How do they now that?

Einhard

So I'm watching Walking with Monsters, and it's all very interesting. I can see how most of the information about the creatures can be gleaned from fossils and other physical remains. However, they talk authoritatively about behaviour, and I'm curious as to how they know things. For example, they're talking about Dimetrodons and how they shook out the intestines of their prey before eating them. How can they possibly know this?

Adam Khor

Much of that is just speculation based on modern day animals; for example, the Dimetrodon's behavior in the show was heavily based off that of Komodo dragons.
Komodo dragons dislike fecal matter (don´t we all?) and so they will do exactly what the Dimetrodon in the show does; empty the intestines of it, and eat the entrails "clean" so to speak. There's of course no evidence that Dimetrodon did this; it's just an educated guess based on an animal today that has a similar size/body plan/assumed lifestyle.

The bit with the baby Dimetrodon climbing trees to escape the cannibalistic adults, and the females fighting for the rare nesting places are also based on the Komodo dragon.

Same goes for other animals in the show; for example, the lystrosaurs migrating across the river and being attacked by the Proterosuchus, I'm sure you recognized it as the wildebeests in today's Mara river, being attacked by Nile crocodiles.
The entire show is based on what was known about the prehistoric animals back then, and the behavior of modern animals.

Speaking of Dimetrodon, I've just posted an article about one of its actual hunting methods as suggested by fossils, check it out :B

Einhard

Cool, thanks for that. It's a great show.

Damn, just noticed I left a vital "k" out of the thread title!

Rubecula

Einhard wrote: »

Cool, thanks for that. It's a great show.

Damn, just noticed I left a vital "k" out of the thread title!

BUT you spelled Dimetrodon right