View source for Science Marches On/Walking With Dinosaurs

{{trope}}
* '''Walking With Dinosaurs''': 
** What was thought to be evidence for "cannibalistic ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Coelophysis]]''" has been discredited.
** The early long-necked dinosaur ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Plateosaurus]]'' could not walk on four legs.
** The pillar-limbed croc-relative ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life Non Dinosaurian Reptiles|Postosuchus]]'' was most likely a biped, or at least semi-bipedal, rather than an obligate quadruped.
** ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life Non Dinosaurian Reptiles|Placerias]]'' and the [[Stock Dinosaurs Non Dinosaurs|Cynodont]] aren't reptiles in modern phylogenetic sense, but instead mammal ancestors.
** There were no [[Stock Dinosaurs Non Dinosaurs|Cynodonts]] of the size depicted in the program in the late Triassic. This is an example of [[Science Marches On]] rather than [[Somewhere a Palaeontologist Is Crying]] because at the time the series was produced it was assumed that cynodonts of that size did live in Late Triassic in North America. This assumption was based on the discovery of [http://chinleana.blogspot.com/2009/09/enigmatic-triassic-taxa.html two teeth] from [[wikipedia:Chinle Formation|Chinle Formation]]<ref>though these teeth were assumed to belong to [[wikipedia:Traversodontidae|traversodont]] cynodonts, much different from ''Thrinaxodon'' that WWD-cynodonts were based on</ref>. However, [http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~irmisr/chinleteeth.pdf post-WWD study] indicate that these teeth can't be confidently referred to Cynodontia (or any other known group of Triassic amniotes, for that matter).
** Sorry, ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life Other Extinct Creatures|Ornitholestes]]'', you didn't actually have that horn-thing on your nose.
** Post-WWD studies indicate that [[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|sauropod dinosaurs]] probably didn't grow to adult size within more or less ten years as shown in the series, although exactly how fast they grew is still debated (current estimates range from [http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-185X.2010.00137.x less than four decades] to [http://paleobiol.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/34/2/264 up to 70 years of growth] necessary to reach adult size).
*** And speaking of sauropods, the idea that they could only hold their necks horizontally - which influenced the WWD reconstructions of ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Diplodocus]]'', ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Apatosaurus]]'' and ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Argentinosaurus]]'', which in turn probably popularized the concept - [http://app.pan.pl/archive/published/app54/app54-213.pdf is questioned nowadays as well].
*** Not to mention the "iguana-spike-backed ''Diplodocus'': some researchers now argue these spike were spread across on Diplodocus' back rather than put in a single line as shown in the program.
*** Another amazing example: [http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101101083150.htm footprints from a baby bipedal sauropod] have been recently found: perhaps [[Land Before Time|Littlefoot]] and the WWD sauropodlets ''walked on two legs'' and become quadrupedal only when they grew larger! (an ancient heritage from their ancestors, the "prosauropods" such as the aforementioned ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Plateosaurus]]''). However, most paleontologists are skeptical of this interpretation. Even the trackways of adult sauropods often leave just the prints from just one pair of feet, thus is even more likely about the younger ones.
** About [[Stock Dinosaurs Non Dinosaurs|sea reptiles]]: the long-necked [[Stock Dinosaurs Non Dinosaurs|plesiosaurs]] [http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1205689 gave birth to alive newborns] just like the fish-like [[Stock Dinosaurs Non Dinosaurs|ichthyosaurs]]; and they perhaps cannot crawl onto land because the shape of their chest.
** Most [[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|coelurosaurs]] certainly had feathers. The several [[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|dromaeosaurid species]] surely had them, but in the series they are all shown featherless (except obviously ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life - Birdlike Theropods|Microraptor]]'', see further): this, rather than [[Science Marches On]], might be interpreted more as [[Rule of Cool]], or rather, [[Somewhere a Palaeontologist Is Crying]], since feathered raptors would have appeared "too cute"?. In [[Real Life]] dromeosaurids had WING-shaped forelimbs just like their famous relative, the "ur-bird" ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Archaeopteryx]]''...
*** This might be nothing compared to what is seeming to come: ''most small-sized dinosaurs'' had probably some sort of covering. This is a very recent theory led by the discover of the primitive herbivore ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life|Tianyulong]]'' in China: the theory is that some kind of covering was present in the last common ancestor of ''all'' dinosaurs and pterosaurs, and then it was partially lost by its largest descendents because of the [[wikipedia:Surface-area-to-volume ratio#Biology|Surface area to volume ratio]]. Some think the "spikes" on ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Diplodocus]]'' have the same common origin of feathers, as well as the quill of the small herbivore ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life Hadrosaur Predecessors|Psittacosaurus]]'' and even the horny bumps lined on the back of several [[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|hadrosaur mummies]]. See [[Useful Notes/Dinosaurs|Dinosaurs]] for more infos about that. Whatever the case, the old "gigantic lizards" seem to have their days numbered now.
** An example of taxonomy marching on: "the American ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Iguanodon]]''" from the fourth episode would probably be placed in the genus ''[http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2007.04.009 Dakotadon]'' today.
*** Honestly, it's doubtful the European ''Iguanodon'' was actually ''Iguanodon'' and not, for example, ''Mantellisaurus'' or ''Barilium''.
** ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life Hadrosaur Predecessors|Leaellynasaura]]'' should have a much, much longer tail. Also, some argue it needs a plumage.
** Female ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Tyrannosaurus]]'' probably weren't larger than males.
** Also the [[Ptero-Soarer|giant pterosaur]] ''[[Stock Dinosaurs Non Dinosaurs|Quetzalcoatlus]]'' is shown as a fish eater hunting prey on the wing, while we now know it was actually stork like in habits. In fact, it probably wouldn't have hesitated to eat juvenile tyrannosaurs, like the ones in the program!
** It looks like another example may be approaching. It's [http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20727713.500-morphosaurs-how-shapeshifting-dinosaurs-deceived-us.html recently been theorized] that ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Triceratops]]'' and ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life Ceratopsids|Torosaurus]]'' (which were featured in ''Death of a Dynasty'' as seperate genera) are actually the same animal in different growth stages.
** The accompanying book briefly mentions the possibility that ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Anatotitan]]'' is synonymous with ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Edmontosaurus]]''. As of September 2011, this is the majority view.
** They did try to partially remedy all the issues by showing ''Walking with Dinosaurs'' again in 2008 with updated narration. Unfortunately, the visuals remained untouched, so the small carnivore ''Ornitholestes'' still had a horn, coelurosaurs were still scaly, so on and so forth.
* '''Walking With Beasts''': 
** This series has ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life Mammals|Andrewsarchus]]'', known only from the skull and a few fragments of bone. At the time the series was produced it was assumed to be closely related to [[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life Mammals|mesonychids]], and thus in the series it was modeled after mesonychids. However, [http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2009/08/mesonychians_part_iii_andrewsa.php later] [http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0007062 phylogenetic studies] indicate that it might have actually been a close relative of [[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life Mammals|entelodonts]].
** A tamandua briefly appears in the first episode of this series, likely supposed to represent ''Eurotamandua'' from the Eocene of [[wikipedia:Messel pit|Messel]], which was initially identified as an anteater. However, more recent studies indicate that it probably wasn't an anteater [http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2010/03/the_anteater_that_isnt.php and quite likely it wasn't a xenarthran at all].
* '''Walking With Monsters''':
** It seems that early Devonian "amphibians" cannot crawl onto land with their limbs, see [[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life|Prehistoric Life]].
** The [[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life Other Extinct Creatures|Giant Spider]] in the Carboniferous was based on ''Megarachne'', which ultimately turned out to be [[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life Other Extinct Creatures|eurypterid]] ("sea scorpion") rather than spider.
** The lineage that gave rise to mammals split to the one that gave rise to reptiles and birds before those invented the reptilian scales. The show represents perhaps the first time that ''[[Stock Dinosaurs Non Dinosaurs|Dimetrodon]]'' and its herbivorous "twin" ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life Non Dinosaurian Reptiles|Edaphosaurus]]'' have skins similar that of modern hairless mammals, instead of the classic scaly one. However, some think now that they would have the skin texture of a salamander, and the belly of a fish. 
*** Interesting to note that the giant, [[Angry Guard Dog]]-looking [[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life Non Dinosaurian Reptiles|Gorgonopsid]] from the show has scent glands (a typical mammalian feature). 
** The armoured plant-eating near-reptile ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life Non Dinosaurian Reptiles|Scutosaurus]]'' wasn't probably the ancestor of turtles. Recent research suggests that the latter were closer to modern reptiles than to ''Scutosaurus''.
* '''Chased by Dinosaurs''':
** The special ''Land of Giants'' portrayed the largest land animal of all time, ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Argentinosaurus]]'', being hunted by the largest land predator, ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Giganotosaurus]]''. At least one, and possibly both have since been supplanted; not long after, new evidence found that, in fact, ''[[Stock Dinosaurs True Dinosaurs|Spinosaurus]]'' was the biggest land predator, and, although the findings are sketchy at best, ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life Sauropods|Bruhathkayosaurus]]'' may be the largest land animal of all time. At the time of the show's airing, however, they were thought to be record holders.
* '''Sea Monsters''':
** The enormously long-necked ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life Non Dinosaurian Reptiles|Tanystropheus]]'' was potrayed as capable of losing and regenerating its tail like a lizard. In the past it was indeed suggested by palaeontologist Rupert Wild<ref>who also thought that ''Tanystropheus'' was closely related to lizards - nowadays it's generally considered to be more closely related to archosaurs than to lizards</ref> that this creature was capable of autotomy, but other scientists who studied its fossils didn't find evidence for that. It has also been portrayed as an accomplished swimmer, but we don't know for sure if it really was such - its body-shape was all but hydrodynamic, and some think ''Tanystropheus'' was a shore animal who used its neck as a fishing rod, catching small prey a bit like a heron. 
** In the accompanying book there is a scene when female [[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life Non Dinosaurian Reptiles|nothosaurs]] (primitive Triassic sea reptiles related with the more famous [[Stock Dinosaurs Non Dinosaurs|plesiosaurs]]) leave their eggs on the beach at night (see [[What Could Have Been]] on the Trivia page). However [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v432/n7015/full/nature03050.html it turns out that nothosaurs might have been viviparous].
* '''The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life:'''
** ''Othnielia'' and ''Leaellynasaura'' do not appear to be ornithopods, but more primitive ornithischians.
** Page 122 claims that [[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life - Birdlike Theropods|therizinosaurs]] are known from "a lone species" from North America, probably referring to ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life - Birdlike Theropods|Nothronychus]]''. Enter the ancestral therizinosaur ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life - Birdlike Theropods|Falcarius]]'' in 2005...
** To quote page 125, "Scientist cannot agree on whether ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life - Birdlike Theropods|Mononykus]]'' was a bird or a [non-bird] dinosaur." The 2010 discovery of the ancestral alvarezsaur ''[[Useful Notes/Prehistoric Life - Birdlike Theropods|Haplocheirus]]'' confirms that ''Mononykus'' and other alvarezsaurs were not birds.

{{reflist}}
[[Category:Walking With Dinosaurs]]
[[Category:Science Marches On]]