Comments by "" (@craigkdillon) on "PBS Eons" channel.

  1. I am stunned. What is wrong with you people?? I read all the comments. Where are insults? Where are the diatribes of ignorance?? Where is the intolerance of disagreement??? Very odd. Very refreshing.
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  2. Even in "snowball Earth", there was tectonic activity, volcanoes, and ocean currents. There must have been areas where these effects combined to create open water. Also, many areas where the ice was broken up and/or thin. We know from current sea ice, that sea ice actually a wonderful place for bacteria and plankton to thrive. So, as Jeff Goldblum said, "Life will find a way.".
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  3. 150 million years of success. Humans have been around 300,000 years. We only have 149,700,000 years to go to equal Icthysaur's success.
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  4. You were stupid......for talking to that idiot.
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  5.  @EricWeberFilm  That explains Trump's behavior, too.
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  6.  @EricWeberFilm  Although, I like scorpions more.
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  7. For the same reason mushrooms grow a cap....to spread their spores to the wind. I suspect the spires were for spore dispersal. When towering green plants developed, those spires did not work so well, so that group went extinct. At least, that's my theory.
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  8. You cannot date paleontological finds. They are dead.
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  9. You described a Global Anoxic Event (GAE). They occur when the global circulation (now the AMOC) shuts down. They seem to occur during periods of warmth and high CO2 levels. The AMOC is currently slowing down as our CO2 levels rise. I don't think the CO2 level for shutting down the AMOC is known, The last GAE is thought to have happened during the Paleo=Eocene Thermal Maximum) about 55 mya. The Earth was tropical at the poles with crocodilians and large snakes in Alaska. An interesting thing about GAEs is that our oil deposits were mostly laid down during GAEs in the Mesozoic. Oil deposits was Nature's way of sequestering excess carbon out of the atmosphere, giving us the cooler world of ice and snow since the Eocene. Our pumping and burning of oil and gas returns that carbon to the air, warming our planet. At some point, a Global Anoxic Event will happen. I wonder what species will go extinct then???
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  10. Let's keep it simple. The Dimetrodon sail was..... a sail. 1. The sail would be used to help it cross wide rivers. Catching the wind and tacking its way across. 2. Female Dimetrodons would select her mate from the winners of sailing races that would take place every Thursday in local lake, with the females lounging on the beach, giggling and talking about the size of the male's sails. Yes, the Dimetrodon was definitely ahead of its time.
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  11. Try getting bit by a swan. Much worse.
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  12. LOL. I thought this was going to be about how we saw the Earth BEFORE we knew about plate tectonics. I thought it was going to be about the how the universally rock headed geologists of the day (pun intended) who rejected the theory of continental drift, as it was called then. If it hadn't been for the longitudinal oriented magnetic stripes in the rocks at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, we still may be in the world of the geological steady staters. That is what I thought this was going to be about. I didn't know there really was a time in Earth's history that we didn't have moving continents. I figured that early on the Earth was even hotter inside. The interior should have roiled so much, that I figured the continents would have moved that much faster - veritably dancing. Now l learn that it wasn't quite like that. Cool.
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  13. The water evolution theory for snakes tends to be disqualified by the fact that there are not many aquatic snakes. I know, all snakes can swim. I don't mean that. By "aquatic" I mean live, hunt, and eat in water. If that was their source, then I propose that there would be a wide ranging variety of sea and aquatic snakes. But, there are not. We do, have, though many terrestrial varieties. Hence, for me, the "burrowing" hypothesis is better supported.
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  14. So, when will we call the end of the Holocene??? I wish a climatologist would tell us that. I think it will be when some serious profound event has happened. The events I think that may be used to mark the beginning of the Anthropocene are: 1) When the Arctic Ocean has its first Blue Ocean Event in the summer. 2) When the Arctic Ocean is Blue Ocean all year round. 3) When ocean levels have risen 100cm, or some other depth. 4) Some other event marker????
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  15. What about the Black Sea?? Didn't it dry up? And, wasn't the event that refilled it more recent...like 8,000 years ago?? ...Some think giving rise to the Noah myth, and other flood myths.
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  16. What evidence is there that Dinosaurs were reptiles?? They were warm blooded -- not reptilian. They had their legs underneath their body -- not reptilian. Many had feathers -- not reptilian. We would be closer if we called them Avian. BUT, I think Dinosaurs and Pterosaurs deserve their own class. IMVHO.
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  17. Why don't you EVER mention color vision vs night vision. Many mammals, like dogs and cattle do not have color vision. We primates have full color vision. I have heard the hypothesis that mammals lost color vision in the Mesozoic because they were nocturnal.... and later RE-developed it as they became day creatures, again. Can you discuss this?.
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  18. Also, the super efficient breathing apparatus of dinosaurs, which is identical to what birds have, STRONGLY suggests that dinosaurs were hotter blooded than we are.
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  19. Thank you. You just supported my hypothesis that current GW will make Earth wetter, not drier. I suspect that increased water cycle will result in bringing rain to the great deserts of the world. Well, that combined with the increased meandering of the jet stream. So, in 2100, I expect the world to be 2 to 3 degrees Centigrade warmer than today. I expect oceans to be about 5 to 8 ft deeper. I also expect mankind to have been a bit late in responding to the GW process. Therefor, methane clathrates will have unleashed much of their methane into the atmosphere. The Holocene will be done, and the Anthropocene just beginning to begin. I expect oceans to rise at least 70 ft, to eventually match the levels of the Pliocene, at a minimum. [Since the Pliocene ocean levels were done with CO2 at about 400ppm, and we have already passed that, probably to reach 700ppm by 2100, PLUS a huge increase in methane, which did not happen during the Pliocene, a complete melting of the polar ice caps is probable, IMO.] Considering paleoclimatological data, I am surprised that climatologists maintain the idea that the Earth will get drier as the climate warms. That was not the case during the Mesozoic, and I do not see why it should be the case this time.
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  20. Incomplete. The process by which the cycles release or capture carbon must be told. The cycles are triggers of the cooling and heating processes -- NOT the process itself. When warming, it is CO2 being released from thawing permafrost that is the main cause of the warming. Currently, mankind is adding CO2 directly, triggering a warming cycle independent of the Malenkovich cycles. Our induced warming cycle is swamping the natural process, which would now be near to starting an ice age. Instead, we are creating a very warm period, possibly eventually becoming as warm as the Cretaceous.
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  21. BTW. A complete melting of the polar ice caps is to be expected, but NOT by 2100. But, before the Anthropocene climate stabilizes, I do expect polar ice caps to no longer exist on Earth. In effect, the CO2 we are pumping into the air is re-creating the climate conditions during much of the Mesozoic. What is ironic, the oil deposits we are burning were mostly put down during the Mesozoic during extremely hot periods called "Global Anoxic Events", when the global ocean current shutdown. These were associated with mass extinction events. When enough carbon was removed from the atmosphere and went into the making of the oil deposits, the Earth cooled. Humanity, in its folly, is reversing Nature's process that gave us the wonderful Holocene. The Gods must be laughing.
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  22. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
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  23. Global Anoxic Events --- Can you do a documentary about them???? This is what I think is correct === 1. They occurred mostly in the various periods of the Mesozoic. 2. The largest and most profound may have been during the Permian/Triassic Great Dying. 3. They are caused by increases in CO2 + CH4, and the warming associated with them. 4. The ocean conveyor shuts down, stopping the transport of oxygen to the depths. Oceans become anoxic below 25 ft, which is oxygenated by wave action. 5. Most or all of the oil we are drilling comes from ocean deposits of dead creatures that decayed anaerobically when they fell to the ocean floor. That explains why all the oil we find is on ocean shelves, or on land that once was underwater (like Texas & Oklahoma). 6. This being the case, we can expect to keep finding oil all over the world on continental shelves. So, there is no shortage of oil. 7. BUT, if we extract and burn all this oil, then we will re-create the Global Anoxic Event 8. Lastly, Global Anoxic Events are associated with extinction events when the flora and fauna of Earth changes dramatically. Question: Do we really want to continue extracting and burning oil???
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  24. Interesting assertion that wider ribs were an aid to digging. If that were so, wouldn't prairie dogs and meerkats have wider ribs? Now badgers have a lower and slightly wider rib cage. Could it be aiding badgers in their digging? I never thought of that. That is the only burrowing animal that I can think of that has that feature, even a little. So, I am not buying that idea just yet.
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  25. Ok. Dinosaurs had high metabolisms. IN FACT, they had the metabolisms that BIRDS have today. After all, didn't birds come from them? Don't some put birds & dinosaurs into the same clade? So, dinosaurs probably had higher metabolisms than you or I. We are mildly warm blooded. Dinosaurs were hot blooded, I bet.
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  26. and then, I would love to know how we devolved to love rap.
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  27. My theory was the sail was a sail. An adventurous sporting Dimetrodon could sail from one island to another by tacking into the wind. Being competitive, Dimetrodons would race each other on the rivers and lakes, the winners getting to choose their mates from among the pretty females watching from shore. Nothing to support this theory, you say?? Well, first they must search for the evidence. I am sure it is there. Maybe, if we find a fossilized sailing trophy.....
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  28. This 19th Century idea that dinosaurs were cold blooded just won't die. Will it?? IMO, any paleontologist who still thinks that should have his degrees revoked. It's as bad a geographer being a flat earther.
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  29. In a few centuries your descendants will be able to go on an undersea tour of Manhattan. Many skyscrapers will still tower above the sea, while their lobbies will be 200 ft down. You will be able to rent a personal submarine to enter the lobbies of the Empire State, and Chrysler Buildings.
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  30.  @frankibianchi6188  How steam punk.
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  31. Whoa. Wait a minute --- we are NOT yet into the Anthropocene. The Holocene has not quite ended --- YET!! Anthropocene is the name given to the COMING climate age caused by greenhouse gases emitted by humanity. We are STILL in the HOLOCENE. Please please please keep your facts straight.
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  32. I thought the reason dinosaurs were shown in drab colors was because large mammals, like elephants, rhinos, hippos, etc, are all drab. That is, they believed that large animals had to be drab.
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  33. The close relation between Mosasaurs and Varanid lizards does NOT give equal support to both. Consider - Mosasaurs evolved from land lizards, not the other way round. So, if snakes evolved from a common ancestor to Mosasaurs, then it was STILL probably ON LAND!!
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  34. I would like to see an episode looking at the development of social insects --- ants, bees, and termites. How did they develop their societies?? How did they develop castes of workers and queens?? Why don't any use democracy, instead of aristocracy, as their form of government?? Do workers ever resent being exploited?? Have workers ever revolted and killed the queen?? So many questions, so little time.
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  35. The idea that evolution is linear from primitive to the advanced is easily disproven. The existence of Republicans is the best and easiest proof that devolution back to the primitive is also possible.
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  36. Now large mammals are drab because they are color blind, as most mammals are. Birds and dinosaurs however were not color blind. Therefore, lots of color should be expected on dinosaurs, IMO. Even their camouflage would be colorful, IMO.
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  37. 70 million years is a "short time"??? Well, the next time I have to wait in line for 70 million years, I will feel better knowing I could have been waiting for "long time", instead.
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  38. I think the answer is pretty simple. Male mammoths were often independent lone bull mammoths, just as bull elephants are often lone, not living in a group. Mammoths in a group would be led by an old experienced cow. They would ten to avoid the death traps. Lone bulls would be unaware of the many traps, thus becoming victims. At least, that is my theory.
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  39. I find it interesting that our ancestors were described as violent and blood thirsty because they hunted, killed, and ate animals. However, they ate much less meat than we do today. We have killing down to an industry. We raise animals to kill them. So, who is the more violent??? Us, or our ancestors. I think we are --- by far.
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  40. The permafrost and methane hydrates ARE releasing their stores of carbon. CO2 is now going up at 3ppm per year. Just 15 years ago, it was going up at about 1ppm per year. I believe much of that increase is coming from permafrost and methane hydrates. At this rate, we will be at 500 ppm CO2 by 2050 -- a level not seen since the PETM. It is going to get so much warmer.
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  41.  @richardblazer8070  In that case, you are a fish.
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  42. Why are dinosaurs still called "reptiles"? Seems to me that they are enough different to be in their own class. Dinosaurs are warm blooded, (at least the carnivores), and they had feathers -- thus they were NOT reptiles. Moreover, pterosaurs were not reptiles, IMO, and deserve their own class, too. As for Icthysaurs and Mosasaurs, I have no opinion. (I know, amazing.)
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  43. When I feel the Earth move beneath my feet --- I just sleep it off, and all is better the next day.
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  44. Interesting question -- what animals have gone from meat eating to plant eating, or vice-versa? Are omnivores actually species caught in the process of going from one to the other??? Humans are descended from herbivorous primates. Will we evolve into carnivores?? Pandas evolved from carnivores, I think. Bears are omnivores, but Polar Bears are totally carnivorous. Which was are bears evolving? It does seem to be unusual to change basic eating strategy.
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  45. Since fruit bats don't echolocate, I have to conclude that echolocation came second.
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  46. Many climatologists believe that global warming means more deserts, and hotter deserts. I think differently. Global warming means warmer oceans, more humidity, and thus more rain. I think the Sahara, Arabian, Mojave, and Kalahari deserts will get wetter. I hope I am right, for that might give us added farmland to compensate for the farmland that will be submerged.
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  47. Rhinos, elephants, hippos, and giraffes were plentiful. The creodonts did NOT go extinct because they couldn't kill their prey. I think they went extinct because they could not KEEP their kill. I bet Creodont were singular hunters. A lone lion could lose its kill to a pack of hyenas. A hyena could lose its kill to a pack of dogs. I think the creodonts lost their kills to group hunting carnivores, whether in packs or prides.
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  48. I remember when this mammal was called Baluchotherium, after the name of Baluchistan where it was found.
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  49. One identifier of "species" is the inability to have offspring, or viable offspring. For instance, a cat and a dog cannot interbreed. Different dog breeds can since they are really just varieties of the same species. A horse and a donkey can produce a mule offspring, yet it is sterile, so donkeys and horses are different species. The different pterosaurs were all different species, so they could not interbreed.
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  50. Silly me. I thought the biggest thing to ever fly was the Saturn V moon rocket. Oh well, Can't always be right.
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  51. I think sponges and early hominids merged in a symbiotic relationship. That would explain my cousin.
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  52. Q:. How do you date fossils??? A: You can't. They are dead.
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  53. Why are Dinosaurs classified as reptiles? In fact, why are reptiles classified as reptiles?? The tuatara, turtle, lizards, and crocodiles have little to do with each other. I understand that their DNA shows not a close relationship at all. IMO, Pterosaurs deserve their own class. Dinosaurs are their own class. Icthysaurs, plesiosaurs, and mosasaurs should have their own class, OR they each should be in a class. At the KT extinction event, I think several classes went extinct, leaving only the mammals, birds, amphibians, and those animals we call reptiles (a very doubtful class, IMO).
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  54. @Bill Thank you. so, I am not alone.
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  55.  @eueudjdj9055  Don't know. Reptile seems like a common name, not scientific. Where is the logic of classifying animals together, when they are not closely related. Therapod dinosaurs are closer to birds than reptiles, yet, I still hear paleontologists referring to them as reptiles. Which is idiotic Dinosaurs are now accepted as being warm-blooded, or having something different, but definitely NOT cold blooded. YET, they still call them reptiles. It makes no sense to me.
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  56.  @richardblazer8070  Avemetatarsalians? Who thought up that name?? Does that mean they are aliens from the planet Avemetatars??
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  57. What happened to the Pleistocene and Holocene??
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  58. You ever think that maybe we are the weird ones??? Humans evolved as being the first species that can stub its toe. This is due to our unique and strange bi-pedal gait which relies on our legs with plantigrade feet swinging like pendulums. Contrast our odd legs with the better more successful digitigrade bi-pedal system used by birds, and dinosaurs.
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  59. Convergent evolution never resulted in another animal that looked anything like a Stegosaurus.
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  60. Pet Peeve: Illustrations and animations of bipedal dinosaurs with legs going straight down to the ground. This is WRONG. look ANY biped, humans, or ostrichs, or emus. The legs angle towards the center line of the body. WHY??? Simple, the feet have to be UNDER the CENTER OF MASS, or the creature falls over. Bipedal dinosaurs undoubtedly walked like ostriches. LOOK at them. Their are directly under their bodies -- NOT under the hip socket.
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  61. I thought the first mass extinction occurred hundreds of millions years earlier when oxygen was put into the atmosphere, and the anearobic bacteria were virtually wiped out. Am I wrong???
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  62. Global Anoxic Events happened more than once. THey happened many times during the Mesozoic. And once in the PETM. One caused the PETM.
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  63. How about creepy and unnatural. I know that is an irrational attitude, but that is how it feels.
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  64.  @jamielishbrook2384  True..But, think of the millions of new species that will evolve when we are gone.
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  65.  @jamielishbrook2384  I agree. Too bad humans are such a destructive species.
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  66. The idea that dentin and teeth went from skin to jaws is hard to accept. Seems to me that a structure moving from the endoderm to the mesoderm is weird. That would be like hair moving from skin to internal organs. So, teeth moving from skin to jaw bones I am reluctant to accept. Some serious evidence is required == not a mere idea.
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  67. This is just silly. There have always been leviathans of the deep. Whales are the first, or only, large animals in the depths. The ichthyosaurs, tylosaurs, and mosasaurs were all large, and I am sure similar things happened to their bodies when they died. Even today, other large creatures like whale sharks and giant squids suffer similar fates. Whales didn't alter the oceans, as much as maintain them.
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  68. Considering how loud our babies and children are, I think our ancestors had little to fear from other predators. Even today, what animals prey regularly on primates?? Leopards do, some, but primates are a hard kill for them, I think. Our more intelligent ancestors would have been impossible, IMO. Also, our ancestors were omnivores, but ate more plants than we do today, I believe. Hunting and killing took a lot of time and effort. While fruits and vegetables were available always in tropical Africa.
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  69. Birds are not reptiles. I don't think Dinosaurs were reptiles. I surely don't think Pterosaurs were reptiles. I believe they deserve there own classes, like Mammals, Aves, and Pisces.
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