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Old 06-17-2004, 02:12 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Madkins007
I really cannot see an Apatosaurus or similar dino eating grass like an ox when most scientists believe that theur teeth were probably made for browsing on twigs and such.
This is not especially important (after all, creationists can still claim "micro"-evolution of Apatosaurus ), but I'd like to mention that grass developped not until the Eocene (54-34 million years ago), long after the dinosaurs went extinct. So we won't expect that any dinosaur could eat/digest grass.
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Old 06-17-2004, 06:01 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lpetrich
I would not dismiss Behemoth outright; there are some large herbivores in that part of the world that approximately fit its description, especially if one supposes "tail" to be a bowdlerization of "penis":

Wild ox
Water buffalo
Hippopotamus
Rhinoceros
Elephant

Leviathan is a different story -- it may be a crocodile, but it seems more likely to be some mythical sea monster.
You are close as I have laboriously discovered. Having fallen in love with Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan 1651 for its immensely powerful literary device and manner of composition as much as its political arguments; I discovered that the Leviathan was a crocodile and Behemoth (incidentally Hobbes' much later account of the English Civil War) was a hippopotamus.
This would acceptably fill the period that such an account were written as opposed to some other fanciful suggestions. The Egyptians deified what they observed, so to did amalgams of other creatures form, but they all came from real animals.
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Old 06-17-2004, 08:02 PM   #23
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Originally Posted by Sven
I'd like to mention that grass developped not until...<snip>...long after the dinosaurs went extinct.
That even sounds stupid. So...all kinds of vegitation, and no grass of any kind, for how many millions of years?

That's absurd man, gimme a break.

Why don't you just say, the earliest evidence we have dates to the Eocene (54-34 million years ago). Yet it is not unlikely that there existed grass before then.
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Old 06-18-2004, 12:42 AM   #24
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We don't say that because it is very unlikely that grass existed before then! :banghead:

What's your problem with grass not existing anyway? There were other plants to eat before that, eg ferns. If it is just because you're a biblical literalist (or sympathising with their plight) then: (a) real science and scientists doesn't care about such people's personal ignorance, bias and incredulity; (b) if you get the "right" copy of the bible it doesn't translate the first genesis bit as grass but herbs - which could fit any ground plant.
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Old 06-18-2004, 01:06 AM   #25
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Originally Posted by Dust
That even sounds stupid. So...all kinds of vegitation, and no grass of any kind, for how many millions of years?

That's absurd man, gimme a break.

Why don't you just say, the earliest evidence we have dates to the Eocene (54-34 million years ago). Yet it is not unlikely that there existed grass before then.
you do realise don't you, that all plants are not the same?
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Old 06-18-2004, 01:08 AM   #26
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Originally Posted by Jet Black
you do realise don't you, that all plants are not the same?
I like mushrooms.

Joel
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Old 06-18-2004, 01:28 AM   #27
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Originally Posted by Dust
That even sounds stupid. So...all kinds of vegitation, and no grass of any kind, for how many millions of years?
That's absurd man, gimme a break.
So this sounds stupid to you and is absurd? Oh, then it is obviously wrong and the tons of evidence were somehow all misinterpreted or made up. I have to tell this to my fellow evolutionists.

Hmm, when thinking about it... an electron going through two slits at the same time surely also sounds stupid and is absurd. So quantum mechanics is also obviously wrong and the tons of evidence were somehow all misinterpreted or made up. Apparently I have to look for a new job.

But thanks for pointing out that things which sound stupid to you and are absurd are obviously wrong. Maybe I would have never realized this and even would have made a great career in quantum chemistry.

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Old 06-18-2004, 07:51 AM   #28
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After we finish the Bible, are we going to get started on Beowulf and decide whether Grendel represents a hippo or an elephant?

Not to be flip, but every ancient culture has had mythological beasts, and being mythological, they're generally bigger, stronger, and more impressive than the real ones people saw every day. "Here be dragons..." With one text and no context, and no obvious candidates, I don't see how we can pin it down.
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Old 06-18-2004, 08:22 AM   #29
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Originally Posted by Celsus
I like mushrooms.

Joel
So do I, especially morel mushrooms. However, mushrooms are not plants - they belong in the kingdom of fungi.

Sorry to be so pedantic. Back to your regularly scheduled ranting . . .

-jim
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Old 06-18-2004, 09:10 AM   #30
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Behemoth in mushroom sauce it is then! Now for the wine suggestions. Given that the behemoth would seem to be big and chunky, I think a red wine of some sort is in order. Whereas the leviathan might well be fishy and require a white wine. Do you think it would look good on a bed of parsley with slices of lemon?
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