Editing 1104: Feathers
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
− | {{w|Dinosaur}}s have been a fascinating topic in popular science and have captivated children's interest since the first fossils were discovered in modern times, around the 1700s; prior discoveries in China and elsewhere were thought to be the bones of dragons or other mythical creatures. The success of the ''{{w|Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park}}'' movies perpetuated an erroneous understanding of the physical characteristics of dinosaurs. Since the first movie of that series, scientific evidence has emerged suggesting that {{w|Dromaeosauridae}}, or " | + | {{w|Dinosaur}}s have been a fascinating topic in popular science and have captivated children's interest since the first fossils were discovered in modern times, around the 1700s; prior discoveries in China and elsewhere were thought to be the bones of dragons or other mythical creatures. The success of the ''{{w|Jurassic Park (film)|Jurassic Park}}'' movies perpetuated an erroneous understanding of the physical characteristics of dinosaurs. Since the first movie of that series, scientific evidence has emerged suggesting that {{w|Dromaeosauridae}}, or "raptors", the main antagonists of that movie, looked quite different from their animatronic and CGI versions. In particular, they are now known to have been much smaller, and are believed to have had feathers and even wings, as evidenced by quill nobs observed on the arms of raptors. |
+ | [[File:Deinonychus (Raptor Prey Restraint).jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Artist's impression of a "raptor prey restraint" as suggested by Fowler et al. (2011), and described by the child in the comic. (from Wikimedia Commons)]] | ||
[http://denverfowler.com/ Denver W. Fowler] is among the scientists who support this hypothesis. (incidentally, a "{{w|Fowler}}" is a hunter of wildfowl/birds) The comic refers to [http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0028964 a publication by him and his colleagues] ("{{Wiktionary|et al.}}"), in the ''{{w|PLoS ONE}}'', an online scientific journal ("PLoS" stands for "Public Library of Science"). | [http://denverfowler.com/ Denver W. Fowler] is among the scientists who support this hypothesis. (incidentally, a "{{w|Fowler}}" is a hunter of wildfowl/birds) The comic refers to [http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0028964 a publication by him and his colleagues] ("{{Wiktionary|et al.}}"), in the ''{{w|PLoS ONE}}'', an online scientific journal ("PLoS" stands for "Public Library of Science"). | ||
− | [[Megan]] believes this new model of the appearance of raptors makes them much less cool, but the way in which | + | [[Megan]] believes this new model of the appearance of raptors makes them much less cool, but the way in which the child reformulates the facts to make them seem like even more vicious predators re-ignites her interest and makes the new raptors seem like even better candidates for a good action thriller movie than the original version. Thus the phrase "the past keeps getting cooler". |
− | Clicking on the original cartoon links to [ | + | Clicking on the original cartoon links to [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qpdk-U8fI0 a YouTube video] of a bird of prey (in this case a {{w|Secretarybird}}) using its wings for stability while standing on top of a struggling prey, from which one can easily envision instead a raptor upon its prey — especially in case of some kind of "raptorphobia", as for [[Randall]] (see comics [[87: Velociraptors|#87]] and [[135: Substitute|#135]]). {{w|Microraptor}} was a small raptor with four wings, which lets you imagine even scarier scenes. |
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==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
− | :[Megan is walking up to | + | :[Megan is walking up to a child who has a stack of books and is reading one of them on the floor.] |
:Megan: What are you reading about? | :Megan: What are you reading about? | ||
− | : | + | :Child: Dinosaurs! |
:Megan: Oh, yeah. | :Megan: Oh, yeah. | ||
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:Megan: They've gotten all weird since when I was a kid. | :Megan: They've gotten all weird since when I was a kid. | ||
:Megan: They used to be awesome, but now they all have dorky feathers, right? | :Megan: They used to be awesome, but now they all have dorky feathers, right? | ||
− | : | + | :Child: Yup! |
− | : | + | :Child: This says they now think raptors used their wings for stability, flapping to stay on top of their prey while hanging on with their hooked claws and eating it alive. |
− | + | :Footnote: *Fowler et. al., PLoS ONE 6(12), 2011 | |
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− | :[ | + | :[Megan stands staring at the child.] |
− | :[Megan is now on the floor | + | :[Megan is now on the floor flipping through another book from the pile.] |
==Trivia== | ==Trivia== | ||
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{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | ||
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[[Category:Dinosaurs]] | [[Category:Dinosaurs]] | ||
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