Timeline for Using dinosaurs as a mount
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
16 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Aug 8, 2018 at 7:14 | vote | accept | user53220 | ||
| Aug 3, 2018 at 6:02 | comment | added | John | pack animals were standard practice throughout the entire history of the legions, leaving them was a rare emergency situation, feel free to start a discussion if you want to talk about roman logistics. The point was an overloaded human is a slow inefficient creature that can carry very little (25% vs 50%+) compared to a good pack animal like a mule or ox. As I said people will use whatever llamas they have but many creature just make too poor of pack animal to actually be functionally useful (llamas), even fewer make effective mounts. | |
| Aug 3, 2018 at 5:32 | comment | added | jamesqf | @John: I think it's you who's missed the point. Yes, modern combat gear is overloading soldiers, just as loading pack animals to 50-80% body weight overloads them. Nevertheless, it was and is done, so obviously bipedal animals can do it. WRT Roman legions, the use of pack animals varied with time (and presumably mission). See e.g. the Marian reforms: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcina That they sometimes used pack animals does not mean that they necessarily had to. | |
| Aug 2, 2018 at 20:50 | comment | added | John | You seem to have missed the point , it was routine to load pack animals with half their body weight, records of up to 80% also exist. As for pack weight, even the army admits soldiers are overloaded. seattletimes.com/nation-world/…. Also you do know the romans and sherpas used pack animals right? In the case of romans 600-1200 pack animals (some of which pulled wagons) per legion. Your right few animals can carry their own food for long (oxen can mange about 18 days worth), hence wanting an animal that is easy to feed. | |
| Aug 2, 2018 at 19:07 | comment | added | jamesqf | @John: Making a pack of modern lightweight materials simply means that more of the total weight is devoted to cargo rather than the pack. The reasons for the lack of long-distance travel wasn't lack of load-carrying, see e.g. Roman armies, African safaris, Himalayan Sherpas, &c. (And horses &c can't carry their own food for more than a day or two, it's just that they can easily graze, most places.) WRT biological capacity, I carry ~25% for fun, backpacking, and certainly military pack weights don't seem to have done me lasting harm. | |
| Aug 2, 2018 at 15:05 | comment | added | John | Not when forced to whenever given the opportunity. They even have a defined social structure. merckvetmanual.com/behavior/… | |
| Aug 2, 2018 at 5:14 | comment | added | jwenting | @John cats are somewhat social when forced to, yes. But they're hardly pack animals, it's more like bears not fighting (much) when the salmon are running and they're all packed together on the shores of lakes and rivers to fish. | |
| Aug 1, 2018 at 21:18 | history | edited | John | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Aug 1, 2018 at 21:03 | history | edited | John | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Aug 1, 2018 at 21:00 | comment | added | John | Also you were exceeding your biological capacity just like loading a horse down half its body weight, and even then you were only carrying 25%. | |
| Aug 1, 2018 at 20:58 | comment | added | John | @jamesqf That was with a pack made of modern lightweight material. Humans make remarkably poor pack animals, we can't carry much beyond our basic needs. There is a reason long distance travel was rare in societies without pack animals. Humans are also upright bipeds, unlike dinosaurs. Also what is recommended for modern animal rights is different than what other cultures do, loading pack animals with half their body weight was fairly common based on historical records. | |
| Aug 1, 2018 at 16:57 | comment | added | jamesqf | I have to disagree with your point #3. I am a bipedal animal, and routinely carry ~25% of my body weight for long distances when backpacking. (And a good deal more when I was in the military.) For contrast, it's generally not recommended for a horse to carry more than 20%. | |
| Aug 1, 2018 at 13:47 | comment | added | John | cats are actually social, feral cats actually form colonies. They are not social hunters but they are social. | |
| Aug 1, 2018 at 7:09 | comment | added | jwenting | Some people say cats are domesticated, which would belie your herding argument. Myself, I'd rather say cats domesticated humans, which strengthens the herding argument :) | |
| Aug 1, 2018 at 6:24 | history | edited | John | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Jul 31, 2018 at 3:18 | history | answered | John | CC BY-SA 4.0 |