Paging the palaeontologists

[matgb]

Via theweaselking, Palaeos Vertebrates: Glossary Ta - Th:

Thagomizer: this started out as a Far Side joke, but has now more or less become a part of the serious anatomical literature. The thagomizer is the, otherwise difficult to describe, collection of spikes at the end of a stegosaurid's tail. It is named after the late Thag

Is that for real?

Comments

[tinuvielberen.livejournal.com]

I Googled it - seems to be genuine, though one source said the term hadn't appeared in any "peer-reviewed journals."

Weirder things have happened in science, however. Are you familiar with the Sonic Hedgehog gene?

[matgb]

Um, sonic hedgehog gene? That sounds too weird to be true. *googles*

Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear. My brain just melted.

[tinuvielberen.livejournal.com]

The first time I saw Sonic Hedgehog in a scientific paper, I was convinced the author's teenage kid had got into the manuscript and played a joke.

It's actually one of the most important genes in neural development. Killjoys abbreviate it Shh, and people with absolutely too much time on their hands advocate changing the nomenclature of this family of genes. I hope they never succeed.

Oh, and do you know what holds quarks together?

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

See, Mat? Having a grade A SmartArse like Dr Beren on your F-list is a GOOD thing... ;)

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Scientists love Larson. You're aware there's a dung beetle species named for him?

[matgb]

Really? Weird. I mean, makes sense, but still.

[lokean.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's really a term used by paleobiologists; I don't know if it's been used in peer reviewed papers but it has appeared in print in a popular science periodical (New Scientist, July 2006).

[matgb]

Ow. Or s it cool. I know not. It's still weird.

[innerbrat]

I'm not answering this question until you put a's into the post subject and tag.

[matgb]

Says the girl using the grocer's comma? Yeah, um, I kan spel rite, I jus forgot...

[innerbrat]

"comma"?

Lower case single letter plural. The jury is out on it, but frankly, "as" looks like a word. So bite me.

[matgb]

Apostrophe. Like whatever. No coffee yet. What were you expecting?

[matgb]

Also? When looking at your dinosaurs tag because it would give me the proper spelling quick like, I found your link to punch & pie. I meant to do other things this morning before going to work...

[innerbrat]

I used that icon for a reason, you know.

Um, I mean. Muahahahahaha!

[davegodfrey.livejournal.com]

Have you never been introduced to Molecules with Silly Names? (http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/sillymolecules/sillymols.htm) Clever Gene Names? (http://tinman.nikunnakki.info/) or Curiosities of Biological Nomenclature? (http://home.earthlink.net/~misaak/taxonomy.html)

Still I'm glad you know about the awesomeness of Palaeos.

[matgb]

I had not, in fact, seen any of those; BA, remember? I blame the grammar school system.

More links to click, ouch...