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aaronwcampbell t1_iupgw1g wrote

Reply to comment by kvossera in Has society become too materialistic and selfish to be inspired by space exploration during the 2010s? by [deleted]

Good point; just because something has a fan base doesn't mean it's worth doing a deep dive on.

Out of curiosity, what is your favorite dinosaur?

Mine is the ankylosaur. I know that's a pretty basic elementary-school answer, but I'm okay with that. Science has come a long way since I was in elementary school, so perhaps it's time I dip my toe in a bit and learn what's new.

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kvossera t1_iuq1xht wrote

I love all ceratopsian dinosaurs: Triceratops, Centrosaurus, and Styracosaurus. There’s so many more that I find fascinating like stegosaurus - what’s up with the plates?! But the ceratopsian dinosaurs are just so wild, they look so different yet the nasal horns that some have look so much like rhinoceros… in fact they all kind of look like rhinoceroses. Just delightful, and all but one species roamed on the west coast of America, I’m on the East coast and unfortunately due to how the Appalachian mountain range formed there’s literally nothing from Devonian to late Ordovician period which absolutely blows because I was obsessed with dinosaurs growing up, still am.

So yeah, I’ve studied dinosaurs, and other eras in the worlds past. One of the happiest times was when I finally got to visit the la Brea tar pits after having watched a movie about prehistoric mega fauna and wanting so badly to get to work in the “fishbowl” in the museum. I didn’t get to explore it as much as I wanted to but it was bliss.

Ha. Sorry for rambling. I get excited about it and want to get others excited. I think it’s crazy that adults don’t talk about or have favorite dinosaurs like we would have when we were kids.

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aaronwcampbell t1_iuq3uud wrote

The only dinosaurs adults seem to get excited about these days are political figures! 🥁🥁🛎️

Seriously though, I get what you mean. My friend's son has been obsessed with cephalopods since he was a little boy. He been certain of what he wants to do since then, and this year he's graduating with a degree in marine biology. He got me hooked (pun unintended) and now I get excited about the wonderfully strange world of our oceans. Did you know that sharks are older that the rings of Saturn? That just blows my mind.

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kvossera t1_iuq65oc wrote

Yassssssssss sharks are older than trees. I’m also pretty into ocean life as well

I was also really into orca whales in Jr High. There’s some pods with only a few members living next to pods with dozens and they’re separated by culture or the very few members of one pod of orcas that strategically beach themselves to catch seals. That behavior is taught to younger orcas and not all those who try stick with it and continue to practice / actually hunt that way. it’s beautiful to watch

this kinda goes into how they teach each other.

And gah!!!!!! Ask your friend’s son if he knows why there’s more fossil evidence of octopuses than of squid…. It’s because squid have higher levels of uric acid in their body to help them be buoyant, whereas octopuses “walk” along the sea floor. So if conditions weren’t just right the bodies of squid break down faster than octopuses bodies do so a smaller window to even have conditions to create a fossil never mind that the fossil could be destroyed during any of the millions of years between then and now.

I’m autistic so I’ve been a ravenous information sponge for so many different topics

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