Re: Romerograms Re: Greg Paul's new (or newly named) iguanodonts

[John Conway <john.a.conway@gmail.com>]

T. Michael Keesey wrote:
> On Dec 7, 2007 8:01 AM, Richard W. Travsky <rtravsky@uwyo.edu> wrote:
> > An 8 mb graphic. Absolutely fascinating.
> >
> > http://www.lessthanevolved.com/histomap.jpg
> >
> > "Each fundamental Group or phylum is represented by a differently colored
> > strip...The horizontal width of any strip at any time suggests in a
> > general way the relative importance of that type at that time"
>
> [...snip...]
>
> This is awful in so many ways. (But, I agree, fascinating ... morbidly
> fascinating.)

I love these things, though I am yet to see one that wasn't essentially 
pulled out of some racist's arse.

I would like to see one done with clades, where the total width 
represents the total energy available on earth. The width of clades 
would be calculated based on the irrevocable energy loss of that clade.

Sort of a history of who wastes the most energy, which would be a 
substitute for the "dominance" these things like to show.

The whole thing done with raw biomass would also be interesting.

Seems like a lot of work though. It would also be largely guesswork, I 
suppose.

Cheers,
John

--

Palaeontography: http://palaeo.jconway.co.uk