COLD DARK ROOM

[Tidgy's Dad]

Good morning all

Good morning, Lindhan.

A stromatolite from Morocco, called blue green algae but actually formed by a type of bacteria, amongst the oldest life on earth.
This one's 700 milllion years old.
To put that into perspective, the dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago and the first dinos appeared about 220 million years ago.
Life on land had not begun ,there were no fish or animals with hard parts.
Very, very old and special.
I posted this recently, so apologies to other Roomies, but I love this one.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Ohh . Wait, are the 2 poop fossils connected ? But thats pretty cool !
& good morning Ed, long time no read/type. How are you doing ?

Pretty good. Thanks.
How are things with you?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

The giant mammals are very recent.
Like 25,000 yeras ago?

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Wow ! I think you would need to know quite a bit about fossils to know its poop. Im going to go back to the photos now to see

It looks much more poo like in person.

It does.
I may not be an expert on tortoises but i'm pretty close to being one on fossil dung.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

It does.
I may not be an expert on tortoises but i'm pretty close to being one on fossil dung.

The really interesting thing is the size. Compared to a poop from it's modern counterpart, that thing(S) is amazingly large.
It gives you some scale as to how giant the giant land mammals where.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

The giant mammals are very recent.
Like 25,000 yeras ago?

The giant ground sloths appeared in South America about 30 million years ago, and the giant armadillos like Glyptodon about 25 million years ago.

Scute of a Glyptodon.
other giant mammals, some of them unrelated to modern forms stalked the land along with giant, flightless, predatory 'terror birds'.
In north America, huge lions, direwolves, several species of elephant and other huge mammals existed at the same time.
About 2.5 million years ago the Panama Isthmus was formed linking the two continents and the animals drifted across in both directions, preying on each other and competing for food. Mostly, the north American types slowly dominated, over millions of years and many of the southern groups became extinct, but the giant armadillos and sloths were among the few from South America that flourished and actually moved into the southern areas of what is now the USA.
But climate change and the arrival of man saw the gradual extinction of nearly all the megafauna.
The last giant sloths vanished about 10,000 years ago from the mainland but existed at least as recently as 5,000 years ago on some islands.
The giant armadillos about 11,700 years ago became extinct.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

The really interesting thing is the size. Compared to a poop from it's modern counterpart, that thing(S) is amazingly large.
It gives you some scale as to how giant the giant land mammals where.

Indricotherium, the largest land mammal ever and part of the American megafauna.

And a predator.
A hyaenodont.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Burger King lunch today. the lad i was working with a couple weeks ago... he's still skiving!

he's in the branch next to me, last time I reported it the bosses reply was 'as long as he hits target' ?!?


so today I'm skiving as well!! I'm in a huff! lol

Oh, missed this post, sorry, John.
Rise above it, you are better than that.
Or alternatively get in a snit and skive.
I probably would.

 

[johnandjade]

The giant ground sloths appeared in South America about 30 million years ago, and the giant armadillos like Glyptodon about 25 million years ago.
View attachment 186310
Scute of a Glyptodon.
other giant mammals, some of them unrelated to modern forms stalked the land along with giant, flightless, predatory 'terror birds'.
In north America, huge lions, direwolves, several species of elephant and other huge mammals existed at the same time.
About 2.5 million years ago the Panama Isthmus was formed linking the two continents and the animals drifted across in both directions, preying on each other and competing for food. Mostly, the north American types slowly dominated, over millions of years and many of the southern groups became extinct, but the giant armadillos and sloths were among the few from South America that flourished and actually moved into the southern areas of what is now the USA.
But climate change and the arrival of man saw the gradual extinction of nearly all the megafauna.
The last giant sloths vanished about 10,000 years ago from the mainland but existed at least as recently as 5,000 years ago on some islands.
The giant armadillos about 11,700 years ago became extinct.

that's one big sofa!!!

 

[johnandjade]

Indricotherium, the largest land mammal ever and part of the American megafauna.

And a predator.
A hyaenodont.

chuck norris would have them as pets

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

that's one big sofa!!!

Yeah, whole families used to use them back in the prehistoric Cold Dark Room.

 

[johnandjade]

Oh, missed this post, sorry, John.
Rise above it, you are better than that.
Or alternatively get in a snit and skive.
I probably would.

i did as little as possible today (made target though) would have been away at 1600 but the gaffa, paul, in my placement had a rush job so I helped him out, i'm nice that way

depending on what i see on Monday i may call the company owner... I'm considering jumping ship to where i will be able to work to my potential

 

[johnandjade]

Yeah, whole families used to use them back in the prehistoric Cold Dark Room.

while knitting?

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

i did as little as possible today (made target though) would have been away at 1600 but the gaffa, paul, in my placement had a rush job so I helped him out, i'm nice that way

depending on what i see on Monday i may call the company owner... I'm considering jumping ship to where i will be able to work to my potential

I know how much you enjoy and take pride in your work.
You must do whatever is necessary to achieve what you're capable of and be happy.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

while knitting?

Probably, the evidence is very convincing as we have discussed.
But they used giant hedgehog quills as needles.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Probably, the evidence is very convincing as we have discussed.
But they used giant hedgehog quills as needles.

Giant hedgehog next to a modern one.

 

[Moozillion]

Hi, Adam!
All these wonderful posts on prehistoric animals has got me wondering (inspired by one of John's posts): Which of the prehistoric animals might have had nice soft fur or wool that I could make yarn for my crochet? The only one i can think of might be the Wooly Mammoth...

Speaking of which, what is the difference between a mammoth and a mastodon? They seem very similar...

 

[johnandjade]

I know how much you enjoy and take pride in your work.
You must do whatever is necessary to achieve what you're capable of and be happy.

i have actually sat and made a list of pros and cons before! I really should start out on my own but I really enjoy having a regular wage :/

 

[johnandjade]

Probably, the evidence is very convincing as we have discussed.
But they used giant hedgehog quills as needles.

I can only assume that's why we call em 'woolly' mammoths

 

[johnandjade]

Giant hedgehog next to a modern one.

yaweozzzahhh!!! thats a big fella