Are Paleontologists Stupid? ( Paleo Myths #6)

[@mariedufore8795]

I believe that paleontologists are doing their best

[@metal_pipe9764]

I believe that they're doing their job

[@KoregaKaed]

like a kid trying to draw a car

[@TavionRoberson-cd7uq]

Me too

[@TheConcav]

​@@KoregaKaed more like a kid trying to draw a car off of just the frame.

[@tanneraustin9071]

What about jack horner?

[@catpoke9557]

The "how aliens would reconstruct the animal" meme is good if you put emphasis on the alien part. A lot of people when making this meme forget that it's an ALIEN reconstructing it, not a paleontologist.

[@20footAmethystinePython]

It is inferred that the Alien paleonthologist are “like the human paleonthologists cuz they don’t know how modern animals look like” that’s why people even post these memes

[@catpoke9557]

@@20footAmethystinePython Yeah exactly. They forget about the alien part of the joke and tend to imply this is how paleontology is, when it's not.

[@20footAmethystinePython]

@@catpoke9557 Yeah that’s the stupid part of these memes, they think their way smarter than the people that study the actual science

[@Blackfish-m3h]

​@@catpoke9557 we still might be wrong

[@kennethsatria6607]

It does feel extremely disrespectful and oversimplified to say paleoartists and scientists know absolutely nothing about ancient animals when already we sit upon decades of progress and mounting discoveries to get as far as we have. As well as in most cases complete skeletons and how bird and reptile anatomy works means we get a very good image of what the animal was like anatomically, even if color is not always certain or further fleshy biology that differs for every living species.

[@catpoke9557]

I really hate when people say we know ABSOLUTELY nothing about extinct animals. Like... Really? You think we don't know for sure T. rex had bones? That it had teeth? That it had a nose? That it had eyes? That it had claws? And that's just one animal...

[@ExtremeMadnessX]

Shrink wrapping was a problem in paleo art... as well as the fact that Jurassic Park actually popularized the idea of ​​a lipless T. Rex, while the raptors and dilophosaurus had lips in the movie.

[@kennethsatria6607]

@@ExtremeMadnessX Yes but its not a problem with modern serious paleoartists anymore, dinosaurs have not been shrinkwrapped for several years now. Its only specific documentaries, films and games that prey on nostalgia and what is familiar to the wider less scientitic audience. Sometimes intentional sometimes not. Sometimes its harmless fantasy like Monster Hunter, sometimes being lazy and conservative like Jurassic World playing to what fans expect of them, and its also sometimes lying about accuracy through your teeth like Jurassic Fight Club or Dinosaurs with Stephen Fry or Life on Our Planet.

[@Life-on-Planet-Earth]

Me too😢

[@Blackfish-m3h]

​@@kennethsatria6607 the thing is, dinosaur reconstructions change overtime. Some even get invalid

[@nathanial8587]

to quote Matt from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, "Scientists are wrong, sometimes." emphasis on the sometimes, because some guesses are better than others

[@hermannhinterhauser1227]

Being wrong sometimes is not bad, if you are willing to correct yourself later.

[@pokechimp1544]

@@hermannhinterhauser1227 a good scientist wants to be proven wrong.

[@phoenixkingtheo]

This is so annoying when young earth creationists and science deniers in general use this as an “argument.” Science changes when more information is obtained and that’s a good thing. It’s not part of a dogma

[@RustyhairedAlp9575]

The meme was about the shrink-wrapping trend of paleo-art

[@azuresiren5846]

exactly XD I think he missed the point of the meme

[@christiancinnabars1402]

It doesn't matter what the meme was originally intended for if 95% of the casual viewerbase sees it and says "See? Look how dumb paleontologists are 😂😂😂" and spreads it with that new, warped message.

[@Bagelgeuse]

​@@christiancinnabars1402This

[@AurelUrban]

Yea that was the point in the video :D that the meme represents an OLD trend in paleo art (in a very exaggerated way) but makes it seem like this is still how paleo artists are reconstructing extinct animals.

[@GravityIsFalling]

The trend that died in the 90s?

[@thewoollyviking5928]

A good way to look at old shrink wrapped art is just paleoartists wanting to “play it safe”. Giving the animal they’re reconstructing the bare minimum amount of soft tissue to make it seem realistic. Showing only what we can infer from the bones. But only showing what we know from the bones only tells half the story about these animals. And while sometimes we get lucky and find exceptionally preserved fossils of certain taxa, it is most certainly not the norm. And sometimes we speculate and get it wrong. But that’s the risk with trying to fill the gaps in ourselves with only the understanding of how animals look, sound, and behave today. So yeah, scientists aren’t just throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks and I honestly think say as much is arguing in bad faith.

[@adamtruong1759]

I mean, I found the memes to be funny, but I can also understand your point that they can lead people to conclusions they shouldn't. This video is a good reference for me since recently I've getting upset by people who delude themselves into thinking dinosaurs aren't real, and I might need the ammunition. Also, I love how you implemented that Markiplier meme.

[@LinkMarioSamus]

People jumping to conclusions on the Internet why I never

[@SmurfieDurfie]

Omg I love people believing dinosaurs aren't real, it's so funny. I like telling them why they are wrong. It's so weird to me how someone can believe that... like why would it be made up in the first place?

[@Krona-fb4dn]

I think people just overexaggerated how much of the "stuff we can never know" about dinosaurs. Paleontologists have been able to reconstruct animals like psittacosaurus to pretty much near perfection for example, and if you wanna be a nerd, technically Cenozoic fauna counts as well and we have more modern analogues for how they would look.

[@azuresiren5846]

fr

[@Blackfish-m3h]

Just the bones, but what about the structure of the creature

[@Krona-fb4dn]

@@Blackfish-m3h lots of them can tell muscle structure, or at least a good amount of it IIRC.

[@Blackfish-m3h]

​@@Krona-fb4dn mabye to some animals, but not all

[@Krona-fb4dn]

@@Blackfish-m3h IIRC it largely just depends on the musculature and how well preserved the bones were This is how we were able to find dimetrodon's sail was different to how it was previously restored.

[@DISTurbedwaffle918]

I always saw the meme as dunking on the people who shrink-wrap. Never thought it was being used against paleontology as a whole.

[@WingedFish66]

"Are you saying I'm stupid?" "YES!"

[@connorhaley3190]

I think the memes were more so satirizing the fallacies of the time

[@azuresiren5846]

this

[@ekosubandie2094]

Yet the normies take it as if it was a truth instead of satire

[@william3100]

Well, they did a relatively poor job at it. Even a handful of the depictions in C.M Kosemans All Today's(which is where the meme came from)were too extreme and kinda ignorant on how these hypothetical future paleontologists would be. That part of the book just seems kinda pretentious in ways when I look back at it now.

[@gladiolus5377]

All yesterdays was a good book, but it has also made a lot of damage to palentology, to the point nowadays people accept wild speculative behavior as fact without checking what was the intention of the artist who did the picture, which is why the whole Spinofaarus meme (who was precisely a critique about those people who believe everything blindly) became so notorious a few years ago. Excellent video, Red. I think it's one of the best you have ever made. Good point with the whole mosasaur blubber as well. Ever since shrinkwrapping became the devil for paleofans it seems the community now has become accepting of devianart tier reconstructions without realizing that a mammal and a reptile have different fat distribution. I'm glad you addressed that point.

[@azuresiren5846]

animals nowadays even modern dinosaurs and other reptiles have wild behaviors

[@randomuser12237]

He isn't talking abaut behaviour but looks. He is right. I mean seriosly purple sourapod is extreme strech, purple is extreamly rear among vertebrates.​@azuresiren5846

[@azuresiren5846]

@@randomuser12237 wdym he isnt talking about behavior? that was the first sentence "All yesterdays was a good book, but it has also made a lot of damage to palentology, to the point nowadays people accept wild speculative behavior as fact without checking what was the intention of the artist who did the picture,"

[@randomuser12237]

@azuresiren5846 oh I got confused whit other comment, sorry. But he is still right to some extent. Some paleoart still can show highly unlikely behaviour, but compared to before it is way lower.

[@azuresiren5846]

@@randomuser12237 yeah that's true, but still, some animals do things that we would never even suggest unless we had living ones

[@thechili444]

Tbh I always thought of this meme as the "Biblically Accurate Angels" of the paleo community.

[@azuresiren5846]

same

[@NitroIndigo]

This reminds me of how young-Earth creationists have a hate fetish for any depictions of _Australopithecus_ with eye whites, and how a couple of people have said that paleoart depicting dinosaurs without any modern animals is propaganda... I think. I don't know what point the latter is trying to make.

[@ProcyonDei]

You can only meme about something for so long before some people begin to believe it as truth, memes and propaganda work the same way... Also the thing about shrinkwrapping, birds only look fluffy because of the feathers, but without the feathers those birds are very much "shrink-wrapped" in comparison...

[@ravenouself4181]

Somehow, the "reconstructed" Hippopotamus is less intimidating than the real one.

[@pokechimp1544]

There's no weight behind it due to the lack of strong neck muscles anchoring its' jaws.

[@jacobcox4565]

For the next paleo myrh can you cover the theory that competition with mammals caused the extinction of Phorusrhacids? Life on Our Planet kinda stired up that discussion.

[@KoregaKaed]

i still find it crazy that you only have 32k subs, your content is actually AMAZING

[@SmurfieDurfie]

Also Aliens would not be able to know how any fauna on earth was in terms of body structure. They wouldn't know how different lineages look and their defining features, but we do know how the decendants of extinct animals look and can therefore apply their most defining features (like scales and feathers for example) to them. That's just not the same scenario as aliens that don't know anything about any fauna on earth.

[@user-H_m]

I have been watching your videos for a while and man... You are the one who brought paleoart to my world, inspired me to really focus on portraying prehistoric animals realistically and in life... And you have brought so many amazing ideas and philosophies to my understanding, and most of all, got me interested in dinosaurs. You have possibly changed my life here... With your great and thought out videos, jokes, reviews... YIPEE A NEW VIDEO!! LOVE YOUR CHANNEL

[@nuclearwarcraft29]

It is kinda funny tho how skeletons are so different from the actual animal Kinda goes to show that modern paleontology is actually really good because most modern interpretations are not shrink wrapped anymore

[@Blackfish-m3h]

They could still be wrong or right

[@henrykkeszenowicz4664]

The meme itself is pretty much started by sci-fi and paleoartist C. M. Koseman in a book he co-wrote called "All Yesterdays", where they made a parody of shrinkwrapping reconstructions by reconstructing modern animals like that. I actually enjoy the meme, and people who see it and paleontologists as stupid, probably are ignorant and uneducated enough to not understand the main intent behind the meme.

[@christiancinnabars1402]

For those who want to comment/interact with the comment section before watching even 20% of the video: Yes, the meme's focus on shrink-wrapping, a valid issue in paleo art, is addressed. Yes, All Yesterdays is mentioned. No, the video is not focused entirely on the meme; it is focused on the idea that many casual viewers take from the meme, being, you know, "Paleontologists Are Stupid."

[@Blackfish-m3h]

@@christiancinnabars1402 I think its more like "nature can be complex" like the platypus one

[@dracodracarys2339]

I mean, the whole idea of "what if future paleontologists reconstructed animals of today?" isn't meant to discredit paleontologists. It's just that even with all the technology and advancement we have some things are just lost to time due to the scarcity of fossils compared to every animal that ever lived. And without context, we wouldn't have known what some animals were like. We reconstruct proboscideans with trunks, because we have living elephants to compare them to. What if these hypothetical future paleontologists didn't have that context?

[@GravityIsFalling]

Ok but they still wouldn’t just put skin on bones We knew igunadon was a giant herbivorous reptile from just its teeth

[@spinosaurusstriker]

I don't care what people say , my grandma said that the dinosaurs were a black women!

[@NicTheMonsterMan2901-i7d]

Next paleomyth : was Ross from Friends based on Jack Horner, down to dating one of his students?

[@donnguyen1107]

It’s funny with the elephant meme if you remember in ancient times people prob thought elephant and mammoth skulls were from giant one-eyed humans aka the cyclops in Greek mythology and the fact that some fossils are a possible reason behind dragon and griffin myths and art lol

[@Bagelgeuse]

I think the big issue is that a lot of these "how aliens would reconstruct animals" memes, as well as the All Todays art that inspired them, are shared with little to no context (Pinterest, for example). I'm willing to bet that the vast majority of ppl that have seen them have no idea that they were inspired by a dinosaur art book. The problem is that they're often used unironically, and the average joe just takes them at face value because, let's be honest, the majority of internet users don't care enough about palaeontology (or science in general for that matter lest they be labelled as a 🤓) to fact check what they see online. In the case of random artwork, it's unavoidable. Nothing on the internet stays pure forever. In the case of media, I think the creators should distinguish what is rooted in science, and what is speculation and artistic freedom (the lack of distinction is the one thing I legitimately dislike about Prehistoric Planet). If not in the show/movie/game itself, then perhaps in supplementary material.

[@creakingskull7008]

All yesterdays and its consequences have been a disaster for the field of paleontology

[@azuresiren5846]

not really

[@spinosaurusstriker]

@@azuresiren5846 its a meme about the industrial revolution

[@Blackfish-m3h]

Not exactly

[@raulmt4]

Why would you say so?

[@creakingskull7008]

@@raulmt4 It sparked the unscientific trend of making stuff up because "you can't prove x didn't have y!" even tho that's literally the opposite of how the scientific method works. The book was a thought experiment, it never claimed that was the case, but people took the idea and ran with it. To the point where we have art similar to it being made for museums. The biggest culprit being Brian Engh.

[@Ahalaya]

If you want to see that meme's concept used in a good way, there's at least one old video on the channel Drawfee where artists give each other a real animal skull and then have to draw what they imagine it might look like.

[@amjthe_paleosquare9399]

I have a 90´s Nat Geo documentary that came with a book, back then the feathered dinos were new speculation. It went into the closest detail about how to reconstruct a Saurosuchus. 5 minutes were dedicated to excavating the skull. 60+ minutes were dedicated to measuring modern crocodiles, their sizes, skulls and bite force, comparing physical adaptations with lifestyles, life cycles, using Excel or God knows what to graphic the data and predictions for bigger animals, etc, etc. Since childhood I knew that paleontologists live in the labs and stuck to a screen with simulations to determine the most plausible look for an animal given that big or minute details can be found in the fossils and inferred through any and all living animals that may possibly share behaviors, environment, ecological niches or bone structure indiscriminatedly of genus given the huge evolutionary distance and likelyhood of convergent evolution since we now know how often that one happens. I like the memes because they're simple and fun to look at with your brain turned off.

[@yissibiiyte]

This meme is not meant to be taken to the pedantic extreme. All it is saying is that there will always be inaccuracies in human conjecture to an extent. It's not saying that paleontologists are "completely clueless." It is also mainly criticising the very real issue of shrink-wrapping which used to be very prevalent.

[@Mr_Einiosaurus]

Thank you for making this because it's probably my biggest pet peeve about the paleo community

[@spydersoup8447]

With what you talked about with the unknowns and with All Todays, there's a really good video from Kurzgesagt about what dinosaurs realistically would've looked like using almost all the same points in this video. It's a great dive of what the job of a paleontologist is like.

[@petarmilich8684]

I see people using this meme as copium by JP fans whenever we point out that the movies are inaccurate.

[@MatthewChestnut-c9g]

13:30 I never knew that Red Raptor Writes is a fan of the Boondocks, that was unexpected.

[@dudotolivier6363]

The meme in question starting this myths, in good part, actually justly just follow the trend and surf on what the "All Today" segment of "All Yesterdays" book did, and mostly just for fun purposes and display more the point of the book. There was none negatives intents behind it, or the book itself toward people for that matter, too as well, to made paleontologist and paleoartists sound like dumbs people. Both (the ones, the majority, the real ones and professionals who care about the subject), always do their best and follow strickly what the available inforations and discoveries about such creatures we have or we know have existed are and what these imply to these creatures, and made guesses about the unknown areas in the most reasonable and realistic way. The point of the end segment book by Kosemen, Naish and Conway was just to put forward what justly that we cannot simply put flesh on bones for every animals and that how this real-life trend which occured for long isn't representative of what reality is and have many biased and missleading areas, and that many others points and factors must be take into account. While acknwlegding that in the same way, we are limited which what informations we have about such animal in its reconstruction and if errors there is, it's isn't soemthing to blame on the peope behind this recontruction. Because "How could they have been aware of this anyway ?" But yeah, it's the book which is at fault first, not really the meme actually, as why the point of the book is clear, it don't specify at all (as far as I remember) directly that the level of paleontology displayed by the aliens in this spec setting it give don't match the current level of when the book was released in 2012 (and from which paleoreconstructions mostly remained the same as a whole). "All Today" section of "All Yesterdays" display a paleontological level very analogous to the very early days of Paleontology itself, that is how Paleontology was in the second half of the 18th century, that is between 1750 and 1800. Where most of very numerous factors and elements that we do take todays, at the 21th century, into account when reconstructing extinct animals wasn't yet diescovered or applied by scientists of this era. But because this point isn't particulary directly specify to readers, and as an effect, anyone online getting info about the book, or making fun memes from it, there the unvolontary misleading idea that what's level of paleontology displayed in this section is the general and current level or way Paleontology nowadays is. Today, this domain have crazy hugely improved, and when we reconstruct animals from bones, directly when they are discovered, we reconstruct them with all the elements we know that must be taken into account and no more only putting flesh on their bones. We especially mostly and frequently now reconstruct creatures base on what their close relative are. The book should have clarified this a bit more, as the line at the start mentionned in this video would, in people's head, mostly applied to the main section of the book, with the speculative dinosaurs reconstructions (with most not so really speculative to be honest). But still, it does made a good decent educationnal job about what it talk as topics and is a key medias which had a significant impact on the paleoartist's community since it's released.

[@Dodo-x3g]

That one meme with the koala and its skull has the skull of the ark lystrosaurus

[@joshuaW5621]

If palaeontologists really are just guessing and can’t know for sure, then how can we know you’re not guessing too?

[@catarinacorreia2747]

thank you, always wanted to watch a video on this topic :)

[@rowanvolkov]

donald rumsfeld is the one who said the known unknowns / unknown unknowns quote originally

[@DVMWannaB1018]

Tendons leave scars on bones. Based on the size of the scar and the locations of the scars, we can predict how big the muscle was and where it was located. If you combine this knowledge with comparative anatomy (comparing the anatomy of modern animals to those of the past) we can get a good idea of what these animals looked like. Things like wattles, combs and other fleshy things that modern dinosaurs have are impossible to know about. But we actually do have a decent understanding of what dinosaurs looked like. I would say modern paleontologists are about 75-85% of the way there. So there is room for error, but they are not far off

[@jojorose648]

I want to make a Jurassic Park parody called Quaternary Acres. In it I don't go as over the top as these memes though. I did make the physical appearances of the animals and colours different and sometimes skeletons and different behaviours for animals to survive. For example the giraffe drinks from trees and plants than tilt it's head down.

[@Artephobic]

There is a insane brazilian youtuber that explained the meme and how paleontologists do muscles and fat now days, his name is Pirula, he is a biologist, i think the video has subtittles

[@Collendune]

when did dinosaurs lived 66 billion years ago ?

[@FrostGhidorahEX]

People who say "Palaentologist are dumb" I would ask them "How would you do it then?" Cause let's face it Doing the work of these guys isn't easy. Reconstructing a dinosaur from just bone can be quite difficult. So I say cut the fossil experts some slack and just enjoy the good stuff we get from these discoveries

[@Blackfish-m3h]

No exactly dumb but overexagerated

[@adamwu4565]

Those hypothetical aliens who know nothing about Earth's biosphere and have only fossils to work with would presumably at a minimum still have knowledge about themselves and THEIR original biosphere (plus any other alien biospheres they might have discovered before arriving on Earth), and from that should at least be able to make provisional conjectures about the general mechanisms by which living things assemble and build bodies. Like, if they were at all familiar with any organisms with internal skeletons of any type, they should know that there has to be at least a certain thickness of soft tissues on top of the bones.

[@Taste-k7q]

Absolutely not, it’s all about trying to think hard about what these animals looked like since we don’t have any living specimens and all we got to work off of are a bunch of rocks and occasional skin impressions

[@pierre-samuelroux9364]

So birds not dinosaurs?Riight

[@Penguinboy400]

Love ur vids! :)

[@northeast1776]

Skeleton Crew mentioned

[@azuresiren5846]

based

[@takenname8053]

Awesome how two KZbinrs I love to watch recently talked about the nuances of paleoart in media!

[@leechild4655]

Saw one artist`s realistic painting of some raptor maybe but it seemed to be exactly what they actually looked like. It even had a couple spots of blood on it as it was hunkered down trying to chill after probably going at it with something it seems.

[@simonedangelo1308]

I dunno Rick those memes reminds me alot of that book, "All Yesterday" i think is named were those paleoartists (that if i remember correctly worked on Preistoric planet too) depicted alot of modern animals like shrink wrapped monsters to criticise the way Dinosaurs and other extinct animals are often reconstruced by just slapping skin on their bones. Also this 1:28 inaccurate Hyppo looks like it could easily be a Permian Synapsid

[@azuresiren5846]

fr

[@jonathansefcik473]

Watching Skeleton Crew videos, even trained paleontologists are often unsure about and second guess many things. Crazy claims don't suprise me at all.

[@Supiragon1998]

Thank you for this, All Yesterdays was wrong to include mammals as examples of what would shrink-wrapping would look like on extant animals, since mammals a bad example to use, because reptiles, including birds have a layer of soft tissue that follows their skeleton significantly closer than in mammals (in birds, only the feathers follow their skeletons similarly badly as the soft tissue of mammals).

[@Blackfish-m3h]

Well, what about muscle fats on sauropods neck, some made it bigger etc...

[@Supiragon1998]

@@Blackfish-m3h That's one of the most acceptable ones on my opinion, though I would say still unnecessary most of the time, especially in titanosaurs.

[@Blackfish-m3h]

​@@Supiragon1998 same as how muscular huge theropods are?

[@Supiragon1998]

@@Blackfish-m3h I mean, I rarely see people making them considerably more muscular/with considearbly more soft tissue than what their skeletons indicate, most of the time artists nowadays give them just enough for them to not look like Dinosaur Renaissance era shrink-wrapped/emaciated dinosaurs.

[@Blackfish-m3h]

​​@@Supiragon1998 true, but kinda like similar to shrink wrapping, just with muscles, also theres also the spinosaurids, which they keept on changing through the years. Theres also the triceratop quills thing

[@JesusMartinez-rr2ry]

What if we have the complete opposite idea. What if some aliens have absolutely no idea that stuff other than bones are inside living beings. They visit Earth and see extant creatures and guess what the skeleton looks like based on how it would fit underneath the skin. In other words, skin wrapping but in reverse.

[@Cuckoorex]

Thanks for this. Those memes irk me, as well. Haven't really been any serious pros shrink-wrapping since maybe Ely Kish.

[@Intrusion498]

if we talking about most of jack horner's ideas then yes

[@scottthesmartape9151]

Some are but most get blinded by their passion if they’re bad

[@kikicallahan3662]

3:57 where did you get that sound from?

[@tyreewadsworth1593]

I honestly doubt alien paleontologists would shrink wrap animals at least not to that extent. They would have advanced technology that could render accurate 3d models. Plus they would probably have like 100-1000s of years of knowledge on the subject.

[@Gigglenotosaurus]

Bro just made a scene I thought was impossible to understand understandable.

[@rexyht2697]

at the bare minimum, Paleontologists are having very educated guesses.

[@kousarpatel9449]

@@rexyht2697 shut the hell up

[@JustS0meGuy-n3j]

I thought the meme was funny, but I also thought it shows our more better understanding when we reference other organisms and their bones and how that can help us to paint a better picture of reconstructing these marvelous long gone animals.

[@Doubledutch23]

Some of these memes are overexagerated and even maliciously incorrect. The one with the leopard gecko (8:14) is actually a picture of a monitor lizard skull.

[@emmanuelbaltazartorrescisn9639]

Hey there, Red Raptor. I was just wondering, if given the chance, would you do at least another scientific accuracy review about Dinotopia: the Quest of the Ruby Sunstone (2005)? If given the chance, I'd really adore the idea of including an accuracy review about Dinotopia. Anyway, greetings from Jalisco, Mexico. 🦖🦕🦤🦣🏞🌋💎

[@ΠαναγιωτηςΑγγελ]

As an upcoming Paleoartist i definitely know and also gets fascinated by the fact that things change and our knowledge constantly evolves around the prehistoric life and i definitely believe we need superior technology for more accurate results and be able to validate their accuracy, maybe quantum computing among others.I have to say that i am quite cautious about the Melanosomes study and reconstruction of colouration based on it as prehistoric species might had different biological mechanisms giving them there body colours distinctively from the fact that Melanosomes are indeed responsible for the colour of nowadays living species like birds, Although i might just can't accept it because it sounds to good to be true.There is also a very speculative feild called quantum archaeology which suggest the past can be reconstructed and although i find it absurd it is the best bet to ever witness what prehistoric life was and of course the feild requires technology beyond what we are capable as for now.

[@godzillakaijuboy]

Personally, I think that the memes aren't exactly too far off, but only when the animal is first discovered, and then Jurassic Park-ified.

[@Blackfish-m3h]

Still the same tho

[@PaleoFan97]

Great video as always. Also can I get a source on the image from 21:36? That not-see Styra caught me so off guard 😂

[@ironiccookies2320]

It's not easy to interpret what an extinct animal from millions of years ago looks like unless there is actual preserved tissue and skin. The psittacosaurus is the most accurate dinosaur depiction ever because one specimen was fossilized with its skin and tissues and internal organs and quills. The possibilities of that happening during fossilization is rare, and even the process of fossilization itself is rare. Only 1% of all living things are fossilized and less than 1% of those fossilized have their organs fossilized.

[@pierre-samuelroux9364]

What about archaeopteryx?Presrved nodosaur and hadrosaurid?

[@pierre-samuelroux9364]

And frozen mammoths?

[@Blackfish-m3h]

​@@pierre-samuelroux9364 the hadrosaurid only perserve bones, not like the nodosaur. Also I think hes talking about dinosaurs

[@pierre-samuelroux9364]

@@Blackfish-m3h oh

[@pierre-samuelroux9364]

@@Blackfish-m3h no there preserved mumiffied hadrosaur

[@tomw8865]

Would you ever do a review of “Dinosaur Apocalypse” by the BBC?

[@Mr.M3447]

Basilosaurus should get renamed, agree or disagree? (I’d go for Basilocetus if it were, but add your preferred name if you wish)

[@jacobcox4565]

Archaeophicetus. It means "archaic serpent whale." Archaeo means archaic, ophis means serpent, and cetus means whale.

[@Mr.M3447]

@@jacobcox4565 bro I looked up basilosaurus on google and the first image is a mosasaur 💀

[@jacobcox4565]

​@@Mr.M3447 And when I looked up Basilosaurus and went to the shopping tab, the first result was a Jurassic World Mosasaurus toy.

[@Mr.M3447]

@@jacobcox4565 bruh

[@lizrengaming5133]

Agreed

[@Leerex2424]

Like normal Art Paleo Art isn’t always easy tho.

[@ryanhau1073]

What if the Megalodon is really a Tiny Shark with Cartoonishly Large Teeth😅

[@Random_Nobody_Official]

Ok, I know this is a joke, and I know I'm being nerdy, but I'm pretty sure we have more of megalodon than just its teeth.

[@Blackfish-m3h]

​@@Random_Nobody_Official raptor chatter are we overestimating fossils is a good watch

[@ChonkersCentral]

They're making fun of old paleontologists, like the guy who put elasmosaurus's skull on its tail.

[@lanternflyrus8462]

Guy: This area is not good either *Pets the Hippo* "Disclaimer: whether or not IRL hippos will enjoy being pet is dubious. I am not responsible for any form of bodily injury or distress as a result from petting a hippo."

[@aldrinfulgar9005]

@Lanternflyrus8462 i need to inform you of new pressing news. New KOSA bill will be passed, look it up and warn and spread the message.

[@lanternflyrus8462]

Should i take back my comment? Is what i said offensive?

[@فارسالشيخ-ل2و]

‏‪2:31‬‏ harry gold did this meme

[@drackocampusanolara4899]

You are forgeting an important part of the meme: Aliens don't have millenia of experience with earth-life. They aren't at 2024 level. They have to start at 110000 B.C “waterfall dragon skeleton" level.

[@ashenfox7615]

We need the review of: "Megafauna. What killed Australia's giants?"

[@happybalint]

I never personally got to the conclusion that paleontologists are bad at their job after seeing the memes as I've seen a lot of the recent fleshier recreations of dinosaurs but given that not everybody has the context for this I can see how someone comes to that conclusion

[@lekhaclam87]

As aliens with advanced space-faring civilizations, they should be better at paleontology than us.

[@michaeldeak5727]

10:57 why is AI art in a sci com video?

[@thepirateofkoshkonong]

from the fossil evidence of this video, I can tell he is a fellow 2000s kid. sam raimi Spiderman for ever!!!!!!!!!!

[@Hesieditz223]

Hey dude good video but you said that the dinosaurs died out 66 billion years ago and not 66 million years ago, no hate but you made a small pronunciation mistake

[@Daedalus5993]

The thumbnail of the hippo skull was funny

[@BrotherVerseProductions]

Isn't this paleo myth 7, but it says 6 with pack hunting raptors. Still amazing and love these thing and what you do, keep up the Paleo news for us nerds 😊

[@maggiiopgott8975]

Oh no once Jack Horner comes up everything will be going to shit😅😂

[@Anonymous-lv4di]

Damn Amelia colab

[@AllesZuSpaet53]

Why don't the paleontologists just invent a time machine? Are they stupid?

[@grinmreaper5731]

I always tought torossaurus is invalid He's literally a triceratops copycat

[@thomasrdiehl]

Paleontologists: Haha, we'd never reconstruct an actual prehistoric animal like that hippo, funny joke! Estemnosuchus: Hello there!

[@Blackfish-m3h]

Spinosaurus, Entelodonts and andrewsarcus:

[@francesstrong9152]

If you wanna hint when drawing dinosaurs BIRDS Like not drawing a freaking cliff from the pelvis to the tail

[@AstralBirthVoid0]

I'll be completely honest, I think you're looking too far into the meme, or at least used it too much as the idea to argue against here when it's probably not about paleao artist or the knowledge we could have. It's more liekely just to joke about how diverse life can be, how funny evolution made some things (*cough cough* platypus), to the point that just by looking at the skull is not enough to understand the true face of the animal. Not that it's impossible to do it whatsoever. I watched a science magazine a long time ago and they also bring up the skull and try to make guess what animal it is to show how crazy it can be. Basically the meme before it was one, but there's once again not any intent to undermine the paleontologists. As another person said, you took the meme seriously.

[@StevenFranco-v3r]

I agree, I think he took this too seriously. I thought he’d appreciate it? Be an opportunity to educate people on how they perform reconstruction on animals with no closely related animals to compare with. I also think he forget the meme is about ALIEN paleontologists, possibly with completely different autonomy and physiology than all life on earth. In the end, I still enjoy the meme 😊

[@Tyrannosauroidea]

My guy you haven’t been posting for a while

[@greenshyguyfrommario]

I think its kinda stupid to assume that everyone who has ever made/posted that meme was being 100% serious and attacking paleoartists when they posted it, generally thats not how memes work.

[@mds_main]

Yeah the meme is funny but uninformed people use it maliciously way too much.

[@naturewithjoey]

I love jfc............... oh i meant kfc my bad

[@jeffreygao3956]

No but pseudoscience is!

[@vykryl65]

Pick up a newer book. Some of the early dinosaur craze paleontology creations were bizarly wrong. A good book will show you the early ideas and how they progressed over time and study. Careful study is better than the slapdash get it out first style