Dinosaurs Died Agonizing Deaths

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"Virtually all articulated specimens of Archaeopteryx are in this posture, exhibiting a classic pose of head thrown back, jaws open, back and tail reflexed backward and limbs contracted," said Kevin Padian, professor of integrative biology and curator in the Museum of Paleontology at the University of California, Berkeley. He Faux (pronounced "Fox") published their findings this week in the journal Paleobiology. Some animals found in this posture may have suffocated in ash during a volcanic eruption, consistent with the fact that many fossils are found in ash deposits, Faux and Padian said. But many other possibilities exist, including disease, brain trauma, severe bleeding, thiamine deficiency or poisoning.

I found this to be an interesting article and thought I would share. It sheds light into the way the animals died. Any paleontologist out there?

I read about that earlier today and thought it made sense. Now that I think back at all the fossils ive seen on tv and books or whatever they all have that same look. Scary what they must have gone through. I say comet.

....or maybe they died from the poisen gas used by the aliens on their seeding missions...or not

That's because the best preserved fossil records are from sudden burial. If it were a normal death from starvation, senescence, or disease the animal's remains would have remained on the surface subject to normal scavenging and decomposition, thus leaving no fossil record.

They were all bull dozed over by a tidal wave of earth when the large asteroid hit.

The pulled back head and neck as well as the tail curl over the back are caused by the way that they built. It has something to do with the muscles and ligaments required to support their neck and tail in an upright position. The same physical architecture exists in our modern birds. If you come across a dead bird, you will notice that as rigor sets in it will have it's head and neck arched up over it's back. Something similar also causes the legs to draw up and the claws to close, creating a tensed up look to the bird. It has nothing to do with the manner of death.

sodom

the dinos are still here, but they have a new name...

Birds !!!

so, the next time when your eating your chicken wings , think about it.

sodom

Yum, tasty dinosaurs.

Direwolf has it exactly right -- the skeletons are twisted-looking because of the way the tendons and muscles in their necks contracted after they died. You can see this in duckbilled dinosaurs, too -- they look like they died a horrible death.