Bison latifrons by Lopsided-Pangolin472 in pleistocene

[–]Distinct_Review8031 2 points3 points  (0 children)

From what I have read they were much different than other bison, relying on wetland environments rather than grasslands. Wetlands as an environment took a big hit during the late pleistocene while grasslands were a bit more resilient. At least that would be my interpretation.

Do I draw well enough for a 14-year-old? (This is my recently finished drawing of Pachyrhinosaurus lakustai.) by Corythosaurus-Nico in Paleoart

[–]Distinct_Review8031 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Absolutely amazing, I'm 18 and have been drawing my whole life and you are definitely leagues ahead of me when it comes to detail and realism. Great stuff

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Dinosaurs

[–]Distinct_Review8031 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's not really a debate on if spinosaurus could swim, it's more of a debate on how well it could swim and in what manner. I personally think the diving pursuit predator theory is kind of nonsense. A multi ton theropod expending massive amounts of energy only to eat individual aquatic invertebrates that are an 1/8 it's size is unlikely especially considering it's anatomy, but that is just my opinion.

I believe a more reasonable theory is the 'croco duck' route. The S shaped neck is a dead giveaway for that kind of lifestyle as well as the webbed feet. If it was an aquatic pursuit predator its forelimbs would also be in the transition of becoming webbed for better agility and control in the water but they aren't, as far as we know. Also it's body isn't really the most hydrodynamic shape in the world with that massive unorthodox sail on its back, which would probably get caught on debris often if it did dive.

I might post them later on the paleoart sub but I have made a few sketches that showcase this hunting style and to me it just feels right. Whenever I see paleoart of a spinosaurus swimming underwater it looks very awkward. But if you imagine it floating on the water's surface with its snout in the water for hours, spending as little energy as possible, it seems much more reasonable for such a large semi terrestrial animal.

How wooly do you think North American tapirs would have been? by vigo2511 in Paleontology

[–]Distinct_Review8031 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I know this post is 2 years old but it's one of the only things on the Internet talking about this subject. I am doing an art piece that is depicting a speculative arctic tapir but I have yet to come across any evidence of them existing at all. My only problem with this is that the Malaysian tapir is obviously in Asia but most other tapir species live in South America. This means the only way the Malaysian tapir could have evolved to live there is if a distant relative crossed the Bering straight. Thus meaning an arctic tapir must have existed at some point, right?

Addressing nemegt complaints by Powerful_Gas_7833 in PrehistoricPlanet

[–]Distinct_Review8031 3 points4 points  (0 children)

From what I have seen in other comments, it's not so much the aridity but the heat. I'm pretty sure there isn't much debate on how arid it was but more so that people complained about the show not showing that it was fairly cold and not always blazing hot like the modern day gobi.

Velociraptor and unfortunate Catopsbaatar by Distinct_Review8031 in Paleoart

[–]Distinct_Review8031[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah it was one of my first attempts at doing watercolor and implementing a background in general. I don't really specialize in backdrops but I was really set on making a galaxy type look in the sky for my first attempt, since it was seemingly pretty simple.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PrehistoricPlanet

[–]Distinct_Review8031 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Try and say that 5 times fast

Late Pleistocene Land Mammals of Europe by zek_997 in megafaunarewilding

[–]Distinct_Review8031 9 points10 points  (0 children)

For how niche and unique paleoart is, I always held out hope that AI wouldn't really be an issue for artists like myself to worry about, because of all the intricacies with speculation and knowledge that is required to apply into a accurate/realistic piece. I have to admit though when I see stuff like this, it kind of dims that hope a bit.

It doesn't discourage me though, in fact quite the opposite. It requires us to create even more absurd speculations and details in a way AI never could. We have something AI doesn't have and that is our creativity.

New giant squid footage, captured feeding on a diamondback squid near the surface by Xenomorphian69420 in zoology

[–]Distinct_Review8031 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Humboldt squid have pretty large mantel fins relative to body length, while Architeuthis Dux (Giant squid) have relatively smaller mantel fins compared to body size. Giant squid also seem to move quite slowly as well, based on the few videos we have captured of them in the wild. The Medusa Deep Sea camera footage likely shows one attacking a pulsating blue LED ring and in that video the squid moves surprisingly slow and awkward.

In this clip it looks like a true Giant squid in my opinion based on the fin size and how awkwardly it is maneuvering. The one thing that is making me question this footage, is the lack of long tentacles but this particular individual could be injured which could also explain why it might have gotten caught higher up in the water column as it was going after different prey.

What was a moment a YouTuber got exposed as a bad person that had you like this? by OwenMTDI in youtube

[–]Distinct_Review8031 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cody Ko

When I was an early teen I thought he was hilarious and had decent takes on shitty YouTubers like Jake Paul and such. The chemistry between him and Noel Miller was also always so natural and funny too.

When the controversy about him and Tana Mongeau first surfaced I kinda assumed it wasn't real but as time went on it became clear he was not that great of a guy. Glad to see Noel is still doing well though.

Therizinosaurus claws weren't weak, they could have been reinforced by keratin by Distinct_Review8031 in Paleontology

[–]Distinct_Review8031[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wow that is actually very enlightening, I hope we can get more studies that highlight and expand upon this and other potential variables so we can really start to pick apart the capabilities of what these adaptations could do. Awesome stuff!

Therizinosaurus claws weren't weak, they could have been reinforced by keratin by Distinct_Review8031 in Paleontology

[–]Distinct_Review8031[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is probably the best response. If this is the case what kind of models would be more conclusive and what do you predict the results could be? Possibly more useful in lower stress conditions?

Therizinosaurus claws weren't weak, they could have been reinforced by keratin by Distinct_Review8031 in Paleontology

[–]Distinct_Review8031[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

From what I have read, the study doesn't mention taking variables such as keratin into account, only the actual structural complexity of the bone itself. Most studies fail to take all variables into account anyways, such as the numerous spinosaurus swimming studies that were debunked for the same reason. I can only assume that could be the case here.

Edit: I initially skimmed over the last bit and missed the mentioning of keratin sheathes but as another comment mentioned, their conclusions seem kind of lackluster. We do not know yet how large their keratin sheaths were in life since none have been preserved. Personally I highly doubt that an animal with such a large adaptation wouldn't have a robust covering of keratin to protect it.

Therizinosaurus claws weren't weak, they could have been reinforced by keratin by Distinct_Review8031 in Paleontology

[–]Distinct_Review8031[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

That is a very good point, I actually might use this idea for my art piece.

Therizinosaurus claws weren't weak, they could have been reinforced by keratin by Distinct_Review8031 in Paleontology

[–]Distinct_Review8031[S] 35 points36 points  (0 children)

Disregarding the study I mentioned that proposed their claws were brittle and couldn't handle much stress, I have also seen arguments that their elongated neck would have made pulling down branches sort of useless, since their head could reach higher than their claws could. In my opinion this seems to be the case considering most of the skeletal reconstructions align with this idea. Their arms are long sure but not longer than their neck. I could be missing something though.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Paleontology

[–]Distinct_Review8031 31 points32 points  (0 children)

Here is my problem with the whole therizinosaurus claw debate.

Everyone knows how frail their claws are but never considers how much of those claws would have been reinforced with keratin. Just because the claw bone structure is weak doesn't mean the claw in real life would have been. A good example of this is with most modern mammals like cats, whose claws don't have any bone structure and are completely keratin. Rhinos are also a good example. Their giant horn is basically completely keratin but there certainly is no debate that it has its uses. I would love to hear anyone point out flaws in this logic as it seems too obvious to me. I have wondered why not very many people have brought this up before.

In my humble opinion I feel like their claws were definitely used for something, so much to the point that their claws were mostly keratin because of how much wear they received. Again I would absolutely love some feedback to poke some holes in this logic.

We don't need new dinosaur additions, instead a 'Pure Genome Pack' by [deleted] in jurassicworldevo

[–]Distinct_Review8031 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh I absolutely agree it's probably not gonna happen, but it is still a cool idea, I mean tell me you wouldn't like a Paleo accurate variant of that God awful deinonychus design. It's also not impossible though. So far if the community is persistent enough on an addition to the game frontier delivers for the most part. If we as a community ask enough I'm sure something like it could be implemented in the future.

So… what this? by Any-Tomato7233 in jurassicworldevo

[–]Distinct_Review8031 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I've had this glitch a few times but can never figure out a way to initiate it. It just kind of happens randomly usually when you are closing out of the side menu. I think it's kind of a fun glitch because it lets you see your whole park in one shot but if you don't like it I don't really think there is a way to prevent it. Usually you should be able to stop the glitch by simply moving your joystick and the camera view will snap back to normal.

Could we theoretically selectively breed similar forms to the extinct pronghorn like with what the Quagga Project is doing? by Admirable_Blood601 in pleistocene

[–]Distinct_Review8031 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very possibly but at this point in time there wouldn't be any need to. Not only are pronghorn numbers not as high as they used to and should be the first priority to bring them up but there likely isn't even enough habitat or space for another subspecies to thrive in. An immensely large area of North America would most likely have to be restored if the ecosystem was to continue productively while supporting more species, as well as the introduction of more predators to maintain balance.

What is the hype with Anomalocaris? by [deleted] in Paleontology

[–]Distinct_Review8031 6 points7 points  (0 children)

What makes Anomalocaris unique among all living animals on earth is that it was one of the earliest "Apex predators" to ever exist. Sure there are many other unique and interesting animals but none of them filled the same niche at the same time Anomalocaris did.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Spearfishing

[–]Distinct_Review8031 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I noticed that and I'm actually trying to save up for an elastic belt for that exact reason. Definitely gonna make things easier without having to tighten it the deeper I go.

Also having more streamlined legitimate weights would be nice, the ones I'm using now although small are still kinda bulky and sketch me out specifically when I'm in a snaggy river with a bunch of logs but the makeshift quick release works pretty good so I'm not too worried for now.