The Dinosaur FAQ

0. READ THIS FIRST
1. Preface
2. Introduction
3. Literature
4. Classification
5. Size and Weight
6. Anatomy
7. Dinosaurs in the Media
8. Miscellaneous

0. READ THIS FIRST

This is a work in progress. Questions which do not yet have an answer at all are greyed out and marked with a ### sign. Even those questions which do have answers may in some cases have nothing more than fragmentary notes at this stage; all answers are subject to revision - feedback is extremely welcome. See ``How can I help?''

1. Preface

• What is this document? [answer]
• Who are you? What qualifications do you have to do this? [answer]
• What plans do you have for this document? [answer]
• How can I help? [answer]

2. Introduction

• Why study dinosaurs? [answer]
• What are the elements of dinosaur science? [answer]
• How can I make a career in palaeontology? [answer]

3. Literature

• What books will give a good introduction to dinosaur science? [answer]
• What good dinosaur books are available? [answer]
• How can I obtain out-of-print dinosaur books? [answer]
• How can I obtain technical papers? [answer]
• Are there any good dinosaur-related web sites? [answer]
• Where can I find pictures of [dinosaur name] on the web? [answer]
• As new material is discovered, how quickly are reference materials becoming obsolete? [###]

4. Classification

• What are classification, taxonomy, phylogeny, systematics and cladistics? [answer]
• What's the difference between Tyrannosauridae, Tyrannosaurinae, etc.? [answer]
• What do terms like phylum, order and family mean? [answer]
• What is meant by the non-italicised species name ``sp.''? [answer]
• When is a new dinosaur erected as a new species or genus? [answer]
• How similar are different species of a given dinosaur genus? [answer]
• What do terms like monophyletic, paraphyletic and polyphyletic mean? [answer]
• What is cladistics? How reliable is it? [answer]
• Is the PhyloCode a good thing? [###]
• How much latitude do the namers of new dinosaurs have? [###]
• Why is ``Brontosaurus'' now called Apatosaurus? [answer]
• So why hasn't Tyrannosaurus been renamed Manospondylus? [answer]
• What is a dinosaur? [answer]
• What groups of dinosaurs existed? [answer]
• What's the definition of the term ``bird''? [###]
• Is there any remaining doubt that birds are descended from dinosaurs? [###]
• So can we say that birds are dinosaurs? [answer]
• Is there really any significance to similarities between Rahonavis and Deinonychus? [###]

5. Size and Weight

• What were the longest/heaviest dinosaurs? [answer]
• What were the longest/heaviest predatory dinosaurs? [answer]
• What was the smallest dinosaur? [###]
• What was the fastest dinosaur? [answer]
• How Brachiosaurus drink without its head exploding? [###]
• Why do mass estimates vary so much? [answer]

6. Anatomy

• Old music-hall joke: I say, I say, I say! What's the difference between a centroparapophyseal lamina and a spinoprezygopophyseal lamina? [answer]

7. Dinosaurs in the Media

• Is Jurassic Park any good? [###]
• What killed the crew of the ship when the T. rex was in the hold? [###]
• Is Walking With Dinosaurs any good? [###]
• Does the WWD Allosaurus bounce too much as it runs? [###]

8. Miscellaneous

• Where can I find definitions of terms like ``pneumatic foraminatrabeculae''? [###]
• Is it really any clearer to say ``edentulous'' instead of ``toothless''? [answer]
• What's the story behind the rumours that Archaeopteryx is a hoax? [###]
• Isn't is just plain ridiculous to extrapolate an entire genus from a single bone fragment? [###]
• What's the current state of debate on dinosaur metabolism? [answer]
• What's the current state of debate on dinosaur extinction? [answer]
• Is Seismosaurus's tail kink a feature of that genus, or simply damage that afflicted the only known specimen? [answer]
• Do commercial fossil hunters help or impede the progress of science? [###]
• Could Archaeopteryx fly? [###]
• How do we know the old positions of the continents? [###]
• [New Questions] [answer]
• How Can I Interpret Technical Papers? [answer]