Stock Dinosaurs: True Dinosaurs: Difference between revisions
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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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''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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[[Category:Stock Dinosaurs]]
[[Category:Tropesaurus Index]]
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