Paleontology nerd here. There isn't an official term for the tail spikes, but thagomizer is pretty much an unoffcial official term.
this post was submitted on 30 Oct 2023
818 points (99.2% liked)
Funny
6983 readers
1384 users here now
General rules:
- Be kind.
- All posts must make an attempt to be funny.
- Obey the general sh.itjust.works instance rules.
- No politics or political figures. There are plenty of other politics communities to choose from.
- Don't post anything grotesque or potentially illegal. Examples include pornography, gore, animal cruelty, inappropriate jokes involving kids, etc.
Exceptions may be made at the discretion of the mods.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
I mean... if you don't have an official term for it, but basically everyone in your field calls it a thagomizer, does that not make thagomizer the official term? If not, what makes a term "official"?
Well, whats the official term? If its just tail spikes I will be very disappointed
I think they just said there isn't an official term
Oh I'm an absolute buffoon, I thought he said THAT isn't the official term
Haha no worries at all :)
ok but what's the official term?
Pretty much. Thagomizer is used in literature, but not always. I would say it is officially recognized, but semi-officially used
I just got the notification for this, sorry. There isn't a real official term other than tail spikes, but iirc thagomizer has been used in literature, such as this paper describing a new specimen of a stegosaur from Portugal and its impacts on the taxonomy of stegosaurs
For anyone who was also wondering how accurate this is. Pretty accurate.
Nothing has ever made more sense. Wander around a college science department during his heyday and they basically wallpapered the place in The Far Side.
The Far Side is still my favorite comic. I think we need to continue the wallpapering.
RIP Thag
F for thag
Wasn't sure about this, felt like an online myth, so checked it out on Wikipedia. Seems legit. On a related note, found quite the rabbit hole on that article:
Other scientific terms first used in fiction:
- Boojum tree
- Crash bandicoot
- Flange as the collective noun for baboons
- Horrendous Space Kablooie
- Quark
- Shmoo
- Snark
- Sonic
- Waldo
they names something after the Ferengi Bartender on DS9?
https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/quark
The name 'quark' has its origin in James Joyce's book 'Finnegans Wake'
I adore hearing stories about the mutual fandom - of eachother - between Gary Larson and the scientific community.
This made me less angry. Now someone should come up with a fitting name for the set of plates.
Surely those have a name!