Why Were Triassic Animals so Weird?

[@MnemonicHack]

The funny thing about evolution, is that it's not "Survival of the fittest", it's more like "Survival of the least inadequate". Many species can continue surviving, even if they're not particularly great at it, as long as they multiply fast enough or have few enough predators, until climate or environment tips enough that their numbers just start declining and they can't keep up.

[@thedevilsadvocate5210]

Being adaptable helps

[@freak1sees714]

It's never been about 'survival of the fittest' but rather "natural selection".. meaning those who are most adaptable are most likely to survive... btw.. dinosaurs are a farce.

[@MnemonicHack]

@@freak1sees714 Few people can manage to undermine any credibility they have in as few words as you have. Dinosaurs aren't a farce, you're just woefully, incredibly mislead.

[@freak1sees714]

@@MnemonicHack Wake up to yourself. The only one being misled is the one being led. Try learning how to think instead of what to think.

[@MnemonicHack]

@@freak1sees714 Big words for someone with no credibility.

[@mr.robertdobalina9199]

Hopefully millions of years from now the alligators can write about us and our wacky adventures

[@oelruof5816]

It’ll be the robots and ai

[@qhorinhalfhand6541]

@øㅤø yes

[@ATRTAP]

Alligators aren’t going to be allowed to evolve further.

[@stoned_kakapo8736]

@@oelruof5816 bruh, you dont realize how very far we are from actual AI. at most these chatbot AIs may replace a few lesser skill/mundane jobs in offices in the next decade or more, probably even longer. and we would still be far from real AI

[@BATM_Media]

​@@stoned_kakapo8736once we hit a tipping point it's going to go very fast.

[@AyZeD]

That extinction that wiped out 90% of life on earth, all life on earth that has ever lived since then, came from the 10% that survived, how crazy is that to think about? Imagine if the other 90% of life didn't die out, how different would our planet be today? It'd be unrecognisable.

[@dazedandconfusedd]

If they hadn't been wiped out I wonder if humans would have ended up evolving at all. In another timeline homo sapiens might never exist. I find it so wild lol

[@WALDENSOFTWARE]

I don't think that's for sure. 10 percent survived, but new species could have come here on meteors or through some other way.

[@pixality7902]

@@dazedandconfusedd probably not. It paved the way for mammals to become dominant.

[@benpearson49]

@@WALDENSOFTWARE On meteors?!

[@Gantali9305]

@@benpearson49 I think he's getting confused between the theory that bacterial, viral or other organic matter may have come here on asteroids and he pictures little animals riding asteroids around the universe before somehow landing on a planet.

[@ImInLoveWithBulla]

Elephants are giant grazers that walk as if they’re wearing high heels and have a magical nose hand. Weirdness is directly proportionate to how familiar something is. And the Triassic is not commonly talked about in primary school. 😀

[@daximil]

We, ourselves, hobble around on two legs and are bald from the forehead down.

[@mournblade1066]

No, elephants are definitely weird looking creatures. And so are giraffes, rhinos, and hippos.

[@stephenspackman5573]

@@mournblade1066 Oh, come on, an elephant is obviously just a kind of squid. My bet is that we'll have been living around aliens for ages before anyone goes … wait a minute, are those things alive?

[@darahdoyle3176]

'Triassic Park' would not have spawned so many sequels that's for sure!

[@XxzXFearXzxX]

The platypus is a poisonous, glowing (in UV), egg laying mammal. It's bizzare compared to any dinosaur

[@biogopher]

"Those who fail to learn from history will be totally fine and will never have to worry about that"

[@sdivine13]

They definitely won't have anything to worry about

[@StoutProper]

Nope

[@elijahjarman2837]

Groucho Marx

[@sickturret3587]

well the history taught to you by illimunati that said dinosaures existed, there were famines and comets and countless pandemics are from the same people now trying to say covid is real and there is global warming and the world is kinda looks like a globe etc. just making you ready for the great reset. ps: i'm trying to get ready for a role as an "enlightened individiual with 60 iq points from random websites" hope i did good.

[@selvasuriya001]

@@sickturret3587 why would you add covid to the list that is really real.

[@ckchappell]

I'm 57 and am still blown away by dinosaurs. They were on earth for over 150 million years! 65 MILLION years ago. Man... Just blows my mind.

[@pottedcactus2788]

It really blew my mind when I learned that there was more time between Stegosaurus and T. Rex than between T. Rex and us. Of course it's easy to acknowledge millions of years when you read about it but it's very difficult to actually comprehend time on that scale.

[@jasonsmith530]

Such magnificent creatures they were

[@spugggaldon361]

Yeah, and what did they achieve? Nothing! We've (humans) have been around on the planet for the equivalent of 10 minutes and look at what we've achieved! Love Island! In fact. I take that back. The dinosaurs were way better than us!

[@Stierenkloot]

@@spugggaldon361 they achieved surviving for hundreds of times longer than we have thusfar. So give it a few dozen million years and then let’s talk

[@SamFagundes]

@@Stierenklootthey never created fire, useable energy from other sources other then whats in your body, no treatments for wounds or disease. they never made it off this planet alive. the only thing they are better at is not harming the earth yet they cant even if they wanted too cause they are so inferior to us humans overall other then size an strength an physical body movement speed. yet our advancements in technology more then compensates for the difference there lol

[@BobPantsSpongeSquare97]

The Great Dying or Permian Mass Extinction is probably the most haunting bit in natural history and paleontology. The notion that Earth could've been a dead planet even before the rise of dinosaurs and mammals is terrifying and depressing

[@jonp9285]

We are in another mass dying event

[@wekieh]

@@jonp9285 i really hope that you are not talking about corona lmao, you could count the climat change tho

[@jonp9285]

@@wekieh mostly the mass extinctions of animals and the huge amount of deforestation in the past thousands of years

[@calessel3139]

Yes, and unlike the spectacular extinction at the end of the Mesozoic, it's almost completely unknown to the general public despite the fact that it was far more devastating to life on earth.

[@ThisguySL]

@@jonp9285 We ARE that mass dying event.

[@hsdinoman2267]

We have since built museums to celebrate the past, and spend decades studying prehistoric lives. And if all this has taught us anything, it is this: no species lasts forever. -Kenneth Branagh

[@hsdinoman2267]

@@t-r-e-x452 this time it was my turn

[@HenrythePaleoGuy]

One of the best quotes ever!

[@hsdinoman2267]

@@HenrythePaleoGuy indeed Henry

[@vanhattfield8292]

Horseshoe crabs are like "What about us?". 300 million years and still going strong.

[@hsdinoman2267]

@@vanhattfield8292 your time will come one day sooner or later

[@franimal86]

I think part of the reason they look weird is because we don’t really know what they looked like! We are just hypothesizing based on skeletons usually, but artist depictions could be accurate enough that they hit the uncanny valley.

[@Vor567tez]

Right. This is why I want time machine..Just to see how close we are. It's like guessing the pokemon from their shadow.

[@CesarGarcia-de7ks]

Facts

[@AschenDog]

So much soft tissue information lost over time, yeah. A fun art game/exercise is to give someone the skull or skeleton of an extant animal (hopefully one they're not familiar with), and have them try to make a recreation over it. "wh...what do you mean this is the skull of a hippo?!"

[@notachannel6261]

I would ABSOLUTELY listen to an hour's discussion on these kinds of topics! Honestly if you decided to do a podcast I'd be really happy about it, and I've literally only just discovered your channel (this is my first video)! You explain things in an easy to understand kind of way, while not making the information feel dumbed down!

[@Fledhyris]

Same! Subbing from this video.

[@MrCmon113]

Still less scary than bears.

[@MarcusAgrippa390]

That was a nice dose of existential angst right there at the end. Great way to end an excellent video!

[@preppen78]

What?! Sleep easy, he said... :-s

[@quigonjinn3567]

Sometimes it's good to be reminded, that we are NOT the crown of creation. Pride comes before a fall.

[@thegreatgazoo2334]

I've never understood the "existential angst" thing. I have absolutely no idea why such things as extinction or the death of the sun or what-have-you would bother anyone at all.

[@quigonjinn3567]

@@thegreatgazoo2334 Probably cuz you didn't looked into all the thing that could wipe us out. Things we have no control over like gamma ray burst, coronal mass ejections, or the millions of un traceable asteroids bigger than 1km in diameter. Just to name 3.

[@thegreatgazoo2334]

@@quigonjinn3567 "Things we have no control over" Exactly. Not only do we have no control over them, they are extremely rare events in any case. It is completely ridiculous to be the least bit concerned about them unless you are studying them. You might as well worry that you are going to be struck brain dead by a neutrino.

[@daganisoraan]

Short answer: All animals are weird when compared to other species, especially distant ones. It's only due to being used to see modern species that we don't find them weirds. But go back some centuries and people always found weird the animals that lived on other continents.

[@FatToDaCat]

I mean that's not a wrong perspective, but its also a very simple one. It goes without question how we arent used to seeing these things. But it's still a fact that these pre-historic animals were drastically, undeniably different both visually and physically from today's animals.

[@CosmicHarmony58]

How am I suppose to go back there Marty Mcfly???

[@penrythajanitor4644]

Weird weak oversized monkeys with scrawny limbs and massive heads?

[@rahjah6958]

finding something weird is subjective and what your saying is implied, He even said “this is nothing like anything alive today today” again implying what you said, What he is tying to explain is why it’s different to stuff we are used to seeing. So no your answer is not the short answer it’s a cop out

[@wisesquirrel4986]

@@FatToDaCat It is awesome to see that animals can really be any kind of chimaera you can think of given that the design isn't completely impractical or unreachable. I used to think that it simply wasn't the case.

[@LordPadriac]

Can we just take a moment to realize how bad it must have smelled with just over 90% of all life on Earth dying in a very short period of time. Like anyone that lives near a river of canal know what it smells like in high summer when heat dries up a lot of the water and some fish and bottom feeders get trapped and rot in the sun. Now imagine that but times the entire Earth.

[@4FYTfa8EjYHNXjChe8xs7xmC5pNEtz]

My God! It must've smelled like NYC.

[@Thetarget1]

A short period of time can still be several million years

[@ivy7510]

I was thinking about that to lmaoo

[@TIMEtoRIDE900]

Worse than that when the Oceans rot and produce Hydrogen Sulfide gas that kills all the plants on land. Earth becomes barren land with bacterial ooze and odd concrete structures.

[@serioustechnoravin2195]

Look up the great stench of the 1700’s/1800’s, around the time of the last supposed reset. The stench was bodies

[@timothy098-b4f]

Regarding the underwater locomotion of tanystropheus: maybe instead of using only its legs to swim, it also used its neck in s-shaped waves, like a sea snake, to pull itself along underwater. Like a snake towing a lizard?

[@jahimuddin2306]

That is actually a very interesting take.

[@Vor567tez]

That's more creepy to imagine.😥😨

[@renato.pastor]

I think I've just discovered my favorite channel about paleontology! Love how your videos are put together, and how the information is structured, they make for great binge watching. You have my subscribe!

[@Crakinator]

Before watching, I’m gonna say that diverse and crazy-looking creatures usually appear in times of ecosystem instability, often after mass extinctions. My favorite example is probably terrestrial crocodylomorphs. There have been many, and they have existed at many different points in prehistory, but it’s almost always been in highly isolated environments and/or right after mass extinctions.

[@spankynater4242]

Before watching, I’m going to say they are not weird, they were just animals. They are no weirder than animals today, that might seem less weird because you’re used to them.

[@Person01234]

I'd wager it's because there's less competition and selection pressure. The slate has been wiped clean and since evolution isn't a directed process, a whole bunch of imperfect forms appear that have some kind of advantage over the competition that exists, but natural selection hasn't yet refined them into more efficient and workable designs.

[@ephgm]

We must have a serious ecosystem instability because I see diverse and crazy looking creatures all over the place! They even have parades and are taking over our media! I hope natural selection takes care of them quick or we're all doomed!

[@MasterMalrubius]

@@Person01234 I'd add to that there is a rush to fill eco-niches that at the time were empty. Ok, never mind. he just said it. LOL

[@minerran]

Interesting idea Crackinator, you might be on to something. After all, a time of ecosystem instability might well result in evolutionary instability, i.e. diversity going in many different directions at once since the ecosystem is unstable and won't favor one set of characteristics over all others for a long period of time. I can see this producing "diverse and crazy-looking creatures" Your theory has merit I think.

[@MotionlessKnight]

Could you imagine a time machine or some type of anomaly sending you back to this period? That would be freaking terrifying! A lot of these things looked like actual monsters!

[@peoplez129]

You would be eaten before sundown, and if not, definitely after sundown. This wasn't like some lions perching on a tree just lounging around. The population was much more dense back then, so it was like if you stumbled upon 500 lions. Sure, some would be lounging, but by the sheer numbers, some number would also be eating. In just one square mile, thousands of creatures were being eaten by other creatures daily. There was no way to avoid the carnage. You were either in a position to eat or get eaten. Just a chaotic soup of mating and feeding.

[@MotionlessKnight]

@@peoplez129 You've got a point. There'd be, at the very least, one of these animals for every creature on earth today. Unless someone was skilled enough to pull a Monster Hunter and start slaying beasts and slapping together weapons and protection to stay alive (highly unlikely), then yeah. However, for anything alive today, going back and suffering a fate of becoming prey to any of these beasts would just be a horrible, nightmarish way to go. Lol

[@TeaBurn]

If the mass extinction didn't happen, and humanity evolved at the same time, then I imagine the world would be like one straight out of the Monster Hunter video games.

[@LinumVex]

@@TeaBurn They needed to go extinct in order for us to evolve, bro they ruled the world way longer than us

[@psy-ryn]

@@peoplez129 is it much different now lol

[@BassySasskets]

Man I'm glad he reassured me about the species being special at the end. I was getting worried for a minute.

[@whitedragoness23]

Fascinating video, I’m glad KZbin is actually recommending this type of videos. I always thought the creatures of this period were very wierd looking and now it makes sense. Evolution was having a field day with so many variations all trying to be the next dominant living thing or just got the lucky chance to be a freaky variation

[@DaysOfFunder]

It gives me some strange sense of peace, to know that humans are basically no worse than an extinction level impactor

[@NewFalconerRecords]

The late great comedian George Carlin had a classic monologue entitled "The Earth is Fine, We're F***ed' in which he calls out people who want to "save the planet". As he says, when we're gone the planet will shake us off like a bad case of fleas. The Earth is incredibly resilient. Life always finds a way. We're not doing ourselves any favours at the moment, but that's not the Earth's problem, it's ours.

[@nyeti7759]

Yep! Civilisation might collapse and humans go extinct, but ecosystems will probably be back to good health in ten million years or so.

[@DaysOfFunder]

@@NewFalconerRecords ha, yes 100% agree.

[@thespecter6416]

@@NewFalconerRecords It's the problem of other species as well, as we are already in the middle of a new mass extinction

[@wolfdragox5563]

That only shows how bad we are actually, name one other species that has caused such damage to life on planet

[@ChristelVinot]

when the video started I was thinking "how are those animals any more weird than any animals that still exist today, or existed before them?" and then at the end you satisfied me by basically saying they're not lol. There are plenty of weird or weirder animals alive today, but what is weird even? Humans are one of the WEIRDEST. But anywho we're all products of the universe and this earthly environment.

[@derrickthewhite1]

If you want animals that don't look like what we have today, the dinosaurs are pretty darn strange: they're all built from the basis of being bipedal with a long neck. We aclimatize ourselves to them from a young age, but then forget about animals that aren't as well known because they're not dinosaurs or other cretaceous reptiles (also, the length of the cretaceous helps dinosaurs, with a relatively stable fauna as opposed to the rapid changes of the Triassic).

[@pdorism]

@@derrickthewhite1 > bipedal with a long neck Same as birds tho

[@derrickthewhite1]

@@pdorism that's fair... but have you ever seen an emu? they're biazarre

[@headlibrarian1996]

None of them are all that weird, in that they are just variants of the same basic body plan we use. The truly weird, so to speak, are animals post Cambrian explosion. There was vast experimentation, if you will, in body plans then. Our body plan has no obvious reason why it should survive where others went extinct, so I chalk it up to pure luck of the draw.

[@zuluviper9215]

There is only one species in Earth that doesn't belong here, can't handle any of the elements, and keeps looking to and being obsessed with .... the Sky/Stars

[@the_gaming_hyena24]

Love the Triassic! Easily one of my favorite times in prehistory.

[@yeolebast4665]

if you have any stories form those times please tell them. My grandchildren don't believe me that i was there as well.

[@mahbriggs]

Noticed your corrections on a couple of videos. I appreciate it. Science and scientific knowledge is always subject to change as we learn more! And paleontology is particularly subject to revision as new information is discovered! I am a recent subscriber, just found your channel, but I fear I am already hooked!

[@MrDebkumarbasu]

I am just excited to see so many new (to my eyes) paleoart! Really made me pick up my art stuff again!

[@En_Gho]

We don't mind waiting a little longer for more amazing content. If you want to do 1-hour videos, we are here for it.

[@michaelharrison7443]

Excellent scene segues, upbeat music, patter, and of course passion for your subject. Thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge with us! Looking forward to further editions of your erudition.

[@HighlanderNorth1]

He's absolutely right too ... The Triassic was a rough time! Lots of giant reptiles and incredibly diverse plant life. I know, because I worked in landscaping.....

[@anti-ethniccleansing465]

I’ve only ever watched one other video of his, and it was the one where he talked about his believes on why the crocodile survived the meteor in the gulf of Mexico. He said in that video that dinosaurs were actually mammals, so I am very confused why he is saying in this video that they are reptiles (and I do believe the crocodile video was much older). Edit: As I kept watching, he even says that the crocodile video was his first video ever.

[@anti-ethniccleansing465]

P.S. I was _REALLY_ hoping that he was going to show a bunch of pictures of these “weird“ animals in this time period. Instead, we only were shown a couple of weird looking species. Bummer. I feel cheated.

[@apexnext]

@@anti-ethniccleansing465 so he didn't say that dinosaurs were mammals, he said they were warm blooded. You should check out the video he posted the week before this one. Maybe you won't be as disappointed. 😉

[@DinosaurianDude]

Ending the video on a high note! Great video!

[@SHDUStudios]

Seems like a sarcastic high note.

[@DinosaurianDude]

@@SHDUStudios Oh yeah, calling how we're certainly NOT causing the next mass extinction on earth a high note was indeed sarcasm. ^^"

[@stephenc.120]

@@DinosaurianDude Agreed, the point I think being made here is that whilst 'WE', humans, are without a doubt going to cause the next 'extinction' in some way or form, it doesn't mean that we're going to survive it. Look at the numbers mentioned, in one extinction 75% didn't survive, in the next 90%, what's to say that we are going to be in the 25% or 10% or whatever percentage next time around. We may cause it - but it doesn't mean we are going to survive it, and from our eating habits and what our needs are, with too much of a reliance on technology to provide these things then I can see us not surviving. It will be some creature from the ocean or as other people have said an Insect to start the next evolutionary chain.

[@poppers7317]

@@stephenc.120 we are right in the middle of the latest and probably greatest mass extinction.

[@Warrior-Of-Virtue]

The reason I personally like our chances is because, as you said, it's the specialist species that tend to die out when things get bad and the adaptive species tend to do okay. And if there's one thing humans have proven over their existence, it's that they are quite possibly the most adaptable species that has ever existed.

[@jimhere01]

You know, that's an excellent point. If there's any kind of plant life, or animal life etc, human beings can make something out of it. Be it food, shelter etc, and thus live in almost any type of climate zone. And that does make us the most adaptive, multicellular, complex species ever. Plus, given the ability to look forward into the future concerning our actions and the ecological reactions, we have a chance to either ameliorate the ecological reaction, if negative, or avoid it all together.

[@samsmom1491]

Yet, there's a limit to adaptability, especially when conditions change faster than the adaptations.

[@rwall514]

@@samsmom1491 The human limit to adaptability is far, FAR higher. Unlike other species, we don't need to wait for genetics to do its thing - we can adapt with our minds, not our bodies.

[@wolfdragox5563]

I think our chances are high only bc we’re “prepare”, no wild animal is prepare for any big change that will force them to adapt, it’s all up to luck, we know a next big disaster is coming, and we’re making plans to fight it, we are not tied to luck, that’s why we have a chance of win against the next big chance

[@wisesquirrel4986]

I think we are not very adaptable. We can create tools, but what are the odds that the planet we live on will remain hospitable for our species? We rely on gravity to hold down our organs and whatnot, we rely on a certain mix of oxygen in the air to breathe, what range of temperature can we tolerate? Likely a very small range. The only thing we have going for ourselves is the fact that we are short-lived enough to never really have to confront the reality that our species can face a mass extinction if our rock ever comes into contact with other rocks. We are very likely to die from old age before an extinction event occurs in our personal lifetime. I think this steams from the fact that we are multicellular organisms. Maybe there are some single cell organisms that have lasted for much longer than humans (I'm ignorant, so this is just an assumption of mine).

[@SadBnnuy]

I love the bits of your head flying through the environments. Is really funny. This is also really well made, not something I'd usually be interested in but here I am

[@thomasmarshall479]

Science. The search for truth, humble acceptance of new information, and ability to reconsider a theory when shown credible evidence. Kudos to you for giving the individual the credit. Genuine.

[@HolyGarbage]

To be fair though, for all of our reliance on fragile systems and extreme specialization, this is all cultural. Our biology has remained largely the same as when we were hunter gathers 10,000 years ago. So, while our society might collapse, and with it billions of deaths, due to rapid changes in our environment, this does not necessarily mean extinction of our species. Even after societal collapse, all it takes is a fairly small group to cling onto life to carry our legacy on, even if it means falling back to the stone age. If you look at us from a culturally objective perspective we're anything but specialized, we're quite the ultimate generalists. Our specialization is extreme adaptability, via our intelligence and dexterity. No other species have adapted to such varied climates and environments as we have. So I think humans have a pretty good chance of surviving in the very long term.

[@Jhfisibejoso8pkabrvo2is8]

True; not to mention that hunter-gatherers are not a "thing of the past." The modern American's life does not at all resemble the life of the Kawahiva tribe in Brazil, for example. And the Kawahiva lifestyle is significantly different than that of herders in Nepal. But, we're all still human and representatives of the same species. We thrive in a variety of different environments and lifestyles. We'd definitely still be likely to survive any given extinction event.

[@HolyGarbage]

@@Jhfisibejoso8pkabrvo2is8 Except a really, really large asteroid. But I hope we've gone multiplanetary by then.

[@RubikRocksMinecraft]

Well, as the communication between people across longer distances and of different cultures becomes more commonplace we see our culture diversity shrink. There have been countless religions, ceremonies, and lifestyles just killed from the advent of modern communication.

[@HolyGarbage]

@@RubikRocksMinecraft well that's beyond my point. My point was that all that vulnerability is only culture. Meaning that while lack of cultural diversity makes our society potentially less robust to changes, it still doesn't threaten our species as our biology is still the same, and in the event of a societal collapse new cultures will emerge in the surviving groups. Cultural robustness is crucial for a society, but not for the species. The difference is that culture and society changes during a lifetime while changes to a species takes make thousands of generations. While many societies have come and gone because they got overly specialized, our species was never threatened. Because whenever groups of humans ventured into new environments or environmental change were pushed on them, while their respective societies might not have survived, the people did and created new societies around the new circumstances. This is precisely what separates us to other animals in terms of our survivability long term. We don't need to evolve our bodies to specialize and hence become vulnerable, we can change our behavior through culture and society.

[@MCVessels]

@@HolyGarbage But the paradox of that, surely, is that we survive *because* our biology is pretty flimsy. We can't live in any one environment very well without developing behaviours to compensate for not running that fast, not climbing or swimming that well, not having scales or even proper fur, having offspring that are useless for the first three or four years of their lives - but we can talk, and these compensatory behaviours are exactly the sort of thing it's useful to talk about. On the one hand that's great: we can be as specialised as we like culturally and still have these kludgey generalist bodies. But at the same time, hunter gatherer societies also have to be very specialised in terms of how to use different parts of the ecosystem, and when, and for what. If the environment changed too drastically, too fast and with nobody to tell us how to adapt, we'd still be in a lot of trouble. The question is, how fast is too fast?

[@danarabi9038]

Future bird people : top 10 Weird prehistoric creatures, number 1, human

[@ChuckHenebry]

The image of two Tanystropheus at 2:50 shows one of them using its long neck as a snorkel, with its body perhaps 15 feet below the surface. That strikes me as questionable, given the hydrodynamics of displacing water to breathe at that depth. When I was a kid in the 1970s artists used to picture Brachiosaurus and other sauropods this way, until some smart paleontologists pointed out the physical impossibility. None of this prevents Tanystropheus from aquatic fishing, or breathing while its body is closer to the surface.

[@Fledhyris]

Why is it physically impossible; the water pressure on the ribcage compressing the lungs? If the long neck wasn't used as a snorkel, my guess would be that it was useful for searching for and grabbing fish at a much wider range when they would flee from the bulk of the animal's body.

[@flightofthepizzas]

I am so pleased to have stumbled upon this channel! I love how you present this in such an engaging and educational way.

[@kashed.9220]

Bruh, you just popped up in my feed and I’m hooked. Gimme that weird specific knowledge that has no relation to anything I do with my life, I live for it.

[@despero6630]

Your final statement at the end made me laugh hysterically. I appreciate that sentiment greatly. keep up the great content. You don't overload you videos with too much technical speak, ergo these explanations are very palatable. If ever i know someone who wants to know more about natural history i'll direct them to your content as i feel they'd be able to understand it even without a tertiary knowledge of scientific theory.

[@mburnett3060]

Hysterically is the only way to laugh in these times.

[@hollyodii5969]

Love the seemingly weirdos of the Triassic! Great video!

[@jamesgoodwin7875]

Its hard to wrap your head around how long ago those periods really were

[@lecolintube]

Would love to see a video on how our perception of the Tanystropheus (noodle lizard) has changed!

[@tamku67]

Seconded!

[@idristhomas2193]

LOVE your videos. Just found your channel and I’ve been binging them on my lunch break(s). Finally subscribed, keep it coming.

[@vassa1972]

It would be neat for somehow to go back in time and just have a window to look out and not get involved with life at the time. Great video

[@polo443]

That is THE dream, man

[@KizetteandTotoro]

Quite frankly, if you decide to make 1hr or longer documentaries and post once a month instead so you have time to do your research, I’ll click on my notifications right away. Either way (short or long videos), I love your channel. I am suprised that your channel has only recently showed up on my recommendation list. (I follow a number of paleonthology channels and I listen to /watch tem regularly) I guess I have a lot of catching up to do with your channel... I hope you channel grows. It’s truly one of the best. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.

[@warpeace8891]

I love the long form video, Especially on the topics you cover. I say go for it. A video can be as long as it needs to be as far I am concerned.

[@ARustedHalo]

"Strange" is just an interpretation and depends on the perspective of the viewer. Humans are pretty freaky looking when you think about it from a non human viewpoint. We only grow hair in patches on certain parts of our bodies, we have all these limbs wiggling around and we sort of smell bad. Compared to kittens we are some hideous creatures, warfare doesn't help either.

[@Fledhyris]

lol speak for yourself on smelling bad! All animals have a natural odour, we just tend to cover ours up with artificial toiletries so we're doubly reminded of it in their absence and perceive sweat to be a 'bad' smell, but anyone who owns a dog knows how smelly other species can get! I agree with you though that compared to most other mammals we look incredibly weird. Bipedal, almost completely bald, flat faced and with these long spindly grasping 'hands' that we use to grab things instead of our mouths. But a kitten is bizarre too if looked at by a giraffe or a fish or a termite. Nature just throws out all manner of weird and wonderful.

[@opticfaze9871]

You personally smell bad sorry pal

[@navnnavn1226]

@Pinko Slink that depends on your definition of normal.

[@damonteague7442]

This. Is. Fascinating! Thank you for the explanation!

[@joanfregapane8683]

Love the sarcasm and the animation- in addition to the science. Great episode.

[@HenrythePaleoGuy]

Very high-quality video! I'm sure the channel will continue to do well. :)

[@peoplez129]

It all really comes down to a simple factor: They had the abundance of food to maintain their sizes, while also evolving toward specializations. The earth has lost 99% of all species that ever lived. Much of the weirdness originates simply in the start of life itself. You get a variety of multi celled organisms who thrive in whatever way they can, and if they evolve long enough, they evolve into vastly different things. The earth is practically barren compared to what it once was. Back then it would have seemed over crowded, with various creatures as far as they eye could see, always present, basically a soup of feeding and mating.

[@Weirdomanification]

You assume that those 99% were alive at the same time.

[@capitalist88]

Whew! I'm glad you put that last part in at the end, because I was getting a little worried that humans might di... heyyyy! Waiiit a minnnuuutteee!!!

[@jimmyjam2670]

Lmao the ending was hilarious, and poignant. Awesome content, you just earned a sub. :)

[@velvet_venus]

A video on tanystropheus would definetly be cool!

[@cameronjim2983]

That ending gave off real “There is no war in Ba Sing Se” vibes. : /

[@akalion213]

9:35 Truly the strangest of animals. Just imagine something like that existing today.

[@ezrastardust3124]

I’d run away in terror if I saw it

[@Priapos93]

Good of you to end on a positive note! Seriously loving this channel!

[@ToniBoordane]

What a great vid. Just found you dude! The last lines of the episode are very comforting for me lmao.

[@aldgate]

Is that two Triassic video in a row? Very nice

[@PaleoAnalysis]

As promised 🙂

[@reiteration6273]

It's interesting to me to think that dinosaurs have lived through two major extinction events so far. They survived the triassic one by being generalists, then all the non-avian dinosaurs got killed off in the cretaceous one, which left some of the avian dinosaurs alive, because they had remained generalists. They largely failed to reassert their dominance (though they had some successes, such as the terror birds), but who's to say that the avians won't keep surviving mass extinctions and trying to recapture their glory days long after we're gone.

[@richardgrier8968]

👍👍 I loved the ending. I got my BS in biology in the eighties, and I have a warped view of evolution because I seem to remember it through the lens of Animal Physiology (I even took Evolution as a senior, so I don’t know what went wrong 🤷‍♂️). I was mostly unaware of the diversity of Archeosaurs, so I’m really enjoying your stuff. Thank you! I’m subscribed and ready for more. I’ve never been so happy to discover how ignorant I am.

[@richardgrier8968]

@IntrepidTit he is filling in huge gaps in my knowledge of reptile species that existed before the dinosaurs. Plus, I’d never realized that the extinction that wiped out those reptiles delayed the rise of mammals.

[@richardgrier8968]

@IntrepidTit it actually supports evolution in that different systems are shown how the changed as different animal groups evolved. The focus was on groups that exist now and show these systems evolved by looking at lower branches of the phylogenetic tree. I guess I was really impressed by this course, and focused on the phylogenetic tree and ignored all the extinct animals that aren’t represented by it. I’m not sure I’m making sense here. Tbh, I was high when I made that original comment. Not a cop out, just a fact. I always smoke a little at bedtime for pain and sleep.

[@josefgordon7712]

Dude, congrats one 1 million views! That's insane, I didn't think YT promoted actually good quality content.

[@rebelwithoutaclue9387]

Fantastic video! Thank you! Interesting, and intriguing as well as entertaining and eloquent! Great stuff! You got yourself a new subscriber!

[@dinomartino6200]

The image of the “lizard” you used certainly looks like a tuatara, which is not in fact a lizard. Incredible creatures that look exactly like a lizard but are the only member of their little branch in the reptile family tree. Great vid

[@LodedKingpiin]

yes technically not a lizard because of the 3rd eye !

[@monke6776]

You ever think about how weird humans are? We are arguably the most unique species to ever walk the earth

[@pce7665]

We are intelligent fish 🐟

[@ClarkyWarky]

@@Imamnotjapanese445 yikes. You need to sleep with better fish.

[@wolfdragox5563]

Bc of technology? Really aside of that we’re not that special

[@piratedgenes]

'Uniqueness' is merely a concept. It "exists" because of perception, language and our need to categorize things. How can such a concept be inherent in nature??

[@thecrapehanger24]

@@piratedgenes Uniqueness is a concept, that's true. You seem to be struggling to understand how it relates to reality in this instance. Need any help with that? It's fairly simple to explain.

[@kingcockroach.]

You mention hour long video and im sure im not rhe only one who would love an hour long video

[@TenetNosce]

Great video! Subscribed for it. Good knowledge and research lead to great content. Thanks for your time!

[@celialeitch7292]

I would be so intrigued to see long form content from you. Yes it wouldn’t be “until friday” but that would be so fucking sick. I’d adore 30-60+minute videos about these topics; you’re cadence and enthusiasm is delightful.

[@ekimaulthar2044]

seeing all these weird creatures kind of makes me think of the early 20th century's haphazard designs for early versions of what would eventually become the airplane. Could evolution have been doing something 'similar', I wonder?

[@brutusthebear9050]

Careful there, don't anthropomorphize evolution. That's a common mistake people make. Evolution is a description of how animals change. It's not even survival of the fittest, it's survival of the lucky.

[@mugwump7049]

How evolution works is that a variety of mutations happen all the time. Most mutants don't survive, either because they're not viable or because they don't succeed in transmitting their genes. Only a fraction of mutations get passed along to younger generations. When mutations add up enough for differentiation, we classify the mutated population as a new species. It is similar in the sense that those early plane designs were basically "throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks": they didn't know what would work and what wouldn't, so they tried everything.

[@tomlxyz]

Evolution is not trying to achieve anything, it's just happening

[@warlord8106]

evolution is the ultimate character designer

[@magnipettersson4432]

no. the plane is a design where you can completely remove parts of individual designs. evolution cant backtrack and can only work with what its got. i mean apes like chimps are more evolved than us. but that doesnt secure their survival tho

[@CertifiedClapaholic]

They're weird????? Nah, WE'RE weird. Look at this entire society we've built lmao

[@jxg1652]

One thing playing in our favour might be that we evolved as a relatively generalist species. Yep, we built incredibly inter-dependent and fragile systems and we are actively sabotaging our chances of survival, but damn, there are not many species that are SO far spread over the planet, living in jungles, deserts, forests, tundra, even in the completely frozen over arctic zone. And we did ALL of that before we achieved ANY technology that goes beyond spears and fire. Also, many humans are still living in tribes, basically untouched by technology. Maybe we'll manage to kill off >90% of our species, but we'd probably bounce back from that. We'll be A LOT harder to wipe out than Dinosaurs. I would not be surprised if humanity outlasts cockroaches.

[@destinyborne561]

Everybody talks all doom and gloom about humanity, I love it when somebody points out the other side of the argument - that it would take a complete world ending event to wipe us out! While yes, there's a lot of people who hate humanity and wished for its own extinction (their own species), there's still good people, and the ability to maybe one day, in the far distant future after a million potential man-made extinction level events, we begin to learn from the past. Or it could just be that I'm fighting against my existential dread. Either way, I've always felt like humanity will always be Earth's greatest and longest lived thorn in the side.

[@Tom_Bee_]

I dunno. Cockroaches aren't teetering on the brink of global, civilisational warfare with nukes and simultaneously facing a self-made climate catastrophe. Not wanting to spread doom themed fear or anything lololol

[@666crippled666]

To be fair there are multiple human species but scientists can't admit it

[@cliftut]

Nice outro. It's thoughts like these, in part, that probably make all sorts of people hate Clube, Napier, and Firestone et. al. They've got to dismiss it so they can sleep at night! ;p Don't think to hard about Tungusca or the Carrington Event, anybody! Someone might lose their carreer!

[@HuFlungDung77]

I loved this video thank you for your studying and findings involved to make this video!!!! New subscriber looking forward to more video's

[@duhhvoid410]

This is absolutely fascinating! I just found your channel and I am fully hooked it's such cool information that's being passed on rather intelligently and interesting! Thanks for the content!!!

[@SonOfTegz]

As someone who isn’t religious, looking back to the different eras of animals and how they became progressively less weird and broken only to be wiped out and started over, it does make me think there could be some small chance maybe the world is of someone else’s design. It reminds me of playing a game, I play and learn the ropes and maybe start a new save and then eventually replay it with all the skill and knowledge I have gained.

[@Silverfirefly1]

That's exactly what is happening with the genes, the survivors maintain their complexity which quickly radiates.

[@arcguardian]

@@Silverfirefly1 "quickly" radiating into what?

[@moreach13]

It seems to me the "Terror Birds" replaced other dinosaurs just fine...

[@THEAMISHCYBORG]

Love the ending haha! Great video :)

[@seanyb960]

Great vid. The very last bit was gold and made me a new subscriber

[@FreeRadicalX]

My thoughts had just turned to the fallacy of homo sapien's exceptionality moments before you went there at the end. Honestly I'm happy that you did. Seeing big pictures is perspective. If we really want to stick around longer than a single blip on the geologic timeline we're going to have to keep that in mind.

[@tegamingother]

yeah, a meteor strike has happened before and it will happen again. Just imagine how we're going to deal with that if it hits a city or something.

[@allanredhill8682]

@@tegamingother over all we tend to be quite short sighted - were always so caught up in our own conflicts that we dont even think about how we are goin to sustain ourselves longterm. climat change or recource scarcities are just a few factors but there are a lot more issues we could face eventually but noone wants to really think about that. Often times we only adapt when disaster has already struck but if its an event like a huge ass meteor then we might not get a second chance xd

[@Jhfisibejoso8pkabrvo2is8]

@@tegamingother We are more than capable of handling another asteroid, depending on size. The impact of most asteroids would be comparable to the impact of weapons developed by our own militaries. It's easy to dwell in nihilistic, misanthropic philosophies about how "naive and greedy the evil human race is,"....but the reality is that our species is more likely than any other to survive ANY given extinction event. We currently have the technology to see asteroids and meteors BEFORE they're even a potential threat. We have the tools to predict trajectories. And above all, we have the sheer weaponry to completely obliterate MOST celestial bodies that could ever pose a threat. Just because the average layperson wouldn't know what to do in a time of crisis doesn't mean there aren't plenty of scientists already well prepared for these hypothetical scenarios. And for that, we be grateful. Because while everyone else is sitting around twiddling their thumbs and thinking about how utterly doomed our species is, there are some of us pioneering advancements and research that could one day save all our lives. Not to mention that the intelligence and dexterity of humans is still currently unmatched by any other species. Our ability to adapt and manipulate our surroundings has nothing to do with society or civilization, and everything to do with our biology. Even if civilization crumbles, our species would fare just fine. We've lived without civilization before and plenty of humans are still doing just that. Obviously, some extinction events are wholly beyond our control. But in those cases, our lifestyle (contributing to climate change), is completely irrelevant anyway.

[@tegamingother]

@@Jhfisibejoso8pkabrvo2is8 eh, maybe...

[@MCVessels]

And if we are just a blip - it's been an impressive blip. To humans at least, and, gods notwithstanding, who else have we ever tried to impress?

[@stevesuy1551]

I cant understand how people can deny Darwins Theory of Evolution when there is evidence like this or think the Earth is 6000 years old with the mountains of geological evidence there is. Pun intended

[@arcguardian]

One can easily deny anything, if it lacks the scientific method. I can't understand how ppl think Interpreting data is the same as practicing the actual scientific method. I guess we're both at a loss.

[@guardrailbiter]

I do love the human silhouettes for scale. Don't ask: "how large is that dinosaur compared to an adult human?" ...when you can ask: "How does that dinosaur compare to a sassy woman leaning with a hand on her hip?".

[@ducthman4737]

Be careful what you say. That could have been a man or some of the 70+ other genders.

[@guardrailbiter]

@@ducthman4737 I'll get right on that as soon as you learn to spell Dutchman.

[@ducthman4737]

@@guardrailbiter And why would I want to spell it like that ? What gives you the idea I want to write Dutchman ? That immediately gives me a very negative impression of you. Someone without respect for other people someone who thinks he is somehow better than the rest of us mortals.

[@guardrailbiter]

@@ducthman4737 For fucks sakes. That's quite a reach. Do you deny that "Ducthman" can _appear_ to be a typographical error? My comment was made in jest, but you chose to take offense.

[@gruntingskunk2237]

I heard the words “but before I get into that topic” and I was prepared to be assaulted by an ad-read.

[@tamku67]

This was an amazingly thorough breakdown for 12 minutes - I am going to go read everything I can find about evolutionary biology 😮 very intriguing

[@Mark-nh2hs]

I never realised that there was multiple extinctions and meteorite impacts which cause chain reactions to extinction. I always assumed as these creatures evolved the older models became extinct due to hunting by newer species or they were unable to adapt naturally. Very interesting video 👍👍

[@juliusnepos6013]

Same

[@samsmom1491]

This was covered in school, at least my school. I guess it depends on when and where you got your education. My grandparents had a huge book on the different mass extinctions and that was back in the 60s.

[@Mark-nh2hs]

I don't think different extinction periods of dinosaurs was high on the curriculum in the UK back in the 80s. I don't even remember it ever been covered and if it was it's the extinction we all know about.lol

[@samsmom1491]

@@Mark-nh2hs I graduated in '82. Oregon back then had an excellent education system.

[@berenthebear1313]

Imagine dinos existing for 250 million years and in just 1 event they all go extinct. And yet we still don't know exactly why. I find it fascinating that no matter what we say, there is still more we need to know.

[@craigcarmichael5748]

A paleontologist studying at a long-time dinosaur watering hole said they were on the decline, both in number of species and number of individuals of species for millions of years before the impossible "asteroid strike" that supposedly wiped them out. The rise of the Placental mammals (as opposed to other more primitive mammals of the Mesozoic) seems to have merely finished them off. (No one has ever yet explained how this 'giant meteor' survived breakup at the Roche limit to come down in one piece instead of bits of it splattering all over the place. Asteroids have been shown by landing on them to be very loose agglomerations of material, not giant solid rocks.)

[@niclas3672]

I would like to point out that it's our civilization that is specialized and relies on technology. A group of humans with nothing but simple technology like spears and rope are incredible generalists.

[@amosbatto3051]

I think that was the precise point Paleo Analysis was trying to make, but doing it with sarcasm.

[@montigobear]

Take away electron flow and we all die within a year. Yeah. Over-specialized.

[@strategicgamingwithaacorns2874]

Complete History of the Earth has now caught up with this video. WOOT WOOT!

[@coreyjudd4676]

that's a great little bit at the end. nicely done.

[@JustClaude13]

If the climate of the Triassic was well suited for cold blooded animals, how do we explain the success of the erythrosuchids? These animals had a semi-erect posture and fast bone growth characteristic of warm blooded animals and were probably at least as endothermic as a sloth. Not a high body temperature, but not as dependent on the weather as other reptiles. I suspect the basal condition of archosaurs was warm and fuzzy.

[@footnotedrummer]

Tanystropheus's long neck (just like the long boom on a backhoe, etc...) would require it to have a huge body to counterbalance the mass of it's neck. Check out the back end of industrial backhoes in road construction. They have massive steel plates at the back end to counterbalance the business end of the backhoe. There's no possible way that it could have ever lived on land. Not sure why this was ever a debate.

[@selvasuriya001]

May be because it is similarly unlikely it lived in the water

[@watchchumba2292]

Why is it called the triassic if none of them have 3 butts? Checkmate, athetits

[@joshuahavens4059]

This comment right here... this wins! 🤣

[@LiterallyGod678]

Tf you just say?

[@JJJ_JJ1]

That thing about being a “shallow water predator” is truly nightmare fuel.

[@bigboss4993]

Humanity is too OP to go extinct

[@fishing4happiness610]

"Absolute Power Destroys Itself Absolutely"...T. Rex

[@characterblub]

Bet

[@eVill420]

to be fair, it gives me a lot of confidence that we are such generalists and are capable of artificially adapting millions of years faster than other animals. until the whales pick up the musket I think we'll be fine.

[@nitroweeb41]

"until the whales pick up the musket" That'd be interesting to see, a mammal that evolved flippers instead of paws suddenly evolving human like hands to use human made tools.

[@nitroweeb41]

@IntrepidTit Flip flop splishy splash!

[@alexanderg6183]

Oh no... you're reactivated my dinosaur hyperfixation ;-; Jokes aside this is so cool, after watching just this video I can tell I'll be spending a lot of time on your channel!

[@VTO3000]

we need dat hour long joint love da channel just subbed

[@Qwezads]

Love the content , and all the images . New sub here !

[@Lunarpollo5622]

The little face with the goggles that keeps popping up 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@Mattshea13]

Damn I could watch these videos all day, well done. I'm subbed.

[@vincefgv]

Me: I need to get some sleep KZbin recommendations: why were Triassic animals so weird? Me who doesn't know anything about triassic animals: hmmm why were they so weird?

[@joshua19145]

lol at sarcasm devoted last minute.😄 Great and insigtful video!⚡

[@shmoejoedesy9449]

Why have i just found this channel my god, you're amazing sir and thank you.

[@nopants4259]

Great channel ! nice to watch a video that doesn't class everything living between 500million years ago and 60 million years ago as a dinosaur , such as dimetrodon etc