STL Science Center

STL Science Center

04 October 2012

The Troubles of Indian Dinosaurs

Indian dinosaurs are rarely seen in the public eye. In America at least; I felt I needed to qualify that first sentence. It is not due to a prejudice against India, because no such prejudice exists, to my knowledge, in the paleontology fields. I cannot speak for everyone of course, but I cannot see the point in hating a dinosaur because of where it is found and therefore I have to stress the idea that I believe that the only reason that these dinosaurs are not popular is because they simply have not become popular. Popularity in the dinosaur world is like a roller coaster. Some dinosaurs became popular because they were found at the dawn of paleontology, then popularity fell on the largest specimens and moved on to the most impressive features of dinosaurs then back to size then to feathering potential, mummies, and size again and on and on. Rajasaurus, unfortunately, is not exceptionally large, strong, or in possession of unique features that make it stand apart from other dinosaurs, either in or out of its own family. The fact that the finding of the bones in the 1980's and the description of Rajasaurus in 2003 were not highly publicized is not the fault of the finders or authors. In India both events were most likely reported in the news and in America they were not; not, at least, in a wide spectrum of broadcasts. So how do we make a dinosaur like Rajasaurus more well known? The first way is someone saying that it is their favorite dinosaur and popular knowledge of the dinosaur will flow from that. The second is dedicated toys and books with perhaps some smattering of documentary involvement (no worries, I will not go on my Asian animals need a documentary rant today), which hopefully we will see for Rajasaurus soon. Right now, though, we have to make due with tribute videos on Youtube and some other small sightings in popular culture (like the rarely found toys), but not one of us knows what the future holds for Rajasaurus.

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