ted@imsvax.UUCP (Ted Holden) (10/17/85)
My apologies to anyone who has seen this article more than once. We experienced major problems with usenet in the D.C. area around Sept. 15, when the CVL computer at U. Md. was taken down with no warning to anyone below it on usenet (which is most of the D.C. area). For about three weeks, nothing got through one way or the other, and all of our postings were presumed lost. It is well known that most dinosaurs are known only by their tracks, that we have the bones of less than half of them. The Avon Field Guide to Dinosaurs describes tracks found in Morocco of a creature much larger than even the ultrasaur, which I like to talk about. This creature was the breviparopus, and the tracks indicate he was 160 feet long. Using the 1.6 to 1 ratio, cubed, and the 100 to 150 ton weight estimates for the ultrasaur, it would seem that the breviparopus weighed between 800,000 and 1,200,000 lbs. Does anybody believe that such a thing could exist in our gravity? A co-worker of mine has a theory as to how a Texas pterosaur, or Quetzalcoatlus Northropi could have lived in our gravity, assuming that the breviparopus also could have. This would have involved a symbiotic relationship between the two in which, for a reasonable fee, the breviparopus would use its mighty tail to HURL the pterosaur up into the thermal currents, where it could resume its gliding. This theory makes more sense to me than anything I have seen from the UT astro dept. concerning pterosaurs. I would like to suggest that anyone who cannot live with my theory regarding lesser gravity consider this theory as an alternative.
beth@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP (JB) (10/21/85)
[I'll take 2 to go, please] From: ted@imsvax.UUCP (Ted Holden), Message-ID: <435@imsvax.UUCP>: >A co-worker of mine has a theory as to how a Texas pterosaur, or >Quetzalcoatlus Northropi could have lived in our gravity, assuming that >the breviparopus also could have. This would have involved a symbiotic >relationship between the two in which, for a reasonable fee, the >breviparopus would use its mighty tail to HURL the pterosaur up into the >thermal currents, where it could resume its gliding. This theory makes >more sense to me than anything I have seen from the UT astro dept. >concerning pterosaurs. I would like to suggest that anyone who cannot >live with my theory regarding lesser gravity consider this theory as an >alternative. SOLD!! I like this theory best too. Forget the celestial ring-around- the-stellar nonsense, and those boring ol' calculations of power-to- weight, I vote for Animal Antics. Viva Symbiosis! -- --JB (Beth Christy, U. of Chicago, ..!ihnp4!gargoyle!sphinx!beth) "What if the after-effect of the terrible bomb is unusual beyond belief? Wouldn't you rather the whole population had listened to somebody like the old Indian chief?" (The Roches)
matt@oddjob.UUCP (Matt Crawford) (10/22/85)
In article <435@imsvax.UUCP> ted@imsvax.UUCP (Ted Holden) writes: > >My apologies to anyone who has seen this article more than once. I think you should extend the apologies to those who see your articles even one time. The amusement value is gone, and no other value has replaced it. I'm going to look into the "rn" manual to find out about "local kill files". Hasta la bye-bye. _____________________________________________________ Matt University crawford@anl-mcs.arpa Crawford of Chicago ihnp4!oddjob!matt
friesen@psivax.UUCP (Stanley Friesen) (10/26/85)
In article <435@imsvax.UUCP> ted@imsvax.UUCP (Ted Holden) writes: > > This creature was the >breviparopus, and the tracks indicate he was 160 feet long. Using the 1.6 >to 1 ratio, cubed, and the 100 to 150 ton weight estimates for the ultrasaur, >it would seem that the breviparopus weighed between 800,000 and 1,200,000 >lbs. Does anybody believe that such a thing could exist in our gravity? Yes, I see no reason why it couldn't. Besides your assumptions in estimating the weight are questionable. The "ultrasaur" was a brachiosaurid, and was thus among the heavier sauropods in terms of bulk. If the Breviparopus were a diplodocid it would be considerably lighter in build, and thus the square-cube law would *not* apply. > >A co-worker of mine has a theory as to how a Texas pterosaur, or Quetzalcoatlus >Northropi could have lived in our gravity, assuming that the breviparopus also >could have. This would have involved a symbiotic relationship between the >two in which, for a reasonable fee, the breviparopus would use its mighty >tail to HURL the pterosaur up into the thermal currents, where it could >resume its gliding. Well, except that they did not live at the same time!! -- Sarima (Stanley Friesen) UUCP: {ttidca|ihnp4|sdcrdcf|quad1|nrcvax|bellcore|logico}!psivax!friesen ARPA: ttidca!psivax!friesen@rand-unix.arpa