STL Science Center

STL Science Center

05 June 2014

Three Bones and Some Fame

The three main bones that the entire description of Becklespinax is based on are scant, though not the least number of anatomical elements that have ever been used to describe a fossil animal. Part of the fame of Becklespinax comes from the fact that Richard Owen attributed those three bones to Megalosaurus and a version of the dinosaur was commissioned with a humped back in the Crystal Palace gardens. Additionally, the popularity of Becklespinax is also due to the confusing history and changes of the name over time. Every time a dinosaur has its name changed it becomes media food and that tends to make the dinosaur more popular for days at the very least. In the more "popular culture" area, there are Becklespinax toys to help spread the love of Becklespinax to the world. Pokemon enthusiasts have even put Becklespinax on a fake card; obviously it would be more appropriate on a Digimon card. Becklespinax also shows up in a lot of amateur paleoart, which is pretty awesome some times. Not always, but some times.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Ian,

    Cool blog! I like your set-up of short posts each day discussing the dino of the week.

    I also wanted to tell you about the app my company just released. It's called Real World Dinosaurs and can be found in the app store by clicking Real World Dinosaurs

    I thought as a teacher you might find it useful, though I don't actually know what you teach. The app is great for all ages up through adults, as long as they love dinosaurs and want to know more about them. Plus, there’s always more to look forward to because new dinosaurs will continue to be added.

    I hope you and your readers will check it out and pass on the information. I look reading more on the dinosaurs of the week.

    Good luck with your paleo-career!

    All our best,

    Tamar and the CGMuse Team

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