In Video 2 (in this series of 5) Emily Keeble, research technician on the DAWNDINOS project, explores how ideas of dinosaur “locomotor superiority” over their contemporaries are linked to phylogeny and how these ideas have evolved.
Were dinosaurs special? Might their greater athleticism compared to other Triassic animals help explain their survival past the Triassic mass extinctions? Emily explains the background and science of this idea, which is being tested in our current research.
Three scientific papers discussed in the video:
Bakker, R.T. & Galton, P.M. 1974. Dinosaur monophyly and a new class of vertebrates. Nature 248, 168-172 doi.org/10.1038/248168a0
Bonaparte, J.F. 1984. Locomotion in rauisuchid thecodonts, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 3:4, 210-218 doi.org/10.1080/02724634.1984.10011976
Parrish, J.M. 1986. Locomotor adaptations in the hindlimb and pelvis of the Thecodontia. Hunteria 1:2, 1-34
…….Watch out for more videos in this series!
dawndinos.com 