Here's a picture I left on a wall at the edge of the Sahara...
It wasn't random graffiti: we stayed at an auberge where there was a long tradition of this sort of thing. And if you need a close-up of the little figures on the left...
Tetrapod Zoology
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Darren Naish is a science writer, technical editor and palaeozoologist (affiliated with the University of Portsmouth, UK) who mostly works on Cretaceous dinosaurs and pterosaurs. He also studies such things as the swimming abilities of giraffes and fossil marine reptiles. An avid interest in modern wildlife and conservation has resulted in many adventures in lizard-chasing, bird-watching and litter-collecting. I've been blogging since 2006 and a compilation of early Tet Zoo articles is now available in book form as Tetrapod Zoology Book One. Additional recent books include The Great Dinosaur Discoveries and Dinosaurs Life Size. For more biographical info go here. I can be contacted intermittently at eotyrannus (at) gmail dot com. PLEASE NOTE: I am now completely unable to keep up with email correspondence. I do my best to respond to all queries and requests, but please don't be offended if I fail to reply. I blog from and about conferences - please contact me for more info. Follow me on twitter: @TetZoo.
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« Over the Atlas Mountains and to the land of rebbachisaurs, agamas and fennec foxes | Main | From Morocco, with larks, babblers, gazelles, owls and GIANT DINOSAUR BONES »
Spinosaurs as graffiti
Category: picture of the day
Posted on: December 21, 2008 4:10 PM, by Darren Naish
Life Science
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TrackBack URL for this entry: http://scienceblogs.com/mt/pings/88435
Comments
Is this an advertisement for the Star Wars Walking with Dinosaurs Holiday Special? Awesome!
Posted by: Adam | December 21, 2008 4:32 PM
Pss a beuhman.
Les go ba, na.
CHIGGIDDABOO!
Posted by: Mike Keesey | December 21, 2008 6:15 PM
I am in awe.
Posted by: Alison | December 21, 2008 7:50 PM
StarWars + Dinos rulez!
Posted by: Din | December 21, 2008 10:07 PM
Utini indeed...
Posted by: John H | December 22, 2008 4:48 AM
That has to be the most anatomically correct graffiti I've seen in a long time.
Posted by: Tim Morris | December 22, 2008 5:44 AM
Ancients of Mu Mu...
Posted by: Tilsim | December 22, 2008 9:28 AM
Very cool! Is is a coincidence that so many people who likes dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures are shameless Star-Wars-Geeks?
It would also be really cool if somebody would finally find those lost Crayt-Dragon bones from Episode IV and think they belong to some kind of dinosaur...
Posted by: Sordes | December 22, 2008 10:51 AM
I think somewhere in Morocco there is a village which played Star Wars desert planet. Yep. one with the famous cantina.
And apparently giant plastic skeletons of alien snake-beasts used as props in part I are still somewhere in the desert...
Posted by: Jerzy | December 22, 2008 12:30 PM
It's the Krayt Dragon!
Posted by: Zach Miller | December 22, 2008 2:25 PM
Jerzy: Some scenes set on the desert planet of Tatooine were filmed in the Tunisian city of Tataouine ... :)
Posted by: Stevo Darkly | December 22, 2008 4:14 PM
-It would also be really cool if somebody would finally find those lost Crayt-Dragon bones from Episode IV and think they belong to some kind of dinosaur...-
Well, they are from the "Brontosaurus rex" as seen in "One of our Dinosaurs is Missing"...
Posted by: Simon M. Clabby | December 22, 2008 4:34 PM
LOL, very funny :) I wasn't aware Spinosaurs were endemic to Tatooine, but it's not that strange. After all, quantum mechanics dictates that there are countless parallel universes, and somewhere there is a planet Tatooine with a exact clone of YOU living on it!
By the way, the hilarious "utini" textmarks realy completes the whole arrangement ;)
Greetings from a Dutch fan of the person who writes the most readable and enjoyable articles about ancient animals! Merry Christmas!
Posted by: DaMatriX | December 22, 2008 5:08 PM
Now, I've seen graffiti that is more technically impressive, but as far as sheer awesomeness goes, this takes the cake. The fact that they actually wrote out that word that Jawas cry out is the icing on said cake.
Posted by: Cory Trego-Erdner ("Moai") | December 22, 2008 8:22 PM
Pure genius :D
Posted by: neil | December 23, 2008 4:52 AM
That picture made me realize that one of the biggest perils facing anyone traveling back in time to the Age of Dinosaurs is getting dumped on by a sauropod.
Posted by: Alan Kellogg | December 23, 2008 5:14 AM
But... but... but... bbbbbbut... Darren!!! How could you!!! You pronated the left forearm!!!!eleventyone!!!1! I am appalled.
Nope, not at all. That's just one possible interpretation of it (...and probably one of the silliest).
Meddle not in the affairs of Klingons, for they are prepared to kill you where you stand.
Posted by: David Marjanović | December 23, 2008 11:26 AM
Those jawas better hush up. If that sucker hears them and turns around, they're snacks!
Posted by: Frasque | December 23, 2008 12:27 PM
So, I guess "a long time ago" is approximately 100 million years bp. Assuming of course that travel from a galaxy far, far away doesn't take more than ten million years...
Posted by: Sclerophanax | December 23, 2008 2:25 PM
I always thought Jawas said "Wutidi"...
Posted by: Devonian | December 23, 2008 3:54 PM
Oootini surely....
Posted by: Graeme Elliott | December 24, 2008 11:39 AM
"Oootini surely...."
Dunno. "Utini" is somehow funnier.
Posted by: ScottE | December 26, 2008 8:39 PM
It would also be really cool if somebody would finally find those lost Crayt-Dragon bones from Episode IV and think they belong to some kind of dinosaur...
They're no longer lost, and they do belong to a dinosaur. Full story here.
Posted by: Dr Vector | January 1, 2009 10:37 AM
That is the most antomically correct Spinosaurus that I have seen in a long time. For some reason, dinosaur books hardly mention this theropod. When they do, they give it the head of a Tyrannosaurid. Why is that?
Posted by: Raptor Lewis | January 5, 2009 4:35 PM
@24 If I remember correctly it is because the skull was unknown for decades, leading artists to fill it in themselves. As Darren's discussed in other posts the artistic memes can be quite persuasive and persistent; in this case even after the skull was discovered.
Posted by: JakeM | December 2, 2010 8:43 AM
"Look sir, Droid!"
Posted by: Tim Morris | December 3, 2010 5:00 AM