3185: Sauropods - Revision history

99.105.59.133: /* Transcript */

2026-02-27T06:00:19Z

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2A09:BAC3:5376:286E:0:0:407:21: Category: Comics with color

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Category: Comics with color

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← Older revision		Revision as of 06:00, 27 February 2026
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	==Transcript==		==Transcript==
−	~~{{incomplete transcript\|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}~~

	:[Top panel: A sauropod with a normal long neck and tail, crossed out with a large red X.]		:[Top panel: A sauropod with a normal long neck and tail, crossed out with a large red X.]

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:12, 23 January 2026
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	==Explanation==		==Explanation==
−	~~{{incomplete\|This page was created by a queen of 3184 explainxkcd pages. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}~~
−
	The reconstruction of dinosaurs often has to be done on the basis of incomplete or disorganised fossil evidence. As a result, it can be based on a form of educated guesswork, based on the fossils that are available, and knowledge of other likely analogous creatures. This has led to some {{w\|Crystal_Palace_Dinosaurs\|significantly erroneous reconstructions}}, which have later been revised when further evidence came to light.		The reconstruction of dinosaurs often has to be done on the basis of incomplete or disorganised fossil evidence. As a result, it can be based on a form of educated guesswork, based on the fossils that are available, and knowledge of other likely analogous creatures. This has led to some {{w\|Crystal_Palace_Dinosaurs\|significantly erroneous reconstructions}}, which have later been revised when further evidence came to light.

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 {{incomplete|This page was created by a queen of 3184 explainxkcd pages. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
-This comic attempts to correct people on the skeletal structure of {{w|sauropod}} dinosaurs, claiming that most individuals actually had short necks and tails, and the "queen" of the colony had an enormous number of vertebrae, possibly resembling a snake with legs. The idea is that paleontologists misconstructed the skeletons, averaging the vertebrae out between all specimens, instead of 'correctly' allocating most of them to a single queen, leaving the rest of the creatures with shorter necks and tails.
+The reconstruction of dinosaurs often has to be done on the basis of incomplete or disorganised fossil evidence. As a result, it can be based on a form of educated guesswork, based on the fossils that are available, and knowledge of other likely analogous creatures. This has led to some {{w|Crystal_Palace_Dinosaurs|significantly erroneous reconstructions}}, which have later been revised when further evidence came to light.
 In reality, most of the animal species that have {{w|eusociality|colonies with queens}} are fairly small insects, particularly termites, ants, bees, and wasps; with {{w|naked mole-rat}}s as a famous exception. No sauropods or other reptiles are known to do so. Also, while queens are often larger specimens than their workers or drones, they always share the same general anatomy. The comic suggests however that regular sauropods have a vastly different anatomy than their supposed queens.

@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 :[Caption below the comic:]
 :Thanks to modern paleontological reconstructions, we now know that most sauropods had short necks, and all those extra vertebrae belonged to the sauropod colony's queen.
 {{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 In reality, most of the animal species that have {{w|eusociality|colonies with queens}} are fairly small insects, particularly termites, ants, bees, and wasps; with {{w|naked mole-rat}}s as a famous exception. No sauropods or other reptiles are known to do so. Also, while queens are often larger specimens than their workers or drones, they always share the same general anatomy. The comic suggests however that regular sauropods have a vastly different anatomy than their supposed queens.
-Additionally, it is obviously impossible that a single sauropod could have a neck (and tail) anywhere near that long; it would collapse under its own weight. In fact, (all) sauropods already have substantial skeletal adaptations just to accommodate their {{w|sauropoda#Necks|elongated necks}}. The comic shows the sauropod queen as a serpent looping around several times and floating in the sky without issue, which is impossible.{{cn}}
+The comic shows the sauropod queen as a serpent looping around several times and floating in the sky without support, which is impossible.{{cn}} Additionally, it is obviously impossible that a single sauropod could have a neck (and tail) anywhere near that long; it would collapse under its own weight. In fact, all known sauropods already have substantial skeletal adaptations just to accommodate their {{w|sauropoda#Necks|elongated necks}}.
-The title-text references {{w|Spiders Georg}}, an internet meme character who allegedly eats over 10,000 spiders a day, skewing the average and creating the factoid "The average person swallows 3 spiders a year."
+The title text references {{w|Spiders Georg}}, a fictitious internet meme character who allegedly eats over 10,000 spiders a day, skewing the average and creating the factoid "The average person swallows 3 spiders a year."
 ==Transcript==

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 ==Explanation==
-{{incomplete|This page was created by an explainxkcd user who created 3184 pages. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
+{{incomplete|This page was created by a queen of 3184 explainxkcd pages. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
 This comic attempts to correct people on the skeletal structure of {{w|sauropod}} dinosaurs, claiming that most individuals actually had short necks and tails, and the "queen" of the colony had an enormous number of vertebrae, possibly resembling a snake with legs. The idea is that paleontologists misconstructed the skeletons, averaging the vertebrae out between all specimens, instead of giving most of them a single queen.
@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 In reality, most of the animal species that have {{w|eusociality|colonies with queens}} are fairly small insects, particularly termites, ants, bees, and wasps; with {{w|naked mole-rat}}s as a famous exception. No sauropods or other reptiles are known to do so. Also, while queens are often larger specimens than their workers or drones, they always share the same general anatomy. The comic suggests however that regular sauropods have a vastly different anatomy than their supposed queens.
-Additionally, it is obviously impossible that a single sauropod could have a neck anywhere near that long; it would collapse under its own weight. Insead, the comic shows it looping around several times without issue. In fact, (all) sauropods already have substantial skeletal adaptations just to accommodate their {{w|sauropoda#Necks|elongated necks}}.
+Additionally, it is obviously impossible that a single sauropod could have a neck anywhere near that long; it would collapse under its own weight. In fact, (all) sauropods already have substantial skeletal adaptations just to accommodate their {{w|sauropoda#Necks|elongated necks}}. The comic shows the sauropod queen as a serpent looping around several times and floating in the sky without issue, which is impossible.{{cn}}
-The title-text references {{w|Spiders Georg}}, an internet meme character who allegedly eats over 10,000 spiders a day, skewing the average, creating the factoid that "the average person swallows 3 spiders a year."
+The title-text references {{w|Spiders Georg}}, an internet meme character who allegedly eats over 10,000 spiders a day, skewing the average and creating the factoid "The average person swallows 3 spiders a year."
 ==Transcript==

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:55, 25 December 2025
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	[[Category:Biology]]		[[Category:Biology]]
	[[Category:Dinosaurs]]		[[Category:Dinosaurs]]
		+	[[Category:Comics with color]]

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 This comic attempts to correct people on the skeletal structure of {{w|sauropod}} dinosaurs, claiming that most individuals actually had short necks and tails, and the "queen" of the colony had an enormous number of vertebrae, possibly resembling a snake with legs. The idea is that paleontologists misconstructed the skeletons, averaging the vertebrae out between all specimens, and not giving most of them to the queen.
-In reality, most of the animal species that have {{w|eusociality|colonies with queens}} are insects, particularly termites, ants, bees, and wasps; with {{w:Naked mole-rat|naked mole-rats}} as a notable exception. No sauropods or other reptiles are known to do so. Also, while queens are often larger specimens than their workers or drones, they always share the same general anatomy. The comic suggests however that regular sauropods have a vastly different anatomy than their supposed queens.
+In reality, most of the animal species that have {{w|eusociality|colonies with queens}} are insects, particularly termites, ants, bees, and wasps; with {{w|naked mole-rat}}s as a notable exception. No sauropods or other reptiles are known to do so. Also, while queens are often larger specimens than their workers or drones, they always share the same general anatomy. The comic suggests however that regular sauropods have a vastly different anatomy than their supposed queens.
 The title-text references {{w|Spiders Georg}}, an internet meme character who eats over 10,000 spiders a day, skewing the average, creating the factoid that "the average person swallows 3 spiders a year."