Imagine how the Conquistadores (and Vikings!) felt to find themselves pursued by tyrannasurs. This would certainly put a crimp in their plans. Not until the 19th century when machine guns were invented, (which may have been invented sooner.) that exploration could take place. And maybe not until the 20th century when aeroplanes came along. Imagine flying (from Cuba, say, where dinosaurs couldn't reach) and strafing tyrannasurs for a living--and they can't shoot back. Comments?
Dinosaurs not extinct in New World
- Thread starter Electric Earth
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first of all, if dinosaurs did survive in the new world, I doubt it would be anything as big as T-rexes.... it'd probably be the smaller carnosaurs... and they'd probably be restricted to S./C. America....
and before someone else says it... dinosaurs did survive!
as birds...
and before someone else says it... dinosaurs did survive!
as birds...
I would assume from the POD, that the meteor hit some place else, allowing the American Dinos to Survive.
?Wasn't the Tyrannosaurs back in the 70 million BP, and T-Rex had been replaced by 65 million BP, and the Meteor?
The Giant-ism of the Classic Dinosaurs was a consequence of the size of Pangea.
As soon as it broke up the Dino's started getting smaller.
By today I would expect them to be no larger than Elephants/Bison, and Lions/Tigers/Bears or their Mega Fauna equivalents.
There is almost no way a animal as big as a dinosaur could exist in todays enviroment. The Co2 levels were 3-5 times as high in the age of the dinosaurs which made the Earth have a very tropical climate and allowed the growth of massive forests and trees. This allowed the plant eating dinosaurs to get to the sizes they were with a plentiful amount of plants to eat which in turn allows carnivores such as the T-rex to survive with a plentiful amount of other animals to eat.
Well, the universe (let alone the world) didn't exist 63 billion years ago. The word might have (see John 1:1).
The Dinos in Asia didn't manage to survive, even if the meteor hit on the other side of the planet. Also, Tyrannosaurs lived throughout the Cretaceous, and T-Rex was around up until the end of the Mesozoic.
And no, Pangea was not the cause of Dinosaur Bigness. Pangea broke up just as Dinosaurs graved the scene. They were actually smallest when Pangea was around, but semi-massive extinction at the end of the Triassic caused by Pangea's breakup allowed Dinosaurs to become dominant.
I'm not sure how they'd evolve, but they sure wouldn't stay the same.
Velociraptors are only as smart as particularly dumb chickens, so there's no way they can take over the world, especially not before the universe is created.
Velociraptors are only as smart as particularly dumb chickens, so there's no way they can take over the world, especially not before the universe is created.
Oh really Mr. Hammond? I'm sure your game keeper who got his face eaten off would care to contest that assertion.
Rockingham
Banned
This should be in ASB, but seeing as it isn't.....
The dinosaurs continuing to exist would butterfly away humans, not to mention Vikings
In any case, why would the enviroement be hostile to dinosaurs? Of course, it would be hostile to the dinosaurs of the Late Cretaceous, but the enviroment/s of the Jurassic, Triassic, early and middle Cretaceous and just about any other time would probably be hostile to the late Cretaceous dinosaurs... they would, of course, either evolve to suit their environment or go extinct, and this scenario assumes the former. Presumably, we would see dinosaurs evolve to suit niches similar to those occupied by mammals in OTL...
The dinosaurs continuing to exist would butterfly away humans, not to mention Vikings
In any case, why would the enviroement be hostile to dinosaurs? Of course, it would be hostile to the dinosaurs of the Late Cretaceous, but the enviroment/s of the Jurassic, Triassic, early and middle Cretaceous and just about any other time would probably be hostile to the late Cretaceous dinosaurs... they would, of course, either evolve to suit their environment or go extinct, and this scenario assumes the former. Presumably, we would see dinosaurs evolve to suit niches similar to those occupied by mammals in OTL...
The problem is that North America and Eurasia had land connections throughout much of the Cenozoic, and that a lot of major mammal evolution took place in North America. So disregarding dinosaurs migrating into Eurasia, with North America still inhabited by dinosaurs will butterfly away horses and camels, for example.
The only place where you can 'safely' let survive dinosaurs is in South America and Australia. However that will mean that you will have no 'famous' groups surviving like the tyrannosaurs or the hadrosaurs and the ceratopsians. On the southern hemisphere, you instead had a fauna dominated by abelisaurs and titanosaurs. Also, it's really hard to imagine what dinosaurs would look like after another 65 million years of evolution. After all, dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous were very different from the ones in the middle-early Cretaceous (130 million years ago).
The only place where you can 'safely' let survive dinosaurs is in South America and Australia. However that will mean that you will have no 'famous' groups surviving like the tyrannosaurs or the hadrosaurs and the ceratopsians. On the southern hemisphere, you instead had a fauna dominated by abelisaurs and titanosaurs. Also, it's really hard to imagine what dinosaurs would look like after another 65 million years of evolution. After all, dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous were very different from the ones in the middle-early Cretaceous (130 million years ago).
Well, given the lack of prey and difficult environments they would face, I'd expect Dinosaurs to be considerably smaller than the fossil records. This is not to say that they would not make an impression, but they'd just be horse sized and smaller animals running around.
In all likelihood, they'd become the natives' beasts of burden, which could make things interesting.
And yes, this could mean that the natives are running around with 1 ton birds in tow. That's cool, but it also means that the natives aren't as disadvantaged as they were OTL, and might be able to offer considerable resistance to the likes of Cortes, Pizzaro and others.
In all likelihood, they'd become the natives' beasts of burden, which could make things interesting.
And yes, this could mean that the natives are running around with 1 ton birds in tow. That's cool, but it also means that the natives aren't as disadvantaged as they were OTL, and might be able to offer considerable resistance to the likes of Cortes, Pizzaro and others.
I actually disagree there. The reason dinosaurs were large was not because the environment was so plenty (and because it became harsher afterwards), but because dinosaurs - especially sauropods - were physiologically superior to mammals when it comes to maximum size.
Hendryk
Banned
Indeed. With a POD 65 million years ago, one can't even be sure that primates, let alone homo sapiens, will evolve at all.The dinosaurs continuing to exist would butterfly away humans, not to mention Vikings
Now, there's the Eden trilogy by Harry Harrison that depicts intelligent dinosaurs vs. humans, but I've never read it, and few people around here have anything positive to say about whatever Harrison comes up with.
I suppose you could move the concept to ASB, and ISOT the Americas of 66 million years ago to 1000 AD.
Personally I suspect the high O2 levels in the atmosphere had something to do with how the dinos could get so big. Still, elephants manage, and so do whales, so O2 access can't be the be-all and end-all.
Personally I suspect the high O2 levels in the atmosphere had something to do with how the dinos could get so big. Still, elephants manage, and so do whales, so O2 access can't be the be-all and end-all.
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