I have been reading and digging about the Permian, as some of you know from reading my blog, as part of small bits of posts about the various mass extinctions through deep time. I am very disappointed about the Permian in one way. The books I have about it discuss the extinction, to be sure, but they don't discuss the animals so much and the ecosystem just prior to the so-called Great Dying. I am very disappointed that there's not popular book on the synapsids that we call the Mammal-like Reptiles.
Oh, I can say that I have grown very disappointed with the BBC/Discovery Channel presentation of "Before the Dinosaurs". There was an awful lot of pure and utter speculation passed off as science fact. It was fun to watch, but...it had little to do with real science brought to life. Frex, almost all of the commentary about Dimetrodon was cut and paste from the Komodo Dragon's habits.
FWIW, the best website that I have found on the Permian Critters is in German (and here for the Pareiasaurs).
Oh, I can say that I have grown very disappointed with the BBC/Discovery Channel presentation of "Before the Dinosaurs". There was an awful lot of pure and utter speculation passed off as science fact. It was fun to watch, but...it had little to do with real science brought to life. Frex, almost all of the commentary about Dimetrodon was cut and paste from the Komodo Dragon's habits.
FWIW, the best website that I have found on the Permian Critters is in German (and here for the Pareiasaurs).
One PR drawback the mammal-like lizards have is that they tended to be ugly as hell. Clumsy looking, too.
ReplyDeleteYes, and no. They look more like teh thing of bad SF movies than anything. They're not so much ugly - to me at least - as a little twisted from the mammal shapes we're used to.
ReplyDeleteI have to wonder about the clumsy bit though. Was it that they were or are our reonstructions not so good? After all, the dinos looked rather clumsy for a looooong time before that was corrected.
I have been wondering the WI the Permian Extinction Never Happened. It's interesting. It comes down to 'whither the archosaurs'.
Related, I have to say that the mammal-like reptile name kinda sucks. All I can think of as a replacement other than the name synapsid (Is that a nerve type or something?) all I could come up with is remalian. bah.