Two New Dinosaurs discovered in Utah

[lucky1]

http://geology.com/news/2010/two-new-ho ... ogy.com%29

So few palm leaf fossils discovered...dinosaurs probably ate 'em!

Barb

[TerdalFarm]

Thanks for the video link, Barb. I'll share that with my students.
As for palms, my knowledge is minimal. They were just getting going then, right?
--Erik

[DesertZone]

thanks for the vid.

[lucky1]

I think that's correct...can't find my timeline thingy, and the ones on the internet, I can't understand easily.
But I do know that my Wollemia nobilis on the patio now stands a good chance of growing up tall, since dinosaurs are no longer looking for forage.
It must have been quite the delicacy for them...no thorns!

All manner of Cycads were apparently on their menu too.

Barb

[TerdalFarm]

Wow. I can't imagine eating a cycad. But I guess some people know how to process the starch to make it safe.
As for palms, well, goats like Rhapidophyllum leaves
Anyways, the little I can remember is that palms date to the late Cretaceous, about 80 million years ago. (That is from memory, not a reliable source!) --Erik

[lucky1]

The starches likely kept them feeling full longer than just munching on leaves alone.
Like porridge on a winter day...(yuk).

Lower Cretaceous period mid-Central Canada and into Montana, where cycads were abundant:
http://library2.usask.ca/theses/availab ... 04-235747/

[TerdalFarm]

Cycads indeed go way, way back--long before dinosaurs.
As for eating them, some people do--carefully!
Here is a PACSOA article on them:
http://www.pacsoa.org.au/cycads/Articles/poison.html
Don't tell Jim, but some people even eat Encephalartos
--Erik

[lucky1]

That's horridus!

I've tasted Poi, nothing could be worse than that (yech).