Monthly Archives: September 2017

a Veil of Rock

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66 Million years is a long time, so We are told. Still, it supposedly shows how long ago the dinosaurs made their exit. It is as long ago for Rhinos as it is for our Readers. We may have been here 50 Million years longer than Humans, but there is still enough “say What?” to share.

As with everything in the Mysterious Past, there’s debate about how and why, but there is agreement that something went very wrong. (When dealing with Paleontology, We take any agreement We can get.)

Ignorance is hard to combat successfully. Every Answer has a dozen implicit Questions tossing in its wake. Paleontology must be about the balance between Frustration and Aggravation… and Euphoria.

“Oh Granny, what big Teeth you’ve got!”

by in R Life Lessons, R vs History, Your INNER Rhino | 2 Comments

It’s mind-boggling how earnest the efforts have been to understand the Age of Reptiles. The Iguanadon, shown above, was composited by Gideon and Mary Ann Mantell in 1822, using a single tooth she had found on her lunch break. Mr. Mantell was determined to sort it out, and did remarkably well. That’s the astonishing part: how accomplished people were at the time, functioning almost entirely on their wits.

They were also dedicated to the point of mania. Everyone was an amateur really, so the competition was primarily for bragging rights. But these folks really put in the work.

The Mantell’s version had a little horn on the Iguanadon’s nose, which We Rhinos applaud. However, it turned out to be a claw after more consideration.

Clearly these early Naturalists had a lot of Inner Rhino pumping away. What else would account for it all, huh?

B, as in Bafflement

by in R Mindset, R vs History | 3 Comments

Question: If We were to find a great big bone, what would We think it was? To truly understand the puzzle, We have to assume that nobody had ever heard of dinosaurs at the time of the discovery. Nobody, Reader or Rhino.

Answer: We’d have no idea what it was. Mr. Pennyston didn’t, and asked Dr. Robert Plot at Oxford. In 1676 Dr. Plot guessed it was from an elephant, or perhaps a thigh bone from a giant human, maybe 10 feet tall. He was a learned man for his day, and his every hunch was wrong.

It’s hard to dial back our understanding of matters to an age when witches were still being executed. (see: Salem, 1692).