3204: Dinosaurs And Non-Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs And Non-Dinosaurs

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Title text: Staplers are actually in Pseudosuchia, making them more closely related to crocodiles than to dinosaurs.

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Explanation

This is one of 62 incomplete explanations: This page was created by a webserver that is often described as being a dinosaur, however it is definitely not. Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page!

This comic explores the seeming paradox that certain extinct prehistoric species which are popularly thought of as being "dinosaurs" are, from a strict taxonomic viewpoint, not. It also takes into account the fact that all bird species are descended from dinosaurs and thus - again, from a strict taxonomic viewpoint - are themselves dinosaurs as well (see 1211: Birds and Dinosaurs). To illustrate this, Randall provides silhouettes of dinosaurs, of entities that are widely thought of as dinosaurs but are not, of entities that are not widely thought of as dinosaurs but are (i.e., birds), and, lastly, of entities that are neither dinosaurs nor thought of as dinosaurs (which is funny because it's so all-encompassing as to be practically meaningless, just like it would be if you replaced the word "dinosaurs" by any other plural noun, or adjective).

In reading order from upper left in each quadrant of the image:

• Silhouettes in "seem like dinosaurs / are dinosaurs": stegosaurus, triceratops, tyrannosaurus, diplodocus, velociraptor
• Silhouettes in "seem like dinosaurs / are not dinosaurs": mosasaur, quetzalcoatlus, dimetrodon, plesiosaur, pteranodon
• Silhouettes in "don't seem like dinosaurs / are dinosaurs": penguin, egret, falcon, pigeon, ostrich
• Silhouettes in "don't seem like dinosaurs / are not dinosaurs": squirrel, stapler, bicycle, Cueball, pineapple

Creatures that seem like dinosaurs, but are not

Dinosaur is a paleonotology term which refers to a specific group of reptiles, based upon evolutionary lines, bone structure and living domain. However, it is also a popular science/cultural term which refers to extinct large reptiles, hence the confusion between what is scientifically included and what is culturally assumed to be included.

The creatures listed are:

• A mosasaur is an extinct aquatic reptile, looking similar to a dolphin, that existed at the same time as the dinosaurs. Whilst it appeared in Jurassic World, momasaurs had a different ancestor than dinosaurs
• Pleisosaurs and Pterodons are flying reptiles
• Dimetrodon
• Quetzalcoatlus

Title Text

The title text is a further joke about taxonomy, seemingly predicated on the assumption that staplers are biological organisms, and can thus be sorted into taxa. Pseudosuchia is in fact the clade that encompasses all crocodilians, and staplers bear a certain resemblance to the open mouth of a crocodilian.

The original Linnaean taxonomy did at first have a top-level classification for "mineral" taxonomy, in addition to those for animal and plant, which in its broadest sense might allow one to assign a stapler a taxonomic relationship with dinosaurs.

Transcript

This is one of 44 incomplete transcripts: Don't remove this notice too soon. If you can fix this issue, edit the page!

[A 2x2 chart containing various animals and objects.]

• Left column: Are dinosaurs
• Right column: Are not dinosaurs
• Upper row: Seem like dinosaurs
• Lower row: Don't seem like dinosaurs

[Top left (seem like dinosaurs, are dinosaurs):]

[Top right (seem like dinosaurs, are not dinosaurs):]

[Bottom left (don't seem like dinosaurs, are dinosaurs):]

[Bottom right (don't seem like dinosaurs, are not dinosaurs):]

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Discussion

I don't think that's a stork. My guess would be that it's a heron. The bird in the lower right also looks like some sort of shorebird, but I've got no clue. 99.26.146.61 (talk) 19:45, 6 February 2026 (UTC) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

I feel like this comic should be in the explanation https://xkcd.com/1211/ 2600:4041:2E5:B900:66D3:74AD:D92D:356B 20:36, 6 February 2026 (UTC)

Could it have a brief layman's explanation of how/why the top right *aren't* dinosaurs? Y'know beyond just "well, technically..." 91.84.189.119 06:52, 7 February 2026 (UTC)

They are not dinosaurs because dinosaurs are only a subgroup of prehistoric animals living on land. Others are flying or underwater reptiles (don’t know the real names of those), or just plain reptiles who have existed (as a group) for far longer. Dinos are technically named „land reptiles“, but are not reptiles. It’s a bit confusing and this is where my half knowledge ends

2A00:1E:82C2:D401:F4A3:23F3:8A2D:63B1 09:33, 7 February 2026 (UTC)

Did anyone else think that "Pseudo-such" things were a made up thing for staplers? Kev (talk) 13:36, 7 February 2026 (UTC)
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