Juvenile dinosaurs and the adults(Dracorex, Stygymoloch, and others)?

[Cloud the Dinosaur King]

Kind of continuing Styracoking2180's post on Triceratops and Torosaurus, I think there should be a thread on other dinosaurs being juveniles of some other species(or sexual dimorphism). An example would be Dracorex and Stygymoloch being young Pachycephalosaurus'. I think this theory is true. It really make sense as the adults were the one that used their domes, or maybe the females were the ones with spines since the males used their domes for butting each other in the side. Maybe the females did have domes and Dracorex and Stygymoloch were Pachycephalosaurus spinifer. If this is true(It probably is), I will sure miss Dracorex's name, I mean, "dragon king from Hogwarts". That's an awesome name! Leave any examples or opinions below.

[FeatheryFiend]

Nanotyrannus is more then likely just a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex, since they're found in the same time and place and the former fits snugly into the ontogenic series of the latter.

[ImADinosaurRARR]

Nanotyrannus is more then likely just a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex, since they're found in the same time and place and the former fits snugly into the ontogenic series of the latter.

Y'know, I was one of those people that staunchly believed that Nanotyrannus was it's own thing. It just didn't make sense for such a diverse array of herbivores to have one carnivore to hunt them... and then Dakotaraptor came along and I was like, oh, okay, bye Nano ;P, though there's still that battling dinos fossil with the large arms. Perhaps that animal was it's own genus with juvenile traits. *sigh* I guess well have to wait for a new fossil to find out.

[Nanuqsaurus]

Nanotyrannus is more then likely just a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex, since they're found in the same time and place and the former fits snugly into the ontogenic series of the latter.

Y'know, I was one of those people that staunchly believed that Nanotyrannus was it's own thing. It just didn't make sense for such a diverse array of herbivores to have one carnivore to hunt them... and then Dakotaraptor came along and I was like, oh, okay, bye Nano ;P, though there's still that battling dinos fossil with the large arms. Perhaps that animal was it's own genus with juvenile traits. *sigh* I guess well have to wait for a new fossil to find out.

It's also quite possible that Dakotaraptor is actually Archeroraptor.

Another example for this thread:
Saurophaganax is simply a large Allosaurus. I think this one is pretty convincing.

[ImADinosaurRARR]

It's also quite possible that Dakotaraptor is actually Archeroraptor.

Wait, WHAT? B-but Acheroraptor is a northern little Velociraptor...

*looks up Acheroraptor fossils*... well darn. We only have the tip of the snout and jaw... C... Can you identify age from those fossils? I guess it's just as accurate ether way at this point :/

Another example for this thread:
Saurophaganax is simply a large Allosaurus. I think this one is pretty convincing.

I don't think anyone's arguing that Allosaurus is an adult ;P In my opinion, the differences between Allosaurus and Saurophaganax are asinine. Genus isn't something that actually exists, It's just a bracket that we slot animals with similar traits into to understand were they fall in the family tree. I'm most cases, it's useful, but since it's obvious that Allosaurus and Saurophaganax are basically sisters I find the argument pointless. By all means argue all you want, but with so many more juicy things coming up each month, I won't be following this one.

[Dinoguy2]

It's also quite possible that Dakotaraptor is actually Archeroraptor.

Wait, WHAT? B-but Acheroraptor is a northern little Velociraptor...

*looks up Acheroraptor fossils*... well darn. We only have the tip of the snout and jaw... C... Can you identify age from those fossils? I guess it's just as accurate ether way at this point :/

You can if you slice them up and do a histology study on the internal structure of the bone. But since the animal is known from a tiny few scraps of bone to begin with I doubt anybody is willing to do that.

But yeah, I think there's at least 50/50 odds that Dakotaraptor is simply an adult Acheroraptor (Dakotaraptor is the name that would go away if it's true).

[Nanuqsaurus]

It's also quite possible that Dakotaraptor is actually Archeroraptor.

Wait, WHAT? B-but Acheroraptor is a northern little Velociraptor...

*looks up Acheroraptor fossils*... well darn. We only have the tip of the snout and jaw... C... Can you identify age from those fossils? I guess it's just as accurate ether way at this point :/

You can if you slice them up and do a histology study on the internal structure of the bone. But since the animal is known from a tiny few scraps of bone to begin with I doubt anybody is willing to do that.

But yeah, I think there's at least 50/50 odds that Dakotaraptor is simply an adult Acheroraptor (Dakotaraptor is the name that would go away if it's true).

I've heard that the Dakotaraptor holotype might be a chimera of Archeroraptor and a turtle.

[ImADinosaurRARR]

You can if you slice them up and do a histology study on the internal structure of the bone. But since the animal is known from a tiny few scraps of bone to begin with I doubt anybody is willing to do that.

But yeah, I think there's at least 50/50 odds that Dakotaraptor is simply an adult Acheroraptor (Dakotaraptor is the name that would go away if it's true).

I've heard that the Dakotaraptor holotype might be a chimera of Archeroraptor and a turtle.

Erm...


Can you see a turtle? I can't see a turtle. Is-is the tail a turtle? I can't tell!

[Nanuqsaurus]

You can if you slice them up and do a histology study on the internal structure of the bone. But since the animal is known from a tiny few scraps of bone to begin with I doubt anybody is willing to do that.

But yeah, I think there's at least 50/50 odds that Dakotaraptor is simply an adult Acheroraptor (Dakotaraptor is the name that would go away if it's true).

I've heard that the Dakotaraptor holotype might be a chimera of Archeroraptor and a turtle.

Erm...


Can you see a turtle? I can't see a turtle. Is-is the tail a turtle? I can't tell!

The furculae are from a turtle:
https://peerj.com/preprints/1570/

[ImADinosaurRARR]

The furculae are from a turtle:
https://peerj.com/preprints/1570/

Ohhhhhh. That makes sense. It does look small now that you mention it.

[stargatedalek]

Kind of continuing Styracoking2180's post on Triceratops and Torosaurus, I think there should be a thread on other dinosaurs being juveniles of some other species(or sexual dimorphism). An example would be Dracorex and Stygymoloch being young Pachycephalosaurus'. I think this theory is true. It really make sense as the adults were the one that used their domes, or maybe the females were the ones with spines since the males used their domes for butting each other in the side. Maybe the females did have domes and Dracorex and Stygymoloch were Pachycephalosaurus spinifer. If this is true(It probably is), I will sure miss Dracorex's name, I mean, "dragon king from Hogwarts". That's an awesome name! Leave any examples or opinions below.

Actually they hit each other square on the dome. It wasn't proven until recently but damage on the skulls indicated it was intraspecific. It's also unknown whether this was a mating behavior at all, it may have been a territorial behavior that both sexes partook in.

I think it's pretty much conclusive that Dracorex is just Pachycephalosaurus, but the time frame for Stygimoloch is a little bit off from the others.
http://saurian.maxmediacorp.com/?p=893
This Saurian blog post has nice graphs and easy explanations on the topic.