STL Science Center

STL Science Center

21 August 2014

Sometimes Popularity Escapes the Popular

Aside from being much talked about, many times illustrated, and even vaguely represented in a single movie/documentary (it is a loose documentary), Unenlagia and Neuquenraptor do not seem to be very popular potential synonyms. No books are devoted to either, though portions of a healthy number of different books are devoted to either one or the other with very little overlap of the two being mentioned in any single given volume. Strangely, and perhaps it is because it is an IMAX movie, there is not a lot of tie-in material to the vague mention of the "raptors" in the loosely based documentary either. No plush toys or anything! Obviously Unenlagia has made it around the museum circuit, as skeletal displays and reconstructions that have been shared this week show. However, models do not appear to have made it around that are labeled as Neuquenraptor. This may simply be an artifact of the more popular name just being popular. Regardless, Neuquenraptor and Unenlagia are widely known dinosaurs, potential synonyms, and the first South American dromaeosaurs; all important positions for the dinosaurs to occupy in the world of dinosaurs.

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