But not all books began with an adorable girl waking up while thinking about the names of dinosaurs– and certainly not all books end with an adorable girl falling asleep to the names of dinosaurs!
Having Becky’s name in there just makes it all the sweeter for me.
Yet_One_More_Idiot
How come though – both at the end, and back at the beginning – Dina was thinking “Brontosaurus?” ? Why the “?” after brontosaurus? 🙂
Kirby
Because Brontosaurus is believed to be fake, a composite of a couple of other Dinos put together by mistake, if I recall.
Dynonychus
It’s classification has been in turmoil for some time, stemming from human pride and error (and yes, a skull made from leftovers). For a while now it’s been considered a junior synonym for Aptosaurus and the original holotype reclassified as such, but recently (this year!) it’s been resurrected as an official, distinct genus containing at least three species.
Besides, “Brontosaurus excelsus” is too cool a name to simply be discarded 🙂
Rich
No, that’s a widely believed myth. The actual history of the scientific status of Brontosaurus is more complex and has nothing really to do with “someone put the wrong head on it”. But basically Apatosaurus was discovered first, Brontosaurus second, and not long after scientists decided Brontosaurus was not really a separate species at all, so Apatosaurus was the correct designation.
As for the question mark, and why she’s thinking about Brontosaurus at all, it’s probably because recent research has led some scientists to conclude it IS a different species from Apatosaurus, and so the Brontosaurus name should be revived.
There’s a good writeup (at the moment!) on Wikipedia, and you can Google “Brontosaurus is back” at Scientific American.
Separate genus, not species. There was no thought that Apatosaurus ajax and <Insert genus here> excelsis were the same species. Just whether it should be Brontosaurus excelsis or Apatosaurus excelsis.
There’s a kind of irony, here, actually. The etymology of Apatosaurus is ‘deceptive lizard’…and excelsis certainly is deceptive, no matter which way the consensus on how many genera there are shakes out.
Bronto was not a fake. It was a possible misclassification of a headless skeleton, given the wrong head in a reconstruction. There was no deliberate fraud, just two mistakes. (Or maybe only one.)
Lately, there’s been evidence suggesting it could qualify as its own genus – ie, A. excelsis and another species that I’m blanking on at the moment, should be moved out of Apatasaurus and into Brontosaurus – but there’s still no consensus toward that, yet, so far as I know.
Blaise Pascal
Not quite a fake, and right now the situation is complicated.
First an Apatosaurus skeleton was discovered and named (by Marsh). Then 5 years later a headless Brontosaurus skeleton was discovered and named (by Marsh). By 1913, however, consensus by the paleontologists of the day was that while the brontosaurus skeleton was different from the apatosaurus, it wasn’t different enough to be a different genus. Both skeletons were, at best, different species of apatosaurus (priority in naming and all).
The missing skull in the brontosaurus skeleton was replaced by a skull found a few miles from the original dig site, but all the paleontologists knew this, and didn’t use the skull to determine species/genus. Some have been trying for 100+ years to get museums to stop showing the wrong head, and to stop identifying it as a brontosaur, since it’s been established that it’s an apatosaur. Since the brontosaur specimen was the one most copied in museums, it caught the popular imagination, even if misnamed. Everyone has heard of the brontosaur, few have heard of the apatosaur, and paleontologists are tired of explaining that brontosaurs didn’t exist.
Earlier this year, a group of paleontologists published a paper reviving the whole debate. After examining all the extant apatosaur/brontosaur fossils, they note that there does appear to be two distinct (related) lineages, sufficient to divide the group into two different genuses, and that Marsh’s original two fossils did indeed exemplify the two genuses. Therefore, they said the evidence backs up both apatosaurs and brontosaurs, reversing 100 years of scientific consensus.
I would expect Dina to be fully conversant on the history and controversy. If this comic had come out 3 years ago, it would have made sense (well, it still does to some degree) for her to have used “torosaurus?” given Jack Horner’s claim that the torosaurus is the mature/adult form of the triceratops, and thus the same genus.
shazz_smifff
Dina goes asleep – Becky there
Dina wakes up – Becky not there
I bet they’re all listed in that comic comment section, anyway. Sorta recall finding one, too tired to go check.
stonewolf
But the hovertext from that… “maggie read this and remarked, ‘so her happy morning thoughts are about all these things that are dead'” Foreshadowing Becky’s death? Gods I hope not
I was going to add Ms. Becky Saurus, but then I remembered that Dina’s surname changed for Dumbing of Age. That’s alright since this chapter was cute enough as it is.
Ana Chronistic
Becky should change her name to throw off Toedad. To, like… Rebecca… Reba, maybe! Reba MacIntyre…
No no no, that works! Reba McEntire is in her early 70s now isn’t she? (Let me check Wikipedia) nope according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reba_McEntire , she’s just 60. But way older than Becky who is just 18.
On Sunday, August 30th, 2015, scientists and the Willis Institute of Science announced the discovery of a new dinosaur species, dubbed Farrahsaurus fawcettensis.
There are feathers in many theropods, but it’s still very likely most other dinosaurs didn’t have them. So you could instead ask where are her scales – my guess is in the bathroom.
“Here is a diagram showing the levels of adorableness and sexiness during this scene. As you can see, the adorableness rises steadily until the point where I make my entrance, when it suddenly drops. Instead, the sexiness starts rising rapidly. This is because I am removing my pants. Here is a diagram of me without pants. It is very high in sexiness but very low in adorableness. This is because big things are not as adorable as small things. The big thing is my penis.”
186 thoughts on “Noddin’”
Ana Chronistic
Becky used Dinosaur Breath…
Dina is knocked out!
Inkblot
And it’s a very nice end to this storyline– tying it back a little to how it began, but with a little adorable twist at the very end.
Maveric1984
It’s the end of book 5. All books end with someone falling asleep.
Inkblot
But not all books began with an adorable girl waking up while thinking about the names of dinosaurs– and certainly not all books end with an adorable girl falling asleep to the names of dinosaurs!
Having Becky’s name in there just makes it all the sweeter for me.
Yet_One_More_Idiot
How come though – both at the end, and back at the beginning – Dina was thinking “Brontosaurus?” ? Why the “?” after brontosaurus? 🙂
Kirby
Because Brontosaurus is believed to be fake, a composite of a couple of other Dinos put together by mistake, if I recall.
Dynonychus
It’s classification has been in turmoil for some time, stemming from human pride and error (and yes, a skull made from leftovers). For a while now it’s been considered a junior synonym for Aptosaurus and the original holotype reclassified as such, but recently (this year!) it’s been resurrected as an official, distinct genus containing at least three species.
Besides, “Brontosaurus excelsus” is too cool a name to simply be discarded 🙂
Rich
No, that’s a widely believed myth. The actual history of the scientific status of Brontosaurus is more complex and has nothing really to do with “someone put the wrong head on it”. But basically Apatosaurus was discovered first, Brontosaurus second, and not long after scientists decided Brontosaurus was not really a separate species at all, so Apatosaurus was the correct designation.
As for the question mark, and why she’s thinking about Brontosaurus at all, it’s probably because recent research has led some scientists to conclude it IS a different species from Apatosaurus, and so the Brontosaurus name should be revived.
There’s a good writeup (at the moment!) on Wikipedia, and you can Google “Brontosaurus is back” at Scientific American.
Kamino Neko
Separate genus, not species. There was no thought that Apatosaurus ajax and <Insert genus here> excelsis were the same species. Just whether it should be Brontosaurus excelsis or Apatosaurus excelsis.
There’s a kind of irony, here, actually. The etymology of Apatosaurus is ‘deceptive lizard’…and excelsis certainly is deceptive, no matter which way the consensus on how many genera there are shakes out.
darkflame
Better then that is WAS considered fake, but in the last year evidence mounted for it to be considered real again. So the ? is spot-on.
Kamino Neko
Bronto was not a fake. It was a possible misclassification of a headless skeleton, given the wrong head in a reconstruction. There was no deliberate fraud, just two mistakes. (Or maybe only one.)
Lately, there’s been evidence suggesting it could qualify as its own genus – ie, A. excelsis and another species that I’m blanking on at the moment, should be moved out of Apatasaurus and into Brontosaurus – but there’s still no consensus toward that, yet, so far as I know.
Blaise Pascal
Not quite a fake, and right now the situation is complicated.
First an Apatosaurus skeleton was discovered and named (by Marsh). Then 5 years later a headless Brontosaurus skeleton was discovered and named (by Marsh). By 1913, however, consensus by the paleontologists of the day was that while the brontosaurus skeleton was different from the apatosaurus, it wasn’t different enough to be a different genus. Both skeletons were, at best, different species of apatosaurus (priority in naming and all).
The missing skull in the brontosaurus skeleton was replaced by a skull found a few miles from the original dig site, but all the paleontologists knew this, and didn’t use the skull to determine species/genus. Some have been trying for 100+ years to get museums to stop showing the wrong head, and to stop identifying it as a brontosaur, since it’s been established that it’s an apatosaur. Since the brontosaur specimen was the one most copied in museums, it caught the popular imagination, even if misnamed. Everyone has heard of the brontosaur, few have heard of the apatosaur, and paleontologists are tired of explaining that brontosaurs didn’t exist.
Earlier this year, a group of paleontologists published a paper reviving the whole debate. After examining all the extant apatosaur/brontosaur fossils, they note that there does appear to be two distinct (related) lineages, sufficient to divide the group into two different genuses, and that Marsh’s original two fossils did indeed exemplify the two genuses. Therefore, they said the evidence backs up both apatosaurs and brontosaurs, reversing 100 years of scientific consensus.
I would expect Dina to be fully conversant on the history and controversy. If this comic had come out 3 years ago, it would have made sense (well, it still does to some degree) for her to have used “torosaurus?” given Jack Horner’s claim that the torosaurus is the mature/adult form of the triceratops, and thus the same genus.
shazz_smifff
Dina goes asleep – Becky there
Dina wakes up – Becky not there
Whats Dina think?
darkoneko
About dinosaurs ; isn’t that obvious? 🙂
Mada
“All books end with someone falling asleep.”
…HOW HAVE I NOT NOTICED THIS BEFORE?
Carriethedragon
If you look at the original, though, you can see that the twist was hinted at from the beginning. Is there a dinosaur name that starts with “Beck”?
http://www.dumbingofage.com/2015/comic/book-5/04-walking-with-dina/walkingwithdina/
Darkoneko
ooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooh !!
gkheyf
…whoa…you just blew my noodle!
but becky has now topped brachiosaurus and *-ropus (whatever that is). soon, she will be all numbers 1-10
Ana Chronistic
Becklespinax…?
(though maybe not since the others are all sauropody)
Darkoneko
I bet they’re all listed in that comic comment section, anyway. Sorta recall finding one, too tired to go check.
stonewolf
But the hovertext from that… “maggie read this and remarked, ‘so her happy morning thoughts are about all these things that are dead'” Foreshadowing Becky’s death? Gods I hope not
A4lbi
*banishes you to the Shadow Realm*
Steampunkette
Beckylosaurus
Random Person
Yes there is, actually- Becklespinax
Lord Stoneheart
I liked the repeat of “Brontosaurus?” Complete with question mark and everything.
Mr. Random
Beckysaurous.
Maveric1984
Tyrannobecky Rex
Carriethedragon
Tyrannosaurus Beck?
6Qubed
aaaaaaaaand now I have “Loser” stuck in my head
I’m just going to focus on how adorable Dina is and try really hard not to remember the lyrics to IN THE TIME OF CHIMPANZEES I WAS A MONKEY
Reepunzel
Tyrannosaurus-Bex!
Mr. Random
Beckysaurus. Saurus. Saurus.
S a u r u s…….
Maveric1984
Maybe it’s a Canadian dinaosaur?
brasca1
I was going to add Ms. Becky Saurus, but then I remembered that Dina’s surname changed for Dumbing of Age. That’s alright since this chapter was cute enough as it is.
Ana Chronistic
Becky should change her name to throw off Toedad. To, like… Rebecca… Reba, maybe! Reba MacIntyre…
wait
Opus the Poet
No no no, that works! Reba McEntire is in her early 70s now isn’t she? (Let me check Wikipedia) nope according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reba_McEntire , she’s just 60. But way older than Becky who is just 18.
Darkoneko
Pff, beaten by a litteral second.
Doctor_Who
Velocobecktor.
Darkoneko
Beckysaurus ?
otusasio451
Wait…Becky is a dinosaur?
THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY MUST KNOW!
gkheyf
do not worry. she shall be investigated…deeply
Plasma Mongoose
But where are her feathers?
Maveric1984
Does a feathered hairstyle count?
Plasma Mongoose
On Star Trek maybe… 😛
otusasio451
On Sunday, August 30th, 2015, scientists and the Willis Institute of Science announced the discovery of a new dinosaur species, dubbed Farrahsaurus fawcettensis.
3oranges
There are feathers in many theropods, but it’s still very likely most other dinosaurs didn’t have them. So you could instead ask where are her scales – my guess is in the bathroom.
LeslieBean4Shizzle
Becky indeed.
Wire Segal
Say it with me, now:
D’awwwwwwwwwww
gkheyf
it’s official: becky is a top 10 dinosaur
inqntrol
Good think she didn’t go extinct.
Plasma Mongoose
Hopefully there will be no Toedad meteorite heading Becky’s way.
Ana Chronistic
Toerannosaurus wrecks
inqntrol
Hey,I think I now why the T-Rex is always depicted looking angry. Here’s a clue:small arms.
Plasma Mongoose
Not being able to masturbate would make one rather cranky.
inqntrol
Since Toedad has large arms,but still looks angry(and ugly) ,then that means…
Clif
… we need arms controll.
Screwball
Hey, there are ways around such things. Even T-Rexs need their dinosaur porn…
nightsbridge
Top ten sauropods at LEAST
chronautical
Awww.
Perish Song
THE ADORABLE LEVELS ARE OFF THE CHARTS!
SOMEONE GET ME SOME BIGGER CHARTS!
gkheyf
switching to log scale stat!
otusasio451
WE DON’T HAVE ENOUGH INK!!! PANIC! PANIC!!!
Doctor_Who
Man is it ever gonna suck when we get to a depressing storyline after this one.
inqntrol
We can expect anything.
Someone
Guys I hate to say it… but we made need Faz for this one. Only he can handle that many charts.
inqntrol
As long as he doesn’t talk about or show his….FAZness.
Mr. Bulbmin
In situations such as these, you must take the good with the bad, no matter how painful . . .
. . . or stupidly, self-destructively annoying.
Tenn
*smiles creepily*
“Here is a diagram showing the levels of adorableness and sexiness during this scene. As you can see, the adorableness rises steadily until the point where I make my entrance, when it suddenly drops. Instead, the sexiness starts rising rapidly. This is because I am removing my pants. Here is a diagram of me without pants. It is very high in sexiness but very low in adorableness. This is because big things are not as adorable as small things. The big thing is my penis.”
Plasma Mongoose
Does this conclude this Dina chapter?
Darkoneko
LOL your avatar XD
Plasma Mongoose
^_^ Thankies
Maveric1984
You’d think someone like Dina who is into biology would know how all of that works.
On the other hand: “Mammals are weird”
Plasma Mongoose
Especially the platypus, which is sort of mammalish.