Stock Dinosaurs: Non-Dinosaurs: Difference between revisions

 

== Flying reptiles ==

[[wikipedia:Pterosauria|Pterosaurs]] (usually called ''Pterodactyls'' in media and in pop-language) are often referred as the "flying dinosaurs"; they actually were closely related with them, but technically were not true dinosaurs.

 

==== Pterosaurs in media ====

In [[Real Life]], pterosaurs were the main flying beings in the Age of Dinosaurs, coexisted with their land-living relatives for 160 million years and eventually went extinct together with the last dinosaurs. Like about dinosaurs, there are several issues about ptero-portrayals in media. They go far further than simple [[Anachronism Stew]] and [[Misplaced Wildlife]], they regard ''every'' pterosaurian biological feature. Here were fall in the [[Critical Research Failure]] field,and it’s easy to imagine [[Somewhere a Palaeontologist Is Crying|ptero-scientists cry]] [[Wall Banger|more than every other colleague]].

 

 

==== Stock Pterosaurs ====

Very few pterosaurs have been portrayed in non-docu media, despite their notable variety in [[Real Life]]. Among pterosaurs listed here, only three can be called “pterodactyls” without getting totally wrong: ''Pteranodon'', ''Quetzalcoatlus'', and of course ''[[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Pterodactylus]]''. The other two, ''Rhamphorhynchus'' and ''Dimorphodon'', were more primitive than the former and are usually called “rhamphorhynchs”.

 

 

=== Toothed or toothless? ''[[wikipedia:Pteranodon|Pteranodon]]'' *** ===

''Pteranodon'' lived 86-84 million years ago on what were then the shorelines of Kansas and other midwestern US states. It had the typical traits of the most evolved pterosaurs, the Pterodactyloids aka “literal pterodactyls”. It had an elongated head, weak hindlimbs, only a hint of tail, and very long wings with a huge “wing-finger”, while the other digits were very small and maybe almost useless. It was one of the most specialized flying animals that ever lived, but very clumsy on land, where it arguably walked slowly on all fours.

 

''Dimetrodon'' is usually described as the top-predator of its time, shown hunting early “amphibians” like ''Eryops'', ''Diplocaulus'', ''Seymouria'' etc., as well as what could be called its [[Non-Identical Twins|Non-Identical Twin]], ''Edaphosaurus''. Its crest, its (apparently) [[Reptiles Are Abhorrent|reptilian look]] and the meat-eating attitude makes the dimetrodon a predestined victim of [[Dinosaurs Are Dragons]] and [[Prehistoric Monster]] both in Fiction and in docu-media. However, if compared with other famous prehistoric animals, ''Dimetrodon'' could appear rather [[Narm|narmy]] in comparison. If we imagine a battle against a Tyrannosaurus/Deinosuchus/Smilodon/Mosasaur, the primitive and relatively small dimetrodont would always result the loser--this could also be true when put against modern predators (lions, kodiak-bears, Nile crocs etc), as well as most ancient and modern giant herbivores. But in Permian landscapes, ''Dimetrodon'' was still faster and more powerful than every other land animal, definitively debunking the [[Narm]] thing.

 

 

=== Other synapsids ===

Sorry, these aren't here. If you're looking for ''Ophiacodon'', ''Sphenacodon'', ''Cotylorhynchus'', ''Estemmenosuchus'', ''Anteosaurus'', ''Titanosuchus'', ''Dicynodon'', ''Thrinaxodon'', and others, see [[Prehistoric Life/Non Dinosaurian Reptiles|here.]]

 

== Mammals ==

Even prehistoric ''mammals'', are sometimes mislabeled dinosaurs. Colloquially, this is often true of fish as well, or any prehistoric-looking creature, such as the [[Prehistoric Life|Coelacanth]].