knuckle your head before you count to fawruh
(Alley Oop, oop, oop, oop-oop)
He got a big ugly club and a head fulla hairuh
(Alley Oop, oop, oop, oop-oop)
Like great big lions and grizzly bearuhs
(Alley Oop, oop, oop, oop-oop)

(Alley Oop) He's the toughest man there is alive
(Alley Oop) Wearin' clothes from a wildcat's hide
(Alley Oop) He's the king of the jungle jive
(Look at that cave man go!!) (SCREAM) (Alley Oop, oop, oop, oop-oop)
He rides thru the jungle tearin' limbs offa trees
(Alley Oop, oop, oop, oop-oop)
Knockin' great big monstahs dead on their knees
(Alley Oop, oop, oop, oop-oop)
The cats don't bug him cuz they know bettah
(Alley Oop, oop, oop, oop-oop)
Cuz he's a mean motah scootah and a bad go-gettah
(Alley Oop, oop, oop, oop-oop)

(Alley Oop) He's the toughest man there is alive
(Alley Oop) Wearin' clothes from a wildcat's hide
(Alley Oop) He's the hullie-gullie king of jive
(Look at that cave man go!!) (SCREAM)

Thair he goes
(Alley Oop, oop, oop, oop-oop)
Look at that cave man go
(Alley Oop, oop, oop, oop-oop)
Ride, Daddy, ride
(Alley Oop, oop, oop, oop-oop)
Hi-yo dinosawruh

[Caesar Soze]

Precursors? Can't they just be what they are?

The article says that they're Dromomeron romeri, a species of basal dinosauromorphs, but I guess the writer dumbed it down to "dinosaur precursor" for the SF Gate readership.

With that line of reasoning, I wonder what humans are on their way to becoming? We're obviously in a transitional stage, on our way to becoming - what?

Logically, posthumans. I don't know what the binomial nomenclature for that would be--I think Eric Lensherr uses Homo superior.

[Greg F]

Occam's razor (sometimes spelled Ockham's razor) is a principle attributed to the 14th-century English logician and Franciscan friar William of Ockham. The principle states that the explanation of any phenomenon should make as few assumptions as possible, eliminating those that make no difference in the observable predictions of the explanatory hypothesis or theory.

[GunRunner]

What about light from stars that are tens of thousands of light years away. If the universe is only 6000 years old, how did that light get here?