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The other day I received a review copy of Ralph O'Connor's fantastic book The Earth on Show, and it has quickly become one of my most favorite tomes. (I know I'm a bit behind on reviews; I hope to get some done this weekend.) Reading it has definitely sparked plenty of thoughts about dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures as monsters, a post on which I'm working on presently (I'm away from my library at the moment, though, so I won't be able to dig into my bookshelves until later today). Descriptions of prehistoric animals as monsters and dragons have generally been dropped, yet the concept still underlies much of paleontological storytelling and imagery. Early restorations of Iguanodon, for instance, made the ornithischian look like a 100 foot long dragon, sporting a horn on its nose and a mouth bristling with sharp teeth. Although such art was based upon living, herbivorous iguanas (and I have not yet seen an early illustration of Iguanodon as a carnivore), there seemed to be little doubt that it was just as fierce as the predatory Megalosaurus in combat;
The modern Iguanodon is depicted as a much more peaceful animal and is seldom locked in battle with another dinosaur (although there is one John Sibbick illustration I can remember in which an Iguanodon drives its thumb-spikes into the neck of a theropod). A huge array of other dinosaurs have filled the gap, though, vividly illustrating "nature red in tooth and claw." Tyrannosaurus will always be the scourge of hadrosarus and Triceratops, Tenontosaurus will be perpetually falling prey to packs of Deinonychus, Apatosaurus juveniles will be continually menaced by marauding Allosaurus, and so on, our fixation with the "struggle for existence" being front-and-center in paleoimagery.
Humanities & Social Science
Comments
Yes, I know exactly the picture you mean -- I use it in one of my lectures as a mention of one proposed function for the spike. I call it "Iguanodon hitch-hiking the theropod to death." Should be the other way 'round, though -- any animal with as paltry a defensive armament as Iguanodon stupid enough to move toward a predator is just asking to be removed from the gene pool... (Guess how much credence I lend this hypothesis!)
Posted by: Jerry D. Harris | February 22, 2008 9:58 AM
Heh. I remember that picture by John Sibbick.
You could add a few other common representations:
An ankylosaurid whacking the ankle of a marauding tyrannosaur.
A Stegosaurus defending itself from an Allosaurus or Ceratosaurus.
Protoceratops locked in combat with Velociraptor, or catching a thieving Oviraptor in action.
A large crocodilian (always either Sarcosuchus or Deinosuchus) chomping down on some unlucky ornithopod.
Posted by: Hai~Ren | February 22, 2008 10:56 AM
I love the Riou picture. Note that the *Iguanodon* looks like an oversized iguana, while the *Megalosurus* with its parasagittal gait and mammalian proportions looks like a mangy mesonychian.
Posted by: johannes | February 22, 2008 11:03 AM
Is this the John Sibbick illustration?
(From here.)
Posted by: HP | February 22, 2008 11:45 AM