Avatar - Jurassic Comparissons
 

Here's something to think of: was Cameron right?
I mean, when he said the Thanator could eat the Queen Alien and the Tyrannosaurus Rex for dinner and desert respectively?

Also, how would the other Pandorans fare against the creatures of Earth's prime? Well? Badly? And of course, we can discuss the equivalents of each biosphere, and similarities or differences to each other.
For example, the trees of the Jurassic era seem rather familiar, no?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ri_Scene_2.jpg

Note: this ain't a debate or flame thread. It's a discussion, both for knowledge, and some enjoyment. :D


..and I'm just putting it out here, but the Thanator couldn't eat the Queen Alien. Acidic blood. :cool:

A Thanator...I dunno.

A T. Rex, if it grabbed one by the ribs, might be able to crush it to death. I'd be more interested in a Thanator vs. a Triceratops or a Stegosaurus, or maybe an Anklyodon.

The most interesting one to me would be a Gigantosaurus vs. a Toruk.

Would be quite interesting to watch all of them. A Gigantosaurus vs a Toruk would definitely be something though.

To be honest, Tyrannosaurus' aren't too appealing to me. Now these are scary:
Spinosaurus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Compared to a T-Rex:
http://i753.photobucket.com/albums/x...g?t=1303600612
Red: Spinosaurus. Grey: Carcharodontosaurus. Orange: Gigantosaurus. Green: ...T-Rex.

And apparently, they were more aggressive. And honestly, they do look pretty evil:
http://i753.photobucket.com/albums/x...g?t=1303600523

:shoop:

I love dinosaurs. I wish I could have one to ride around on. Go exploring.

Anyways, the world of Pandora is very interesting. It very much has the Jurassic wildlife - diverse and deadly animals and mysterious plants. It would be cool seeing some of these animals go toe to toe.

Well, the T-Rex actually lived in the Cretaceous... :P

I think that Earth during the time of the Dinosaurs would be amazing, all the plants would be at least 3 times bigger then what they are now.
If only we could all go back in time, perhaps develop a tribal society similar to the Na'vi and maybe eventually we could ride and work alongside dinosaurs. I really like the Velociraptor and the Allosaurus. One thing I'm thinking though, since this is before the ice age, I have a suspicion that the composition of the air on earth then would be different then now, maybe we might not be able to breathe properly if we could time travel back to that period.

Ah. Smart. :D

I suppose then this applies to just the 'Age of Dinosaurs'.

@Pa'li: An interesting topic to think about. Maybe that's how the dinosaurs came about...
Here's a thought. What if we possibly went back in time and saw our very first ancestors? 0_0

I wonder how the Na'vi would fare here, 100 million years ago.

It's a common mistake! But, yeah.

And apparently the T-Rexes lived in family units, so you'd have the mum and the dad, and the kids (given it'd take, what, ten years for the youngsters to grow to full size, as far as I'm aware), so I don't know. I think a family of t-rexes could give the solitary thanator a run for its money.

Or maybe a pack of Deinonychus (a.k.a. the raptors from the Jurassic movies, given actual Velociraptor were much, much smaller).

But you'd probably want something that could also use its arms more, which does rule out the T-Rex - T-Rex has a terrible bite, both in power (could crush a car) and as a biohazard (rotting meat in the teeth with all that bacteria = fatal bite, like the komodo dragons), but probably not agile enough on its feet.

*likes dinosaurs :D? *

Hehe a family of T-Rex :)
I've always liked dinosaurs. How cool would it be to ride a pterodactyl?
I don't think the Na'vi would fare well, for one thing the difference in the atmosphere between Pandora and Earth and I think the Na'vi might be hindered by our gravity. Plus, they would be a big target for a dinosaur.

Well, given the humans seem hardly hindered by the change of gravity (and I can't actually see a difference in gravity, anywhere in the movie, I'm guessing the difference actually isn't that great), the Na'vi would probably be fine once they adjusted. And the difference in atmosphere would probably only matter if they need the extra stuff in it - we don't actually need what is most in OUR atmosphere, given most of our atmosphere is nitrogen.

I loled when I found out how small velociraptors were. :xD:
There are quite a few dinosaurs (unknown to most people) which are similar to the Jurassic Park movies though. Australia had the Rapator. :D

*Also likes dinosaurs* :awesome:

Apparently though, the T-Rex (like all theropods) was built for strong speed. Not sure about it's agility, but I'd say it could go maybe 50km maximum.
And yes, it's jaws could crush a thanator's head easily. Read somewhere it could exert 25'000 lbs of force through it's jaws. :shoop:

Also, for reference: theories about the Tyrannosaurus being a scavenger are pure speculation. Several wounds on other skeletons were inflicted by T-Rex's (while still alive) and it's arms may have likely been used to hold struggling prey.

For all we know, it's part scavenger, part predator.

Oh, absolutely, I was thinking more about AGILITY rather than speed - two legged, unable to have much reach with arms, vs a six-legged creature...

Most predators tend to scavenge when they can - hunting requires energy, which requires more food. But, yeah, I think they did both.

I remember a quote by Quaritch: "This low gravity'll make you soft. And when you get soft, Pandora will eat you and **** you out dead with zero warning." I'm sure the Na'vi would be hindered, due to both the higher gravity since they are higher off the ground with relatively long torsos compared with most bipedal terran animals, and the lower air pressure. They'd be unable to live as active as on Pandora.

From Avatar Wiki

Yes, I know. But we never see the supposed lower gravity. So, logically, although the humans might feel it, but it doesn't really affect them that much. Enough to slightly lessen the effort needed to lift things (and don't forget, Quaritch is former Marine, very macho, so his perspective is probably a little skewed), but easily adaptable to.

So, yes, the Na'vi would be a little affected, but they'd probably be able to adapt fairly well. Not their natural habitat, no, but they aren't being placed on the Moon.

I would agree though that the lower air pressure might be a problem :/

Effects:




Might not be by that much though, but then, the Na'vi would need more air then Humans.

Yeah, but the age of the dinosaurs had more oxygen than now (hence the enormous trees, if nothing else), so they are fine in that respect.

Hadn't considered that. Quite right there. :)

Trees aren't a consequence of higher oxygen levels, but a cause :P

Mmmhmm I can't help thinking that since the atmosphere of Pandora was toxic for humans then the atmoshere on earth would be toxic for Na'vi, even more so in the jurassic period.

Depends on the breathing capabilities of the Na'vi I suppose.

I'd have to say though, I can't imagine Hammerheads living in Jurassic Earth. They're huge for one, and they'd need a lot of air. (not counting if it's toxic)

I'd like to see what dinosaurs (if they could breathe the air) could do on Pandora. :D

...and the saurapods didn't need lots of oxygen?

Did you know that during the Carboniferous era, (300 mil. years ago) plants and animals grew twice as large due to double oxygen levels? Kinda scream Pandora to anyone?

Yep it sure does, I just saw Jurassic Park and I was thinking the same thing. ;)

Of course they did. But once again, the air on Pandora is thicker, so Pandoran animals would require more of our air. And I can safely say that a Hammerhead would have more weight (and therefore more muscle mass, needing extra air) then the biggest sauropod.

On a side note, Jurassic Park 2 had a very Avatarish message.

Lower carbon dioxide levels - no.
Lower xenon levels - definitely no.
Lower hydrogen sulphide levels - again, definitely no.
The only problem would be the higher pollution level, but that wouldn't make it unbreathable, just unpleasant.

What about the oxygen levels?

^ Problem there.

This thread is making me want to get a Jurassic Park game. :P
You know, now that I think about it, the Turok's jaws are about the same size as a T-Rex's. Coincidence? I THINK NOT! :shoop:

If they're higher, it isn't a problem - humans can survive in an almost pure oxygen atmosphere (as long as there are no sources of ignition), as not even all of the oxygen breathed at normal levels is used - from ~21% atmospheric oxygen, there is ~15% in exhaled air.

No, no,no,no. I meant for Na'vi, not humans. Sorry Tsmukan. :P

I was using them as an example, since the biochemisty is similar between the two, so there is no obvious reason why not.

other than asteroid impacts and intense volcanic activity and sea level changes are there any more possible causes of the cretaceous/tertiary mass extinction (which included dinosaurs)?

Temperature change/change in climate?
This may be a result of other things though.

yeah it is...well it's all good since i completed that section of my report :awesome:

You did a report on the extinction of dinosaurs? :shock:
What was your opinion of the most likely cause of dinosaur extinction?

well its more on dino birds like arcaheopteryx but from research i think it was asteroid impacts along with volcanism and sea level changes. but on 4 march 2010 41 scientists agreed that it was the Chicxulub meteor impact that killed them all, its a massive crater in mexico on the yutican peninsula.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_1xysjxJbMqY/SX...Map%5B1%5D.jpg

Damn that is big!
That's pretty rare to see an agreement by leading scientists on this topic.

The dust cloud likely caused extinction of some plant species which caused some food chains to collapse.