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

[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.