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Travels with Mildred (In search of Canis lupus) (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Farnboro John
- Start date
Farnboro John
Well-known member
Are the large sauropods in the same line as the theropods that are now held to lead to birds, or a dead-end branch?
John
JWN Andrewes
Poor Judge of Pasta.
They can be in a dead end branch and still in the same phylum as birds, as I understand it. It's not so much about direct descent as belonging to a group with a common ancestor which shares certain characteristics & features, in this case such things as warm-bloodedness (which I think is pretty much universally accepted) and egg laying. If sauropods and theropods were part of the same phylum, and birds' evolution from theropods has not changed them sufficiently to warrant raising them to a seperate phylum then in my very basic lay understanding they're all part of Dinosuaria.
Cheers
James
Farnboro John
Well-known member
Fair enough. For me these sorts of issues should be considered at the first common level (because otherwise you end up remarking on how dinosaurs are related to mushrooms), and if you can demonstrate linearity under that system then you stop there (so birds back to theropods, job done, stop): but I take your point completely.
A couple of people lately have remarked on my too literal and absence of lateral thinking: must be the lawn ornament in my makeup.
John
Steve Babbs
Well-known member
Still not convinced by that hummingbird John; I've put a post on the bird identification forum.
Cheers
Steve
Farnboro John
Well-known member
No worries. Just so we end up with a consensus. Gonna warn the multitudes of the perils of taking offers from airlines?
John
Steve Babbs
Well-known member
To cut a long story short I took up US Airways' offer of a $600 voucher in exchange for being bumped. I was thinking of a family trip to California so it seemed a good idea. We were put on a plane to Dublin and there we were meant to get on a BA flight to LHR and boarding passes were issued. Unfortunately when we tried to get on the BA flight we weren't allowed on: US Airways hadn't paid BA! We manged to get on a flight 2 hours later with Air Lingus. Of course when we got to the UK it was anyone's guess where our luggage was. 8 days later, and many calls to an expensive phone line later, it finally turned up. Because we had no idea where it was, I didn't dare risk a planned family trip to the Cotswolds. Even with $600 dollars off I decided that California was just too expensive for next summer's family trip anyway, and US were a long way from being the cheapest airline. Ho hum!
Steve Babbs
Well-known member
I've just been counting up. I saw 17 new species of mammal. I suspect the only time that I've beat that was on my first trip to South Africa. Also 19 new birds, 4 new herp.s, 5 new butterflies (still some to id), and a new dragonfly. A bloody good trip! And very good fun.
Last edited:
Farnboro John
Well-known member
edenwatcher
Well-known member
Catching up after return from Tasmania. Great stuff, thanks a lot
Rob
Rob
Steve Babbs
Well-known member
Another account of the trip can now be found on my website:
https://sites.google.com/a/stevebabbs.com/wildlife/home/trip-reports/2014us
https://sites.google.com/a/stevebabbs.com/wildlife/home/trip-reports/2014us
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