Did Raptorex Really Exist?

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Paleontologists have been studying and drawing totally different conclusions about the fossil LH PV18 for almost a decade. Is it just one of many specimens of a theropod called Tarbosaurus bataar or is it an entirely different theropod named Raptorex kriegsteini? In order to answer this question, you have to understand the many ways in which we can--and can’t--determine the age of a fossil.
Thanks to Gregory S. Paul for allowing us to use his illustrations in this video. Check out his website here: gspauldino.com/
And thanks as always to Nobu Tamura for allowing us to use his wonderful paleoart: spinops.blogspot.com/
Produced for PBS Digital Studios.
Super special thanks to the following Patreon patrons for helping make Eons possible:
Katie Fichtner, Aldo Espinosa Zúñiga, Anthony Callaghan, Marcus Lejon, Anel Salas, Robert Arévalo, Robert Hill, Kelby Reid, Todd Dittman, Betsy Radley, Svetlana Pylaeva, Colin Sylvester, Philip Slingerland, John Vanek, Jose Garcia, Noah offitzer, Eric Vonk, Tony Wamsley, Henrik Peteri, Jonathan Wright, Wilco Verweij, Jon Monteiro, James Bording, Brad Nicholls, Miles Chaston, Michael McClellan, Elysha Nygård, Jeff Graham, Maria Humphrey, Nathan Paskett, Connor Jensen, Sapjes, Daisuke Goto, Hubert Rady, Yuntao Zhou, Gregory Kintz, Tyson Cleary, Chandler Bass, Maly Lor, Joao Ascensao, Tsee Lee, Sarah Fritts, Ruben Winter, Ron Harvey Jr, Joshua Mitchell, Johnny Li, Jacob Gerke, Brandon Burke, Alex Yan
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References:
www.radiocarbon.com/about-car...
www.nature.com/articles/srep2...
www.researchgate.net/publicat...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/a...
link.springer.com/article/10....
www.sciencedirect.com/science...
journals.plos.org/plosone/art...
science.sciencemag.org/content...
www.jstor.org/stable/3515101

[@Pfhorrest]

Your explanation and illustration of carbon-14 decay is misleading. It's not like one of its electrons spontaneously combusts and becomes an electron and an electron antineutrino. One of its *neutrons* "spontaneously combusts" (because of rare interactions between its constituent quarks and ambient W bosons, which flip an up quark to a down quark [edit: reverse that]) and emits the electron and electron antineutrino. The emission of the negatively charged electron turns the neutral neutron into a positively charged proton, and the mess that becomes of the particles' quantum numbers when that happens generates the electron antineutrino to balance it all out. It's the change of the neutron to proton that makes it into a different element (carbon to nitrogen), and none of the already-orbiting electrons have to be lost in this process; actually, the nitrogen-14 will want to grab another electron from the environment (like the one it just emitted) for its electron shells, now that it has one more positive charge in its nucleus than it did before.

[@eons]

Thank you for the clarification! We had a shorter production cycle for this episode that caused this mistake to slip through the cracks. I’m pinning your comment to make sure people see a correct explanation of what occurs. -Seth

[@cowsmooo3344]

Pfhorrest lol I learned about this last yea in physics, but now forgot all about it.

[@ulysisxtr]

Someone is probably a Space-Time viewer ;)

[@Tahoza]

I noticed the mistake too, but that fact that you stuck the correction right here at the top is a true testament to your character. Love to all of the PBS studios science channels. :)

[@Pfhorrest]

Thanks for the pin! Glad I could help. :) +ulysisxtr I am indeed a Space-Time viewer, though I don't remember them going over this information there. (Link me if they did!) I just looked this up on Wikipedia myself some time in the past few years after finally getting tired of not understanding what the weak nuclear interaction does, which turns out to be just this. (W bosons, along with Z bosons, are the mediating particles of the weak interaction, and the interaction between W bosons and quarks is what kicks off this whole process of nuclear decay. I think, though someone fact-check me on this [edit: reverse all the ups and downs that follow], that an even more accurate explanation than what I gave above is that a W boson and an up quark react to produce a down quark, an electron, and an electron anti-neutrino; if the up quark was part of a neutron, made of two ups and a down, that turns the neutron into a proton, made of one up and two downs; and if that neutron was part of an atom -- which most neutrons are, because neutrons are unstable without enough protons nearby to stabilize them, which is why neutron-heavy atoms like carbon-14 are unstable -- then that changes the charge of the nucleus of the atom, its atomic number, which in turn changes the number of electrons it will take to make the atom electrically neutral, which in turn defines all the ways the atom will interact with other atoms, i.e. all its chemical properties, i.e. what element it is).

[@df9465]

Thank you for the interest in our research. It is worth noting that a later study by fish expert Mike Newbrey et al. (in 2013; I am one of the coauthors) showed that the fish vertebra is identical to those found in the 70 million year old Nemegt Formation of Mongolia, and that this specific type of fish vertebra has not been found anywhere else. Thus, there is little doubt that the "Raptorex" fossil is from the Nemegt Formation of Mongolia. The wikipedia article on "Raptorex" is quite detailed and covers these and more pieces of evidence. Denver Fowler.

[@Shenron557]

Its awesome to have someone directly involved in this research to leave their comments/research here. Thanks for that. :-)

[@WillArtie]

Thanks for the extra info Denver!

[@Rationalific]

Thank you for the update!

[@gregoryfenn1462]

Congrats on your research ^_^

[@rachaelhart1670]

Amazing that a show is reporting directly on peer reviewed scientific research, and then the researcher themselves comments! I love this community, great to know the dilemma was more or less resolved!

[@theincarnationofboredom207]

"Did raptorex really exist?" My first thought: what the hell is raptorex?

[@CJCroen1393]

Poor thing is so obscure.

[@GigawingsVideo]

It was so inconclusive no media want to cover it for fear of wrong dating.

[@D.Jay.]

It's part raptor and part trex. It has adaptive camouflage and can be laser guided.

[@rafaelalodio5116]

DJ, I see what you did there, and some scientists believe that it could use its tail as bait to lure prey.

[@Pfhorrest]

You know, Raptor-X, the new genetically engineered dino-monster from Jurassic World 3.

[@DraptorRonin]

Therapist: "Raptorex isn't real, it can't hurt you." Me: "Oh. That's too bad."

[@Cetaceanation]

Bruh

[@barkasz6066]

Geologists are brilliant. Such an underrated field.

[@robertwilde3986]

Yeah, they rock

[@joesgonefishin4789]

Same with botony

[@Hawaii_Foxx-0]

Gotta love some guys who study rocks.

[@darkushippotoxotai9536]

@Stock Name Well, one day you'll glad some geologists saved you from falling into a sinkhole by finding it before it opens.....

[@darkushippotoxotai9536]

@@robertwilde3986 Yeah, they DIG grounds and Rocks.

[@hellboy2097]

In conclusion, profit hunters harm science. Sure they found a cool dino but because it was not recorded properly they screwed the science up.

[@oktw6969]

As if the governments of either China or Mongolia would care about some several million year old dino fossils in the first place. Without the "profiters" there wouldn't be any evidence of these dinos existing in the first place, the disagreement on the actual age is a trivial matter compared to that.

[@Bravohalo]

@@oktw6969 Negative. The bad procedure and lack of documentation have effectively destroyed this fossil. As far science goes it might as well still be in the ground.

[@zander6100]

Its kind of necessary isnt it? When entire new species may be discovered from a single specimen, every fossil is important. As long as the piece didnt come from an already known site, im kind of ok with lucky or determined people finding new fossils and rushing it to the scientific community. If fossils were worthless people would ignore and break them if they came across one.

[@Stothehighest]

Agreed. I kinda wish they'd mentioned a bit about the fossil black market and private collectors. They are the reason this fossil is basically orphaned in time.

[@oktw6969]

​@@ogscarl3t375 The whole idea of paleontology goes against ideology of the communist party. Profit-based fossil hunting is still better than ideology-based paleontology. There is no reason for a profiter to destroy a fossil, but there will be a myriad of reasons for a communist-approved """paleontologist""" to memoryhole a piece of evidence of past history, especially if it goes against the narrative established by the Great™ Chinese™ Communist™ Party™.

[@djcrumrine2150]

I like how this video also starts to discuss controversy. We think of science as something cold and rigid, but it’s a field full of passionate people just like any other career. I think a video on the history of how glamorized, shady and scandalous paleontology can get. Fossils are for everyone, not for private collections!

[@perrydowd9285]

Have you read Brian Ford's "Too Big To Walk"? I'm pretty sure you would love it.

[@darkushippotoxotai9536]

I have got a fossil of a man from piltdown To Show...

[@SergeantSmilo]

An episode on the Bone Wars would be great

[@DanaMariedotorg]

Yes I’m interested about who dug it up first.

[@MikeeVee]

This is why i hate private collectors.... let the scientists do the discovering so it can be officiated and done properly... we will probably never know the truth behind raptorex unless another specimen is found by scientists and can be traced to specific formations etc.

[@SuperSt0ne]

Mikee Vee You’ve a point, but keep in mind the fossil may not have ever been found otherwise, or at least not for a long time.

[@oogalook]

I may hate them, but I also kinda wanna be one...

[@JanBruunAndersen]

Now imagine your future scientist coming along in 100 years and course those never sufficiently damned old scientists for the way they destroyed the fossil so that her new super-duper dating instrument does not work.

[@perrydowd9285]

I buy my fossils at The Rock Shop. I let Burt tell me where they come from. That's a system that works fine. Private collectors potentially destroy more than they recover if they go mucking about in fossil fields. Leave it too the guys who know what they're doing.

[@voltayre4584]

These private collectors are also responsible for some of the most amazing discoveries, there just arent enough people digging into dirt and rocks to find prehistoric animals.

[@alonealien1474]

"Can we not science our way out of this?" I have asked myself the same question many a times.

[@Deadpool3E]

There should be a Maury-type meme for this. "When it comes to the ontogenic results for Raptorex, Tarbosaurus bataar, you ARE the father!"

[@Everydayartist12]

Tarbosaurus goes extinct suddenly so it doesn't gotta pay child support

[@rebeccaluis1223]

"I TOLD YOU I WAS GONA GET'EM BACK KAREN REMEMBER I ASKED YOU NICELY FIRST!!!"

[@magicrabbit9446]

That would be funny

[@jdjcm7077]

A video about the evolution of spiders please.

[@sno6762]

no. just no

[@invadergrimm3788]

Yes.Just yes

[@Honeybreee]

Maybe? Just maybe

[@morganseppy5180]

They have have a snake ep! kzbin.info/www/bejne/nXrZo3qqnLunqJo

[@LordChesalot]

Morgan Seppy got in before me

[@sherylhosler9487]

That explanation of how radio-isotope dating works was really well-done!

[@Coelacantha]

Video ideas: Evolution of coelacanths/ other lobe finned fish Evolution of bioluminescence in deep sea creatures

[@cooldude4888]

Oh yes it's the *glowing fossils*

[@limiv5272]

The evolution of bio-luminescence sounds very interesting. Not sure if this is something that can actually be seen in fossils. Would be nice if it is

[@Coelacantha]

BugPope I thought maybe they could briefly mention the evolution of bioluminecense, they don't necessarily have to have a whole video dedicated to it. I just thought it would be interesting that's all!

[@DanStaal]

Honestly, I'm going with Occam's razor here: One explanation posits a new species, with features that are otherwise unknown at the time. The other says it's a known species, with features that were more common. Without good strong evidence otherwise, the explanation that doesn't bring *two* new facts to the field is most likely the correct one.

[@Ozraptor4]

Also note that we have multiple specimens of baby Tarbosaurus from well documented localities in Mongolia. They compare very favourably with Raptorex.

[@stevevicari5523]

Here I go again... Requesting the same this as last week, and the week before... And the week before... Can we please see a episode about Pleistocene Australian megafauna? Please?

[@amaram.7716]

Steve Vicari Yesss

[@MLeibs]

👍🏽

[@captapraelium1591]

I give it a thumbs up every time mate. Keep up the good work!

[@zalenahquaddy4354]

Ooooh Megalania, Thylacoleo, rhino sized marsupial, procoptodon, extinct crocodiles and who knows what else.

[@stevevicari5523]

Yess! Everyone up vote this! I got like 350 up votes last week and it still didn't happen. So we need more!

[@servals2384]

Looks like a juvenile Tarbosaurus to me, but I'm no paleontologist. I just think people are over eager to find and name "new" species, and that contributes to bias. It wouldn't be the first time someone made a juvenile into a new species.

[@binky2819]

The problem with LH PV18 is that we have no way of confirming or refuting its status as a juvenile Tarbosaurus. Since we have no idea where exactly it was found, we have to make assumptions, and that leads us to different conclusions. And don't think that the scientists doing the actual studying are biased and just want to name a new species. Whatever the truth may be, they just want to figure it out.

[@robertt9342]

The burden of proving its a new species should be on those making the claim. In this circumstance, the proof in is at best inconclusive and it should be assumed to be a juvenile tarbo until more evidence comes to light.

[@scatman9166]

Servals well who’s to say it was a tarbosaurus and not a juvenile of another related Asian tyrannosaur, we won’t know for sure until we find some proof

[@OsirisLord]

@@robertt9342 But look at the range of one of the fish it could very well be from all over the Cretaceous. Maybe it's a juvenile but not a Tarbosaurus because it's actually earlier or later. This is why we don't make assumptions in paleontology.

[@urbandragon8774]

**Nanotyrannus*

[@niharg2011]

A video about the evolution of Pinnipeds, please And awesome video as usual for someone who hasn't studied palaeontology but loves Prehistoric creature this channel is a bliss

[@johnlee7164]

You guys make arguing paleontologists incredibly fascinating!

[@Tosti_Tory]

I would like to see a video about the evolution of kangaroos! :)

[@timewalker6654]

troytjuh they are actually dinosaur ,who just need somewhere to put money

[@somedude140]

PROF. PARADOX Common mistake, they're actually a kind of basking shark.

[@2lostbikes]

Kangaroos? That's a funny name. I'd have called them chazwazzas.

[@jayc1048]

@@somedude140 kangaroos are more-soup-ials. They got that pouch to house more soup than the baking shark comrades.

[@michaelskywalker3089]

Kangasaurus?

[@brycevo]

Raptorex and Tarbosaurus are two of my favorite Dinosaurs. They're amazing!

[@DuizhangLu]

And might be the same thing!

[@rapterex69]

Same I named some accounts about it

[@brycevo]

Thank you for the ♥️, Eons!

[@Weirdoid]

Tarbosaurus is an awesome creature who gets very little attention as its American cousin hogs the spotlight.

[@brycevo]

@@Weirdoid I love it for It's lineage and history, as the Monglian Murader or the Soviet Rex

[@thelonelion]

Can you do a video of mammal-like reptiles please?

[@MrEuller88]

Just a friendly reminder: the term mammal-like reptiles is not entirely correct. The mammals ancestors separated from the reptiles ancestors way before any reptile existed. There's an excellent KZbin channel called AronRa that has a series of videos talking about this subject.

[@BioniclesaurKing4t2]

Alright, give us a video about mammal-like not-quite-reptiles, then. Also, there's already the Dimetrodon video.

[@Ditidos]

It depends if you consider reptiles to be a paraphyletic group or not. I do consider reptiles a paraphyletic groups and such I would say the term mammal-like reptile is not incorrect. It all depends on the definition of reptile.

[@donaldbaird7849]

this is why we are starting to use the terms "diapsid" and "synapsid" instead of reptile

[@dgodfrey9189]

Synapsid vs. Sauropsid actually. There are several animals on the side of the split that led to diapsids that aren't diapsids themselves- Mesosaurs for example. Even if "Reptile" is paraphyletic it doesn't include Synapsida, unless you want to start including things that might not be amniotes (I don't think we have anything known to lay amniotic eggs that predates the synapsid/sauropsid split)

[@shark180]

How about a video on the evolution of Carnivorous plants?

[@TheLunaLockhart]

straight up had a double take because I thought you said coronavirus plants lol. Agreed, carnivorous plants are fascinating!

[@AspireGMD]

Well your request was eventually granted...

[@rohitkossery1297]

I love how much insight this episode provided on paleontology for those who have no background in the field. Could you guys please do an episode on marine reptiles from the mesozoic era?

[@veggieboyultimate]

I think it may be a juvenile, I mean if you think about it, a tyrannosaur-like dinosaur with two fingers seems a bit early for 130 million years ago There were small tyrannosaurs in the early cretaceous, but they didn't have two fingers

[@hafizajiaziz8773]

The decay process animation is wrong. Its supposed to be neutron that decayed, not electron

[@timewalker6654]

Hafiz Aji Aziz finally someone!

[@rxpt0rs]

There's a pinned comment that already addresses this.

[@timewalker6654]

Naveen Sivasankar it was pinned later

[@perrydowd9285]

The mysterious Raptor X is Speed Raptor's older brother, who ran away from home many years ago.

[@magicrabbit9446]

Wait, whos steve raptor

[@perrydowd9285]

@@magicrabbit9446 It's a typo (bloody autocorrect😂) It was meant to be Speed Raptor. A reference to the old Speed Racer cartoons. Sorry about that. 😞

[@perrydowd9285]

@@magicrabbit9446 I just fixed it up. Thanks for letting me know. 🌹❤️

[@magicrabbit9446]

@@perrydowd9285 no problem, but it would a cool name

[@perrydowd9285]

@@magicrabbit9446 I like the sound of it myself. It just brought back memories of watching Speed Racer as a kid in the 70s.🤣🤣

[@huahualipo]

This is why we don't want for profit fossil hunters to do the digging because this sort of thing happens way to often when they do it. Sadly it's happening all over China right now (sigh

[@chinito77]

huahualipo That’s China for you, the land with no morals..and no manners, freedom speech, google, Food Inspection, proper sewage system, real baby formula, democracy, etc.

[@Leon-mq8on]

@@chinito77 Lol, your logical fallacy reflects badly on your intelligence and credibility.

[@istvansipos9940]

humanity: proudly endangering living AND extinct species where no1 has endangered before

[@Riceball01]

It depends on the fossil hunters. There are for profit outifts that do things the right way, take detailed notes of where it was found, how it was found, what was nearby, etc. Then there are those who are basically poachers and just dig the things out of the ground without a care to where it was found or any of the details a professional paleontologist would make note of.

[@istvansipos9940]

Kuk137 noooo. they sure don't say it's dragon bone. Perhaps dLagon. A poweLful dLagon. once, I hated a Chinese guy for this. But I can't remember, which one.

[@JohnJohansen2]

2:23 So cute and fluffy!

[@billysomerfield1137]

Haha I know right?!

[@LG-xg8fw]

That moment when you realise the fossilized fish sitting on your desk are over 120 million years old.

[@timewalker6654]

L Guo you lucky bastrd!

[@andrewgregory151]

I found mine

[@LordofFullmetal]

r/thathappened

[@spindash64]

LordofFullmetal r/nothingeverhappens

[@nlh719]

Fossils of invertebrates are federally protected. Just a heads up for amateur collectors.

[@freddoesvox9033]

I love this channel! I love dinosaurs as well!

[@dynomax9961]

This is just nanotyrannus all over again

[@bunabobby]

Indeed, except Nanotyrannus is a bit more clear

[@melvinshine9841]

At least we know where in North America and roughly when Nanotyrannus lived. Whether it's a real animal or just a juvenile T.rex is another matter...

[@henrycaradocosborne-price-5540]

Tarbosaurus might just be a tyrannosaurus and not a genus of its own anyway, if that's true we had four different dinosaurs here, now we have one haha

[@melvinshine9841]

I remember I had this documentary on video when I was a little kid that referred to Tarbosaurus as Tyrannosaurus bataar. I don't know the specifics, but I've heard/read that Tarbo is distinct enough to be considered a separate animal. I think one of the differences was that Tarbo had a more pointed, slightly narrower snout.

[@Riceball01]

Melvin Shine It also had smaller arms than T. rex and yeah, its skull shape was different from T. rex and had more sideways facing eyes when compared to the T. rex. On a related note, there's a natural history in Arizona that has a Tarbosaur mount that they call a Tyrannosaurus bataar.

[@slywlf]

This was absolutely fascinating! I once wanted to be a dino hunter when I was young (way back in the Dark Ages, LOL). This reopened my interest and I learned more in 13 1/2 minutes than I have in hours of reading elsewhere. I love this series, and enjoy seeing how things were. The open-endedness - the unsolved mystery - made the science stand out as the element of interest this time, which made it all the more special to this aging but never resting student!

[@Beryllahawk]

The fact that we don't know all the facts is what makes science exciting! And exasperating. And exhausting...

[@kgradymultimedia]

"Can we not Science our way out of this?!" Cracked me up 😆

[@niklasmelton1949]

Hey do you guys have any gear available? I really want to support the channel but I also kinda want a t-shirt...

[@BornAgainCynic0086]

they are digging one up for you right now.

[@undefinedvariable8085]

2:51 Thanks for the tips! Finally scored my first (absolute) date with a fossil.

[@mm88deatmatch]

I thought relative dating was frowned upon in most states

[@user-dm6tt6sc5i]

Hey people :) Can you do a video about how long does an extinction event last? Is it some hundreds of years? Thousands? More? How can we know if an extinction event is already starting?

[@Mr.CliffysWorld]

Now . You're living an extinction event. 😑

[@jakewhoskate]

Learned more from this than Geology 101 at a D1 university lmao Or at least I paid attention better to this. THANKS PBS!!!

[@robertcowley-yamamoto4880]

Another fun fact about carbon dating: Due to the huge number of atomic weapon tests during the 1950s and later in the Cold War, we can't carbon date anything that lived after 1950. Because of this, that's our reference point for "The Present", and measuring years "Before Present" (BP) is 1950.

[@matheuscastello6554]

Would love it if you guys could cover Ichthyosaurus someday!

[@Leo-hk6qg]

That moment when you think you’re an adult of your own unique genus and have the badass name “Raptorex” but then log onto youtube to watch a new PBS Eons video just to realize you’re nothing but a juvenile Tarbosaurus.

[@shuyuei6448]

Do a video about the evolution of cats ^^

[@Sanngot]

Memories of my Earth Sciences degree just came flowing back to me while watching this. I guess you can say I really... DIG this stuff! XD

[@Buildosaurus]

I love the skull pin :D

[@anappropriatehandle]

relative dating is when your friend dates someone who goes to another school

[@Psychid5]

Easiest way to date a fossil is going to a bingo club.

[@gauchesymbiote1039]

I'd love to see a video on the evolution of arachnids.

[@citiesskyscrapers4561]

I would like to see a video about elephant evolution.

[@mcthrull7417]

A boar overgrew and had the pinnochio disorder

[@ginnymckeel4069]

I would LOVE to see a video about the genealogical history of bears (specifically touching on the giant short faced bear)

[@melchizedeck.]

Ginny Mckeel they have that now

[@TeaRex12]

Seriously, hands down best video from Eons imo. Encompasses all my passions in natural science. Sedimentology, biostratigraphy, paleontology, petrology, volcanolgy...you guys scratch my geo itch, and make me want to go back for my masters. 💜🌋

[@kitsune_sun]

I love these videos so much-!!!!! I watch these videos while am taking a break from my studies! Thanks PBS Eons!!!!!

[@sterkar99]

The evolution of seals please

[@wdwerker]

I like how you explain how the exact location and surrounding rock are so important. I can imagine a poor farmer or opportunistic amateur fossil hunter would be trying to collect and sell but hide the location from the government or competitors. If big brother( big science) comes in and takes over without rewarding, compensating or including the local folks they are creating the situation that causes the loss of all those important details.

[@mr88cet]

Excellent illustration of the difficulties of dating fossils!

[@Spouseofmiyanoshiho]

Great video as always! Love all the EONS team and their hard work to share the science with the rest of the world. Just a little thing i need to say here: when i opened this video i expected it to be just another interesting video. Turns out it actually explains a lot about carbon-dating and other methods of determining the age of fossils. I'm a fan of that topic and i really liked your explanations (as well as the discussions happening in the comment section about the corrections), but it would be great if i could figure out what you were going to talk about before getting into it. maybe that's just me, but the title at a glance seems like a simple narration of a story that has little facts/ proper 'science'-y explanations in it. while i know for a fact that that isn't the case, but it would be great if you could express that through the title as well. Again, i have nothing but love and admiration for this channel and the team behind it!

[@DEATHMETALRUST]

I never understood how carbon dating worked at all. This is fascinating.

[@LimeyLassen]

I've heard it has errors when used on sea creatures tho.

[@robertt9342]

Rust-O . Technically they got technical aspect wrong, read the pinned comment at the top, but yes it's nice that they explained how measurement is done.

[@mindseyemelodies]

It's a parrot. a beautiful Norwiegan blue I believe.

[@2lostbikes]

Remarkable bird, the Norwegian blue. Beautiful plumage.

[@teemusid]

I disagree, it's an African Swallow. No, maybe it's a European Swallooooooooooooooooooo………...

[@lukeskywalkerjediknight2.013]

Norway doesn’t have parrots......

[@calebj1442]

Love the episode! Would love to see one on disagreements in attributing different stone tool complexes to different hominins. Attribution of the first dated stone tools to Australopithecus afterensis or kenyanthropus platyops would be one example but there are many

[@942mattu]

Hi! I absolutely love these videos. So entertaining but at the same time educative. I know this has most likely been requested already a million times but do a video on T-Rex!

[@giulianobatistadossantosgi136]

a video about megaraptor. how tiranossauroids evolved long arms in south america

[@beastmaster0934]

Raptorrex:I’m the most controversial tyrannosaur ever Nanotyrannus:Hold my beer Raptorrex:But beer hasn’t been invented yet Nanotyrannus:This is a KZbin comment,it doesn’t have to make sense Raptorrex:KZbin hasn’t been invented either Nanotyrannus:... *Flips table and leaves* Raptorrex:Tables haven’t been invented yet either Nanotyrannus:SHUT UP!

[@jvccr7533]

How did he flip the table with those arms?

[@beastmaster0934]

JVCCR With his head?

[@jvccr7533]

It is common courtesy to flip tables with arms/hands though. Where's his manners gone?

[@FireurchinProductionsByzantium]

How are they talking in English if the English language hasn't been invented yet?

[@themalaymenagerie3350]

English hasn't been invented too

[@SamHunley]

These videos are such good science outreach... Keep up the awesome work!

[@adhvith1]

Oh woaw you guys are uploading way more often!!! This is sooo great!!

[@samrizzardi2213]

Sounds like the name of a Gaulish assassin from the Asterix series

[@MisterDutch93]

But then it would’ve been called Raptorix.

[@disrxt]

What's up with monotremes?

[@disrxt]

Actually not random at all, they ask for subjects for future videos every episode!

[@LordofFullmetal]

Yeah but you never made it clear that's what you were referring to. And that's not ALL the comment section is used for, so we have no way of knowing that's what you intended. We're not mind readers here. It's YOUR job to make yourself clear. It would literally have been as easy as "please make a video on..." No excuse.

[@joaquinel]

Thank you!!! We needed this. Background knowledge is important.

[@onleyone]

I've mentioned this before, but I wanted to get it out there again: Given how dominant insects are in terrestrial and freshwater environments, I'd love to see the Eons hosts' take on how crustaceans managed to out-compete insects for marine niches!

[@sterkar99]

You made me not fall asleep from having chemistry thrown at my face. *Congratulations*

[@sterkar99]

The evolution of seals please?

[@seandewar47]

Now that you've done Raptorex, can you do Nanotyrannus?

[@PepinsSpot]

This is one of the best stories they have reported on. I found myself laughing when the fish vertebrae was said to be from the Doubled Armored Hearing and the age range was so long. It was like, "Oh man you made it worst!"

[@Achill101]

Thank you for one of your best videos about a species. I enjoyed the different approaches described and that we stall can't be sure about the age.

[@TangmoMopet]

What about Nanotyrannus?

[@CJCroen1393]

I think Nanotyrannus turned out to be just a young T. rex.

[@joschuaknuppe5849]

These videos are too short for that discussion...

[@discduderules]

Nanotyrannus turned out to be ayoung T.rex after the discovery of another juvenile rex specimen BMRP 2002.4.1 which has been nicknamed “Jane”

[@Tarbtano]

That one still has some debate to it, but most lean on it being a juvenile Tyrannosaurus. There are several privately owned fossils that might help clarify things.

@@TarbtanoAll th emore reason to ban the fossil market...

[@prestonang8216]

‘Can we not science our way out of this?!?’ Thats what i think every day.

[@prestonang8216]

Hey prolet, it’s an EXPRESSION. Proves you don’t think before you type a comment!

[@notpulverman9660]

Because you dont care. How can "we" tells us you want someone ELSE to do the work. You want the answer but dont want the labor.

[@stevezora2587]

She's the best! So nice, clear and smily, I could listen her explanation about dinos for hours!

[@pranavlimaye]

I love all of these videos so much!!! And I also love the way you all say, "....and.... Steve." at the end of your videos. Gets me every time 😂😂😂

[@thes7274473]

Thanks a lot, amateur private fossil hunters…

[@KuK137]

Theo - shut up you imbecile. This fossil is WORTHLESS thanks to them, damaged, incomplete, and tells us nothing about its history. Keep defending them, you cretin, and they will just destroy more of out irreplaceable heritage for profit...

[@joaquinel]

@@theotheagendashill818 You find one, you should call professionals. Ok, you'll lose some profit.

[@lradmirer7838]

He’s being sarcastic you IDIOTS.

[@yelytling]

@@KuK137 boi he isn't defending them

[@MrApple-mz9do]

we can all agree on one thing, whatever it is! It's dead

[@lebelge1910]

Wow very clear explanation of complex techniques...very well done

[@hollyodii5969]

Again, this was amazing! I love EONS!

[@jme9556]

Can you please talk about deer & elk

[@Dorian_sapiens]

Occam's razor weighs in the favor of Tarbosaurus: “Don't multiply entities beyond necessity.”

[@wayneparker4855]

PBS Eons: "Raptorex isn't real, Raptorex can't hurt you." Raptorex: "RAWR!!!"

[@JurassicShortsYT]

My Explaination is that it was a Half Raptor Half Smaller T-Rex Ancestor (Not like the Indoraptor or the Indominus Rex,Spinoceratops and Scorpios Rex) Like for Example:Anphycion,it look's like a Wolf but a bit of a Bear with its Bear like Feet the Claws would have been used for Capturing Fish.

[@ZebaLord]

Literally yelled yaas when I got the notification

[@gamermthegreat8229]

Same

[@miro.georgiev97]

Isn't there also potassium dating?

[@Ditidos]

Yeah, I heard about that too.

[@brfisher1123]

+Miroslav Georgiev I've heard of a dating technique for fossils using the radioisotope potassium-40 but never one involving any radioisotope of argon, I need to know where did this lady get her information on "argon dating" JK lol

[@danielauto3767]

Yep. That was a mistake. She confused the parent isotopes with the daughter isotopes

[@LimeyLassen]

I've heard it called potassium-argon dating.

[@dgodfrey9189]

No, its not. While there is Potassium-Argon dating, in many cases its been superceded by the more accurate and easy to do Argon-Argon dating. K/Ar dating required splitting the sample into two for separate measurements.Ar/Ar dating just uses a ratio of the two Argon isotopes which only needs one measurement. It's still based on the decay of Potassium to Argon, but you're not measuring the Potassium.

[@alisdairolavhorgen2173]

Love this channel. Incredibly interesting and so well presented. Bye the way, I had to smile when I saw the image at around 0.21 and elsewhere. I have almost the exact same photo taken in the '90s in Iceland. It's of the Fjaðurár (Feather River) Canyon. Suitably prehistoric looking I think 😊👍.

[@christopheranderson3767]

I have two ideas for videos: (1) I've heard that gingko trees are from a different, ancient line than most of the other trees we have around. Could we hear something about that? (2) Can we learn about the effects of non-extinction-causing asteroid impacts? Thanks!

[@theshamanite]

The instance where science can't science.

[@StopChangingUsernamesYouTube]

Dear future fishy fossil finders: At least geotag your specimens and take photos before excavating them and carting them off. For science.

[@2Granule]

Normally, that is what happens. The fossil is photographed before excavation, and while being excavated. They also are located with a compass to give information about how they were located within the rocks.

[@alexcamacho1842]

Raptorex: exists(?) Paleontologists: *endless war*

[@alexco621]

That's so interesting. Hope you make an episode on the Mismatched and mistaken fossils and dinos in history.

[@chavamara]

AND THIS IS WHY CONTEXT IS IMPORTANT!!!

[@SpinozillaSaurian]

How about Nanotyrannus being an invalid genus?

[@lukeskywalkerjediknight2.013]

Valid*

[@allim.830]

Absolutely love it 🥰 (as always) but very sad you missed the opportunity to say “hung up on a red herring” instead of “hung up on a fish puzzle” 🧩 🎣

[@Never_heart]

Amazing video that pushes and explains once again how even what we know we may not be correct about. The unknown is part of fascination with prehistory. And a possible video topic is the evolution of arthropods to terrestrial life

[@Fullmetalminos]

What about comparing its dental formula with that of other tyrannosaurids? That's how it was figured out Pliosaurus and Liopleurodon differed from each other, even though both of them lived in the Late Jurassic and were part of the same family.

[@gibranhenriquedesouza2843]

This is more exciting than a Sherlock Holmes novel!

[@derpatel9760]

I am left wondering, and I love it. Good video! Very informative!

[@howardf5264]

I just discovered Eons and love it and i hope you are still reading comments. You did not describe absolute and relative dating correctly. Absolute dating is any method that directly gives a date in years. The most common, but not only, absolute method is radiometric dating, but these ages are commonly approximate because of the error bars associated with these techniques. Relative dating only provides an order of events, but not even an approximate age in years. Biostratigraphy is one of several relative techniques. Index fossils can be dated absolutely only when they are found associated with volcanic ash beds. Perhaps you should do an episode on all the different relative and absolute dating techniques.