User talk:FunkMonk

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Big cats

One for the felid-fanciers and artists: https://archive.org/details/TheBigCatsAndTheirFossilRelativesAnIllustratedGuideToTheirEvolutionAndNaturalHistoryByAlanTurner Regards, William Harris • (talk) • 11:40, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

Ouch, that can't be legal! I better, ehm, "read" it when I get home, before it gets taken down... By the way, there's a similar book illustrated by Antón about canids:[1] I was wondering whether there may be a more up to date general description of the dire wolf in that.... FunkMonk (talk) 11:53, 7 April 2017 (UTC)

Are you cat fanciers across this one: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/06/first-fossil-footprints-saber-toothed-cats-are-bigger-bengal-tiger-paws Regards, William Harris • (talk) • 04:49, 19 April 2017 (UTC)

Ah, yep, I added a bit of that to the Smilodon article last year, though it doesn't seem to be "validly" published yet... And actually, I wouldn't say I'm necessarily more of a cat-person than a dog-person, I've had more dogs than cats in my life... FunkMonk (talk) 08:46, 19 April 2017 (UTC)

While I was exploring the research on Dire wolf, I realized that I had quite a bit of Smilodon info in memory as well - I decided to add some of it to that article. Regards, William Harris • (talk) • 08:52, 19 April 2017 (UTC)

With an animal as well-known as this, the supply of available information is almost unlimited, so it's hard to keep track, even though we were two nominators at that FAC. Good with some supplements! FunkMonk (talk) 09:07, 19 April 2017 (UTC)

People want to know when the last one of any prehistoric mammal went extinct - I think that it gives them a feeling of how close they are to "touching" one. I am always fascinated that there were mammoths alive while the ancient Egyptians began to build pyramids. Regards, William Harris • (talk) • 11:10, 19 April 2017 (UTC)

Agreed, even with something like the thylacine, I was always amazed that my grandparents were alive when it still existed. FunkMonk (talk) 12:09, 19 April 2017 (UTC)

Don't get me started on the Thylacine. I have hiked alone for ten days in the very remote Central Plateau of Tasmania and seen things that just don't add up. Regarding Dire wolf, I have used the measurement "meter" to humour our North American cousins, yet the {{convert template delivers the word "metre", so there is an inconsistency in the article. Let us see if anyone picks it up. If they do, we go with "a la Francais". Regards, William Harris • (talk) • 21:56, 20 April 2017 (UTC)

That sounds like quite an adventure! Any interesting stories or photos? Incidentally, one of my proudest "Wikipedia-moments" was when I discovered this footage of live thylacines was in the public domain and subsequently edited it together and uploaded it here:[2] As for measurements, if it's a problem with the templates, I'm sure there's some parameter that can be turned on and off to change the spelling, otherwise you can turn on abreviations so it just says "m"... FunkMonk (talk) 08:22, 21 April 2017 (UTC)

The remote mountains of Tasmania I describe as beautiful, haunting, and brutal. If you are not prepared for it, a change of weather conditions can take your life, as it does with some hikers each year. No photos; I don't want anyone to be able to identify the area. Let us just say that on a very flat area of green grass between two large lakes there were kangaroo bones. A lot of kangaroo bones. This was not some form of "elephant graveyard", this was a hunting ground. But of what? Not Tassie Devils, the roos were too large, they bring down the much smaller Bennet's wallaby. No wild dogs out there, they would have returned back to humankind in their first winter, or others would have heard their barking at some time. A large predator(s) was at work. Later, up in a high rocky area of a hill nearby, I heard what sounded like a giant "possum" calling across the valley. I have no idea what it was, but I assume it was a large marsupial. A large marsupial that was not a Devil, as I know their call. I have my thoughts as to what might still be out there, operating only at night as they were known to do, staying away from humans and tracks as they were known to do, and staying away from muddy areas because they did not like wet feet, therefore leaving no prints. Time will tell. Nice work on their videos, by the way. Regards, William Harris • (talk) • 10:04, 21 April 2017 (UTC)

Cool! I've also thought it would be more likely to find survivors on Tasmania than on the Australian mainland, where they were not historically seen by Europeans anyway. And no dingoes on Tasmania either, I reckon... As an Australian, I should have known you'd have a special connection to the local, extinct canid convergents! FunkMonk (talk) 10:35, 21 April 2017 (UTC)

I have to laugh when people show a grainy photo to the media of something they believe is a thylacine in the daytime, and also teams that go out with their camping gear looking for their "tracks". If they were to go out with night-vision goggles and infrared cameras, I would take those teams a little more seriously. People need to read the historical sources to ascertain how the thylacine operated in its environment (ie its adaptation). Of interest from my last trip, thylacines don't like sheep, they prefer roos. However, two sheep were found with their throats ripped out and something had torn from where the throat was down inside the chest cavity to remove the heats - the most prized part. There is only one predator on record known to have hunted in this way - that is their opening move on roos. Regards, William Harris • (talk) • 23:10, 21 April 2017 (UTC)

Hehe, I wonder what you thought of this video:[3] FunkMonk (talk) 01:47, 22 April 2017 (UTC)

You might have an interest in this website to explore. You can download 3D data to bring up onscreen a model which can be rotated in 360 degrees. I will start you off with a Pleistocene wolf article. http://morphomuseum.com/Articles/view/15 Regards, William Harris • (talk) • 10:11, 24 April 2017 (UTC)

Wow, that's cool! Especially since I'm working in a 3D animation program right now, almost tempted to sneak one of those skulls into the movie, hehe... FunkMonk (talk) 10:15, 24 April 2017 (UTC)

I thought it might appeal to your artistic side in addition to the palaeo side. There is a software download on the main page. One could always manipulate some of the content "as a guide" for other purposes. Regards, William Harris • (talk) • 21:34, 24 April 2017 (UTC)

Yep, I've done so with dinosaur 3D scans in the past. Mammals are just much trickier to reconstruct due to their fleshy faces... It is hard to figure out how far the tissue would have extended, unless you really know the facial anatomy of living relatives. FunkMonk (talk) 09:14, 27 April 2017 (UTC)

Speedy deletion nomination of Agassizodu

Hello FunkMonk,

I wanted to let you know that I just tagged Agassizodu for deletion in response to your request.

If you didn't intend to make such a request and don't want the article to be deleted, you can contest this deletion, but please don't remove the speedy deletion tag from the top.

You can leave a note on my talk page if you have questions.

Xx236 (talk) 11:43, 26 April 2017 (UTC)

Thanks, yeah, I rarely DR anything, so I'm not sure where to get the tags... FunkMonk (talk) 12:37, 26 April 2017 (UTC)

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Happy Birthday FunkMonk!

tomorrow is your 10th birthday on wikipedia, i hope you can enjoy it! don't forget that in your 10th birthday THYLACOLEO RETURNS! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Justcallmesam (talk • contribs) 12:42, 30 April 2017 (UTC)

Hehe, thanks, how were you able to make the calculation? FunkMonk (talk) 12:50, 30 April 2017 (UTC)

you joined wikipedia in may 1 2007 so this day Thylacoleo returns — Preceding unsigned comment added by 113.91.208.30 (talk) 03:49, 1 May 2017 (UTC)

I hope! FunkMonk (talk) 08:15, 1 May 2017 (UTC)

Merger discussion for List of Dimetrodon species and Dimetrodon borealis

Articles that you have been involved in editing—List of Dimetrodon species and Dimetrodon borealis —have been proposed for merging with another article. If you are interested, please participate in the merger discussion. Thank you. 65.255.88.233 (talk) 01:15, 8 May 2017 (UTC)