I blame Disney.
Pterodactyls were dinosaurs, which were REPTILES.*
WHY is the “artist’s rendering” DISTINCTLY FURRY?
What ARE they teaching them in these schools, dammit?
And dude, how awesome would it be to have a tiny pterodactyl of one’s very own? A tpersonal pterodactyl, if you will? I move we redirect all current bioengineering resources to this vital project.
Note: tpersonal pterodactyls should be available in pink.
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*As I think I have previously mentioned, throughout my childhood, my parents mocked me relentlessly for saying “rep-TILE.” “Crawl on your belly like a REP-TILE!” they would cackle, insinuating that I was talking like hillfolk. To this day, I say “REP-tull,” which causes virtually everyone else to mock me relentlessly, but I cannot overcome my childhood conditioning.
February 18th, 2008 at 9:19 am
Have you read the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde? I’m a big proponent of the unextinction movement. Then I would have a tiny pterodactyl and an ewok! (Yes, ewoks are not technically extinct, rather having never existed, but I’m sure we can work around that in the future).
February 18th, 2008 at 10:39 am
I hate to spoil a perfectly good rant, but at least some pterosaurs had what appears to be a hair-like covering on their skin — Sordes pilosus most notably. People think it’s an example of convergent evolution, as they pretty clearly weren’t closely related to mammals.
In any case, there’s really no such thing as a “reptile.” Unless you want to include birds as reptiles too.
February 18th, 2008 at 11:16 am
And your cats would eat a tpink pterodactyl.
February 18th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
I left you a comment on LiveJournal, which Dad says you’ll never notice, so I’ll repeat it here:
A lot of recent research on dinosaurs suggests that they may have been less reptilian than previously thought. And I don’t think that the pterosaurs are, in fact, considered to be dinosaurs. But I don’t follow things the way I used to, when I aspired to be a paleontologist
February 19th, 2008 at 4:33 am
Unextinction? Bring back the pygmy elephant and the recently discovered guinea-pig the size of a bull, I say.
The pygmy elephants can be pink, if you like. That would be appropriate.
February 19th, 2008 at 5:20 am
Some of the dinosaurs also developed fur-like feathers. You need to watch Walking With Dinosaurs. :p
April 27th, 2008 at 6:51 am
Actually, they were not dinosaurs. Prehistoric creatures yes, but they have never actually been classified as dinosaurs. No dinosaurs flew.