Rebor Club Selection: The Hatchling T-Rex "Rudy"

[stargatedalek]

While it is kind of awkward to have sexual organs mentioned so casually it was done in a way of biological discussion (even if it was humorous it was still biological discussion) which I don't have a problem with. I also don't think it does(/should) violate any forum rules, since while gross it wasn't brought up in a way as to be aggressive or sexual. A little low brow humour from time to time is nothing to get upset over.

Now that I see it as a dog I can't unsee it, the figure in general that is. And honestly that makes me like it less since it feels like something out of a comedy movie.

[tyrantqueen]

Meh, welcome to the internet. What has been seen

[Halichoeres]

They did position the tail poorly, or very cleverly, not sure which.

[Bucklander]

Actually, the more I think about it (not that I want to) the more I am convinced it is an intentional joke on Rebor's part. After all, the name is a dead give away - RUDY! And it does look like a dog, AND how many dogs are called Rex? They are being clever (in a very low brow way).

[Dilopho]

Actually, the more I think about it (not that I want to) the more I am convinced it is an intentional joke on Rebor's part. After all, the name is a dead give away - RUDY! And it does look like a dog, AND how many dogs are called Rex? They are being clever (in a very low brow way).

You're looking way too far into this. Rudy is just a common name, but they chose it because this dino is meant to look like Rudolph with the antlers. Rudolph>Rudy. It's the first part of the word Rudolph. You see? And I'm pretty sure the tail is there because that's how it would be folded into the "embryo"pose- knees between arms.

[Albertosaurus]

Actually, the more I think about it (not that I want to) the more I am convinced it is an intentional joke on Rebor's part. After all, the name is a dead give away - RUDY! And it does look like a dog, AND how many dogs are called Rex? They are being clever (in a very low brow way).

Could you please go trolling somewhere else? As a childish joke is more than enough if you just make it once.

[stargatedalek]

Actually, the more I think about it (not that I want to) the more I am convinced it is an intentional joke on Rebor's part. After all, the name is a dead give away - RUDY! And it does look like a dog, AND how many dogs are called Rex? They are being clever (in a very low brow way).

Could you please go trolling somewhere else? As a childish joke is more than enough if you just make it once.

Speculating is hardly "trolling". I for on am inclined to think he's right, I get the same vibes from it. Think it gross all you want, but genitalia is a part of life and anyone who's ever owned a male dog is very familiar with an animals lack of modesty in that regard.

For the record I actually think the joke is a bit funny, not enough to make me overlook that I'm not so fond of a dog-like appearance to begin with let alone make me buy it, but still entertaining.

[TJ_Terrorsaur]

Well I woke up and walked into a wall where I wasn't expecting it. O.o Um...being a veterinarian assistant and watching animal planet I can assure you that is not what a dog's genitals look like.

Anyways....
I've asked my step-mom for Rudy and I really hope she gets him for me he looks so cute.

[Viking Spawn]

I agree with Dilopho on this "odd" theory.   Too much thought is going into this. 

[tyrantqueen]

Nah, I don't buy it. I just don't see them going out of their way to ask their sculptor to sculpt its tail so it resembles a dog's genitals. As has been mentioned, a dog's genitals do not look like that (speaking as a dog lover and owner).

[Bucklander]

First, please understand, I'm not making a joke and I'm certainly not trying to troll (it's a fair bet I'm one of the oldest members on the forum, and when I was young we were taught that it takes as much to take offense, as to make offense! Alas, in these days of exaggerated political correctness, it seems it's becoming increasingly difficult to say anything).

I have no intention of hurting anybody's feelings, but please try to refrain from flying into a childish tantrum over the use of a word that is the correct term, used in a serious conjecture.

Likewise, I have no desire to reduce Rebor's sales for Rudy, but I see no problem (in fact it seems to me a positive contribution) in awakening anyone, who wasn't previously aware, to this possible joke, ON (if I am correct) REBOR'S PART! I was shocked once, when, during a friendly gathering, a couple of young folks began laughing at my Collecta Tsintaosaurus. I had no idea what they found so funny. As soon as they pointed it out to me, I was like "OMG, how did I miss that?" (And for the record, Tsintaosaurus head gear's similarity to genitalia has been pointed out on this forum previously - without, I must say, raising an eyebrow!)

Anyway, I wasn't embarrassed by this (possibly consciously designed?) similarity (the Tsintao, not Rudy). Maybe a little by the fact that my friends (who aren't collectors) had recognized it and I hadn't. The point is, it is quite possible that someone far more timid than myself, could buy Rudy and display him prominently somewhere, and then find themselves humiliatingly embarrassed one night when friends start giggling at, they know not what.

Okay, I appreciate that this is a toy forum and so may include members who are quite young. However, I do not believe I have said anything inappropriate, offensive or (in any moderately sane world) polemical at all. I did not use a vernacular or slang term. I fail to see how anyone interested in nature or science can be so precious about something that is fundamentally one of the most important areas of biological science. How is it that violence and gore are perfectly fine in abandoned abundance, yet the most innocent mention of anything in anyway related to the process that is the cause of evolution, and of all of our being here is so sensitive. In a word (actually two), GROW UP!

Seriously consider (and there was an article about this in Scientific American a year or two ago), although we know an almost mind bendingly large amount about dinosaur anatomy, physiology, phylogeny and ecology, we know next to nothing about how they bred. How did female sauropods support the weight, not just of themselves, but of their mates? And what about Stegosaurs? Breeding must have been a frightening prospect for those poor males! Unless....   what if they weren't poor? What if they were the most well endowed males within the phylum Chordata? Currently, the record held for the longest proportional penis in the animal kingdom is held by the barnacle. It's penis is several times its body length. It has to be, in order for it to (living (at least in its adult form) permanently attached to the substratum as it does) inseminate females. It is my (totally serious) conjecture that the cloacae of male dinosaurs (or those of some clades anyway) were similarly extendable. But enough of that here. Perhaps a separate thread (for those mature enough to handle it) on how dinosaurs might have bred.

Well I woke up and walked into a wall where I wasn't expecting it. O.o Um...being a veterinarian assistant and watching animal planet I can assure you that is not what a dog's genitals look like.

Well, I've owned a few male dogs in my life (and bitches too), and let me assure you, it does. My daughter and I recently adopted a kitten (Miss Chiff) and our small dog, Randall frequently has to be removed from her presence to prevent him from harassing her and for fear of his doing himself an injury. In fact, that is exactly what had happened (yet again) less than an hour before visiting this forum, seeing those pictures of Rudy and typing my first post (the one that has caused the fuss). That's probably why I realized it. There is an enormous difference between a dog's penis when it's in its normal (unexcited) state, as would be the case for any dog visiting the vet, and when it's excited. I did say (in my original comment) "an EXCITED dog's penis.

Finally, thank you to both Stargatedalek and Tyrant Queen for your comments in my defense. They are very much appreciated. It is a relief to see that common sense has not quit the planet entirely. As I said (sincerely), I certainly had not the slightest intention of upsetting anyone, but I do find I have increasingly little patience for the narrow minded thought police and the childishly peevish, panic stricken as they are, by the mere mention of natural processes even when  worded as innocently (and properly) as mine was.

[tyrantqueen]

I've made similar kinds of jokes on the forum before. Remember the Invicta fish? Besides, I have seen much, much worse on the internet.

[TJ_Terrorsaur]

I've made similar kinds of jokes on the forum before. Remember the Invicta fish? Besides, I have seen much, much worse on the internet.

The internet is a fun place isn't it? 
Also I am curious as to know what a baby Rex is supposed to look like. Are their snouts elongated? If they are why do the adults have shorter snouts? Do they just have to grow into them or something?

[Bucklander]

Also I am curious as to know what a baby Rex is supposed to look like. Are their snouts elongated? If they are why do the adults have shorter snouts? Do they just have to grow into them or something?
[/quote]
I shall leave others far more familiar with the evidence to provide links to the relevant places, but this type of morphological change is very common. Biologists term it allometric growth. The same type of thing is seen in human infants. Their heads are disproportionately large, whilst their limbs are (relatively) underdeveloped. Actually, allometric growth is generally the norm and as the necessary genetic mutations required to bring about profound physical differences are quite trivial, it has been a major contributing factor in evolution. I highly recommend "On Growth and Form" by the Scottish (if I remember correctly) entomologist, D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson.

Evolution, of course, favours the development of organs necessary for survival at any given stage of life. So, what advantages would a narrow snout confer upon a young T rex? Well, I imagine, being precocial (ie able to move about and feed itself as opposed to being completely dependent on its parents), even though its diet may well have been supplemented by food caught by its parents, it would have caught a lot of its food for itself. And what would a small carnivorous dinosaur eat? Insects, which are apparently very calorie rich. And it seems that, for the same reasons that piscivorous animals evolve longer snouts, insect eaters fair far better if their heads are narrow. Precision snapping!

Of course, as the animal grew, its diet and morpholgy would change in lock step with each other. To kill prey, an adult T rex would need fewer teeth, more powerful jaws (hence wider and shorter - to reduce stress on muscle and bone) and more powerful hind legs (again, thicker and (proportionately) longer, in order to optimize energy efficiency and minimize stress).

[Bucklander]

Sorry about the double post, I just thought I should add that, the narrower skull and longer, thinner legs of younger T rexs, are morphologically primitive. They are similar to the adult skulls and legs of primitive Coelurosaurs and Compsognathids, even basal Theropod species (think Coelophysis and Dilophosaurus). The narrower snouts and (proportionally) shorter, thicker hind legs of adult T rexes are derived. They are the novel features, evolved by Tyrannosaurids as their line evolved.

My earlier point, about genetic mutations being trivial, is still valid. Essentially, minor changes in the genome, have cascading effects that, over the ontological process, result in changes that seemed, to earlier generations of biologists, to have effects far greater than one could have guessed, or that classical, extremely slow Darwinian processes allowed for.

Another excellent book on this subject is "The Evolution Revolution" by Ken McNamara and John Long.

[Viking Spawn]

RUDY: THE HATCHLING T-REX (LE 1000)















FULL GALLERY:

https://picasaweb.google.com/VikingSpawn/RUDYTHEHATCHLINGTREXLE1000#

[Dilopho]

I'm really digging the snaggly teeth look! Little baba hasn't grown into his big boy teeth yet.
But shouldn't he have an egg horn on the end of his nose?

[DinoLord]

That tail really is unfortunately situated...