Ichthyosauria

'Ichthyosauria – long fish shaped reptiles with a long thin snout lined with sharp teeth, the ichthyosaur is characterised by very large eyes. This Mesozoic reptile evolved into a highly specialised predator with a rapid swimming style and keen eyes.'

This is a place to hold some of my musings - mostly about palaeontology. I’m not one of the many knowledgeable geologists/palaeontologists who post blogs so I expect to drawl on about things that have amused me.

Sunday, 26 June 2011

Monster quest and cryptozoology

I’ve always thought that if my geology career doesn’t go well I could always drop out and try to become a cryptozoologist.  I’m especially interested in lake monsters like Loch Ness – I don’t really believe in them but I find the level of sophistication that has gone into searching for evidence fascinating especially as it is done mostly by ammeters.  But sometimes I just find theories that are absolutely hilarious - my favourite is this episode of monster quest which makes me laugh out loud.

Monster Quest - The Last Dinosaur



I know a short documentary can never put across the whole story of the search but take note these points;
-a local with ‘virtually no contact with the outside word’ wearing manufactured western clothes – I think one of them had a play station shirt. 
-a burrowing sauropod with a Diplodocus type body shape that has dug into the river bank and buried itself. With sauropod toes.

-searching for a dinosaur that is hibernating and feeding at the same time.
-trying to use an underwater camera in that level of silt.
-tiptoeing sauropod footprints

I do find it disturbing that it is presented as factual television but imagine if there was a sauropod still alive in Africa, a sea serpent in Lake Okanagan, and plesiosaurs in Loch Ness and Lake Champlain– wouldn’t that be AMAZING!

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