Comments on: Long Live the King

By: Daniel

Daniel — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 14:39:25 +0000

Until a complete skeleton of Spinosaurus is discovered, it’s pure conjecture to state that it was “way bigger” than the likes of T. rex and Giganotosaurus. It could have been as long as 60 feet or as little as 40 feet.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 15:43:11 +0000

T. Rex is also a nice accessible dinosaur name for kids and people who don’t like long words like Parasaurolophus, Pachycephalosaurus and Australovenator. You gotta love a name like Tyrant Lizard King. I can’t think of another dinosaur with a nice, short, memorable moniker like ‘Rex’. What’s the second most popular dinosaur? My money would be on Raptor- ‘Velociraptor’ (more probably Utahraptor or Deinonychus if Jurassic Park had been a little less artistic, right?). Real keeners might go for Stegosaurus, ‘brontosaurus’ or Triceratops, but the general public care as much about their favourite dinosaur as much as they care about their other favourite random trivia categories. At any rate. I find it hard to begrudge an awesome dinosaur for being popular! No matter how cool a name you gave it, Psittacosaurus was probably never going to be the main crowd draw to the Walking With Dinosaurs Live Experience.

I was stunned as a teenager to find out that my own Dad didn’t recognize the word Pterodactyl as something pronounceable. How could you raise a dinosaur nut and not know that? “Dad, that’s an easy one!”

By: Dan Peterson

Dan Peterson — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 15:41:35 +0000

Theropods that are slightly larger? The latest Spinosaurus finds suggest it was “way bigger” than T-Rex, though this certainly doesn’t change the fact that T-Rex will undoubtedly remain the most iconic of the large theropod dinosaurs.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 03:34:33 +0000

To use the geekiest analogy possible, Tyrannosaurus rex is to dinosaurs as the X-Wing is to Star Wars, the Enterprise is to Star Trek, and Hulk Hogan is to pro wrestling. It matters not a wit that other carnivorous dinosaurs may have been slightly longer or heavier. The lion retains its modern day title of King of the Beasts in spite of the fact that the tiger and the bear are both larger. The same goes for T. rex.

By: Kathy

Kathy — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 22:29:12 +0000

I agree with everything that you have pointed out. I would add one more thing.
Tyrannosaurus rex is also a fantastic name compared to some other dinosaur names. To paleontologists this might not mean anything, but in pop culture a name can add a lot of star power.