#humans and dinosaurs coexisting | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

dabantam · 2 months ago

Text

World Building: Stone Age Fantasy

So a while back, I created an entire fantasy setting called “Kalandero”. I also saw a video from the YouTube channel, Cleric Corner, discussing ideas for how to incorporate stone punk (a genre that features a prehistoric setting with a mix of cavemen, dinosaurs, and a variety of stone and pulley based analogs for modern technology, like the Flintstones) into dnd campaigns. This actually sparked a thought in my head about a Stone Age fantasy setting (“Stone Fantasy” for short), which lead to this post on my tumblr page:

You know something, we’ve had high fantasy, space fantasy, urban fantasy, and all that kind of crap. What about “stone fantasy”, a fantasy setting set in the Stone Age? Elves riding on the backs of pterodactyls, weresabertooths, dwarves who are master stone smiths, that kind of stuff.

(This was before I found out about the existence of the DND 5E supplement, Planegea, so… live and learn I guess.)

Anyway, this one thought sparked a whole sea of ideas for other fantasy settings, though for now, we’ll start off with the Stone Fantasy setting, a setting we’ll call The Vast Land. The Vast Land is a large island surrounded by an equally enormous sea (as far as the inhabitants of the island are concerned, this island is all there is in the world). The island is made up of mostly jungles and grasslands, with a long chain of mountains running through it like a scar (creating areas of snow and frost), with a volcano sprouting from the center of the island. Throughout the Vast Land, dinosaurs and prehistoric mammals coexist alongside the various races, hadrosaurs, ankylosaurus, and field striders (gallimimus) grazing alongside woolly mammoths and wooly rhinos in the grasslands, packs of sabertooth tigers and raptors fighting for territory along the mountain sides, pterodactyls and archaeopteryxes flitting through jungles only to be snatched by plesiosaurs passing through jungle rivers. Alongside these usual animals, the inhabitants must also face more harrowing threats, from poisonous plants, tar pits, and creatures of a more supernatural nature.

Species

Humans: Interestingly enough, this setting has the potential for the most variety of humans compared to most fantasy settings (seeing as prehistoric times were the closest Earth ever came to seeing multiple sapient creatures before they either homogenized into modern humans or were wiped out by our ancestors). Among these are the Lean Men (cro-magnon, which I thought were the direct ancestors of Homo Sapiens, but it turns out that they’re just the earliest examples of true Homo Sapiens, humanity beta if you will), who are the closest things to normal humans in a fantasy setting but caveman, Broad Backs (neanderthals) who are more brutish and muscular than other humans but are generally affable (like a friendlier version of fantasy orcs), and Pygmies (Flores Men) who are much shorter, more aggressive, living mostly in jungles, and capable of being incredibly stealthy (obviously, there were more species of ancient humans than this, but I’m just narrowing these down for simplicity sake). These different groups live in tribes all over the Vast Land, though they tend to stay away from coastal regions (such places are considered taboo), and have a fairly steady alliance with each other (though that doesn’t mean there isn’t distrust between them).

Sickle Feet: A major staple in most prehistoric settings (or dinosaur settings in general) are packs of velociraptors that rip people apart with swarm tactics. Now imagine that… but as a race. Creating intricate villages in the jungles, the sickle feet are a particularly aggressive race, being the main reason why the Pygmies are as aggressive as they are. Armed with both claws, teeth, and spears, as well as having tamed a variety of dangerous dinosaurs to act as guard beasts, they often go on raiding parties, attacking other villages with extreme ferocity. They aren’t mindless beasts, however, as they can be negotiated with, especially when there are greater threats at play such as a tyrant beast. There are also legends that the sickle feet once had a vast empire that dominated across the land, though if it existed, there’s no trace of it now.

Wilder Men: The elves of the setting, the wilder men are found throughout the Vast Land. Being people of nature, they don’t really have settlements or even villages, preferring to live in trees or caves (harkening back to elves being presented as one with nature). Willowy and covered in fine brown fur, they also fit the role of ape men seen in most Stone Age settings (especially in pulp fiction novels). They possess a deep knowledge of the various plants and animals of the Vast Land, and are skilled at creating various medicines and potions, as well as having a deeper connection with the Spirits of the Vast Land, being among the few beings who’s shamans don’t go mad from prolonged exposure to them.

Sky Hunters: The harpies of the Vast Land, Sky Hunters are actually one of the more terrifying inhabitants. Half man and half pterodactyl, they’re masters of aerial combat, holding a distinct advantage over other species. Building their villages in mountainous regions, they also tame a variety of pterosaurs to aid them in hunting and combat. This also includes the quetzalcoatlus (or as its known in the Vast Land, “the Soaring Terror”), which is a special kind of nightmare fuel in its own right (imagine having to deal with a giraffe-sized flying carnivore that can also gallop after you when it’s on the ground… and then, while in the sky, a small squadron of flying creatures jumps off its back and starts attacking you with goddamn spears). Unsurprisingly, any village that manages to form an alliance with the Sky Hunters is given a wide berth by raiders.

Touched Wolves: Wolves are a common sight in the Vast Land, from regular wolves (which are commonly tamed as hunting companions by humans) to dire wolves (which are treated as frightening monsters). However, if there’s one variety of wolf that the inhabitants of the Vast Land need to be concerned about, it’s the touched wolves. Having been granted intelligence by the Spirits of the Vast Land, they have all the strength of regular wolves and the intelligence of Stone Age humans. While they tend to be noble yet primal creatures, they also have a tendency to mob travelers, passing themselves off as regular wolves to get in close, only to reveal their true nature, revealing the hands they have in place of front paws as they grasp onto their prey and tear into them with claws and fangs.

Carved Ones: Finally, we have the Carved Ones, a race of creatures formed from carved hunks of wood and stone (basically, they’re Stone Age golems). No one is really sure where exactly they came from, though there are legends that the first carved ones were created by an ancient group of shamans to act as slaves for them, until they rebelled against their masters. Forming their own tribes, they are seen as an eerie and unsettling group by the other locals, as they neither sleep nor eat, raiding other villages for tools and weapons, and using what they’ve gathered to craft new Carved Ones. However, they can be won over with offers of tools and wood.

Monsters

Fur Beasts: Lurking in the undergrowth of the jungles and the tall grass of the plains, the fur beasts are the goblins of the Vast Land. So named for being shrouded in thick coats of fur that conceal their true figures save for a scrawny pair of arms and legs, they often scurry up towards unaware travelers and attack in packs. Anything they find on their victims, from food and tools, they take to a communal nest, mostly using the tools to reinforce the nest, having no real understanding of weapons and tools beyond “I can use rock to smash other things or chuck them at other things”. Indeed, these nests often become surprisingly large and intricate, suggesting that there might be some higher thought inside those hairy heads of theirs.

Walking Bush: When walking through the jungle, there’s always the risk of running into a walking bush. A variety of carnivorous plant, they have the ability to walk around on root-like legs, moving about to different locations in search of better hunting grounds. Whenever they find a suitable spot, they’ll crouch down to disguise themselves as regular bushes, after which, they’ll wait for prey to come close enough for them to whip out a stalk topped with a flytrap-like mouth to snatch it up. They also possess a powerful toxin that can be harvested to create poisoned arrows.

Pelt Walkers: It is an unspoken rule in the Vast Land that shamans and other magic users should be treated with caution, as they tend to be given to madness (for reasons I’ll get to soon enough). The most dangerous of these are the ones referred to as Pelt Walkers. Skilled with a knife, they are capable of expertly skinning freshly killed animals and converting the pelts into cloaks. With these cloaks, they’re capable of transforming into animals, gaining all of their abilities and strength (paired with their own intelligence), as well as becoming an animal hybrid. While most simply use their powers to steal prey from hunters, more malicious pelt walkers will use their abilities to spy on opponents, gathering information to use to their advantage.

Plains Whispers: When walking out on the plains on calm, starless nights, there’s a chance of encountering a plains whisper. Resembling floating orbs of light that occasionally manifest eyes or mouths, they often float just outside of the vision of travelers, often whispering, chattering, and giggling just for their own amusement. Whenever large numbers of plains whispers are seen floating about, that’s usually a sign that a dreaming folk is nearby.

River Brutes: The typical brutish monster of the setting, river brutes are a major threat to anyone traversing the waterways of the Vast Land. Large primordial amphibians, they often lurk just beneath the surface, waiting for prey to approach the water’s edge before bursting out from beneath, grabbing them in their stubby hands, and shoving them down their throats whole. However, river brutes prefer to target lone travelers, as the inside of their wide mouths are actually their weak spots, especially vulnerable to arrows and projectiles, making it easy for a fellow traveler to free their captured companion.

Dreaming Folk: Strange beings with an unusual air about them, the dreaming folk are the fair folk of the setting. Partially inspired by the mimih spirits of Aboriginal folklore, they’re a surprisingly intimidating sight, easily towering over most beings with their tall, lanky, unnervingly thin bodies and bright orange eyes and teal skin. Originating from a realm known as “The Dreaming”, the dreaming folk often appear in the Vast Land, usually visiting for their own amusement. However, unlike most depictions of the fair folk, the dreaming folk are actually quite friendly, joining in on hunting parties they stumble upon and even refusing to take any piece of the prey when it finally falls (apparently more interested in the thrill of the hunt than the prize itself).

Tyrant Beasts: An interesting thing about the Vast Land is that while dinosaurs do exist here, many of the larger predatory dinosaurs are long extinct, with only smaller predators like raptors and piscivores like baryonyx still kicking around. There is one exception though, and that is the tyrant beasts, the dragons of this setting. Originally just normal tyrannosaurs, they have since been transformed by magic into terrifying monsters, becoming the terror of all races. Much more monstrous than their past forms, they sport several rows of long spines running down their backs, multiple pairs of eyes running along the sides of their snouts, and the ability to unleash different breath weapons (some can breathe fire, others can breathe freezing air, and some can breathe poisonous clouds). Even the comically tiny arms t-rexes are famous for have long since vanished, having been replaced by a long, prehensile tongue tipped with a grasping appendage to grab and manipulate things, making for a terrifying image for anyone unfortunate enough to be caught by the tyrant beast and slowly dragged into its fangs filled maw. They’re also disturbingly intelligent, as well as being far stealthier than anything that size should be, often setting up elaborate ambushes to capture prey. While tyrant beasts are universally feared, many people of different species will team up to take one down when it attacks, sometimes even tracking down fire breathing beasts to steal some fire to take back to their villages.

Magic and the Spirits of Land, Sky, Sea, and Death

Magic in the Vast Land is a bit unusual to say the least. Unlike most settings, magic isn’t fully understood by the inhabitants, if anything, it’s something that’s both feared and respected. You see, in the Vast Land, magic originates from groups of spirits, each one representing an aspect of life for the people of the setting: land, sky, sea, and death. Overall, these spirits serve as elementals, fair folk, and gods of the setting, both worshipped and feared by the people of the Vast Land. Those who spend extended periods of time near places where these spirits frequent (like shamans) will learn their secrets and gain a bit of their powers… at the cost of their sanity. While they’re treated with a bit of apprehension, many understand that the spirits and their shamans are a bit of a necessity, especially during lean times. These spirits include:

Spirits of Land: Spirits that resemble a variety of spectral animals from mammoths to triceratopses. They have control over the land and the growth of plants, making them the spirits that most people will encounter.

Spirits of Sky: Spirits that resemble spectral pterosaurs. They have control over the sky and the weather.

Spirits of Sea: Spirits that resemble spectral prehistoric sea creatures from ammonites to plesiosaurs (and in some cases, even weirder creatures like anomalocaris). Having control over the sea, these spirits are seen as the most mysterious of their kind, as very few people live near the sea (considering it a no man’s land home to unknowable monsters).

Spirits of Death: Spirits that resemble a spiraling cloud of bones, they have power over death and disease, as well as the grim reapers of the setting. Ironically, these spirits are the ones that people fully understand, knowing that they only come when it’s time for them to come and only take with them what they came for.

Undead

Tar Things: Like many prehistoric settings, tar pits are a big danger in the Vast Land. While the risk of slowly drowning in tar is a major concern with tar pits, there’s another danger that lurks in these sticky black pools: tar things. Born from the souls of those that drowned in the tar pits, these undead creatures rise from their gooey graves and cobble together bodies from globs of tar and tar stained bones, ranging from humanoid and animalistic forms to shambling mounds of bones and tar. Lurching across the plains, tar things will hunt down prey with a dogged persistence, stripping their catches down to the bone, adding the remains to their mass.

Mad Spirits: The restless spirits of shamans, mad spirits are the worst possible fate of magic users. Those who completely devote themselves to the spirits (to the point of separating themselves from their own humanity) will end up transforming into mad spirits when they die. Completely divorced from their old lives, they will wander the world, terrorizing and harassing anyone they come across with an assortment of terrible powers. However, they can be reasoned with if the right rituals are performed, either appeasing them or, in some cases, being elevated to the status of a true spirit.

#worldbuilding #original species #original setting #stone age #stone age fantasy #fae folk

3 notes · View notes

mediasaurs · 2 years ago

Text

TRM Round 1: Marvel Comics (Devil Dinosaur) vs. Fossil Specimen (Rexy AMNH 5027)

Marvel Comics (Devil Dinosaur) – Devil Dinosaur began as a Jack Kirby creation in 1978, hailing from an alternate world where prehistoric animals coexist with human-like beings, including Moon-Boy, Devil Dinosaur’s constant companion. The series was short-lived, but the character persisted. Finally, in 2016, Devil Dinosaur returned to the limelight with a new companion in the child genius Lunella Lafayette. As Lunella copes with being an Inhuman and adopts the name Moon Girl, she teams up with the displaced Devil Dinosaur and the two form a strong bond. The two can swap bodies through Moon Girl’s Inhuman powers, and Devil Dinosaur himself is smarter than the average T. rex. He can even change his size, which can come in handy when it’s time to smash something.

Fossil Specimen (Rexy AMNH 5027) – AMNH 5027, colloquially known as “Rexy,” has been a fixture of the American Museum of Natural History for over a century. Rexy was discovered in 1908 by Barnum Brown and was the first specimen to provide a complete skull and neck vertebrae, thus advancing our knowledge of T. rex. Besides its value to science and the museum, this specimen also served as the inspiration for the skeletal T. rex in the Jurassic Park logo, as well as the animated T. rex skeleton in the Night at the Museum series.

#t. rex madness #t. rex #tyrannosaurus #dinosaur #dinosaurs #devil dinosaur #marvel comics #fossil

52 notes · View notes

homestuckreplay · 11 months ago

Text

"apply loking thign" [sic]

(page 242-245)

TT: I've found no evidence that anyone has successfully created the item.

WELL, THEY DID IT. THEY MADE A WHOLE APPLE. They are definitely not equipped to do this, it feels like they backdoored their way into succeeding through luck, risky storm behavior and narrative convenience, and it feels REALLY good. Obviously the threat isn't over yet, but I love to see John get a win, even when it's small.

When the alchemiter made blocks, they were just blocks. When it makes an apple, it shows us the full life cycle of the apple - sprouting the tree it grows from, then the fruit itself, then dropping the fruit and dying. This has fascinating implications for punch card alchemy. That pre-punched card didn't just store data about the apple at a given moment in time, it stores the apple's entire past leading up to the moment it takes this form. This could be connected to the elixir of life, which has historically been one of the things alchemists have tried to discover.

I really want to know if the items on the pre-punched card are random per game session, or if not, what determines them and what possibilities there are. We only know the apple and the eggy loking thign, both of which are living things, so could that be the link? Also, is this a real, actual apple that is/was alive and provides sustenance and nutrients (and was the egg a real egg that could hatch a bird/snake/dinosaur etc?) That's an insane amount of power for a video game to have, and it feels like every time we learn something else about what Sburb can do it only increases its world-altering potential, and its possibilities to go horrifically wrong.

Of course, the tree and the apple are also reminiscent of the tree of knowledge - the religious themes have been here throughout the comic, and I've made the Garden of Eden link with gardenGnostic as well. In Christianity, Eve giving into temptation and eating the fruit is the original sin and leads to exile, while in Gnosticism, eating the fruit is necessary and the only way to save humanity, seeing through the bullshit of people who tried to hold Eve back from achieving her potential.

Assuming that John will eat it - because what else is he gonna do, throw it at the meteor? - I don't know which of these outcomes will turn out to be true, or if they can coexist, or what kind of knowledge John will gain. The original sin, defying a god and seeking power theme fits really well with Rose's character as somebody seeking control and with Sburb as a game giving godlike powers to regular people. The Gnostic interpretation of saving humanity works with stopping a meteor strike, John having the ability to save himself, and possibly links to the conflict of TG being somewhat against Sburb. One big factor in which interpretation is more true is the ethics and intent behind Sburb itself - is the knowledge and power it can give somebody really something that a human should have?

Finally, an unrelated design note - I'm glad that on p.244-245, we see the sprite as a stamp in the corner of the page, not the obnoxious and jittery flashing. I like the idea of it flashing and it makes sense in-game (it wants something from the players and is trying to get their attention), but it's definitely bad to look at and becomes the main focus of any page. On p.245, it almost looks like a wax seal, which is so much better aesthetically.

#homestuck #reaction #no update today :(((( but i stay silly #chrono

14 notes · View notes

badass-at-fandoming · 1 year ago

Note

I have an image in my head of Beckett deciding to visit a creation museum just for the hell of it cuz he felt bored, and stands around bemused as he takes in the absurd exhibits and displays purporting to show that humans really did coexist with dinosaurs while the tour guide prattles on, unaware that before them stands a cursed, unholy creature of hell(tm).

As a scholar who doesn't believe in Caine I think he would find kine literalist interpretations of the Bible to be very amusing.

I didn't know creationist museums existed [searches DuckDuckGo] oh snap there's a famous one in Kentucky. Doesn't sound as fun as the Center of PostNatural History in Pennsylvania. No idea the connection between creationist belief and demons. A creationist may believe the world is young, but the appreciation of demonic booty is not.

Regardless, you've touched on a fun irony of Beckett. Our fav Noddist believes the story of Caine and Abel mythologizes the transition from hunter + gather society to settled agrarian society. I can't speak to Protestant sects, but today's Catholics and Catholic scholars also believe that. Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, and Seth may have been literal, historical people, but it's impossible to know for sure. They for sure are narrative archetypes and play out the consequences of original sin (aka whatever triggered life to suck sometimes). Some scholars think Caine and Abel play out the tensions between nomadic desert tribes and the establishment of cities. Scholars propose that Caine founded the first city, but it was tiny and sucked major ass. Catholic Encyclopedia Answers here.

Another fun element of your proposed scenario is Beckett was definitely alive for Catholic scholars to go bananas about the Ussher chronology of earth. That's the one referenced at the beginning of Good Omens, if you've watched/read/listened to that. Some fucking nerd interpreted the Book of Genesis super literally so he could make Ye Official Timeline. Earth is a Libra. I bet Beckett hated Ussher with a passion 😂 He was probably SO glad when Ussher's ideas lost popularity.

Nowadays Catholicism has no official teaching on the age of earth, but there is an injunction to celebrate and uplift science and scientific thought: the findings of modern science "[...] have splendidly enriched our knowledge of the age and dimensions of the cosmos, the development of life-forms and the appearance of man. These discoveries invite us to even greater admiration for the greatness of the Creator, prompting us to give him thanks for all his works and for the understanding and wisdom he gives to scholars and researchers," (Catechism 283). The Cathechism is like this brick-sized synthesis of Catholic theology and morality. I think the closest Jewish equivalent would be the Mishneh Torah? It's a lot of Catholic Thought™️ brought back down to earth so the layman can look up references and specific questions.

In any case, World of Darkness dropkicks all progression of theological thought out the window and says Caine is literally real, literally a vampire, and literally wants to boink Beckett.

Thanks for the ask! This was fun to think about. I feel like you activated by Catholic trap card, haha.

#ask #chinesegal #text post #vampire the masquerade #vtm #beckett #cuthbert beckett #vtmb #vtm caine #world of darkness #wod #gangrel #clan gangrel #vtm beckett #beckett vtm #beckett vtmb #catholicism #center for postnatural history

16 notes · View notes

zestyderg · 10 days ago

Note

You ever think about how the first Fossil Fighters ended with the dinaurian people settling on the planet? Like, that’s something that’d have massive ramifications and developments, but it’s just kinda untouched like the whole Zongazonga incident. But it kinda makes me wish we had more of them in the series y’know? All well, fanfics be my salvation with a dinaurian mc Frontier fic

YES. YES I DO. Like people around the world will find out that alien dinosaur people exist. They are gonna find out said alien dinosaur people tried to end them and take over the planet. Things will not go smoothly, even if many people are sympathetic after learning their tragic backstory and the dinaurians show they are willing to coexist peacefully. Every dinaurian will be stared at, gawked at, have a target on their back for simply existing. They'll have to adapt to human society and try to fit in as best they can.

Governments, companies, honestly everybody will want their tech. Fossil revival came from that tech, what else can it do?

The dinaurians likely don't have that big of a population either. Not sure how big the mothership actually is but I doubt the dinaurians are as numerous as humans. They could have difficulties with genetic diversity while they try to repopulate. Humans and dinaurians are incompatible for reproduction.

However, I do see a solution to that: test tube babies. Dinaurians are definitely advanced enough to do some funky genetic experimentation. They could have stored a bunch of genetic material on the ship before being forced to flee, so they could likely solve a lot of the genetic diversity problems by using stored DNA to introduce into the population and even use to grow dinaurian babies in a lab. This could also lead to something a lot more exciting:

HUMAN DINAURIAN HYBRIDS. I've mentioned this before, but dinaurians definitely could splice together the DNA of a human and dinaurian and successfully grow a test tube hybrid baby. Dinaurian x human couples are gonna be a thing. This could be a way to give them bio kids if that's what they want. Existing as someone who's half dinaurian half human would be its own whole can of worms that I'm not gonna touch on now.

BUT YES. I WOULD LIKE MORE DINAURIANS IN THE SERIES.

#ask #zesty's ramblings #I could go on and on about dinaurians trying to adapt to earth and how they try to make sense of everything #but we'd probably be here all day #I love the dino people

6 notes · View notes

nezumikozo6th · 14 days ago

Text

Loana from One Million Years B.C.Art by Daniel J Burns.

As we all know,dinosaurs not only coexisted with our human ancestors,but are still raised and eaten by modern humans today,and they may even have developed into more species than in the Mesozoic Era.They are all Avian Dinosaurs now generally called birds.

#Loana #One Million Years B.C.#Jo Raquel Welch #Daniel J Burns #art #April 17th is the Dinosaur Day in Japan #It's the day that American zoologist Roy Chapman Andrews left Beijing for the Gobi Desert in 1923 #they discovered the twenty-five dinosaur egg fossils which are the first ones discovered

2 notes · View notes

realjaysumlin · 23 days ago

Text

(Mis)informed about what? What it means to be a science-literate citizen in a digital world | PNAS

Nothing is more unsettling than someone attempting to discuss science without understanding the scientific method. The New York Times published an article about a science teacher who claimed that Noah's Ark housed dinosaurs.

Among the main issues with this educator, the first is that he presents himself as a science educator. The second is that the story of Noah's Ark contradicts our understanding of the natural world, as there is no evidence to support the hypothesis of the Great Flood. Lastly, it is essential to point out that dinosaurs and humans never coexisted.

Science is based on research and evidence, and I prefer not to delve into the true definition of what science means, but instead, just to give you an idea of what science actually represents is to form conclusive information from an idea that needed testing and researching to find the answer to be true or false.. if the information is true, we keep, if not, we delete.

#black love #black positivity #black africans #black history #science #evolution #science side of tumblr

3 notes · View notes

cookinguptales · 1 year ago

Text

I know that I've mentioned several times how I had to go through a period of relearning once I got out of the religious environment in which I'd been raised, and like... A lot of the things I had to research and learn about all over again were fairly obvious, like climate change. My parents and teachers told me that man-made climate change wasn't real, so I believed them. Once I got to college, I realized that I'd been misled, and I had to relearn the whole topic.

But not all of these things were obvious! I went through this period where I didn't even know what part of my education I should be questioning. Like... what do I even research?? Do I actually understand weather? What about history?

One of the reasons I bring up history is because one of the things my parents told me wasn't real was radiocarbon dating. And I don't just mean "well, these are estimations, can't be used for precise dates, and might be somewhat off due to atmospheric conditions." I got the whole "well, this is unprovable* and goes against the history the Bible gives us so you shouldn't trust carbon dating at all."

(*I was taught that anything that wasn't like... observable in real-time was not provable.)

Let's just say... a lot of my childhood was adults around me hedging their bets like "I'm not saying this is fake, I'm just saying it can't be proven and they're asking us to take this hypothesis as fact! I'm just saying you should question things! And not believe those liberal scientists!"

(carbon dating, evolution, the big bang/quantum physics, whether humans and dinosaurs coexisted, climate change, how hiv works, etc.)

And uhhh I went into archaeology (among other things) when I first started college, so you can imagine how this impeded my studies. lmao

idk, I guess I'm not going anywhere in particular with this. I was just listening to a podcast that's currently talking about the paleolithic period and I still had a gut instinctual reaction of "well, you don't know these things are that old" that I had to squash like a fucking bug.

I definitely understand exactly how the "it's good to be curious and read sources critically" to "question everyone, especially experts" to "those liberal scientists are trying to trick you" to "fake news!!" pipeline comes about. ;;

#at least my parents weren't anti-vaxxers tho! they were never that #the whole rest of the family is now but my parents are very pro-vaccine #cw:#religion #fundamentalism #I guess we can never know anything in this world for sure but all we can do is our best #and build off of the knowledge that we do have #rather than ignoring it #we'll always be refining our ideas as we gain new information #but that's a good thing not evidence that scientists everywhere are trying to trick you ;;

19 notes · View notes

itsyourearthtoo · 1 year ago

Text

The pop-culture urge to resurrect dinosaurs.

First of all, let me clear this, DINOSAURS ARENT EXTINCT. They are right there, maybe pooping around in your lawn or the non-veg meal you recently had. You just aren't aware of it. My previous blog was all about this and you can go check that out :)

So, if dinosaurs aren't extinct, then what's the point of bringing them back to life? More so... why make movies, write stories, draw comics and blah blah blah to actually resurrect them?! And this is what this blog is all about.

Birds, which are dinosaurs don't look like the dinosaurs you actually imagine it to be. Just wonder, what's the first thing that popped up in your mind, when you read the word 'dinosaur' in the very title itself. A giant beast, ferocious eyes, long necks maybe (those sauropods) and so on. No one did think about the chickens we eat, pigeons we shoo away or those beautiful kingfishers and parrots we admire. If you did, then... I think you are already smarter than me.

This is nothing, but the result of a constant impression about dinosaurs that pop-culture has fed to you, that your mind can't imagine anything else. More apt, you just can't think other than the Jurassic Park franchise if you are a 21st century kid like me!

Now hold on, this doesn't mean I am a Jurassic Park hater or this blog got grudges against it. I love that universe as much as you but the thing is, fact is fact. And, science in the end shouldn't be to please people, but to make people aware of the things they aren't aware of.

So... with a bit of reading and literature research, I actually dug into this matter deep enough to find a reason; that actually answers my question - Why pop-culture wants to resurrect dinosaurs?

Richard Owen coined the term dinosaur in the year 1841. Note, the Theory of Evolution and The Origin of Species was published by Darwin in the year of 1859, meaning the world dug out dinosaurs technically unaware of evolution and natural selection (pretty funny to me).

This makes sense as to why it got related to reptiles in the first place. Until 1860s there was pretty much no consensus to the fact that birds are related to dinosaurs. When Archeopteryx was initially discovered somewhen around 1860 it pretty much changed the course of Dinosaur paleobiology. Trust me, society didn't believe this in the first place. It took decades for the Dinosaur Renaissance to actually begin and thanks to Robert Baker's famous book Dinosaur Heresis in the 1970s, that gave dinosaurs the justice it had long due. So its pretty much okay to say that birds are dinosaurs came into the scientific consensus much much later than it was actually discovered (unfortunately this happens with most of the discoveries in Earth Sciences as a whole). Also, I would point to the discovery of more and more feathers in fossil specimens as the point where the relation between birds and dinosaurs were eventually confirmed.

Now dinosaurs came into the pop-culture scene in the 1850s with Charles Dicken's Bleak House. Yeah, a decade before Archeopteryx was dug out and Origin of Species was published. Movies first depicted dinosaurs as pretty lovable creatures. Classic example being the animated, Gertie - The Dinosaur (by Winsor McCay) which released as a silent film in 1914.

Soon after, it didn't take long for the lovable dinosaurs to turn into horrifying beasts. DW Griffith in his 1914's Brute Force silent film depicted Dinosaurs as ferocious monsters who haunted cavemen. Also establishing the early fiction, that early humans and dinosaurs coexisted together. This, a devastating scientific hoax (sugar coated as fiction), remained for quiet some time. You might have seen the famous cartoon series - The Flintstones, yup! if you were a fan of it like me, then you relate to what I am saying.

Steven Spielberg made Jurassic Park much later. Already a lot had been done about dinosaurs in the television and big screens. He legit hired paleontologists as scientific advisors for his films, which is why many things were even scientifically correct in the Jurassic Park film series, but at the end he was a film director to appease people and deliver box-office hits. He already knew what people wanted from dinosaurs. Hardly few will remember that the film actually says that birds came from dinosaurs in the very beginning. Instead, what you remember is just them chasing humans and destroying things. Unfortunate, but that's the reality.

Even today, its hard to imagine any film, story or comic that portrays dinosaurs as birds. They are the modern day dinosaurs! You have it all around. But you aren't satisfied with it and so you need movies that bring the typical dinosaur to life with the help of special effects to satisfy your soul. So yeah, if we as common people accept the fact that birds are dinosaurs then may be resurrection of dinosaurs will reduce to a lot extent in your screens and scientifically accurate stuffs will be fed to you :)

So, this is it for this blog. To be honest, while writing this I realized that I started loving these creatures because of pop-culture only :) no matter how scientifically inaccurate it was. I mean, this does become an irony. At one side of the spectrum it is to be blamed, but on the other it did make these creatures popular isn't it? Maybe I should cover this in my next blog hehe, so stay tuned!

For the love of Earth Science :D Byeee

Oh yes!!! Do check out my previous blog

thank you.

Used Image Souce - Youtube video titled 'The Flintstones | I Dare Ya!'

#earth #geology #science #dinosaur #museums #paleontology #jurassic park #jurassic world #comics #pop culture

15 notes · View notes