817
The Thagomizer (startrek.website)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] LouisGarbuor@sh.itjust.works 103 points 1 year ago

Paleontology nerd here. There isn't an official term for the tail spikes, but thagomizer is pretty much an unoffcial official term.

[-] Perfide@reddthat.com 23 points 1 year ago

I mean... if you don't have an official term for it, but basically everyone in your field calls it a thagomizer, does that not make thagomizer the official term? If not, what makes a term "official"?

[-] Denvil@lemmy.one 6 points 1 year ago

Well, whats the official term? If its just tail spikes I will be very disappointed

[-] Guest_User@lemmy.world 51 points 1 year ago

I think they just said there isn't an official term

[-] Denvil@lemmy.one 21 points 1 year ago

Oh I'm an absolute buffoon, I thought he said THAT isn't the official term

[-] Guest_User@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Haha no worries at all :)

[-] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 year ago

ok but what's the official term?

[-] LouisGarbuor@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 year ago

Pretty much. Thagomizer is used in literature, but not always. I would say it is officially recognized, but semi-officially used

[-] LouisGarbuor@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 year ago

I just got the notification for this, sorry. There isn't a real official term other than tail spikes, but iirc thagomizer has been used in literature, such as this paper describing a new specimen of a stegosaur from Portugal and its impacts on the taxonomy of stegosaurs

this post was submitted on 30 Oct 2023
817 points (98.9% liked)

Funny

7000 readers
1459 users here now

General rules:

Exceptions may be made at the discretion of the mods.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS