Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Balrog of the sea
This is cool:
Fossil remains of a huge and fearsome marine predator, dubbed "Predator X", have been discovered in Svalbard, a remote Arctic archipelago....
Predator X had a head twice the size of Tyrannosaurus rex and its bite had four times the force, at around 15,000 kilograms (33,000 pounds). Its teeth were each around 30 centimetres (1 foot) long.
Call me an alarmist, but this seems like another reason to worry about global warming.
6 Comments:
By 
, at
Wed Mar 18, 08:41:00 AM:
So what were these guys doing roaming the Artic? And why are hydrocarbons, products of organic decay, below the Artic surface? Why were CO2 levels so high then?? Oh, like the Goracle states, the science is settled and beyond debate. Thanks for clarifying fat Al.
By 
Georg Felis, at
Wed Mar 18, 11:36:00 AM:
Another senseless victim of man-made global warming. A poor creature who wanted nothing more than to loaf around the warm waters of the ...um... arctic, eating plankton with his.. um... 30 cm teeth until the careless carbon spewing pre-pre-pre historic cavemen... Oh look over there! A butterfly!
By StLCard, at
Wed Mar 18, 12:09:00 PM:
Georgfelis - that, my friend, was a classic! Kudos, sir!
By Charlottesvillain, at
Wed Mar 18, 03:09:00 PM:
What's with the Chinese troll? Bizarre.
By GreenmanTim, at
Wed Mar 18, 04:45:00 PM:
It bears noting, given some of the assertions made her in the comments, that the sediments of the Svalberg Archipelgo were not always in the Arctic, and therefore the seas which covered them were not always cold. Call it the Continental Trickle theory, if you like...
By Foxfier, at
Sat Mar 21, 01:04:00 AM:
Looking here:
http://www.sysselmannen.no/hovedEnkel.aspx?m=45298
Svalbard was much closer to the equator than it is now. During the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods (25065 million years ago) it moved from latitudes 50° to 70° North.
Then here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_by_latitude#50.C2.B0_North
you'll find that it would be north of the US/Canadian border over 100 million years before they figure the creature died.
Given that the water in OR state isn't what I'd call warm, the slightly silly first few statements are fairly solid. ;^p
