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Thagomizer

December 18, 2023

A thagomizer (/ˈθæɡəmaɪzər/) is the distinctive arrangement of four spikes on the tails of stegosaurian dinosaurs. These spikes are believed to have been a defensive measure against predators.[2][1]

This Far Side cartoon is the source of the term thagomizer.
Best evidence for the use of the thagomizer is this Allosaurus tail (caudal) vertebra showing a punctured process. The hole perfectly matches a thagomizer spike.[1]

The arrangement of spikes originally had no distinct name. Cartoonist Gary Larson invented the name "thagomizer" in 1982 as a joke in his comic strip The Far Side, and it was gradually adopted as an informal term sometimes used within scientific circles, research, and education.

A thagomizer on the tail of a Stegosaurus fossil

Etymology edit

The term thagomizer was coined by Gary Larson in jest. In a 1982 The Far Side comic, a group of cavemen are taught by a caveman lecturer that the spikes on a stegosaur's tail were named "after the late Thag Simmons".[3]

The term was picked up initially by Kenneth Carpenter, then a paleontologist at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, who used the term when describing a fossil at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Annual Meeting in 1993.[4] Thagomizer has since been adopted as an informal anatomical term[5] and is used by the Smithsonian Institution,[4][6] the Dinosaur National Monument, the book The Complete Dinosaur[7] and the BBC documentary series Planet Dinosaur.[8] The term has also appeared in some technical papers describing stegosaurs and related dinosaurs.[9][10]

 
Thagomizer on mounted Stegosaurus tail

Paleobiology edit

There has been debate about whether the thagomizer was used simply for display, as posited by Gilmore in 1914,[11] or used as a defensive weapon. Robert Bakker noted that it is likely that the stegosaur tail was much more flexible than those of other ornithischian dinosaurs because it lacked ossified tendons, thus lending credence to the idea of the thagomizer being a weapon. He also observed that Stegosaurus could have maneuvered its rear easily by keeping its large hindlimbs stationary and pushing off with its very powerfully muscled but short forelimbs, allowing it to swivel deftly to deal with attack.[12] In 2010, analysis of a digitized model of Kentrosaurus aethiopicus showed that the tail could bring the thagomizer around to the sides of the dinosaur, possibly striking an attacker beside it.[13]

In 2001, a study of thagomizers by McWhinney et al.[14] showed a high incidence of trauma-related damage. This too supports the theory that the principal function of the thagomizer was defense in combat.

There is also evidence for Stegosaurus defending itself, in the form of an Allosaurus tail vertebra with a partially healed puncture wound that fits a Stegosaurus tail spike.[15] The species of stegosaur known as Stegosaurus stenops had four dermal spikes, each about 60–90 cm (2–3 ft) long. Discoveries of articulated stegosaur armor show that, at least in some species, these spikes protruded horizontally from the tail, not vertically as is often depicted.[16] Initially, Marsh described S. armatus as having eight spikes in its tail, unlike S. stenops. However, recent research re-examined this and concluded this species also had four.[17][18]

Mathematics edit

 
The thagomizer graph K1,1,n is tripartite

In a 2017 paper, the term thagomizer graph (and also the associated "thagomizer matroid") was introduced for the complete tripartite graph K1,1,n.[19]

See also edit

Other scientific terms first used in fiction:

References edit

  1. ^ a b Carpenter, K., Sanders, F., McWhinney, L., and Wood, L. 2005. Evidence for predator-prey relationships: Example for Allosaurus and Stegosaurus. Pp. 325-350 in Carpenter, K. (ed.) The Carnivorous Dinosaurs. Indiana University Press, Bloomington.
  2. ^ Holtz, T. R., (2000) "Classification and Evolution of the Dinosaur Groups" (pp. 140–168) in The Scientific American Book of Dinosaurs, edited by Gregory S. Paul, New York: St Martin's Press ISBN 0-312-26226-4.
  3. ^ Black, Riley (March 30, 2011). "Watch Out For That Thagomizer!". Smithsonian.com. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  4. ^ a b . New Scientist. July 8, 2006. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007.
  5. ^ Holtz, Thomas, R. Jr. (2007). Dinosaurs: the Most Complete, Up-To-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages. New York: Random House. p. 230. ISBN 978-0-375-82419-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ . Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Department of Paleobiology. Archived from the original on December 14, 2004. Retrieved March 3, 2007.
  7. ^ Galton, Peter M. (1999). "Stegosaurs". In Farlow, James Orville; Brett-Surman, M. K. (eds.). The Complete Dinosaur. Indiana University Press. p. 302. ISBN 978-0253213136. Retrieved December 11, 2016. In all stegosaurs, the terminal tail spines (thagomizer) presumably played a role in defense.
  8. ^ "Fight For Life". Planet Dinosaur. Season 1. Episode 4. November 26, 2015. Event occurs at 9 minutes 14 seconds. BBC. BBC One. Retrieved December 11, 2016. Stegosaurus: a heavily armored tank with a deadly weapon at the end of its tail, known as a thagomizer.
  9. ^ Costa, Francisco; Mateus, Octávio (November 13, 2019). "Dacentrurine stegosaurs (Dinosauria): A new specimen of Miragaia longicollum from the Late Jurassic of Portugal resolves taxonomical validity and shows the occurrence of the clade in North America". PLOS ONE. 14 (11): –0224263. Bibcode:2019PLoSO..1424263C. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0224263. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 6853308. PMID 31721771.
  10. ^ Soto-Acuña, Sergio; Vargas, Alexander; Kaluza, Jonatan; Leppe, Marcelo; Botelho, Joao; Palma-Liberona, José; Gutstein, Carolina; Fernández, Roy; Ortiz, Hector; Milla, Verónica; Aravena, Bárbara; Manríquez, Leslie; Alarcón-Muñoz, Jhonatan; Pino, Juan; Trevisan, Christine; Mansilla, Héctor; Hinojosa, Luis; Muñoz-Walther, Vicente; Rubilar-Rogers, David (December 1, 2021). "Bizarre tail weaponry in a transitional ankylosaur from subantarctic Chile". Nature. 600 (7888): 259–263. Bibcode:2021Natur.600..259S. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-04147-1. PMID 34853468. S2CID 244799975.
  11. ^ Gilmore, C. W. (1914). "Osteology of the armored Dinosauria in the United States National Museum, with special reference to the genus Stegosaurus". Series: Smithsonian Institution. United States National Museum. Bulletin 89. Government Printing Office, Washington (89).
  12. ^ Bakker, R. T. (1986). The Dinosaur Heresies. New York: William Morrow. ISBN 9780688042875.[ISBN missing][page needed]
  13. ^ Naish, Darren (2010). . Tetrapod Zoology. Archived from the original on January 9, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
  14. ^ McWhinney, L. A.; Rothschild, B. M.; Carpenter, K. (2001). "Posttraumatic Chronic Osteomyelitis in Stegosaurus dermal spikes". In Carpenter, Kenneth (ed.). The Armored Dinosaurs. Indiana University Press. pp. 141–56. ISBN 978-0-253-33964-5.
  15. ^ Carpenter, Kenneth; Sanders, Frank; McWhinney, Lorrie A. & Wood, Lowell (2005). "Evidence for predator-prey relationships: Examples for Allosaurus and Stegosaurus". In Carpenter, Kenneth (ed.). The Carnivorous Dinosaurs. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. p. 325. ISBN 978-0-253-34539-4.
  16. ^ Carpenter, Kenneth (1998). "Armor of Stegosaurus stenops, and the taphonomic history of a new specimen from Garden Park, Colorado". Modern Geology. 23: 127–44.
  17. ^ Marsh, O. C (1877). "A new order of extinct Reptilia (Stegosauria) from the Jurassic of the Rocky Mountains". American Journal of Science. 14 (84): 513–14. Bibcode:1877AmJS...14..513M. doi:10.2475/ajs.s3-14.84.513. S2CID 130078453.
  18. ^ Carpenter, K.; Galton, P. M. (2001). "Othniel Charles Marsh and the Eight-Spiked Stegosaurus". In Carpenter, Kenneth (ed.). The Armored Dinosaurs. Indiana University Press. pp. 76–102. ISBN 978-0-253-33964-5.
  19. ^ Gedeon, Katie; Proudfoot, Nicholas; Young, Benjamin (2017). "Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials of matroids: a survey of results and conjectures" (PDF). Séminaire Lotharingien de Combinatoire. 78B: 80. arXiv:1611.07474.

December 18, 2023
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A thagomizer ˈ 8 ae ɡ e m aɪ z er is the distinctive arrangement of four spikes on the tails of stegosaurian dinosaurs These spikes are believed to have been a defensive measure against predators 2 1 This Far Side cartoon is the source of the term thagomizer Best evidence for the use of the thagomizer is this Allosaurus tail caudal vertebra showing a punctured process The hole perfectly matches a thagomizer spike 1 The arrangement of spikes originally had no distinct name Cartoonist Gary Larson invented the name thagomizer in 1982 as a joke in his comic strip The Far Side and it was gradually adopted as an informal term sometimes used within scientific circles research and education A thagomizer on the tail of a Stegosaurus fossilContents 1 Etymology 2 Paleobiology 3 Mathematics 4 See also 5 ReferencesEtymology editThe term thagomizer was coined by Gary Larson in jest In a 1982 The Far Side comic a group of cavemen are taught by a caveman lecturer that the spikes on a stegosaur s tail were named after the late Thag Simmons 3 The term was picked up initially by Kenneth Carpenter then a paleontologist at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science who used the term when describing a fossil at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Annual Meeting in 1993 4 Thagomizer has since been adopted as an informal anatomical term 5 and is used by the Smithsonian Institution 4 6 the Dinosaur National Monument the book The Complete Dinosaur 7 and the BBC documentary series Planet Dinosaur 8 The term has also appeared in some technical papers describing stegosaurs and related dinosaurs 9 10 nbsp Thagomizer on mounted Stegosaurus tailPaleobiology editThere has been debate about whether the thagomizer was used simply for display as posited by Gilmore in 1914 11 or used as a defensive weapon Robert Bakker noted that it is likely that the stegosaur tail was much more flexible than those of other ornithischian dinosaurs because it lacked ossified tendons thus lending credence to the idea of the thagomizer being a weapon He also observed that Stegosaurus could have maneuvered its rear easily by keeping its large hindlimbs stationary and pushing off with its very powerfully muscled but short forelimbs allowing it to swivel deftly to deal with attack 12 In 2010 analysis of a digitized model of Kentrosaurus aethiopicus showed that the tail could bring the thagomizer around to the sides of the dinosaur possibly striking an attacker beside it 13 In 2001 a study of thagomizers by McWhinney et al 14 showed a high incidence of trauma related damage This too supports the theory that the principal function of the thagomizer was defense in combat There is also evidence for Stegosaurus defending itself in the form of an Allosaurus tail vertebra with a partially healed puncture wound that fits a Stegosaurus tail spike 15 The species of stegosaur known as Stegosaurus stenops had four dermal spikes each about 60 90 cm 2 3 ft long Discoveries of articulated stegosaur armor show that at least in some species these spikes protruded horizontally from the tail not vertically as is often depicted 16 Initially Marsh described S armatus as having eight spikes in its tail unlike S stenops However recent research re examined this and concluded this species also had four 17 18 Mathematics edit nbsp The thagomizer graph K1 1 n is tripartiteIn a 2017 paper the term thagomizer graph and also the associated thagomizer matroid was introduced for the complete tripartite graph K1 1 n 19 See also edit nbsp Dinosaurs portalStrigiphilus garylarsoni Tail club Timeline of stegosaur researchOther scientific terms first used in fiction Boojum tree Crash bandicoot Flange as the collective noun for baboons Horrendous Space Kablooie Quark Shmoo Snark Sonic hedgehog WaldoReferences edit a b Carpenter K Sanders F McWhinney L and Wood L 2005 Evidence for predator prey relationships Example for Allosaurus and Stegosaurus Pp 325 350 in Carpenter K ed The Carnivorous Dinosaurs Indiana University Press Bloomington Holtz T R 2000 Classification and Evolution of the Dinosaur Groups pp 140 168 in The Scientific American Book of Dinosaurs edited by Gregory S Paul New York St Martin s Press ISBN 0 312 26226 4 Black Riley March 30 2011 Watch Out For That Thagomizer Smithsonian com Retrieved May 28 2019 a b The word Thagomizer New Scientist July 8 2006 Archived from the original on September 30 2007 Holtz Thomas R Jr 2007 Dinosaurs the Most Complete Up To Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages New York Random House p 230 ISBN 978 0 375 82419 7 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Stegosaurus Changes Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Department of Paleobiology Archived from the original on December 14 2004 Retrieved March 3 2007 Galton Peter M 1999 Stegosaurs In Farlow James Orville Brett Surman M K eds The Complete Dinosaur Indiana University Press p 302 ISBN 978 0253213136 Retrieved December 11 2016 In all stegosaurs the terminal tail spines thagomizer presumably played a role in defense Fight For Life Planet Dinosaur Season 1 Episode 4 November 26 2015 Event occurs at 9 minutes 14 seconds BBC BBC One Retrieved December 11 2016 Stegosaurus a heavily armored tank with a deadly weapon at the end of its tail known as a thagomizer Costa Francisco Mateus Octavio November 13 2019 Dacentrurine stegosaurs Dinosauria A new specimen of Miragaia longicollum from the Late Jurassic of Portugal resolves taxonomical validity and shows the occurrence of the clade in North America PLOS ONE 14 11 0224263 Bibcode 2019PLoSO 1424263C doi 10 1371 journal pone 0224263 ISSN 1932 6203 PMC 6853308 PMID 31721771 Soto Acuna Sergio Vargas Alexander Kaluza Jonatan Leppe Marcelo Botelho Joao Palma Liberona Jose Gutstein Carolina Fernandez Roy Ortiz Hector Milla Veronica Aravena Barbara Manriquez Leslie Alarcon Munoz Jhonatan Pino Juan Trevisan Christine Mansilla Hector Hinojosa Luis Munoz Walther Vicente Rubilar Rogers David December 1 2021 Bizarre tail weaponry in a transitional ankylosaur from subantarctic Chile Nature 600 7888 259 263 Bibcode 2021Natur 600 259S doi 10 1038 s41586 021 04147 1 PMID 34853468 S2CID 244799975 Gilmore C W 1914 Osteology of the armored Dinosauria in the United States National Museum with special reference to the genus Stegosaurus Series Smithsonian Institution United States National Museum Bulletin 89 Government Printing Office Washington 89 Bakker R T 1986 The Dinosaur Heresies New York William Morrow ISBN 9780688042875 ISBN missing page needed Naish Darren 2010 Heinrich s digital Kentrosaurus the SJG stegosaur special part II Tetrapod Zoology Archived from the original on January 9 2011 Retrieved January 19 2011 McWhinney L A Rothschild B M Carpenter K 2001 Posttraumatic Chronic Osteomyelitis in Stegosaurus dermal spikes In Carpenter Kenneth ed The Armored Dinosaurs Indiana University Press pp 141 56 ISBN 978 0 253 33964 5 Carpenter Kenneth Sanders Frank McWhinney Lorrie A amp Wood Lowell 2005 Evidence for predator prey relationships Examples for Allosaurus and Stegosaurus In Carpenter Kenneth ed The Carnivorous Dinosaurs Bloomington and Indianapolis Indiana University Press p 325 ISBN 978 0 253 34539 4 Carpenter Kenneth 1998 Armor of Stegosaurus stenops and the taphonomic history of a new specimen from Garden Park Colorado Modern Geology 23 127 44 Marsh O C 1877 A new order of extinct Reptilia Stegosauria from the Jurassic of the Rocky Mountains American Journal of Science 14 84 513 14 Bibcode 1877AmJS 14 513M doi 10 2475 ajs s3 14 84 513 S2CID 130078453 Carpenter K Galton P M 2001 Othniel Charles Marsh and the Eight Spiked Stegosaurus In Carpenter Kenneth ed The Armored Dinosaurs Indiana University Press pp 76 102 ISBN 978 0 253 33964 5 Gedeon Katie Proudfoot Nicholas Young Benjamin 2017 Kazhdan Lusztig polynomials of matroids a survey of results and conjectures PDF Seminaire Lotharingien de Combinatoire 78B 80 arXiv 1611 07474 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Thagomizer amp oldid 1174308635, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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