Things dinosaurs may have had or did

[CarnegieCollector]

This is a small list of things that modern day animals have or do, that perhaps dinosaurs also had or did.

Horizontal pupils:
Sheep (one of my favorite modern day animals) and goats have rectangular, horizontal pupils that increases their range of vision. I like thinking some herbivores like hadrosaurs and Pachycephalosaurs had these kind of eyes to watch out for predators.
Picture for reference http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/4328/2779/320/sheep's%20eye.1.jpg

Venom/deadly saliva:
Many, many animals have venom to subdue prey. Many of these, like dinosaurs, are reptiles. No evidence of venomous dinosaurs has yet been discovered (aside from sinornithosaurus, which turned out to not be venomous), but venomous saliva (like Komodo dragons) is possible. It would make carnivorous dinosaurs seem much more "evil" if they hunted the way Komodos do. They bite prey, which infects them with venom, then they wait as their prey dies a slow and painful death. Then they eat it. That would cool.

Unlikely Animal friendships:
Unlikely animal friendships are increasingly popular nowadays, and for good reasons; They are cute, not normal, and just plain Intresting. For instance, a goat being friends with a dog, a tortoise and an elephant, and a monkey being friends with a tiger are just a few examples. Maybe dinosaurs did this aswell? Like, a T. rex baby being friends with a baby triceratops. It's possible.

Parthenogenesis:
This is a feature some reptiles (perhaps other animals aswell) have that allows them to lay fertilized eggs without the help of a male. In fact, parthenogenesis is Greek for "Virgin Creation". Komodo dragons are the most famous example of this. Dinosaurs were reptiles, maybe they possessed this feature too?
Wikipedia page on parthenogenesis: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenogenesis

Being Nocturnal: many animals are nocturnal, so it's very believable that some dinosaurs also would have been nocturnal. This would have many perks for the dinosaur. It would have less competition, it could hunt different foods, and it would be cooler (as in temperature. Not like, "that would be cool"). But to be nocturnal, you need big eyes. First thing that comes to my mind are troodontids.

Monogamy:
Last but not least is monogamy. If you don't know, monogamy is when something mates for life. A few examples are bald eagles, grebes, humans (usually), wolves, some monkeys, and the red-backed salamander.
Perhaps some dinosaurs were monogamous? That would be interesting. Iv always pictured tyrannosaurs and raptors being monogamous animals.

That is all! What do you think? Do you think some of these are possible? Dinosaurs are very mysterious and, of course, we will never know everything about them for sure, but imagination is one of the funnest parts of studying dinosaurs.

Have a nice day! 

[Silvanusaurus]

I'd like to think that there was one particular species that actually evolved the ability to speak with complex languages, even developing an in depth appreciation of expression through song and musical performance. It wouldn't have been a Troodon, that would be too obvious... probably something like Qianzhousaurus, or maybe even Oryctodromeus. The notes and words would have been recorded with primitive, though admirable, hieroglyphics upon the surface of Spinosaurus' sails, using hardened ceratopsian quills manipulated in the dinosaur's mouth. This way the culture could be disseminated over long distances as the Spinosaurus' swam to and from different land masses. When the whole thing first got going, it would have only been a small ridge along the back, but as demand for more and more recordings grew, the Spinosaurus' evolved taller and taller spines, and were forced into travelling so often along deltas and water-courses, that they eventually adapted to an aquatic life style. If you think about it, it explains almost everything.

Anyway, that's what I'd like to think. 

[CarnegieCollector]

I'd like to think that there was one particular species that actually evolved the ability to speak with complex languages, even developing an in depth appreciation of expression through song and musical performance. It wouldn't have been a Troodon, that would be too obvious... probably something like Qianzhousaurus, or maybe even Oryctodromeus. The notes and words would have been recorded with primitive, though admirable, hieroglyphics upon the surface of Spinosaurus' sails, using hardened ceratopsian quills manipulated in the dinosaur's mouth. This way the culture could be disseminated over long distances as the Spinosaurus' swam to and from different land masses. When the whole thing first got going, it would have only been a small ridge along the back, but as demand for more and more recordings grew, the Spinosaurus' evolved taller and taller spines, and were forced into travelling so often along deltas and water-courses, that they eventually adapted to an aquatic life style. If you think about it, it explains almost everything.

Anyway, that's what I'd like to think.

Wow.....I...I never thought of that. That does make a lot of since. I think we have a genius on this forum! All hail Silvanusaurus for his amazing hypothesis! May he and his theory go down in history! 

[Kayakasaurus]

Good thread idea! How about

• extending tongues
•inflatable sacks
•iridescent scales
•bioluminescence

[CarnegieCollector]

Good thread idea! How about

• extending tongues
•inflatable sacks
•iridescent scales
•bioluminescence

Those all sound amazingl! Those are all great ideas! I expecially love the bioluminescence and extending tongues ideas. I used to think dinosaurs woulda looked epic with forked tongues, but from everything Iv heard, that idea is out of the question.

[Jose S.M.]

Iridescent scales and bioluminiscence! Imagine how amazing would be dinosaurs with those features.  I think it's very plausible that they had some fleshy or even adipose structures,  things like warts and the sacs Kayakasaurus mentioned.

[CarnegieCollector]

Oh oh oh! And it would be even better if they were very colorful! Like blues, and reds, and bright greens! Those would compliment the bioluminescence and iredesent scales EVEN BETTER!!!! 

[CarnegieCollector]

There is an amazing little lizard that lives around the place i live, they're called western fence lizards. They have bright iredesent scales on their tummies. They look amazing, and its not hard to picture dinosaurs with these kind of scales!
https://backyardzoologist.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/img_3208.jpg

[Jose S.M.]

That's a cute lizard,  I think the ones on my backyard are related to thosethose,  but they are iridescent green in the back.  I'm not very imaginative most of the time but this topic made me imagine things  like the scales of the ceratopsians frills  being iridescent,  they would look great.

[CarnegieCollector]

I added "being nocturnal" to my list! 

That's a cute lizard,  I think the ones on my backyard are related to thosethose,  but they are iridescent green in the back.  I'm not very imaginative most of the time but this topic made me imagine things  like the scales of the ceratopsians frills  being iridescent,  they would look great.

I think i know which lizard your talking about. If i am, they are related http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AGeywJm3GR0/VDWLKzQjvqI/AAAAAAAAAgc/0oM3CySuXZE/s1600/Spiny%20Green%20Lizard.jpg this It?

Iridescent ceratopsian frills would look amazing! A lot more interesting than the simple bright colors they are usually depicted with. This topic/thread made me excited!  I can't wait to see everyone else's ideas! Maybe I'll add them to the list.

[Tyto_Theropod]

I have to nitpick on the venom idea - I believe that the consensus now is that komodo dragons aren't actually venomous. The 'symptoms' observed can be attributed to shock and blood loss. On the other end of the spectrum, though, it's interesting to consider dinosaurs taking up toxins from food which would become part of their system and make them less appetizing to potential predators. The hooded pitohui (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooded_pitohui) does this, so maybe some of its distant ancestors did too? You never know...

Iridescent dinosaurs would certainly be cool - and of course it's not limited to scales, as there are plenty of birds with iridescent feathers (which are, after all, modified scales). Just think of how amazing a heavily feathered species like Caudipteryx would look with the colours of a peacock.

[CarnegieCollector]

I have to nitpick on the venom idea - I believe that the consensus now is that komodo dragons aren't actually venomous. The 'symptoms' observed can be attributed to shock and blood loss. On the other end of the spectrum, though, it's interesting to consider dinosaurs taking up toxins from food which would become part of their system and make them less appetizing to potential predators. The hooded pitohui (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooded_pitohui) does this, so maybe some of its distant ancestors did too? You never know...

Iridescent dinosaurs would certainly be cool - and of course it's not limited to scales, as there are plenty of birds with iridescent feathers (which are, after all, modified scales). Just think of how amazing a heavily feathered species like Caudipteryx would look with the colours of a peacock.

Oh, i didnt know about the Komodos venom thing. Still Intresting though. I'm 90% certain that carnivorous dinosaurs would have had the next best thing though: deadly bacteria build-up from eating flesh. Woulda probably of worked the same way as venom for the most part. Intresting idea about the toxins from food! That would make a lot of since!
A peacock-ish caudipteryx would be really cool! If I can remember right, scientists found that Oviraptor had a very flexible, short tail that maybe possessed long display feathers like a peafowl.

[Jose S.M.]

You're right CarnegieCollector,  that's the species that's around my house. I like them a lot.

[Thylacosmilus]

The venom idea sounds interesting. Most of us think that the only way to inject the venom in the prey is through the bite (for example: snakes, spiders and mammals as the solenodon). But, the platypus has venomous spur  on the hind limbs. Considering that many extant birds are provided with spur, I like to imagine that some primitive maniraptorans could have used venom glands in the legs to subdue their victims. (P.S.: This is a merely speculative and implausible theory, so please don't spread).

[CarnegieCollector]

The venom idea sounds interesting. Most of us think that the only way to inject the venom in the prey is through the bite (for example: snakes, spiders and mammals as the solenodon). But, the platypus has venomous spur  on the hind limbs. Considering that many extant birds are provided with spur, I like to imagine that some primitive maniraptorans could have used venom glands in the legs to subdue their victims. (P.S.: This is a merely speculative and implausible theory, so please don't spread).

That's an Intresting idea. I have wondered if some dinosaurs were poisonous (venom secreting out of its body like a frog, not injecting it, like a snake). It sure would help ceratopsians that don't want a bite taken out of their rear.

[stargatedalek]

I have to nitpick on the venom idea - I believe that the consensus now is that komodo dragons aren't actually venomous. The 'symptoms' observed can be attributed to shock and blood loss. On the other end of the spectrum, though, it's interesting to consider dinosaurs taking up toxins from food which would become part of their system and make them less appetizing to potential predators. The hooded pitohui (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooded_pitohui) does this, so maybe some of its distant ancestors did too? You never know...

Iridescent dinosaurs would certainly be cool - and of course it's not limited to scales, as there are plenty of birds with iridescent feathers (which are, after all, modified scales). Just think of how amazing a heavily feathered species like Caudipteryx would look with the colours of a peacock.

Venom is a lot better documented in Komodo dragons than typically presented, it's presence isn't just assumed through visible symptoms (which was however the case for the previous theory of symbiotic bacterial colonies used for hunting aid) but rather through glands in the lower jaw.


Pitohui are hardly alone, the ability to absorb toxins and use them for self defense is found everywhere from plants to vertebrates, and nudibranchs can even absorb the stinging cells of their prey (jellies) to use for defense.

Iridescence is actually preserved in several feathered species (Microraptor, Archaeopteryx, and Anchiornis IIRC).

Horizontal pupils:
Sheep (one of my favorite modern day animals) and goats have rectangular, horizontal pupils that increases their range of vision. I like thinking some herbivores like hadrosaurs and Pachycephalosaurs had these kind of eyes to watch out for predators.
Picture for reference http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/4328/2779/320/sheep's%20eye.1.jpg

Sounds plausible, but that is assuming the eyes being fused in place wouldn't get in the way of unusually shaped pupils. For reference nocturnal owl species pupils grow and shrink in light and dark, rather than narrowing into "slits" like cats eyes do. I don't know if this might affect the ability for dinosaurs to posses slit pupils. Another point to consider is how rare horizontal slit pupils are even among grazing mammals, could it be they originate from a much more specific purpose?

Venom/deadly saliva:
Many, many animals have venom to subdue prey. Many of these, like dinosaurs, are reptiles. No evidence of venomous dinosaurs has yet been discovered (aside from sinornithosaurus, which turned out to not be venomous), but venomous saliva (like Komodo dragons) is possible. It would make carnivorous dinosaurs seem much more "evil" if they hunted the way Komodos do. They bite prey, which infects them with venom, then they wait as their prey dies a slow and painful death. Then they eat it. That would cool.

As interesting as that sounds I can't actually think of any species adapted to a hunting method suited to venom. Komodo's are a rarity among venomous animals for chasing down prey after biting it, most that use venom for hunting (as opposed to specifically for self defense, as in some snakes and scorpions) use paralyzing venom that acts quickly enough to subdue prey and prevent it struggling and risking injury. They also (despite the stereotypes surrounding them) typically hunt prey much smaller than themselves, something hard to accomplish for a large macropredator.

Unlikely Animal friendships:
Unlikely animal friendships are increasingly popular nowadays, and for good reasons; They are cute, not normal, and just plain Intresting. For instance, a goat being friends with a dog, a tortoise and an elephant, and a monkey being friends with a tiger are just a few examples. Maybe dinosaurs did this aswell? Like, a T. rex baby being friends with a baby triceratops. It's possible.

Don't forget about probable symbiosis either. Real animals aren't going to behave like movie or video game villains where carnivores automatically attack herbivores, very small predators aren't going to hunt very large herbivores and vice versa, so no reason for them to fear each other.

Parthenogenesis:
This is a feature some reptiles (perhaps other animals aswell) have that allows them to lay fertilized eggs without the help of a male. In fact, parthenogenesis is Greek for "Virgin Creation". Komodo dragons are the most famous example of this. Dinosaurs were reptiles, maybe they possessed this feature too?
Wikipedia page on parthenogenesis: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenogenesis

Parthenogenesis is rarely observed in vertebrates outside of fish amphibians and squamata, and has only been successful in birds and mammals through selective breeding and use of medical assistance for the embryos.

Being Nocturnal: many animals are nocturnal, so it's very believable that some dinosaurs also would have been nocturnal. This would have many perks for the dinosaur. It would have less competition, it could hunt different foods, and it would be cooler (as in temperature. Not like, "that would be cool"). But to be nocturnal, you need big eyes. First thing that comes to my mind are troodontids.

Behavioral traits don't always require physical ones, burrowing owls for example resemble nocturnal creatures but are semi-diurnal (in burrowing owls varying on where the population in question is located will change when they hunt above ground). Some troodonts display unevenly placed ears, also suggesting they may have been nocturnal hunters (or hunted prey that lived below ground, inside of trees, etc.).

Monogamy:
Last but not least is monogamy. If you don't know, monogamy is when something mates for life. A few examples are bald eagles, grebes, humans (usually), wolves, some monkeys, and the red-backed salamander.
Perhaps some dinosaurs were monogamous? That would be interesting. Iv always pictured tyrannosaurs and raptors being monogamous animals.

Most modern dinosaurs are monogamous or "semi-monogamous" (the same pair rejoining annually to reproduce but not living together). Waterfowl and domestic fowl are the main exceptions to this. Waterfowl (depending on species) reproduce in a decidedly more upsetting way with "dominant" male partners, and domestic fowl have far more amicable harems of females protected by a single male. Gallinule even have female dominated harems. Social interactions within birds range from what could accurately be described as (sometimes solely) romantic affection (including homosexuality), to ritualized assault (namely in aforementioned waterfowl), so basically anything goes as far as reasonably postulating reproductive behaviors of extinct dinosaurs.

The venom idea sounds interesting. Most of us think that the only way to inject the venom in the prey is through the bite (for example: snakes, spiders and mammals as the solenodon). But, the platypus has venomous spur  on the hind limbs. Considering that many extant birds are provided with spur, I like to imagine that some primitive maniraptorans could have used venom glands in the legs to subdue their victims. (P.S.: This is a merely speculative and implausible theory, so please don't spread).

That's an Intresting idea. I have wondered if some dinosaurs were poisonous (venom secreting out of its body like a frog, not injecting it, like a snake). It sure would help ceratopsians that don't want a bite taken out of their rear.

Afraid that's very unlikely. It only works for frogs because of their skin and pitohui because of their oily feathers. That's also a might oversimplification, both poison and venom come in countless forms http://mentalfloss.com/article/67171/what-difference-between-venom-and-poison

[CarnegieCollector]

Thanks for looking over all of that!  I had forgotten symbiosis. That's another really cool feature modern animals do. I can easily picture a T. rex laying down in the cool of the day to have pterosaurs clean it's teeth, like a plover cleans a crocs teeth.
Random: Don't butterflies also absorb chemicals from flowers to taste bitter and be poisonous?
Now that you mentioned it, poison wouldn't make since for most dinosaurs.

Let's just take a moment to acknowledge the fact that Komodo dragons have a very epic name....


Back when I was a clueless little pip squeak, I thought the quill things found on ceratopsians could be filled with poison to protect them from predators. Ya go to take a bite of ceratopsian, but you end up with a mouth full of spikey, poisonous barbs.

[CarnegieCollector]

I'm still not over the bioluminescence and extending tongue ideas. Those would be awesome!

[The Atroxious]

I hesitate to label the use of venom as "evil". It's a mechanism developed for efficient prey capture that minimizes the risk of injury to the predator. I don't believe any adaptation that helps an animal survive should be labeled as "evil". That said, isn't there some suspicion that carnosaurs may have been venomous? The idea of venomous dinosaurs fascinates me, and anyway, there are venomous mammals too, so it's not like it can't be evolved amid a primarily nonvenomous lineage.

I honestly would be more surprised if dinosaurs did not form relationships outside their species, and could definitely see a Tyrannosaurus befriending a Triceratops, though I doubt that relationship would be beneficial for either party. I once saw a documentary in which a lone lioness had a habit of adopting orphaned antelopes, only being a lion, she couldn't really teach the antelope the skills it needed to survive, and moreover, while she was looking after the antelope, she would forego hunting, effectively starving herself, which made her weaker and less capable of defending her ward.

I think it would be more unusual if monogamy only developed in the avian lineage. I strongly suspect that non-avian theropods exhibited monogomy, at least in some species.

Inflatable sacs are also highly likely in my book. Basically, the way I see it is that, if birds have these features, at least some types of non-avian theropods probably did too. Maniraptoriform theropods have changed very little since the Cretaceous.

It's already known that iridescence was present in some non-avian dinosaurs. Analysis of the scleral rings of dinosaurs also seems to indicate nocturnality in some genera, though how reliable that analysis is is up for debate.

The others, I don't really know of any arguments either for or against them, so who knows?

Afraid that's very unlikely. It only works for frogs because of their skin and pitohui because of their oily feathers. That's also a might oversimplification, both poison and venom come in countless forms http://mentalfloss.com/article/67171/what-difference-between-venom-and-poison

I vaguely remember reading a book that mentioned a type of bird whose flesh seemed to be poisonous to some people. Nobody seemed to know what was causing people to become ill from it, because not everyone who ate it would experience the symptoms. I don't think they ever targeted the chemical cause, or the source of the toxin. I wish I could remember what kind of bird it was so I could look it up again. I believe it was some type of ground fowl though.

[stargatedalek]

I hadn't actually thought of poison in the flesh itself, I was picturing a skin coating like in the aforementioned examples. Poisonous flesh is possible,  although perhaps of minimal benefit to large animals, poisonous flesh is primarily found among animals whose numbers make up for one member needing to die to give the predator the message and I somehow doubt large ceratopsians were that prolific to restock their numbers. It's also an expensive thing to produce, if an animal has giant horns to save itself with why waste resources producing a chemical just to save the next guy in line.