I'll have the Dino McNuggets to go please...

[Technomancer]

Some interesting genetics work being done lately on chickens:

http://blogs.discoverychannel.co.uk/discovery-news/2009/08/could-chicken-embryos-produce-dinosaurs.html

This link's a little older, but is still interesting.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1446706.stm

[Etoh*the*Greato]

... Wasn't this the plot of the movie Carnisaur?

[Technomancer]

Was it any good?

[Etoh*the*Greato]

Actually, it was awful. The premise was the same, except you replace the phrase "canadian scientist" with "mad scientist" and "dinosaur like traits" with "11 foot tall Tyranosaurus animatronic."

It was pretty awful.

[Peanut]

Even though this is a serious topic...I can't manage to shake the image of McDonalds actually selling McNuggets made from Dinosaur meat...well at least they wouldn't be any less healthy then what they already serve...

[Davidizer13]

Well, according to things I read, rattlesnake tastes like chicken, and dinosaurs are also reptiles, so there might not be a difference in taste. Who knows? McDonalds has enough disposable income; maybe they're already cloning dinosaurs to use to feed the masses.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

Dinosaurs would have to have been warmblooded, so calling them reptiles is a bit of a misnomer.

[Davidizer13]

Dinosaurs would have to have been warmblooded, so calling them reptiles is a bit of a misnomer.

That debate remains unsettled. Pterosaurs would have to have been warm-blooded, due to the metabolism required for flying, but the others are still up in the air to whether they were endothermic or ectothermic.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

I'm gonna side with endothermic, simply on the basis that supporting a weight that huge would require a fairly active system. A lot of calories to be burnt, and the time to take in that heat would far outweigh any available time to collect food to keep the system going. It's all topheavy (no pun intended). The system would fall apart.

(Yeah, Alan Grant! I got yer back!)

[sharien chan]

I absolutely love how they called a dinosaur hatchery "too large an enterprise". You know it won't stop someone from trying.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

HASN'T MICHAEL CRICHTON TAUGHT US ANYTHING?!


Uh, I mean...

[sharien chan]

HASN'T MICHAEL CRICHTON TAUGHT US ANYTHING?!


Uh, I mean...

This!

[Tsukuyomi]

Even though this is a serious topic...I can't manage to shake the image of McDonalds actually selling McNuggets made from Dinosaur meat...well at least they wouldn't be any less healthy then what they already serve...

*Chuckles* I'm still chuckling xDDD

Those chickens are huge /o.o\

[Technomancer]

I'm gonna side with endothermic, simply on the basis that supporting a weight that huge would require a fairly active system. A lot of calories to be burnt, and the time to take in that heat would far outweigh any available time to collect food to keep the system going. It's all topheavy (no pun intended). The system would fall apart.

(Yeah, Alan Grant! I got yer back!)

I'm pretty much for the endothermic side of the debate as well. Aside from the fact that the avian lineage is warm-blooded as well, several species are known to have inhabited the polar regions as well. While nowhere as cold as they are today, these areas would certainly have been fairly temperate.

[Bobtheduck]

That debate remains unsettled. Pterosaurs would have to have been warm-blooded, due to the metabolism required for flying, but the others are still up in the air to whether they were endothermic or ectothermic.

Was that intentional?

In any case, back when I was still into dinosaurs, I was interested in possibly seeing them come back... Then I heard about possibly bringing mammoths back, and that interested me because it was more plausible...

Now this idea of just reshaping chickens into a dinosaur that never existed... not so exciting to me... I'm not really up on the idea of engineering animals in this way, because of where it leads.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

The thing about Mammoths is that they still existed on the North American Continent in regions like Florida even up to the rise of the Egyptian Civilization. Now comes the hard part with the cloning Scenario. Even if we were to potentially clone them, we'd have to invent a way to vaccinate them against the whole flipping world! They are creatures of another age. We'd have War of The Worlds all overagain. They'd be dying of diseases left and right because they'd suddenly be brought in to a world that just simply wasn't meant for them. They weren't raised here, they weren't acclimated here. They didn't develop in the biological environment we have now.

[F.M Disciple]

Intresting Point you have there.

[Bobtheduck]

The thing about Mammoths is that they still existed on the North American Continent in regions like Florida even up to the rise of the Egyptian Civilization. Now comes the hard part with the cloning Scenario. Even if we were to potentially clone them, we'd have to invent a way to vaccinate them against the whole flipping world! They are creatures of another age. We'd have War of The Worlds all overagain. They'd be dying of diseases left and right because they'd suddenly be brought in to a world that just simply wasn't meant for them. They weren't raised here, they weren't acclimated here. They didn't develop in the biological environment we have now.

That's why they'd have to be raised in clean environments for a generation or two... Slowly introduced to the type of things we have here, and eventually they'd be able to cope. Plus, I think people vastly underestimate the ability of life to adapt.

[sdzero]

I don't know...cloning always seemed an unidentified typed of animal cruelty to me. They have to go through a lot mistrails before they get one clone right.

[Technomancer]

The thing about Mammoths is that they still existed on the North American Continent in regions like Florida even up to the rise of the Egyptian Civilization. Now comes the hard part with the cloning Scenario. Even if we were to potentially clone them, we'd have to invent a way to vaccinate them against the whole flipping world! They are creatures of another age. We'd have War of The Worlds all overagain. They'd be dying of diseases left and right because they'd suddenly be brought in to a world that just simply wasn't meant for them. They weren't raised here, they weren't acclimated here. They didn't develop in the biological environment we have now.

On the other hand, some of the ideas put forward for resurrecting the mammoth involve making use of a modern elephant as a surrogate mother. This would allow some of the mother's immune system to boost that of the infant clone's. Granted, this would miss some of the specific adaptations that have become hard-coded into the modern animal's immune systems.

[Nate]

So if they succeeded in this, would ya eat it?

I know I would. Char broiled dinosaur covered in gravy. Side of curly fries. I bet they'd call it the Dinosaur Special.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

I don't know...cloning always seemed an unidentified typed of animal cruelty to me. They have to go through a lot mistrails before they get one clone right.

Well, yes, PETA would certainly protest, but I'm under the impression they don't strictly like anything.

[Davidizer13]

Was that intentional?

Absolutely not. I just couldn't think of a better cliche to use.

Edit: Woot, 100th post.

[Squeakmaster]

HASN'T MICHAEL CRICHTON TAUGHT US ANYTHING?!


Uh, I mean...

This post makes me smile, if only because I LOVE Crichton.

Anyway, it should be interesting to see how this unfolds.

[Bobtheduck]

So if they succeeded in this, would ya eat it?

I know I would. Char broiled dinosaur covered in gravy. Side of curly fries. I bet they'd call it the Dinosaur Special.

I'd totally eat dinosaur nuggets... After about 5 years of it being available to make sure no weird problems arise from it.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

I'd totally eat dinosaur nuggets... After about 5 years of it being available to make sure no weird problems arise from it.

Pffft. No problems at all. None. Those scales growing on your back? Clearly, that's just Exema. Claws? Maybe you just needed to trim your nails. Well, what about the fact that your now a ten story fire breathing nuclear monstrosity from the deep ocean?


... Well, that's just awesome!

[CrimsonRyu17]

Well, what about the fact that your now a ten story fire breathing nuclear monstrosity from the deep ocean?

... Well, that's just awesome!

... Yeeeaaah, think I'll be eating me some dino nuggets.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

Go go godzilla! Whooo!

[Esoteric]

This is a slight digression, but chickens essentially are plump little velociraptors. It's a good thing they are only a foot tall and have the IQ of tree stump, otherwise chicken attacks could be a serious problem.

To quote the illustrious Dr. Malcom, "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think whether or not they should! "
Do not make chickens bigger or smarter, people.

[CrimsonRyu17]

It's a good thing they are only a foot tall and have the IQ of tree stump, otherwise chicken attacks could be a serious problem.

I own chickens and I find that they're actually quite intelligent. Smarter than dogs even.