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oldcynic

(385 posts)
Wed Mar 29, 2017, 03:41 PM Mar 2017

sexing dinosaurs...worse than baby chicks

A paleontologist at the Canadian Museum of Nature is countering decades of studies that assert that some dinosaurs can be identified as male or female based on the shapes and sizes of their bones.

Dr. Jordan Mallon, a dinosaur specialist at the museum, argues instead that the fossil evidence for these distinctions is inconclusive and, as a result, it might be time to "rewrite the textbooks." His report, published today in the online journal Paleobiology, focusses on the biological principle of sexual dimorphism, where males and females of a species can be distinguished based on physical characteristics other than sexual organs.

"I'm not saying that dinosaurs were not dimorphic, but I am saying that there's no existing fossil evidence to suggest that they were. The jury is still out," says Mallon.


Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-03-male-female-scientists-evidence-sex.html#jCp

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sexing dinosaurs...worse than baby chicks (Original Post) oldcynic Mar 2017 OP
Interesting. R&K nt longship Mar 2017 #1
Anyone know anything about the sexual dimorphism of modern reptiles? Aristus Mar 2017 #2
Bull alligators are sure bigger than their female counterparts (cows?). nt Laffy Kat Mar 2017 #4
Am I the only one who read that as "sexting dinosaurs"? pinboy3niner Mar 2017 #3
Great fodder for Gary Larson! nt Laffy Kat Mar 2017 #5
... Warren DeMontague Mar 2017 #6
Fake news. Dinosaurs didn't have cell phones to message each oth... Oh sexing, not sexting... Thor_MN Apr 2017 #7
tee-hee. You guys are funny. oldcynic Apr 2017 #8
Be careful when you turn that tyrranosuarus over, yagotme Apr 2017 #9

Aristus

(66,285 posts)
2. Anyone know anything about the sexual dimorphism of modern reptiles?
Wed Mar 29, 2017, 04:36 PM
Mar 2017

I don't know if there is any significant dimorphism in such animals as turtles and crocs.

Birds, OTOH, tend to show some dimorphism. But as far as I know, it's limited to color of plumage.

 

Thor_MN

(11,843 posts)
7. Fake news. Dinosaurs didn't have cell phones to message each oth... Oh sexing, not sexting...
Sat Apr 1, 2017, 09:11 AM
Apr 2017

Nevermind.

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