WEEKEND SPECIAL: DINOSAURS AND PEACOCKS

For first time visitors, this blog generally features fairly serious commentary during the week. Most days, anyway. The weekends are reserved for guest features by animals in and around Goat Rope Farm.

This weekend we are pleased to introduce a new commentator, Castor the Adolescent Science Nerd Peacock. When not being chased by an older male of the same species or trying to impress the peahens with his immature display (the latter may or may not be related to the former), Castor is Goat Rope's official paleontologist in residence.

The subject of his commentary is the discovery of a new species of feathered dinosaur in China, which has been compared with peacocks.

We hope that features such as this will encourage the expression of (bio)diverse viewpoints and promote a greater appreciation of the humanities and the animalities.

CASTOR THE ADOLESCENT SCIENCE NERD PEACOCK ON FEATHERED DINOSAURS

Wanna see a dinosaur, baby? Well, you're looking at one. That's me--Terrible Lizardus Maximus.

In China, they found a bunch of dinosaurs with feathers including one that was 30 feet tall. And check out this picture too! It looks kinda like me!

And what do they compare it to? A Komodo dragon? No way! A crocodile? As if! They compare it to a peacock!

Which means not only were these guys cool and good looking--they were loud!

Check it out:

"Dinosaurs were clearly animals that liked to display to each other; that's why they had crests, horns and bumps," said Philip J. Currie, professor of dinosaur paleobiology at the University of Alberta. "Feathers almost certainly developed first as insulation in small species, but other dinosaurs surely started using them as display. A species might have crown feathers at the top of its head or feathers at the end of its tail."

Whether Gigantoraptor truly used feathers in this peacock-like way and why such a large animal retained its bird-like features remain mysteries.

Well, those guys are stupid. Sure they used them in a peacock-like way--displaying is cool!

But man, I would love to be 30 feet tall. Or even 60... First, I'd kick all the other peacocks' butts. Then I'd go on a rampage. Maybe eat some of the goats they have around here or that stupid looking dog or that cat. And like those people around here--I'd just poke my head through a second story and give em a good old peck or two. Maybe pick em up and shake em around a little. They look kinda tasty.

You could call me Peazilla! That would be awesome...

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED