I saw this article on the BBC website and thought it was so fascinating that some Bedlamers might like to have a look at it too!

Source: BBC 13 March 2007

What if the asteroid had missed?

By Georgie Hatt-Cook

The extinction of the dinosaurs was most probably caused by an asteroid hitting the Earth - but what would have happened if the giant space rock had missed?

For a long time it was thought that dinosaurs were a lumbering, cold-blooded extinction just waiting to happen. Even the word dinosaur has come to mean something that has outlived its time.

The scientific argument was that as cold-blooded creatures, dinosaurs would not have stood a chance of surviving an ice age.

"According to the first imaginings of palaeontologists and the general public about dinosaurs, we thought of them as reptiles," says Kristi Curry-Rogers, from the Science Museum of Minnesota.

"'Reptile' is a word which comes with a lot of other connotations, like cold-blooded, slow-moving, sprawling, scaly skins, kind of stupid."

But more recent discoveries, such as dinosaur fossils in both polar regions, reveal that these animals were far more adaptable than previously thought.

Dr Curry-Rogers has analysed fossilised bones from Late Cretaceous (65-99 million years ago) dinosaurs and found them to have more in common with mammals and birds than reptiles.

They were the superlatives; they were the biggest, the heaviest, the meanest, the longest. You name it, dinosaurs were it

Prof Phil Currie, University of Alberta

The evidence points to them being fast-growing and, crucially, that at least some of them were warm-blooded to some degree.

"They were perfectly well-adapted to deal with the problems of maintaining a body temperature," Dr Curry-Rogers told the BBC's Horizon programme.

In other words, some of the dinosaurs were more than equipped to survive almost anything that the evolving planet had to throw at them.

Ongoing domination

"They were the superlatives; they were the biggest, the heaviest, the meanest, the longest. You name it, dinosaurs were it," says fellow palaeontologist Phil Currie, from the University of Alberta in Canada, who has access to one of the richest areas of dinosaur research in the world.

"The badlands of Alberta clearly show that at the end of the Cretaceous, dinosaurs were extremely successful still," says Professor Currie, who points to dozens of different dinosaur species living in that one environment at the same time.

People-watching at the local supermarket

Had the asteroid missed, he believes, dinosaurs would have continued to dominate.

"We wouldn't have the modern animals that we're used to. Giraffes and elephants and so on; they just wouldn't have evolved because dinosaurs would still be here," says Professor Currie.

Instead of elephants, there would be large plant-devouring sauropods. In place of lions on the plains of Africa would be tyrannosaurs.

Adaptable dinosaurs had it all covered. Dinosaurs could have comfortably colonised many environments, from polar conditions to regions of rivers and forests, jungle and deserts.

A world with dinosaurs in it would be at the expense of most, if not all, of the mammals that we are familiar with today - and all that we rely on them for. No cows, no sheep, no cats equal no milk, no leather, no wool, no domestic companionship.

But milk aside, there could be perfectly suitable dino-substitutes of all kind. A Protoceratops could be as farmable as a pig with the bonus of providing eggs. And an amenable Heterodontosaurus might make a perfect pet. Great with children.

They could even have adapted to current-day habitats, dining on suburban dustbins.

Something like us

Perhaps the most advanced dinosaur at the time of the extinction was the Troodon which was "as cunning as a fox", according to palaeontologist Larry Witmer of Ohio University.

They were small, upright, bi-pedal dinosaurs which lived in large groups. By studying the brain cavity, Witmer has found evidence they possessed good vision and even potentially had a brain structure compatible with problem-solving.

"If Troodon were around today, co-existing with humans, we'd probably call it a pest," says Professor Witmer.

Dino outside a house (BBC)

It's unlikely mammals and dinosaurs could have shared power

With its substantial brain, long grasping hands and big eyes, could Troodon have evolved to become more intelligent?

Evolutionary palaeo-biologist Dr Simon Conway Morris believes they could even have evolved along the lines of primates or humans.

"The human is extraordinarily well designed," he says. The whole arrangement is actually designed for a particular mode of life, which, as you can see looking around us, is incredibly successful.

"If it's such a good solution for us, is it so difficult to imagine it could be a good solution for a dinosaur, therefore a 'dinosauroid'?"

But most palaeontologists see the dinosauroid as an insult to dinosaurs.

"Dinosaurs probably would have continued along their dinosaurian trajectory, getting bigger brains and bigger eyes," says Kristi Curry-Rogers.

"But I doubt seriously that any dinosaur would ever end up looking like a person, and it is fairly arrogant to think that the end point of all evolutionary trajectories should sort of emulate human beings."

If the asteroid had missed, there probably wouldn't be humans here today either to find out how it would have turned out.

The impact that ended the golden age of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago made for an extremely bad dinosaur day but it was also a very good mammal day.

What if eh...... no nuclear missiles, no traffic jams, no daytime tv, no humdrum ratrace, no Vodka........ .....no Vodka..

Thank <deleted>! for that asteroid, lets drink to the next one.....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6444811.stm for those who prefer reading the article in it's original format.

but what would have happened if the giant space rock had missed?

Top Ten List (with drum roll)

10. "Godzilla" would have been a bio-epic instead of science fiction.

9. We'd have no shortage of interesting manure for our gardens.

8. There'd be a whole new meaning to London traffic jams.

7. The cops might all be veloci-raptors.

6. Jurassic Park would be as dull as a kiddie train ride.

5. We'd be eating Bronto-burgers instead of Whoppers.

4. Bill Clinton would try to talk a cute one into giving up a bj.

3. Some lawyer would try to represent one and sue the rock band for damages on stealing of trade name.

2. Politicians would figure out a way to get them to pay taxes.

1. Mankind would still be the number one cause of global warming.

What if the asteroid had missed?

we wouldn't be living in Thailand but concentrating on hunting dinosaurs for curry.

What If The Dinosaurs Had Survived?

It would have a war between marmite,vegemite and dinomite

I think a few survived and are TV members.

What If The Dinosaurs Had Survived?

It would have a war between marmite,vegemite and dinomite

The age old debate...

Flintstones....meet the Flinstones....its a modern stone age family!!!!!

From the.....town of Bedrock.....its a page right out of history!!!

Seems like most are ignoring the second to last sentence which I think is an understatement... without the extinction, mammals would never have had their turn and therefore neither would we.

Would the dinosaurs develop opposable thumbs, weapons, or neo-colonial lifestyles? An internet and discussion forums to discuss what would be there if their ancestors had not survived and evolved?

Both my girls believe that their dad had a brontosaurus as a pet when he was young. He cunningly photoshopped a photo of him and a dino and they truly believe it is real.

Is that child abuse misleading kids like that? Or do I just have thick children

Well, if they're not too thick, they'll eventually figure it out and learn a valuable lesson about photographic evidence...

I still remember my dad telling me how boring it was as a kid, "before they invented color".

Both my girls believe that their dad had a brontosaurus as a pet when he was young. He cunningly photoshopped a photo of him and a dino and they truly believe it is real.

Is that child abuse misleading kids like that? Or do I just have thick children

My Dan convince my brother - when he was 5 - that they couldn't afford clothes when they were young - so they just painted on clothes. My brother believed for at least 2 years!

Flintstones....meet the Flinstones....its a modern stone age family!!!!!

From the.....town of Bedrock.....its a page right out of history!!!

What are the rest of the words? Anyone?

Seems like most are ignoring the second to last sentence which I think is an understatement... without the extinction, mammals would never have had their turn and therefore neither would we.

Would the dinosaurs develop opposable thumbs, weapons, or neo-colonial lifestyles? An internet and discussion forums to discuss what would be there if their ancestors had not survived and evolved?

With my minimalist attempt at a humorous top 10 list, I wasn't trying to ignore the OP, but rather vent off some steam with light-heartedness after a long day of travel and work.

I think today, we do see examples of the evolution of the dinosaur. The golden age might be over, but evolution continued didn't it? Today we have many kinds of latter day offspring of these ancestors, like sharks, crocs, gators, etc.

I think a statement that mammals would never have had their turn might be a little bold, although I have zero knowledge in evolutionary science. Would homosapiens have evolved along the same path, if world events had been different? Very interesting question.

Flintstones....meet the Flinstones....its a modern stone age family!!!!!

From the.....town of Bedrock.....its a page right out of history!!!

What are the rest of the words? Anyone?

Courtesy of:

http://www.culttelly.co.uk/lyrics/flint.html

You can hear the music if you go there:

Flintstones

Flintstones. Meet the Flintstones.

They're the modern stone age family.

From the town of Bedrock,

They're a page right out of history.

Let's ride with the family down the street.

Through the courtesy of Fred's two feet.

When you're with the Flintstones

you'll have a yabba dabba doo time.

A dabba doo time.

You'll have a gay old time.

Thanks Chownah!

I saw this article on the BBC website and thought it was so fascinating that some Bedlamers might like to have a look at it too!

What If The Dinosaurs Had Survived?

It would have a war between marmite, vegemite, dinomite and me

I think a few survived and are TV members.

Well, if they're not too thick, they'll eventually figure it out and learn a valuable lesson about photographic evidence...

I still remember my dad telling me how boring it was as a kid, "before they invented color".

The Dinosaurs are and will always be with you.

Yours truly,

Kan Win

Stunning photos, as always, Kan. Thanks.

Thanks Chownah!

Close.... but don't light the cigar (KW ... stunning pictures, and I don't want this trivia to get in the way)......... but ')

In the closing credits for the Flintstones song, the "Let's ride" and "Through the courtesy" lines are replaced with:

Some day, maybe Fred will win the fight

And that cat will stay out for the night

P.S. I'm truly awful with a camera sometimes and six days in Bangkok has turned me into a vegetable

(a potato with total recall .... that's bad)

would Dinosaurs have invaded...sorry....liberated...Iraq? There you go...good that they're gone!

would Dinosaurs have invaded...sorry....liberated...Iraq? There you go...good that they're gone!

They did, and that's why the country name changed from Messopotatomania to Dino-wracked, or Iraq for short.