Stock Dinosaurs: True Dinosaurs: Difference between revisions
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{{Useful Notes}}
This text is about [[wikipedia:Dinosaur|dinosaurs]]. Dinosaurs are a grouping of animals tiny to large, bipedal or quadrupedal, eating plants, meat, or both, but ''always land-based'' (though spinosaurids and possibly the iguanodontian ''Lurdusaurus'' are believed to have been semi-aquatic). More precisely, this text is about ''non-avialian dinosaurs'', i.e. birds and primitive relatives of birds are excluded.
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''Deinonychus'' ("terrible claw") was (re)discovered in 1964. It lived 115--108 mya in North America and was one of the larger raptors, 11 ft / 3.4 m long and weighing 160 lb / 73 kg. It was described by John Ostrom in 1969 in an influential monograph that kicked off the Dinosaur Renaissance. Some years later, more complete remains of ''Velociraptor'' were found, showing that it was similar to ''Deinonychus'' (only smaller). Paleontologists began to debate if the traits ascribed to ''Deinonychus'' should be extended to all dromaeosaurids, or possibly to all theropods, or even to all dinosaurs. Also, one paleontologist claimed that ''Deinonychus'' and ''Velociraptor'' were actually the same taxon and that the species ''Deinonychus antirrhopus'' should be renamed "Velociraptor antirrhopus"; author Michael Crichton picked up this idea.
Works from before the 1970s ''never'' represent dromaeosaurids, simply because they were too obscure at the time. Between 1970 and the [[Jurassic Park]] mania in the 1990s, the most represented "raptor" (though not yet known as such) in popular culture was ''Deinonychus''. For instance, see [[Dino Riders]], [[Dinosaurs Attack!]], and the ''[[
At the same time that the name ''Velociraptor'' became popular, a new dromaeosaurid was discovered in Utah. This animal was older and larger than ''Deinonychus'', living 128--105 mya and being 23 ft / 7 m long and as tall as a human. It was named ''[[wikipedia:Utahraptor|Utahraptor]]'', beginning an awesome case of science culture [[Sure Why Not]] -- before [[Jurassic Park]], no genus of dromaeosaurids except ''Velociraptor'' had the ''-raptor'' suffix to its name. Since the film, paleontologists started to use it for naming most new dromaeosaurids.
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Lived in Northern Africa from 112 to 97 million years ago, during the Cretaceous Period. At present, this is the best candidate for usurping the royal title from ''T. rex''.
''Spinosaurus'' is one of the most recognizable theropods with its 5ft / 1.5 m tall spines on its back. In the most common interpretation the spines form a "sail" similar to that of the non-dinosaur ''[[Stock Dinosaurs Non Dinosaurs|Dimetrodon]]''. Some suggest they could also have formed a hump, but [https://web.archive.org/web/20130617152939/http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/dinosaur/2011/06/was-spinosaurus-a-bison-backed-dinosaur/ this is unlikely]. A sail could have been useful as a thermoregulating device and/or a display tool, and a hump could have been for display, making the animal seem larger.
''Spinosaurus'' was first described in 1915 by a German paleontologist, but its remains are very scanty: its skull is incomplete, and we have ''no limb bones''. In older drawings ''Spinosaurus'' had a tyrannosaur-like head; today it is generally accepted that it was crocodile-headed. Due to the fragmentary nature of its remains, the actual overall size is in debate; once thought the same length of an average ''Tyrannosaurus'' (40 ft / 12 m), many paleontologists wanted to set the length at 50ft / 15 m. Lack of real evidence for this left ''T. rex'' with the official record until the discovery of ''Giganotosaurus'' in the middle 1990s.
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=== The first named non-bird dinosaur: ''[[wikipedia:Megalosaurus|Megalosaurus]]'' * ===
[[File:megalosaurus_-_copia_7102.jpg|frame|[https://web.archive.org/web/20160322015501/http://pilsator.deviantart.com/ Buckland's Great Lizard]]]
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=== Other large theropods ===
Sorry, these ones aren't here. If you're looking for ''Tarbosaurus'', ''Albertosaurus'', ''Megaraptor'', ''Suchomimus'', ''Majungasaurus'', and so on, go [[Prehistoric Life/Dinosaurs/Large Theropods|here]].
== Bird-like / small theropods ==
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''Archaeopteryx'' has had a somewhat unique role among stock prehistoric animals: just like the Dodo is the icon of Extinction, ''Archaeopteryx'' has been that of Evolution. Within the long-lasting debate between evolutionists and creationists, the latter went so far to claim ''Archaeopteryx'' fossils are just fake.
According to [[Science Marches On|modern knowledge]] ''Archaeopteryx'' is just another feathered theropod (possibly a bird, possibly a deinonychosaur, possibly more primitive than either). <ref> One archaeopterygid skeleton with no signs of feathers was long classified in another theropod genus, ''Compsognathus'' (see later).</ref> It has a long tail, three claws on its forelimbs, running feet with an enlarged second toe claw, jaws with small, pointed teeth, and feathers. The main difference is that its feathers aren't just skin-covering down; it has flight feathers of very modern-looking shape in its wings and tail.
In media, ''Archaeopteryx'' is fairly established as the "first bird". It will fly like a bird, and perch like a bird, neither of which was possible for the real-life ''Archaeopteryx''. Media archeopteryges will lack the sickle claws on their feet, and possibly also their wing-fingers and teeth. Like deinonychosaurs, expect also to see them with a naked head, making them resembling “feathered lizards”. Actually, their head would have been almost totally feathered like deinonychosaurs and most modern birds (see [[Raptor Attack]]).
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=== Other small or birdlike theropods ===
Sorry, these ones aren't here. If you're looking for ''Dromaeosaurus'', ''Ornitholestes'', ''Therizinosaurus'', ''Mononykus'', ''Deinocheirus'', and so on (and the Liaoning feathered dinosaurs of course), go [[Prehistoric Life/Dinosaurs/Birdlike Theropods|here]]. Or [[Prehistoric Life/Dinosaurs/Other Small Theropods|here]].
== Long-necked plant-eaters ==
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haunts ''Apatosaurus'', as does the image of the short, round head.
Peter Jackson's ''[[King Kong]]'' [[
by having a newly-discovered dinosaur on Kong Island be named ''Brontosaurus''
in the [[All There in the Manual|special features on the DVD]]. A nice homage, but
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=== Other sauropods: ===
Sorry, these ones aren't here. If you're looking for ''Camarasaurus'', ''Mamenchisaurus'', ''Saltasaurus'', ''Cetiosaurus'', ''Barosaurus'', and so on, go [[Prehistoric Life/Dinosaurs/Sauropods|here]].
== Sauropod predecessors ==
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=== Other sauropod predecessors ===
Sorry, these ones aren't here. If you're looking for ''Massospondylus'', ''Anchisaurus'', and so on, go [[Prehistoric Life/Dinosaurs/Sauropod Predecessors|here]].
== Armor-bodied plant-eaters ==
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=== Other stegosaurians ===
Sorry, these ones aren't here. If you're looking for ''Kentrosaurus'', ''Tuojiangosaurus'', and so on, go [[Prehistoric Life/Dinosaurs/Stegosaurs|here]].
== Ankylosaurians ==
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=== Other ankylosaurians ===
Sorry, these ones aren't here. If you're looking for ''Euoplocephalus'', ''Polacanthus'', ''Nodosaurus'', ''Gastonia'', ''Scelidosaurus'', and so on, go [[Prehistoric Life/Dinosaurs/Ankylosaurs|here]].
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=== Mr. No-Horn: ''[[wikipedia:Protoceratops|Protoceratops]]'' * ===
[[File:Protoceratops BW.jpg|thumb|350px]]
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=== Other ceratopsians ===
Sorry, these ones aren't here. If you're looking for ''Torosaurus'', ''Centrosaurus'', ''Chasmosaurus'', ''Pentaceratops'', ''Psittacosaurus'', and so on, go [[Prehistoric Life/Dinosaurs/Ceratopsids|here]]. Or [[Prehistoric Life/Dinosaurs/Ceratopsid Predecessors|here]].
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pachys don't appear in works until the 1980s. The ur-example was
perhaps the 1988 ''[[The Land Before Time]]'' film where it shows up as a predatory villain
trying to kill
standard trait when pachycephalosaurs appear in works. It
used to be that males were shown trying to impress females by ramming their
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=== Other pachycephalosaurians ===
Sorry, these ones aren't here. If you're looking for ''Stegoceras'' and so on, go [[Prehistoric Life/Dinosaurs/Pachycephalosaurs|here]].
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=== Other hadrosaurs ===
Sorry, these ones aren't here. If you're looking for ''Hadrosaurus'', ''Kritosaurus'', ''Saurolophus'', ''Lambeosaurus'', ''Tsintaosaurus'', and so on, go [[Prehistoric Life/Dinosaurs/Hadrosaurs|here]].
== Hadrosaur predecessors ==
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''Iguanodon'' is one of the three animals along with ''Megalosaurus'' and the obscure ankylosaurian ''[[Prehistoric Life|Hylaeosaurus]]'' which were called "dinosaurs" for the first time in history (1842), by the English paleontologist [[wikipedia:Richard Owen|Richard Owen]]. ''Iguanodon'' was already identified in 1825, just one year after ''Megalosaurus'', by English doctor and fossil-collector Gideon Mantell. It was initially described from its iguana-like teeth and few other incomplete remains: hence its name meaning ''iguana's tooth''. But then, in 1877 about 40 ''Iguanodon'' skeletons were discovered within a coalmine in Belgium near the town of Bernissart, the very first "dino graveyard" ever found. Many other remains were later assigned to ''Iguanodon'' (often found outside Europe), but many have recently split in other genera (see [[Prehistoric Life]]).
Most dinosaurs have changed their look at least once: ''Iguanodon'' has done this ''twice''. The first attempt of reconstrution showed [https://web.archive.org/web/20121105070352/http://www.places-to-go.org.uk/crystal_palace_iguanodon.htm a huge dragon-like quadruped], and one of its thumbspikes was inaccurately put on its nose--this is justified by the very fragmentary nature of its original remains. <ref> The life-sized ''Iguanodon'' and other extinct animals were sculpted by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkings and shown to public during the 1956 Universal Exposition in London, in the famous Crystal Palace. A banquet was organized to celebrate the event… inside the still incomplete iguanodon model! Even though the palace got ultimately destroyed by a fire, the sculptures survived the incident, and are still visible in the eponymous park.</ref> After the discover of the complete skeletons from the "dinosaur mine" in the 1870s, the iguanodont became [http://www.google.it/imgres?imgurl=http://www.lindahall.org/events_exhib/exhibit/exhibits/dino/img/lyd1m.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.lindahall.org/events_exhib/exhibit/exhibits/dino/lyd1896.shtml&usg=__0Y-KACIfm7_8JzC-gSnQZE9TDW0=&h=400&w=351&sz=23&hl=it&start=6&zoom=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=Yq01dsT-TCbeAM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=109&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dupright%2Biguanodon%26um%3D1%26hl%3Dit%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-US%26rlz%3D1I7ADBF_it%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=IVRgTcm1CNCWOoOUjK4J bipedal and upright, but still reptile-looking], often shown with iguana-spikes running along its back, and with an overall theropod appearance. Finally, studies started in the 1970 and led by English paleontologist David Norman made Iguanodon returning quadrupedal again (though still capable to stay and run on two legs), and with cheeks hiddening the teeth in the living animal. <ref> Once, all ornithischian dinosaurs were portrayed with no cheeks and a wide mouth running from ear to ear, like saurischian dinosaurs: this was based on modern reptile, which are unvariably cheek-less. The shape of ornithischian jaws showed they could have had cheeks to store plant matter during th mastication, like modern herbivorous mammals. This is confirmed by the “hadrosaurs mummies”. If alive today, ornithischians’ head would resemble an [[Mix and Match Critter|ungulate mammal but with a beak]]</ref>. An excellent example of this new portrait is seen in Disney's ''[[Dinosaur]]'', which made ''Iguanodon'' the main character in the story -- [[Executive Meddling|exaggerating its horse-like look]] with ''fleshy lips'' instead of the proper bill.
Even though has been extremely common in dino-books and other non-fictional media, ''Iguanodon'' has not made significative apparitions in cinema or TV before Disney’ [[Dinosaur]] and [[Walking with Dinosaurs]] were broadcast during the XX-XXI century change. [[Rule of Cool]] easily explains why: with its generic look and weak weapons, it don’t bear the comparison with ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' jaws, ''Triceratops'' horns, ''Stegosaurus'' plates, “raptors” claws, or the immense size of sauropods. <ref>And some portraits could even leave the beak or the thumbspikes, making it even more generic.</ref> However, its historical and scientifical importance won’t ever be deleted in dino-fans’ consciousness, as no other dinosaur has run the whole two centuries of popular portraits: from Crystal Palace rhinos, to giant two-legged iguanas, up to Disneyan horses.
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=== Other hadrosaur predecessors ===
Sorry, these ones aren't here. If you're looking for ''Hypsilophodon'', ''Camptosaurus'', ''Ouranosaurus'', ''Tenontosaurus'', ''Dryosaurus'', and so on, go [[Prehistoric Life/Dinosaurs/Hadrosaur Predecessors|here]].
== More primitive dinosaurs ==
Sorry, these aren't here. If you're looking for ''Staurikosaurus'', ''Herrerasaurus'', Guaibasaurids, ''Eocursor'', ''Tianyulong'', and others, see [[Prehistoric Life/Dinosaurs/Primitive Dinosaurs|here.]]
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Stock Dinosaurs]]
[[Category:Tropesaurus Index]]
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