Webosaurs Blog

Settle down, old timer

Q: Who is older – Horns, Stretch, Rexxy or Pterry? -Rahuu

A: That’s a great question Rahuu! Keep in mind that the Webosaurs characters are based off dinosaurs, and exactly what species each one is isn’t entirely clear. For example, Horns is closest to being a Triceratops but could be any number of Ceratopsians. Stretch, likewise, could be any number of Sauropod species. So, to answer this question we’ll have to consider each character a part of a group. Horns represents the Ceratopsians, Stretch represents the Sauropods, Pterry reps the Pterosaurs and Rexxy reps the Theropods.

Let’s take a look at when each group first showed up on the Earth. Remember that dinosaurs existed during the Mesozoic era (defined as the time of the dinosaurs). The Mesozoic era had three periods – first was the Triassic, then the Jurassic and finally the Cretaceous. Dinosaurs showed up at the beginning of the Triassic and died at the end of the Cretaceous.

Horns/Ceratopsians – Existed during the Cretaceous period

Stretch/Sauropods – Late Triassic through the Cretaceous

Pterry/Pterosaurs – Late Triassic through the Cretaceous

Rexxy/Theropods – Early Triassic through the Cretaceous

Rexxy and the Theropods are the longest living group of dinosaurs in the Mesozoic. Theropod dinosaurs are, by fact, the only meat-eating dinosaurs (Pterosaurs aren’t technically dinosaurs). In any food chain, you have the plant eaters and the meat eaters. It would make sense that the meat-eaters would have been around the longest.

So there you have it! Rexxy is the oldest. Maybe that’s why he’s the leader?

-Rex

Isisaurus says "Stegosaurs ain't got nuthin' on us"

Q: How big were the spikes on Isisaurus’s back? -Pakospinos

A: Well.. this is kind of a disappointing answer. As much as the thought of a spiked sauropod sounds AWESOME (does anyone know of another one?), there really isn’t much evidence to support the idea that these guys had them to begin with. Isisaurus belongs to the Titanosauridae family, a sort of “trash bin” family of dinosaurs for sauropods whose skeletons are not complete. With only a few bones collected from them, the only thing that paleontologists can really say is that it had a short, horizontal neck and long forelimbs.

The sad truth is that many dinosaurs species that have been identified do not come from full skeletons. It is extremely rare that a full dinosaur skeleton is found. Often a dinosaur or ancient animal is described from only one bone, or in the case of Megalodon – only teeth. The preserved example used to identify a dinosaur is called a holotype.

Looking for some more great dinosaur questions like these, or anything about ancient history! Have you read the post about ancient earth history yet? Might get some good questions from that…. Looking forward to answering more!

-Rex

"Hey Rexxy?" "Yeah Rex?" "Let's just stick with prairie dogs, okay?"

Q: Did T-rex Ever Battle an adult Sauropod or come across one? -sKAC

A: Really great question sKAC! So great that I seriously spent about an hour and a half trying to track the answer down yesterday. Unfortunately, like so many dinosaur questions, couldn’t find a definite answer. However, there is some good food for thought.

Remember that Tyrannosaurus Rex was only around during the Late Cretaceous. Many species of sauropod (including some of the biggest) had gone extinct by that point but there were certainly others that roamed the same lands as the famous T-Rex. T-Rex would have encountered sauropods like Alamosaurus and Dsylocosaurus during the Late Cretaceous in North America.

Still the question remains – did they do battle? Probably not. While the Late Cretaceous sauropods were not as big as earlier species, they were still huge. He may have been the most dangerous predator of his time, but T-Rex would have had a tough time taking down a sauropod. One well placed stomp would have crushed T-Rex, either killing it immediately or leaving an injury that would slowly kill it. Sauropods also likely traveled in groups – making it all that much harder. Even if a sauropod went down, T-Rex couldn’t eat the whole thing by itself in one meal and most would go to waste or other scavengers.

More likely, T-Rex would prey on smaller animals like hadrosaurs, making for a more efficient and easier meal.

What do you think?

-Rex

Enjoy walking on two legs while you can, little sauropod

Q: What was the smallest sauropod? -Screechie

A: Great question Screechie! When we think of the long-necked sauropods we usually thing of these giant, thundering creatures. Certainly, the sauropods were the largest animals to have ever walked the Earth. When you think of “largest” in dinosaurs, it almost always involves a sauropod. However, these guys had pretty humble beginnings. I present to you Anchisaurus, picture above.

Anchisaurus was a teeny guy by sauropod standards with about 7.9 ft (2.4m) in length and weighing about 60 lbs. This dino lived in the Early Jurassic and was discovered before anyone knew anything about dinosaurs (the collectors suspected they were human bones based on the size). Anchisaurus was also possibly the first dinosaur ever found in North America.

The famed Paleontologist O.C. Marsh described and renamed the dinosaur in 1885. Incredible though isn’t it? I think sometimes we forget that dinosaurs existed for MILLIONS and MILLIONS of years. Over that period of time they could evolve from the relatively small Anchisaurus to the lumbering giants like Argentinosaurus. You gotta love that!

-Rex

See the dino in red? Yeah, that's Amphicoelias fragillimus

Q: How big was Amphicoelias fragillimus? -Regisaurus

A: Great question Regisaurus. This is a graph that we used before when we were talking about the biggest Sauropods. I told you all that Argentinosaurus was probably the biggest of them all, and it may yet be. Measuring up to about 30-35 meters in length (98-110 ft) and weighing about 80-100 tonnes (88-110 short tons), Argentinosaurus was no joke.

However, A. fragillimus may be the biggest dinosaur ever found – possibly the biggest animal that ever lived. The species was found by the famed paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope in 1877. His description of the dinosaur was based off of only one fossil that has since been lost. All evidence of this dinosaur is based on his remaining drawings and field observations.

A. fragillimus may beat out Mamenchisaurus for the longest vertebrate ever with its spinal column reaching 131-196ft (40-60m) in length. Cope’s estimates put its mass up to 135 short tons (122 metric tons). If true, this would have been the most gargantuan creature to ever roam the Earth. Still though, the observations were only made off one fossil which is not the best way to determine anything solid about a dino. What do you think?

-Rex

We could crush you but... let's just hang out for now

Okay so a few days ago Hornstrkier and Eddysaur asked pretty much the same question. What was the nicest/least fearsome dinosaur?

A: While it might be argued that the Sauropod dinosaurs would have been fearsome because of their size (up to 60ft tall) these guys were the gentle giants of the Mesozoic. One footstep would flatten you like a pancake but they would probably step out of your way than crush you.

Of course, what I’m saying is complete speculation. Keep this in mind though, they were vegetarians. Being as large as they were, they needed to eat a lot of trees. Most likely they were more occupied with destroying forests than hurting living creatures. Plus, we all know Stretch is the chillest dude around. What else do you need?

So I pose the question to all of you. Do you agree with me? If not, who do you think was the friendliest dinosaur?

-Rex

Hopefully Diplodocus didn't have the tail whip action!

Q: Which dinosaur had the longest tail? -Jemster

A: Great question Jemster! To find the answer we have to travel to what is now western North America during the Jurassic period. Diplodocus is probably the stereotypical sauropod dinosaur. Tall and big (10-16 tons), Diplodocus is the most displayed dinosaur of any other.

It also happens to have the longest tail of all the dinosaurs. In fact, at 43 ft (13m) long, its tail was the longest of any animal that ever walked the earth. Poor guy, if there is one thing we’ve learned in Webosaurs its that it is always the tail. He must have had a rough go!

Remember, if you have any questions about dinosaurs at all you can ask them in the comments. I will pick one a day and answer.

-Rex