Saturday musings: Which dinosaurs survived?

The ones that shrank the fastest.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/122888033

thanks to tblue37 for this article, which came to mind when I took the #1 photo of the Blue Jay which looked so Jurassic. I grabbed a few representative photos of dinosaurs being dinosaurs. Be glad they got smaller.

Birds are the remnants of the fastest-evolving group of dinosaurs.
The family tree of more than 1,500! skeletal characteristics over 50 million years, shows that the theropods—the carnivorous dinosaurs, including Tyrannosaurus, that would eventually become birds—shrank markedly at least 12 times. Starting from an average mass of 163 kilograms, the theropod suborder eventually produced the .8 kilogram Archaeopteryx, which is considered the earliest bird.

The theropods were the only group to continually push the envelope when it came to skeletal size. It's possible that herbivores simply couldn't shrink, since a plant-based diet requires a larger gut for digestion. Meanwhile, theropods could explore alternate resources, habitats, and even prey. "It would have permitted them to chase insects, climb trees, leap and glide, and eventually develop powered flight, "All of these activities would have led to novel new anatomical adaptations." So as the dinosaurs shrank, their other features evolved more quickly (which led to faster shrinking to take advantage of these new abilities, and so on).

Spring has sprung!

January moon was a bust for me

a few near hits, but February is a winner. These two are of the rising moon late in the day.

#1 on 2/20 at 17:51 is a Southwest flight having departed Fort Myers, destination Indianapolis at 32,000ft and 10 nautical miles.
#2 on 2/21 at 16:32, American approaching Tampa International(TPA) from DC at ~7000ft and 3.5 nautical miles.
Both with a 180-600 w/TC2.0 for 1200mm on a Nikon Z6ii

Analyzing Trump: 15 Logical Fallacies in 3 Minutes

I love Fani Willis

that's all

As a subset of my current obsession, Plane Spotting

I have a new slideshow gallery of a favorite type of photo where I catch the plane in a bank when the wing dips enough to give the impression we are flying alongside or close behind. Hope you enjoy: https://jamesdevore.smugmug.com/SPECIAL-SLIDESHOW/n-P57Kks

Teaser photo

I try not to bore with my fetish du jour, currently plane spotting, but............

every once in a great while something so striking and beautiful comes along.........

I was researching the arrival of Jill Biden to Tampa this week(she came in after dark sadly), when I saw this CC-330 Husky 330002 Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) version of the Airbus A330 MRTT(troop and cargo transport) on approach to Tampa International(TPA). Nancy, my co-pilot and I, dashed at above the legal speed limit to the closest favorite spot where I snagged Air Force 1 last year. Literally with 60 seconds to spare before coming into view, I was astounded at the beauty, rivaled only to me, by AF 1.

Most amazing experience Friday (for Plane Spotters)

Spectacular atmospheric and lighting conditions for something called "wing fluff", condensation forming on the wing at slow speed. On approach to Tampa International (TPA). A sampling, all can be seen at https://jamesdevore.smugmug.com/60-YEAR-JOURNEY-IN-PHOTOGRAPHY/A-LITTLE-BIT-OF-EVERYTHING/PLANESPOTTING

One more for a cold winter's day

Maybe something a little more dramatic for a cold winter's day