Post by Dachan-da (shiznit) on Oct 12, 2009 5:00:49 GMT -6
no i just miss the steady cash flow and the women, they were actually reasonabley intelligent..
with my art the income varies...
Ahhh, the steady cash flow! has it's perks! But a lot of down falls. For instance, how much my sanity can stand the battering of constantly complaining customers who don’t have a a sense of anything outside of there little bubble!
As for income from art, mine is steady but low. Because I’m still an apprentice in the tattoo shop i don’t get much money for the work i do, but when ever i sell any 'Flash' (generic work found on tattoo shop's walls) i make a bit more.......... But on a different note did you know that The megalodon (pronounced MEG-ə-lə-don, "big tooth" in Greek, from μέγας and ὀδούς), Carcharodon megalodon or Carcharocles megalodon (in dispute), was a giant shark that lived in prehistoric times during the Neogene period, and was a super-predator.
C. megalodon exceeded 15 metres (49 ft) in length and was by far the biggest and most powerful shark ever to exist. It is also recognized as the largest carnivorous fish known to have existed. From scrutiny of its remains, scientists conclude that C. megalodon belongs to the order Lamniformes. However, scientists are still debating which genus would be most appropriate for C. megalodon from the two proposed. Fossil evidence has revealed that megalodon fed upon large marine animals. According to Renaissance accounts, large, triangular fossil teeth often found embedded in rocky formations were once believed to be petrified tongues, or glossopetrae, of the dragons and snakes. This interpretation was corrected in 1667 by a Danish naturalist Nicolaus Steno, who recognized them as ancient shark teeth (and famously produced a depiction of a shark's head bearing such teeth). He mentioned his findings in a book, The Head of a Shark Dissected, which also contained an illustration of a C. megalodon tooth, previously considered to be a tongue stone. The great white shark is considered to be the closest extant analogue to C. megalodon. The lack of exceptionally preserved fossil skeletons of C. megalodon have forced the scientists to rely on the morphology of the great white shark for the basis of its reconstruction and size estimation.
Size estimation
Megalodon with the great white shark and a human for scale
Estimating the maximum size of C. megalodon is a highly controversial subject. The first attempt on reconstructing the jaw of this shark was made by Professor Bashford Dean in 1909. From the dimensions of this jaw reconstruction, the size of C. megalodon was hypothesized to be more than 25 metres (82 ft), but in the light of new fossil discoveries and advances in vertebrate sciences, this jaw reconstruction is now considered to be inaccurate. The major reason cited behind this inaccuracy was that in Dean's time, the knowledge of C. megalodon's dentition was relatively poor. However, to rectify such errors, scientists with aid of new fossil discoveries of C. megalodon and improved knowledge of its closest living analogue's anatomy, introduced more quantitative methods for estimating its size, which are based on the statistical relationships between the tooth sizes and body lengths in the great white shark.
Method proposed by John E. Randall
In 1973, the ichthyologist John E. Randall introduced a method to determine the size of the great white shark and extrapolated it to estimate the size of C. megalodon. The proposed method is: "Megatooth's" Total Length in meters = [(0.096) × (enamel height of tooth in [mm])]. The logic behind this method is that the enamel height (the vertical distance of the blade from the base of the enamel portion of the tooth to its tip) of the largest upper anterior tooth in the jaw of the shark can be used to determine its total length. The largest C. megalodon tooth in his possession at that time had an enamel height of 115 mm, which yielded 13 metres (43 ft) length. However, two shark experts, Richard Ellis, and John E. McCroker, pointed out a flaw in Randall's method in 1991. According to them, shark's tooth enamel height does not necessarily increase in proportion with the animal's total length. This observation led to proposal of new methods to determine the size of the great white shark and similar sharks with higher accuracy.
Method proposed by Gottfried et al
Three shark experts, Michael D. Gottfried, Leonard J. V. Compagno and S. Curtis Bowman, after a thorough research and scrutiny of many great white shark specimens, proposed a conservative but more accurate method for measuring the size of C. carcharias and C. megalodon, which was published in 1996. The proposed method is: "Megatooth's" Total Length in meters = − (0.22) + (0.096) × [(Tooth maximum height in [mm])]. Using this method, the maximum length of C. megalodon was calculated to be 15.9 metres (52 ft). This calculation was based on an upper anterior C. megalodon tooth discovered by L. J. V. Compagno in 1993, which had a maximum height of 168 mm (6.61 inch). It was the biggest tooth in the possession of this team at the time. The maximum tooth height in this case is measured as a vertical line from the tip of the crown to the bottom of the lobes of the root, parallel to the long axis of the tooth. In short words, the maximum height of the tooth is assumed to be its slant height.
Body mass estimation
Gottfried et al, also introduced a method to determine the body mass of the great white shark after studying the length – mass relationship data of 175 specimens at various growth stages and extrapolated it to estimate the body mass of C. megalodon. The proposed method is: Weight in kilogram = 3.29E−06[TL in (meters)3.174]. And according to this method, a 15.9 metres (52 ft) long specimen would have a body mass of about 47 metric tons (52 short tons).
Method proposed by Clifford Jeremiah
Shark researcher, Dr. Gordon Hubbell, asserts that no formula based on statistical relationships between the height of the tooth and body length in sharks is accurate. He pointed out that the shark teeth can vary in height within the jaws of sharks of similar sizes even from the same genus. However in 2002, shark researcher, Dr. Clifford Jeremiah, also proposed a method to determine the size of great white shark and similar sharks (i.e. C. megalodon), which is considered to be reliable. The proposed method is: "Megatooth's" Total Length in feet = [(Root width of an upper anterior tooth in [cm]) x (4.5)]. It translates as for every centimeter of root width of an upper anterior tooth, there is approximately 4.5 feet of the shark. Dr. C. Jeremiah asserts that the jaw perimeter of a shark is directly proportional to its total length, with the width of the roots of the largest teeth being a proxy for estimating jaw perimeter. The largest tooth in the possession of Dr. C. Jeremiah had a root width of nearly 12 cm, which yielded a 15.5 metres (51 ft) size.
The largest C. megalodon?
In the light of new fossil discoveries, experts now believe that C. megalodon exceeded 17 metres (56 ft) in length. According to a hypothesis presented by Gottfried et. al, in 1996, C. megalodon could likely approach a maximum length of 20.3 metres (67 ft), and would have a body mass of 103 metric tons (114 short tons) on the basis of shark weight measuring technique suggested by the same team. In later years, some C. megalodon teeth have been discovered which may yield comparable estimates. A popular example cited is of a massive upper anterior C. megalodon tooth, discovered and excavated by a deceased fossil hunter, Vito Bertucci, and is now part of the private collection of Dr. Gordon Hubell. This tooth has a slant height of 7.37 inch (18.73 cm) and a root width of 5.5 inch (13.97 cm). (See "external links" below)
To date, reports of even larger C. megalodon teeth persist. A modern jaw reconstruction of C. megalodon is based on such teeth and it depicts a body length of over 23 metres (75 ft). (See "external links" below)
Hence, from the research of several scientists, it is clear that C. megalodon is the largest macropredatory shark that has ever lived and is among the largest fishes known to have existed.[8]
[edit] Jaw dentition
/wiki/File:Megalodon_jaws.jpg /wiki/File:Megalodon_jaws.jpg
/wiki/File:Megalodon_jaws.jpgReconstructed Megalodon jaws on display at the National Aquarium, Napier, New Zealand. The man in the picture is 5'10"/1.78m
A team of Japanese scientists, T. Uyeno, O. Sakamoto, and H. Sekine, discovered and excavated the partial remains of a C. megalodon, with nearly complete associated set of its teeth, from Saitama, Japan in 1989.[5] Another nearly complete associated C. megalodon dentition was excavated from Yorktown formations of Lee Creek, North Carolina in USA and served as the basis of a jaw reconstruction of C. megalodon in American Museum of Natural history in NYC.[8] These associated tooth sets solved the mystery of determining the exact number of teeth, which would be present in the jaws of the C. megalodon in each row in real life. Hence, highly accurate jaw reconstructions were now possible. More associated dentitions of C. megalodon have also been found in later years. Based upon these discoveries, two scientists, S. Applegate and L. Espinosa, published an artificial dental formula (representation of dentition of an animal with respect to types of teeth and their arrangement within the animal's jaw) for C. megalodon in 1996.[5][8] Most accurate modern C. megalodon jaw reconstructions are based on this dental formula.
.................. well ill be buggerd! ;D