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| Bazookasaurus |
 Title text: In contrast to the deep booming sound associated with the cannon in pop culture depictions, recent studies show it actually made more of a 'toot toot!' noise. |
Explanation
As with 3185: Sauropods, this comic relates to the reinterpretation of fossil remains on the basis of new evidence, resulting in radical new understandings of the creatures involved.
Various dinosaurs developed impressive-looking spikes, plates, and the like, and the historical assumption has tended to be that these were used as offensive or defensive measures in conflicts with other dinosaurs. However, in some cases, later evidence has cast doubt on this, suggesting that the structures would have been too fragile or immobile to serve the purpose. Instead, it has been proposed that they may have been developed as a means of display, perhaps through a process of runaway selection. These new discoveries may be viewed as disappointing, revealing that "awesome" dinosaurs did not actually possess the combat prowess they were assumed to have.
This comic parodies this trend by showing a Bazookasaurus, a fictitious dinosaur, which apparently developed a structure that bears a remarkable resemblance to a bazooka mounted on its back. (The "bazooka" depicted is a somewhat stylized representation that is rather more intricate than its real-life namesake, including the addition of various additional bone growths.) Supposedly, paleontologists initially believed that this was an actual functioning bazooka that was used by the animal, despite some rather obvious problems that would be presented to it in terms of acquiring, loading, and firing ammunition. Further study has apparently shown that the structure would not have been robust enough to stand up to the forces involved in firing a bazooka, so could not have served any combat purpose. As with the real life cases, this has led to a revision of understanding, and it is now thought that the "bazooka", despite its appearance, served as ornamentation.
Vascularisation is the way in which veins form through tissue. Study of this can give clues to the type of tissue that would have surrounded the structures. In some cases it may indicate that they would have been highly susceptible to damage, rupture, leakage or hemorrhage, and therefore unsuitable for use as a weapon or a defense. A bazooka wouldn't typically have veins in it, so a vascularization study would show that there isn't enough blood flow.[citation needed]
The title text is referencing the fact that the calls of dinosaurs have been reappraised in recent years. Traditionally, and particularly in popular culture, they have been represented as having a deep roar or growl. This is probably through analogy with the majority of large fearsome animals that exist today, which have a tendency to make such noises. However, studies of the vocal apparatus available to them has suggested that they were more likely to make higher, more fluting sounds, similar to today's birds. The weapon bazooka was named for a loose resemblance to a musical instrument of the same name, which produced a tooting-type sound.
Transcript
- [โMegan and Cueball stand in front of a dinosaur fossil exhibit, with Megan gesturing at the fossil on display.]
- Megan: Although Bazookasaurus's distinctive structure was long assumed to be a weapon, vascularization studies show that it was very fragile and could only have been used for display.
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