Quote:
Originally Posted by Danth
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Go back farther, to something like the Permian, and you get dragonfly-like insects that were feet across instead of inches. Whether you're talking about bugs or dinos, smaller species existed as well, just the big animals get most the publicity. Joe Public doesn't care about a dinosaur the size of a turkey. We have dinosaurs the size of turkeys alive today....they're called turkeys.
Even moreso than the individual species, the (literal) rise and fall of the continental landmasses, drying and flooding cycles with changes in sea levels, increases and decreases in global atmospheric oxygen and carbon percentages and huge changes to global temperatures and climate all make for interesting study. Mt. Everest started its existence underwater--lots of limestone. Now it's uplifted higher than anything else--just took awhile. Wacky things happen when you give the Earth large enough time scales. We're just an insignificant blip, insofar as geologic time cares.
Danth
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One of the most interesting courses I ever took was Historical Geology, which dealt with this sort of subject over time specifically. Geological and astronomical timescales are fascinating.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Elizondo
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Elephants and Blue Whales are easily observed and living animals actively being studied today
Dinosaurs are not
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This is why I opened with how old do you think the Earth actually is.
I want to know where you draw the line when it comes to animals that existed before us.
Like, what about the remains of a wooly mammoth? What about fossilized bacteria?