Talk:Skybax

message: Don't the books clearly identify Skybax as (a variant of) Quetzalcoatlus? The pteranodons aren't Skybax, after all - if my memory doesn't deceive me, they're Guardians of the World Beneath, whereas the term Skybax is reserved for the pterosaurs that can be ridden (which the pteranodons certainly can't).
I hope I won't forget to check this the coming weekend, but until I do, perhaps someone else can verify (or debunk) these musings.
-pinkgothic 20:21, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Hi. Skybax is a species of quetzalcoatlus, but a fictional one. Another type of quetzalcoatlus, quetzalcoatlus northopi, is real, and according to the series, they can be ridden but not as well. The pteranodons are another type of pterosaur, but not the same as quetzalcoatlus. I'm not sure of what your exact question is, but the answer to the first part is, yes, skybaxes are a species of the genus quetzalcoatlus, but almost all of the species in dinotopia have real genusus but fictional species. Hope this clears it up. If you are interested in this topic, feel free to join WikiProject Dinotopia (link above). Thanks. ~AH1(TCU) 01:25, 29 June 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: If i am not mistaken, there are two kinds of quetzalcoatlus.  The first being Northropi, and the second being a smaller species.  My source for this is an issue of National Geographic, the May 2001 Issue.  In that article, there is a second smaller species with an 18-foot wingspan.  Compaired to a human, that sounds alot like a Skybax.  As for fictional Dinotopia species, the Skybax is the only creature that is given a different name.  All other dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures are infact authentic species (although they probably would have evolved to something different in real life).
Curst Saden 10:26, 16 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Hi. I have found that nearly all the animals and plants that have a full name (genus, species) in Dinotopia have a real genus, but a fake species. The same is true for skybax. At least 2 species, northopi (aka "northies") and skybax, are mentioned in Dinotopia. Northopi is real, skybax is not. Another example, Bix, is a protoceratops multilingualis (not sure about species spelling). Protoceratopses are real, but the species that Bix belongs to is not. Thanks. ~AH1(TCU) 19:18, 16 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Did you just ignore what i posted?  National Geographic states that Skybax did exist!  The only differance is that they don't call it Skybax in real life.  Look up the May 2001 Issue, it's there.  As for Bix, the multilinguis-thing is the only fictional species that i know of (I guess i missed that one).  
Curst Saden 13:58, 20 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Hi. There might be a real creature similar to skybax, but skybax itself probably isn't real. Of course they didn't call them skybax in the real world; nobody has ridden one. Bix is not the only fake species, what about those plants mentioned in the book Dinotopia? The plant that is arctic and makes you live very long, and the plant supposedly brought by Tulca (Tluca?), an aztec? Both these plants have real genuses, but fake species. Theres almost no way to measure a skybax, so its hard to tell which species resembles skybax. As a side note, where in the world is dinotopia, had it existed? I think an area east of Bermuda is a good candidate, because of the mid-atlantic rift (remember, "Geosaurus Fracture Zone?"). Also, I did not ignore what you said. Thanks. ~AH1(TCU) 13:53, 21 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: For heaven's sakes, this is FANTASY!!! Use your imagination!  Duh no one has ridden one but that doesn't mean id didn't exist!  And Arictum Longevus (the plant that makes you live a long time) and the other one are fake.  So what?  That's why you make an article for fictional plants!  The point is that plants are not pterosaurs, and there is more evidance to suggest Skybax was real than not.  One positive, clear fossil is all it takes.  National Geographic states that it had an 18-foot wingspan, which is much smaller than Northropi.  They only mention two species of quetzalcoatlus in National Geographic as does Dinotopia, so logically the beast had to have existed!  You measure the pterosaur by measuring the fossils!  Yes fossils can be damaged, broken, incomplete, but they obviously found one complete enough to estimate if not pinpoint the wingspan!  And Dinotopia's location is completly irrelevant to this discussion, though it is located in the Indian Ocean in the books, and (speculation only) somewhere around the Ycutan Peninsula in the miniseries.  Curst Saden 14:41, 21 August 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Just because "a smaller species existed" does not mean that species was Q. skybax by another name. The smaller species was only described as separate from Q. northropi in 1996, the first Dinotopia book was published at least as early as 1992. That's a gap of four years. You need a much better reference than just the fact that NatGeo says there were two species. Like, maybe, a comment from Gurney associating Q. skybax with the fossil remains. Otherwise it's just useless fanspec. 75.203.183.102 (talk) 01:40, 21 July 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Species