Sunday, August 25, 2019

The Thagomizer


 
(click to enlarge)

 
A thagomizer is the distinctive arrangement of four to ten spikes on the tails of stegosaurid dinosaurs. These spikes are believed to have been a defensive measure against predators. The arrangement of spikes originally had no distinct name; the term Thagomizer was coined in 1982 by cartoonist Gary Larson in his comic The Far Side, and thereafter became gradually adopted as an informal term within scientific circles, research, and education.
 
 

2 comments:

Tim Knight said...

That's so cool!

I miss Far Side cartoons :(

Cal's Canadian Cave of Coolness said...

One of my favorite cartoons and true stories of all time. Shows the reach of Larson amoung smart people who got the joke.