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| Oceanic Biology | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jan 7 2014, 06:04 PM (52 Views) | |
| the dark phoenix | Jan 7 2014, 06:04 PM Post #1 |
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the dark phoenix of wonderland
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OK I got ichthyosaurs still taking a niche similar to dolphins and orcas, Henodonts seem to be going into filter feeding while doswillia(Whatever they are) will be like the new shellfish eating placodonts and pleurosaurid seasnakes will appear. So where will the nothosaurs and its descendents fit? I think that the few surviving nothosaurs can stay in a seal niche while its descendents become basilosaur-like hunting in the deeper parts of the oceans like sperm whales since I won't be making spermwhale-ichthyosaurs. I also think that manatee dicynodonts are good but wouldn't the Walrus and Desmostylian analogs compete with each other and the Doswelliids for shellfish? We could have the Desmostylian dicynodonts live in lakes and rivers eating freshwater shellfish while the Walrus live in cold regions of the world while the Doswelliids rule the tropics. ![]() A dead specimen of the proposed plesiosaur-basilosaur-spermwhale-thing. Edited by the dark phoenix, Jan 7 2014, 06:24 PM.
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| DK1000 | Jan 7 2014, 08:43 PM Post #2 |
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Sounds good for the most part, although there's one or two little nitpicks I have:
The survival of henodontids during the Toarcian-Turnover hinges on them not only being filter-feeding generalists, but also living in freshwater, not salt water, so strictly speaking they wouldn't count as oceanic biology.
If you're intending to create a group of deep-diving nothosaurs, Basilosaurus and kin probably aren't good analogues for them, since those kinds of whale weren't suited at all for that sort of lifestyle and could only live in shallow, coastal regions. Apart from that, deep-diving nothosaurs sounds plausible enough, so long as they get in there before ophthalmosaurs get in there. |
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| the dark phoenix | Jan 8 2014, 12:03 AM Post #3 |
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the dark phoenix of wonderland
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So I can make the seal-niche nothosaurs stay? And if henodonts are staying freshwater...y then I might produce some filter-feeding plesiosaurs Would deep sea-living plesiosaurs need to be more bulky? More lung space and such? I was thinking of them as eels with lung basically |
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| DK1000 | Jan 8 2014, 12:17 AM Post #4 |
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If you can find a reason as to why they didn't die out like on EP then I don't see why not, although I still find the idea of deep-diving nothosaurs intriguing.
You might want to hold that thought, that group of pleurosaurs I've been developing are large filter-feeders, and I'd at least want to get the idea posted and reviewed before we settle on what filter-feeders there on EN.
I don't think it's the size of the lungs that matters for deep-diving tetrapods, rather that the lungs are collapsable, and if being bulky implies stronger, more robust bones than they probably would be bulkier, what with having to withstand the water pressure. |
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| the dark phoenix | Jan 9 2014, 10:44 PM Post #5 |
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the dark phoenix of wonderland
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The seal-nothosaurs might have a deep diver. I was talking about pleios though. Dang it! Well maybe I can make Shark hunting and ichthyosaur hunting plesiosaurs. Ok collapsible lungs, still A slender fast plesiosaur would be neat to think about swimming though shoals of deep sea belemites and squids. They would compete with Geosuchids but maybe Nothosaurs can have a otter niche inland. Geos are basically the archosaur answer to monitor/mustilids. |
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| DK1000 | Jan 9 2014, 10:53 PM Post #6 |
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Ah, well with plesiosaurs I don't see any reason why they couldn't become deep-divers, we can't compare them to plesiosaurs on EP because we just don't find fossils of animals that lived in deep, open waters. In all probability, there could have well been deep-diving plesiosaurs around on EP anyway, we just won't find the fossils. Nothosaurus seemed pretty well adapted for feeding on fish, having long needle-shaped teeth that interlock to form a fish-trap, so perhaps freshwater nothosaurs could be specialised fishers in comparison to more generalised geosuchids. |
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| the dark phoenix | Jan 9 2014, 11:21 PM Post #7 |
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the dark phoenix of wonderland
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Ok I might work on Geos again soon anyway I don't see Doswelliids as a threat either as they would eat small fish and shellfish. So a otter-saurus could happen with only minor conflict BTW Fictodilophus is up. It could be the closest we have to be a dinosaur with out being one. The only way we can tell it is a false dino is the wrists and the hip bones. |
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