tf2godz said:
Funny thing about the "losing their feathers when they grow up theory." for T. rex, From what I've heard feathers are highly evolved scales as such they don't really have scales under them. So if that theory is true they would look less like dragon and more like a plucked chicken.
I've heard the same thing.
...though I will agree with feather-haters on one point. Tiny little wings on t-rex make those dainty little arms even more dorky-looking. I don't hate them, per se, and I think if I met one I'd be more concerned with that giant mouth for a head than any sized wings, but still. Hollywood's gonna have a hard time selling that. (Unless they, like, make the t-rex wings extend far out or something, like wings that look like swords. To, you know, scare the enemy and stuff.)
jademunky said:
They weighed about 15 kilos and came to 3 feet high at most. I think you'd be fine so long as you did not try to hug it.
I dunno... even at such small proportions, that claw is still the size of a kitchen knife. And people like to joke about how they're just like big chickens when they have feathers, well... I interned on a farm for a few months, and one of my duties was to gather chicken eggs. This wasn't a factory farm, either, this was the real deal. I'll spare the details of the setup, but the result is that these were about as healthy as domestic chickens can get. And let me say this, some of the hens weren't exactly pleased with us moving them around to gather up the eggs that they were often laying on. They can get pretty snippy sometimes; I had to wear a special glove because I have heightened sensitivity to pain. And THAT'S not even getting into what I sometimes saw roosters do to hens. Let's just say that some hens had feathers missing from their shoulders.
Basically, even when domesticated, chickens can be
fierce. Sure, even their wild fowl ancestors wouldn't have posed much of a threat to humans, but then again, chickens don't have teeth, tails, or terrible claws. Yeah, velociraptors would probably try running from you first, but if you cornered one and didn't have any weapons, I'm betting you'd at minimum get seriously hurt.
I mean, it's not like it's unprecedented for there to be incidents of serious injury (or death on VERY rare occasions) from modern bird attacks.