| Matt Facts: Matthew dislikes drinking cold drinks from coffee mugs. He also hates plastic forks. | | Did you Know? Toothpicks are overrated. | | Words of Inspiration: "You can tell a lot about a fellow by the way he eats Jelly Beans" – R.Regan | | Did you know? There are no Pez Facts. Pez is, in fact, not factual. | | Matt Facts: Matthew's fortune cookies always predict success. | | Words of Inspiration: When I'm sad I stop being sad and be awesome instead - Barney Stinson | | Did you know? "Buf­falo buf­falo Buf­falo buf­falo buf­falo buf­falo Buf­falo buf­falo” is a gram­mat­i­cally valid sentence. | | Matt Facts: Matthew is best served on the rocks with a slice of lemon. | | Words of Inspiration: "Life is futile." | | Did you Know? Dinosaurs and Dandelions is the name of a popular blog that has been around since the 15 April 2010 | | Matt Facts: Unlike some people, Matthew only celebrates his birthday once a year. | | Words of Inspiration: "I'll be back" - The Terminator. | | Did you Know? The two modern breeds of Cocker Spaniel, American and English, are thought to have been descended from only two dogs? | | Matt Facts: On the second to last full moon of the year, Matthew develops an itch on his right shoulder. | | Words of Inspiration: “You can do it!” - Rob Schneider, in every Adam Sandler movie ever | | Did you know? Lettuce is often eaten raw. | | Words of Inspiration: "Science is always at work and never sleeps – just like Rust" | | Did you Know? When you dream, every­thing you see in that dream, you’ve seen before in real life. | | Matt Facts: Matthew officially endorses the Cadbury's Moro bar as being delicious | | Did You Know? A tadpole is also called a 'pollywog'. | | Matt Facts: Matthew has his own Facebook fan page. Creepy. | | Did You Know? Cats sleep for 70% of their lives. | | Words of Inspiration: "End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass, and then you see it." - Gandalf. | | Did you Know? This is the end. The journey ends here. Then it starts all over again. |

Monday 3 May 2010

The Brontosaurus

Well, originally I didn't envisage the A-Z as being an actual series, just a rather random way to start the show. However I guess the joke is on me because since then I've had suggestions for letters and just today I was asked when the next A-Z would be out. Answer: Whenever I damn well feel like it. Other Answer: Now.

It may surprise you to find out that the Brontosaurus is extinct. No? Oh...I see what happened there. Let me rephrase that. The Brontosaurus is a "popular but obsolete synonym". In other words, this article is actually about the Apatosaurus. But I couldn't call the B article "The Apatosaurus", that just wouldn't make sense.

The Apatosaurus has [or had] two names because it was named twice by its discoverer, Othniel Charles Marsh. The Apatosaurus was discovered in 1877 and then the Brontosaurus was "discovered" in 1879. It took another 24 years before another paleontologist realised that they were the SAME DAMN THING. By that time Mr Marsh was well dead and so probably didn't give a shit. Unfortunately it is now stuck with the silly Apatosaurus name, which means Deceptive Lizard, instead of the awesome Brontosaurus name, which means Thunder Lizard. If I was the Brontosaurus I would be feeling pretty ripped off.

 The Apatosaurus lived about 150 million years ago, which is, like, ages ago. It had a really really really long neck and a really really really really really long tail. One measurement places the total length of Apatosaurus at 26 meters (85 ft) and its weight at 24-32 tons, roughly the weight of four elephants. I'm not quite sure if I would back four elephants or one Apatosaurus in a fight, although I reckon the smart money would be on the deceptive lizard - it sounds like he would fight dirty.

The Apatosaurus is much more of an on air talent than that silly dinosaur I covered in "A". Monica Devertebrae from that great sit-com Dinosaurs was a Apatosaurus while the 2005 movie King Kong featured a whole herd of "Brontosaurus". Had enough Brontosaurus facts yet? Good. Bye. Ok. Cya.