Re: Jurassic intelligence

["Terry Colvin" <colvint@CC.IMS.DISA.MIL>]

On Thu, 11 May 1995, Jim Giglio wrote:

> Maybe the dinosaurs _did_ develop an intelligent species, but we can't
> find any trace of it. They were "lords of the earth" for something like
> 200 million years. Suppose, toward the end of that time, there was an
> intelligent dino species that built things roughly equivalent to
> pyramids, office buildings, airports, cathedrals, etc.; then came the big
> wipeout. Would the artifacts of that civilization be expected to survive
> the intervening 65 million years or so, and be discoverable by today's
> paleontologists? Quite likely not; plate tectonics and the resulting
> vulcanism and earthquakes (not to mention bio-degradation) provide lots of
> ways to obliterate the artifacts of civilization.
>
> Consider also the fact that our species has only produced really durable
> artifacts (like pyramids) during the most recent 5,000 years or so of its
> history. During the preceding million or so years of our existence as
> hunter-gatherers, no such artifacts were produced. If we had been subject
> to the big wipeout about 10,000 years ago, would there be any evidence
> today of our past presence on this planet as intelligent creatures?
>
>                *==================================================*
>                | The clinching proof of my reasoning is that I    |
>                | will cut anyone who argues further into dogmeat. |
>                |--------------------------------------------------|
>                |   (Sir Geoffery de Tourneville, ca 1350 A.D.)    |
>                *==================================================*
>
 I can find no reason why the construction of dinosaurs would be totaly
wiped out when there own remains have been so easy to find.