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Thagomizer
A thagomizer () is the distinctive arrangement of four spikes on the tails of Stegosauridae, stegosaurine dinosaurs. These spikes are believed to have been a defensive measure against predators.Carpenter, K., Sanders, F., McWhinney, L., and Wood, L. 2005. Evidence for predator-prey relationships: Example for ''Allosaurus'' and ''Stegosaurus''. Pp. 325-350 in Carpenter, K. (ed.) The Carnivorous Dinosaurs. Indiana University Press, Bloomington. The arrangement of spikes originally had no distinct name. Cartoonist Gary Larson invented the name "thagomizer" in 1982 as a joke in his comic strip ''The Far Side, Far Side'', and it was gradually adopted as an informal term sometimes used within scientific circles, research, and education. Etymology The term ''thagomizer'' was coined by Gary Larson in jest. In a 1982 ''The Far Side'' comic, a group of caveman, cavemen are taught by a caveman lecturer that the spikes on a stegosaur's tail were named "after the late Thag Simmons". The te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thagomizer
A thagomizer () is the distinctive arrangement of four spikes on the tails of Stegosauridae, stegosaurine dinosaurs. These spikes are believed to have been a defensive measure against predators.Carpenter, K., Sanders, F., McWhinney, L., and Wood, L. 2005. Evidence for predator-prey relationships: Example for ''Allosaurus'' and ''Stegosaurus''. Pp. 325-350 in Carpenter, K. (ed.) The Carnivorous Dinosaurs. Indiana University Press, Bloomington. The arrangement of spikes originally had no distinct name. Cartoonist Gary Larson invented the name "thagomizer" in 1982 as a joke in his comic strip ''The Far Side, Far Side'', and it was gradually adopted as an informal term sometimes used within scientific circles, research, and education. Etymology The term ''thagomizer'' was coined by Gary Larson in jest. In a 1982 ''The Far Side'' comic, a group of caveman, cavemen are taught by a caveman lecturer that the spikes on a stegosaur's tail were named "after the late Thag Simmons". The te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thagomizer On Tail Of Stegosaurus At AMNH In NYC
A thagomizer () is the distinctive arrangement of four spikes on the tails of stegosaurine dinosaurs. These spikes are believed to have been a defensive measure against predators.Carpenter, K., Sanders, F., McWhinney, L., and Wood, L. 2005. Evidence for predator-prey relationships: Example for ''Allosaurus'' and ''Stegosaurus''. Pp. 325-350 in Carpenter, K. (ed.) The Carnivorous Dinosaurs. Indiana University Press, Bloomington. The arrangement of spikes originally had no distinct name. Cartoonist Gary Larson invented the name "thagomizer" in 1982 as a joke in his comic strip '' Far Side'', and it was gradually adopted as an informal term sometimes used within scientific circles, research, and education. Etymology The term ''thagomizer'' was coined by Gary Larson in jest. In a 1982 ''The Far Side'' comic, a group of cavemen are taught by a caveman lecturer that the spikes on a stegosaur's tail were named "after the late Thag Simmons". The term was picked up initially by Kenne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thagomizer 01
A thagomizer () is the distinctive arrangement of four spikes on the tails of Stegosauridae, stegosaurine dinosaurs. These spikes are believed to have been a defensive measure against predators.Carpenter, K., Sanders, F., McWhinney, L., and Wood, L. 2005. Evidence for predator-prey relationships: Example for ''Allosaurus'' and ''Stegosaurus''. Pp. 325-350 in Carpenter, K. (ed.) The Carnivorous Dinosaurs. Indiana University Press, Bloomington. The arrangement of spikes originally had no distinct name. Cartoonist Gary Larson invented the name "thagomizer" in 1982 as a joke in his comic strip ''The Far Side, Far Side'', and it was gradually adopted as an informal term sometimes used within scientific circles, research, and education. Etymology The term ''thagomizer'' was coined by Gary Larson in jest. In a 1982 ''The Far Side'' comic, a group of caveman, cavemen are taught by a caveman lecturer that the spikes on a stegosaur's tail were named "after the late Thag Simmons". The te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stegosaurus
''Stegosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of herbivorous, four-legged, armored dinosaur from the Late Jurassic, characterized by the distinctive kite-shaped upright plates along their backs and spikes on their tails. Fossils of the genus have been found in the western United States and in Portugal, where they are found in Kimmeridgian- to early Tithonian-aged strata, dating to between 155 and 145 million years ago. Of the species that have been classified in the upper Morrison Formation of the western US, only three are universally recognized: ''S. stenops'', ''S. ungulatus'' and ''S. sulcatus''. The remains of over 80 individual animals of this genus have been found. ''Stegosaurus'' would have lived alongside dinosaurs such as ''Apatosaurus'', ''Diplodocus'', ''Brachiosaurus'', ''Ceratosaurus'', and ''Allosaurus''; the latter two may have preyed on it. They were large, heavily built, herbivorous quadrupeds with rounded backs, short fore limbs, long hind limbs, and tails held hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Far Side
''The Far Side'' is a single-panel comic created by Gary Larson and syndicated by Chronicle Features and then Universal Press Syndicate, which ran from December 31, 1979, to January 1, 1995 (when Larson retired as a cartoonist). Its surrealistic humor is often based on uncomfortable social situations, improbable events, an anthropomorphic view of the world, logical fallacies, impending bizarre disasters, (often twisted) references to proverbs, or the search for meaning in life. Larson's frequent use of animals and nature in the comic is popularly attributed to his background in biology. ''The Far Side'' was ultimately carried by more than 1,900 daily newspapers, translated into 17 languages, and collected into calendars, greeting cards, and 23 compilation books, and reruns are still carried in many newspapers. After a 25-year hiatus, in July 2020 Larson began drawing new ''Far Side'' strips offered through the comic's official website. Larson was recognized for his work on the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Timeline Of Stegosaur Research
This timeline of stegosaur research is a chronological listing of events in the history of paleontology focused on the stegosaurs, the iconic plate-backed, spike-tailed herbivorous eurypod dinosaurs that predominated during the Jurassic period. The first scientifically documented stegosaur remains were recovered from Early Cretaceous strata in England during the mid- 19th century. However, they would not be recognized as a distinct group of dinosaurs until Othniel Charles Marsh described the new genus and species ''Stegosaurus armatus'' in 1877, which he regarded as the founding member of the Stegosauria. This new taxon originally included all armored dinosaurs. It was not until 1927 that Alfred Sherwood Romer implemented the modern use of the name Stegosauria as specifically pertaining to the plate-backed and spike-tailed dinosaurs. From the time of their earliest description, the chief mystery surrounding stegosaurs was the function of their distinctive back plates. Marsh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kentrosaurus
''Kentrosaurus'' ( ; ) is a genus of stegosaurid dinosaur from the Late Jurassic in Lindi Region of Tanzania. The type species is ''K. aethiopicus'', named and described by German palaeontologist Edwin Hennig in 1915. Often thought to be a " primitive" member of the Stegosauria, several recent cladistic analyses find it as more derived than many other stegosaurs, and a close relative of ''Stegosaurus'' from the North American Morrison Formation within the Stegosauridae. Fossils of ''K. aethiopicus'' have been found only in the Tendaguru Formation, dated to the late Kimmeridgian and early Tithonian ages, about 152 million years ago. Hundreds of bones were unearthed by German expeditions to German East Africa between 1909 and 1912. Although no complete skeletons are known, the remains provided a nearly complete picture of the build of the animal. In the Tendaguru Formation, it coexisted with a variety of dinosaurs such as the carnivorous theropods ''Elaphrosaurus'' and ''Veterupris ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tail Club
In zoology, a club is a bony mass at the end of the tail of some dinosaurs and of some mammals, most notably the ankylosaurids and the glyptodonts, as well as meiolaniid turtles. It is thought that this was a form of defensive armour or weapon that was used to defend against predators, much in the same way as a thagomizer, possessed by stegosaurids, though at least in glyptodonts it is hypothesized it was used in fighting for mating rights. Among dinosaurs, the club was present mainly in ankylosaurids, although sauropods like ''Shunosaurus'' also possessed a tail club. The tail club is most often depicted on ''Ankylosaurus'', especially in encounters with larger predators such as ''Tyrannosaurus''. Victoria Arbour has established that ankylosaurid tails could generate enough force to break bone during impacts. In a separate study, Arbour suggested tail clubs as well as large armoured herbivores as a whole evolve when animals are too large to hide and too small to avoid predation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Strigiphilus Garylarsoni
''Strigiphilus garylarsoni'' is a species of chewing louse found only on owls. The species has no common name. The species was first described by biologist Dale H. Clayton in 1990. Host Its type host is the Northern white-faced owl (''Ptilopsis leucotis''). Distribution The type location is Ndola, Zambia. Etymology It was named after Gary Larson, creator of the syndicated cartoon ''The Far Side.'' In a letter to Larson, Clayton praised the cartoonist for "the enormous contribution that my colleagues and I feel you have made to biology through your cartoons." In his 1989 book ''The Prehistory of the Far Side'', Larson stated, "I considered this an extreme honor. Besides, I knew no one was going to write and ask to name a new species of swan after me. You have to grab these opportunities when they come along." Clayton wrote he honored Larson "in appreciation of the unique light he has shed on the workings of nature." See also * List of organisms named after famous people (bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Allosaurus
''Allosaurus'' () is a genus of large carnosaurian theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 145 million years ago during the Late Jurassic epoch (Kimmeridgian to late Tithonian). The name "''Allosaurus''" means "different lizard" alluding to its unique (at the time of its discovery) concave vertebrae. It is derived from the Greek (') ("different, other") and (') ("lizard / generic reptile"). The first fossil remains that could definitively be ascribed to this genus were described in 1877 by paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh. As one of the first well-known theropod dinosaurs, it has long attracted attention outside of paleontological circles. ''Allosaurus'' was a large bipedal predator. Its skull was light, robust and equipped with dozens of sharp, serrated teeth. It averaged in length for ''A. fragilis'', with the largest specimens estimated as being long. Relative to the large and powerful hindlimbs, its three-fingered forelimbs were small, and the body was balanced b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gary Larson
Gary Larson (born August 14, 1950) is an American cartoonist, environmentalist, and former musician. He is the creator of ''The Far Side'', a single-panel cartoon series that was syndicated internationally to more than 1,900 newspapers for fifteen years. The series ended with Larson's retirement on January 1, 1995. In September 2019, his website alluded to a "new online era of ''The Far Side''". On July 8, 2020, Larson released three new comics, his first in 25 years. His twenty-three books of collected cartoons have combined sales of more than forty-five million copies. Personal life Larson was born and raised in University Place, Washington, in suburban Tacoma, Washington, Tacoma, the son of Verner, a car salesman, and Doris, a secretary. He graduated from Curtis Senior High School in University Place and from Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, Pullman with a degree in communications. During high school and college, he played jazz guitar and banjo. Larson sa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fouquieria Columnaris
''Fouquieria columnaris'', the Boojum tree or ''cirio'' () is a tree in the ocotillo family,(Fouquieriaceae) whose other members include the ocotillos. Some taxonomists place it in the separate genus ''Idria''. It is nearly endemic to the Baja California Peninsula (both the northern and southern states), with only a small population in the Sierra Bacha of Sonora, Mexico. The plant's English name, Boojum, was given by Godfrey Sykes of the Desert Laboratory in Tucson, Arizona and is taken from Lewis Carroll's poem "The Hunting of the Snark". Description This plant is a columniform, upwardly tapering tree. The central axis of the plant is homologous to the single stem of other species. It has a cortical water-storage network, a feature unique to the family. The ''Fouquieria columnaris'' trunk is up to 24 inches (61 centimeters) thick, off-white in color, with few or no major branches and with numerous thin, twiggy branches sticking out at right angles, all covered with small le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
