# Am I the only dinosaur nut over 12? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 20, 2001, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-dinosaur-nut-over-12/73143 "2001-07-20T02:58:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![N\_A\_M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6de8d8/32.png) [@N\_A\_M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N_A_M)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2001, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-dinosaur-nut-over-12/73143/1 "2001-07-20T02:58:06Z")
I am utterly fascinated by dinosaurs. I know an embarrasing amount about them, and when I was younger, I had a huge collection of memorabilia related to them. Tomorrow, I’m seeing the third Jurassic Park, and I’m already nitpicking (Velociraptors were wolf-sized crocodile-snouted beasties, and a Pteranodon couldn’t _possibly_ lift a small boy. It’s like a 5-ounce sparrow lifting a 1-pound coconut ;-D). I’m wondering if I’m the only dinosaur nut over the age of 12. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2001, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-dinosaur-nut-over-12/73143/2 "2001-07-20T03:38:16Z")
Hardly! See some of my rants in various JP3 threads about what they did to _Spinosaurus_ (and I haven’t seen it yet, either) 🙂 Dinosaurs are the best thing since sliced bread. I got to ask Jack Horner a question (in person!) about dinosaur ankles once. I draw dinosaurs. I read about dinosaurs. I think about dinosaurs. They’re neato! Oh, and if you _really_ want to nitpick, _Velociraptor_ was more like the size of a large chicken (about a foot and a half tall, weighing all of about 30 lbs). _Deinonychus_ was closer to wolf-sized. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2001, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-dinosaur-nut-over-12/73143/3 "2001-07-20T03:55:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Darwin’s Finch \* > \*\*Oh, and if you _really_ want to nitpick, _Velociraptor_ was more like the size of a large chicken (about a foot and a half tall, weighing all of about 30 lbs). _Deinonychus_ was closer to wolf-sized. \*\* IIRC, when they found the dinosaur now identified as _Utahraptor_, they wanted to name it after Steven Spielberg, since it matched so well is JP 'raptors. Oh, by the way **N_A_M** \*, you’re not alone, I’m 45 and I **still** love dinosaurs ! ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2001, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-dinosaur-nut-over-12/73143/4 "2001-07-20T04:26:43Z")
I never go to movies, so I won’t be seeing the new Jurassic Park movie, but I watch anything from the Walking With Dinosaurs people every chance I get. The recent _When Dinosaurs Walked America_ thing was pretty good. Am looking forward to whatever they come up with next. This topic reminds me, they aren’t really dinosaurs, but anyone interested in Old Animals should check out _A Fish Caught In Time_ by Samantha Weinberg, a the story of the rediscovery of the coelacanth. Fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2001, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-dinosaur-nut-over-12/73143/5 "2001-07-20T04:46:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by detop \* > **IIRC, when they found the dinosaur now identified as _Utahraptor_, they wanted to name it after Steven Spielberg, since it matched so well is JP 'raptors.** Yup. I believe it was discovered within a year of the release of Jurassic Park. There was a specimen named _Utahraptor spielbergi_; however this specimen turned out to be the same as the earlier-named _Utahraptor ostrommaysorum_, so the name was not accepted. Personally, I think Ostrom deserves the name more then Speilberg, anyway 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2001, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-dinosaur-nut-over-12/73143/6 "2001-07-20T05:02:09Z")
I’m still fascinated by them. ---
**Author:** ![ssj\_man2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ssj\_man2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssj_man2k)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2001, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-dinosaur-nut-over-12/73143/7 "2001-07-20T06:46:06Z")
Do yourself a favor and don’t see JP3. It is totally retarded and idiotic. And if your really into dinosaurs, im sure you will puke within the first hour. And besides that, they story line is just plain bad and boring. Not enough violence and people eating. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2001, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-dinosaur-nut-over-12/73143/8 "2001-07-20T15:33:59Z")
I’m a dinosaur nut and I’m 19. If you’re really interested in Utahraptors, there’s a great book by Dr. Robert Bakker (sp?) called _Raptor Red_, based on just some Utahraptor skeletons he found. It’s fascinating. I loved the Discovery Channel computer animated dinosaur specials and have the first one on tape. I draw dinosaurs, too (but then, I don’t know how to draw very many other things, which is a shame). But I felt that Walking in America was too short. They should have shown the Utahraptor in, well, Utah and maybe some in the Midwest, where I live. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2001, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-dinosaur-nut-over-12/73143/9 "2001-07-20T15:49:31Z")
Darwin’s Finch (emphasis mine): > [@](#): > > Dinosaurs are the best thing **since** sliced bread. Ummm…I think dinosaurs preceded sliced bread by quite a few years. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2001, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-dinosaur-nut-over-12/73143/10 "2001-07-20T17:02:19Z")
Another dinosaur nut here. On my last trip to Manhattan I headed straight for the Museum of Natural History. We take the kids to the LA Natural History Museum whenever we can. My 4-year-old loves to go to La Brea (yes, I know there are no dinosaurs there, but it’s still cool.) ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2001, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-dinosaur-nut-over-12/73143/11 "2001-07-20T18:46:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cmkeller \* > \*\*Darwin’s Finch (emphasis mine): > > > [@](#): > > > > Dinosaurs are the best thing **since** sliced bread. > > Ummm…I think dinosaurs preceded sliced bread by quite a few years. 😃 > \*\* Yeah, I know - I just like the phrase 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2001, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-dinosaur-nut-over-12/73143/12 "2001-07-20T19:02:58Z")
I like the big lizards, i suffured through a Geology course so i could take the Dinosaur class in college, even though neither of them went toward my graduation credits. At least they helped my GPA. When i was a kid, i drew the 'dinosaurs in spaceships" pictures that Calvin later drew in Calvin and Hobbes. ---
**Author:** ![Rosebud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rosebud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rosebud)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2001, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-dinosaur-nut-over-12/73143/13 "2001-07-20T19:15:17Z")
I love dinosaurs. I could spend hours in the dino halls at the Natural History Museum. It’s something about their size… I know some of them were quite small, but there’s nothing quite like staring up at the full height of a tyranosaur skeleton. Also I’m just fascinated with old things-- really old things. I have to struggle to concentrate on things that happened in the last few hundred years, but give me bones & artifacts from thousands of years ago and I’m your girl. I think if there had been more science courses available to me earlier on in school, I might seriously have considered an archeology degree. Digging things up rules. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2001, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-dinosaur-nut-over-12/73143/14 "2001-07-20T21:03:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rosebud \* > **…but give me bones & artifacts from thousands of years ago and I’m your girl.** _Millions_ of years ago is the way to go. _Millions_ 😛 ---
**Author:** ![N\_A\_M](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6de8d8/32.png) [@N\_A\_M](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N_A_M)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2001, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-dinosaur-nut-over-12/73143/15 "2001-07-20T22:29:17Z")
I’m back from the theatre, and I must say: (pukes) At least I got out of the house. I have a few hours worth of nitpicks on that movie, which made the other two look like _Casablanca_, but several other Dopers have beat me to it. Pity. I never could draw dinosaurs. Funny, though, since I can draw a reasonably-realistic human with reasonably-realistic surroundings. Of course, the last dinosaur I drew was several years ago; my pencil hand has developed since then. I’m merely interested in old animals, period. Coelocanthi, glyptodonts, thecodonts, I love them all. It’s a pity I was born in the Holocene epoch… ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2001, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-dinosaur-nut-over-12/73143/16 "2001-07-20T22:44:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by N³A³M³ \* > \*\*It’s like a 5-ounce sparrow lifting a 1-pound coconut ;-D). > \*\* Would that be an African or a European sparrow?