A Break from Tradition

[Dikiyoba]

That's right, I'm making a post count thread at 7000 instead of 7007. Welcome to the Defective Dinosaur Depiction Discussion! (Some of you will remember the thread that gave me this idea, but unfortunately the PPP is still down and so I can't provide a link.) Each day for a month*, I will be posting a brief description of a dinosaur that was reconstructed wrong. Some of these errors lasted a few years. Others lasted for over a century. Some of these errors were unavoidable, because they were the result of jumbled or partial fossil remains. Other mistakes are the result of pop culture oversimplifications or of paleontologists relying on what they thought dinosaurs "should" have been like. So let's begin!

 

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1. Stegosaurus

 

We all know about Stegosaurus. The plates along its back and the spikes on its tail are iconic, as is its tiny, walnut-sized brain. Its brain was so small it needed a second brain over its hind legs to help control its back end.

 

Actually: No one is quite sure what that swelling of the spinal cord was, but it wasn't to help with motor control. It actually appears in all stegosaurs and sauropods, not just Stegosaurus. It may have been a glycogen body, similar to those found in modern birds.

 

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*And by that, Dikiyoba means the next thirty days that Dikiyoba has Internet access, since Dikiyoba will be away for most of January and therefore unable to update this thread.

[Ephesos]

Woooooo! Yay! Huzzah! Etcetera!

 

Can't wait for Arrhinoceratops, which has the uncanny power to make people roll 20s.

[Randomizer]

Hooray for an educational spam milestone event.

[Op Op and Oll]

Actually, PPP isn't down, just the search engine. Since I have that thread on my board history, which I should really get around to publishing one of these years, here you go:

 

MMMMM

 

It was only five-and-a-half years ago!

[Triumph]

Ankylosaurus FTW! My favorite dinosaur. They are cute.

[The Mystic]

Congrats to Diki on reaching 7000!

 

*rereads Dikiyoba's first post in the thread*

That explains the name change; I guess that's what I get for reading the General board last.

[Tirien]

Too bad Alex isnt around anymore. He would quickly have turned this from a great thread to a awesome thread. With comics.

 

Congrats on reaching 7000 and becoming the 8th top poster!

[Xaiya]

Nice job. I'm sure each and every post was of useful content!

 

But what's with the no images?

[Dikiyoba]

I suppose I can do a few pictures as I go, if I can find something appropriate.

 

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2. Garudimimus

 

Garudimimus was a primitive ornithomimosaur, a group of small, ostrich-like theropods. Unlike most ornithomimosaurs, it wasn't a particularly fast runner. It also had a small horn on its head.

 

Actually: Garudimimus turned out not to have anything on its head after all. The horn was simply a misplaced skull fragment.

 

 

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Dikiyoba.

[Dintiradan]

Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES

Actually, PPP isn't down, just the search engine. Since I have that thread on my board history, which I should really get around to publishing one of these years, here you go:

MMMMM

It was only five-and-a-half years ago!

Didn't Alec also do a pseudo-science thread as well? Or was it history-based instead?

[Op Op and Oll]

Alec did. Pseudoscience Postravaganza. Maybe he did a history one too at some point? Probably. Dikiyoba's alliteration made me think of Thurilith's, though.

[aka Ravenwing]

Originally Posted By: Tirien

Too bad Alex isnt around anymore. He would quickly have turned this from a great thread to a awesome thread. With comics.

Aww… when did Alex disappear? That's a damn shame…

Anyway, congrats, Diki!

[Lilith]

Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES

Alec did. Pseudoscience Postravaganza.

that was actually me, although it was alec's idea

maybe that's why i never finished it

[Op Op and Oll]

Originally Posted By: Tirien

Too bad Alex isnt around anymore. He would quickly have turned this from a great thread to a awesome thread. With comics.

Congrats on reaching 7000 and becoming the 8th top poster!

Alex hasn't been around for over a year. (Last surviving post is from 2007, but he probably had some after that in General that were purged in October of 2009.)

Therefore, you have now revealed yourself as not-a-newbie-after-all. In case it wasn't obvious before. I have a pretty good idea of who you are, but don't worry... mum's the word. You should be more careful, though.

[Tirien]

Actually, its called reading the MMMMM thread. Which you provided a link for. I never even checked the forums untill about 8 months ago.

 

If I wasnt a newbie, then I wouldnt have been confused by the first mention of fluffy turtles on the conspiracy theory thread I made a while back.

[Op Op and Oll]

*whistles to self* ...de...fen...sive... *whistles*

[Dikiyoba]

Oh, Slarty.

 

Dikiyoba.

[Dintiradan]

Originally Posted By: Lilith

Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES

Alec did. Pseudoscience Postravaganza.

that was actually me, although it was alec's idea

Huh, okay. Alec must have done some other postcount thread then. I remember someone going around with "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" as their PDN for a while.

Or maybe I'm just confused again.

[Tyranicus]

Does anyone else think "Gerudo" when they see Diki's current PDN, and by association, Zelda?

[Tirien]

Instead of Garudimimus, I thought it was Gerudoimimus. This is why you shouldnt try playing Ocarina of Time for 3 days straight (and passing out on the second). I can still hear Navi yelling "Hey!" even today.

[Lilith]

Originally Posted By: Dintiradan

Huh, okay. Alec must have done some other postcount thread then. I remember someone going around with "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" as their PDN for a while.

Or maybe I'm just confused again.

that wasn't for a postcount thread, that was just a thing alec did sometimes

[nikki.]

Originally Posted By: Tirien

Instead of Garudimimus, I thought it was Gerudoimimus. This is why you shouldnt try playing Ocarina of Time for 3 days straight (and passing out on the second). I can still hear Navi yelling "Hey!" even today.

Listen!

(yeah, I see it now. Thanks Thad, you cucumber.)

[Op Op and Oll]

Nikki, will you be my valentine?

[aka Ravenwing]

No. He's going to be mine. You'll wait your turn, Slarty!

[Dikiyoba]

3. Vulcanodon

 

Vulcanodon was a small, early sauropod. Only one skeleton is known and the skull is missing. However, a few teeth were found with the skeleton. The teeth were unusually sharp, indicating that Vulcanodon may have been omnivorous.

 

Actually: The teeth belonged to an unknown therapod that fed on the Vulcanodon remains. Vulcanodon was almost certainly herbivorous. (The mix-up is slightly less silly than it sounds, but more on that later.)

 

Dikiyoba.

[The Mystic]

Originally Posted By: Tirien

Instead of Garudimimus, I thought it was Gerudoimimus. This is why you shouldnt try playing Ocarina of Time for 3 days straight (and passing out on the second). I can still hear Navi yelling "Hey!" even today.

I still play that game every now and again, and have had Navi shouting "Hey!" and "Listen!" echoing in my skull ever since--and I bought the game when it was still fairly new. The yelling I can handle, but if there's a way to disable Navi from bothering you at all (without rewriting the game), I'd like to know.

[Op Op and Oll]

Originally Posted By: A Disquieting Silence

No. He's going to be mine. You'll wait your turn, Slarty!

I was making a joke, you silly eggplant!

[Tirien]

Originally Posted By: Nikki.

...you cucumber...

Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES

...you silly eggplant!

Whats next, grapefruit?

[Enraged Slith]

Originally Posted By: Tirien

Originally Posted By: Nikki.

...you cucumber...

Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES

...you silly eggplant!

Whats next, grapefruit?

You can't stoop lower than eggplant.

[Tyranicus]

Ed has been gone for years. What's with the vegetable insults?

[Triumph]

Originally Posted By: Enraged Slith

Originally Posted By: Tirien

Originally Posted By: Nikki.

...you cucumber...

Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES

...you silly eggplant!

Whats next, grapefruit?

You can't stoop lower than eggplant.

You could always go dirt-low with some tubers or something, you ignorant rutabaga!

[Op Op and Oll]

You're all a bunch of... COCONUTS!!!!!!!!!!

 

N.B.: This post works much better if you read it Oprah style. But really, there's nothing low about these vegetables:

 

[Triumph]

Exeggutor??? Zounds, where's my Bug-type attacks?

[Enraged Slith]

[Op Op and Oll]

 

Edit: note the cunning combination of pokemon and legume.

[Rowen]

I see pokemon.

Click to reveal..

 

EDIT: What are Diki's thoughts on the Dinotopia books?

[Tirien]

Originally Posted By: Rowen

EDIT: What are Diki's thoughts on the Dinotopia books?

Didnt those get made into movies as well?

[Dikiyoba]

Originally Posted By: Slartucker

Edit: note the cunning combination of pokemon and legume.

Pumpkins are gourds, not legumes.

Originally Posted By: Rowen

EDIT: What are Diki's thoughts on the Dinotopia books?

Dikiyoba read a few of them several years ago. They were okay, but Dikiyoba doesn't remember much about them.

[Op Op and Oll]

Hmm. You're right, they aren't legumes, are they. Are they gourds, though? Wikipedia says they are gourd-like squashes.

[Tyranicus]

Originally Posted By: Tirien

Originally Posted By: Rowen

EDIT: What are Diki's thoughts on the Dinotopia books?

Didnt those get made into movies as well?

Not quite, there was a TV miniseries set in the same location many years after the books.

[Dikiyoba]

Originally Posted By: Slartucker

Are they gourds, though? Wikipedia says they are gourd-like squashes.

Dikiyoba thinks gourd can cover everything in that family. Legume can cover everything in the pea family.

[waterplant]

Are there any dinosaurs that have non-terrifying names?

 

Mouseyadon, or trichocatops perhaps?

[Tirien]

Originally Posted By: waterplant

Are there any dinosaurs that have non-terrifying names?

Mouseyadon, or trichocatops perhaps?

Mouseyadon reminds me of mickey mouse, which is terrifying. Trichocatops sounds like some horrifying medical procedure.

Besides, we wouldnt like dinosaurs if they didnt have terriyfing names, just look at barney. Everyone hates him.

[Lilith]

Originally Posted By: CRISIS on INFINITE SLARTIES

Hmm. You're right, they aren't legumes, are they. Are they gourds, though? Wikipedia says they are gourd-like squashes.

That's gourd enough for me.

[Matanbuchus]

oh you

[Dikiyoba]

Originally Posted By: waterplant

Are there any dinosaurs that have non-terrifying names?

Mouseyadon, or trichocatops perhaps?

Well, there's Bambiraptor. That's about it.

Dikiyoba.

[Micawber]

I swear I thought Dikiyoba had made that up. But nope, 16000 hits on google. Either Dikiyoba has been very busy, or it's genuine

 

In other unbelievable dinosaur names: Irritator, Minmi, Concavenator and Drinker.

[Tirien]

Originally Posted By: Micawber

In other unbelievable dinosaur names: Irritator, Minmi, Concavenator and Drinker.

This proves that the people who name dinosaurs need to get therapy. Who names a dinosaur Bambiraptor or Irritator, anyways? Maybe the scene from Bambi where that one deer gets killed scarred them for life.

[Dikiyoba]

4. Arrhinoceratops

 

Arrhinoceratops was a ceratopsian with a large frill and a horn above each eye. It got its name because its discoverers thought it didn't have a nose horn.

 

Actually: It did.

 

 

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Originally Posted By: Tirien

Who names a dinosaur Bambiraptor or Irritator, anyways?

Bambiraptor got its name because it's adorably small. Irritator got its name because the only known specimen was illegally collected and altered to be more impressive, and the paleontologists in charge of it were ticked when they found out. Minmi is named after the city where it was found. Drinker is named after a paleontologist.

 

Concavenator is a new dinosaur to Dikiyoba, but it appears to be named after the weird hump on its back.

[Rowen]

Originally Posted By: Tirien

Maybe the scene from Bambi where that one deer gets killed scarred them for life.

That "one deer" was Bambi's mom, and I still cry just thinking about it.