h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Brontosaurus! Post-Extinction Burial and Rebirth - A87883023
Author: Bluebottle - U43530

Do YOU feel you have been deprived of being able to say 'Brontosaurus' in polite company for over 30 years? Of course you do!

Yet fear not, for Brontosaurus is an acceptable dinosaur once more. So scream the name with pride from the nearest rooftop!

Brontosaurus, Brontosaurus, Brontosaurus, Brontosaurus!

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Yay! I like the sound of this Entry, and look forward to reading it.

Brontosaurus, Brontosaurus, Brontosaurus, Brontosaurus!

Brontosaurus, Brontosaurus, Brontosaurus, Brontosaurus!

This is a complicated tale and you have made a good job of making sense of it.

I was among those who were disappointed that the famous Brontosuarus had been renamed! I'm sure I'd heard the name Brontosaurus meant 'thunder lizard. Is there any truth in this?

Some of the sentences seem a bit awkward and might merit rewording.

The sentence beginning 'The same is true of dinosaurs' is a bit tangled. Perhaps break it here and start a new sentence 'The most famous example'.

The sentence beginning 'With elephants' is a bit unwieldy. I suggest breaking it after 'Elephas maximus'

The sentence beginning 'It should be in italics' seems confusing, as it's the system that dates back to 1758. Perhaps turn it round. 'The system dates back to 1758...The rules state that the name should be written in italics... The new name must be unique...'

I think the story of Marsh's discovery could be clearer. Do you mean that in 1877, he found a few unspectacular remains, missing a skull, and named them Apatosaurus. In 1879, he found further remains and called them Brontosaurus?

In the sentence beginning 'However because this newly discovered skull...', you need a comma after Brontosaurus, and a new sentence after Apatosaurus.

Thanks for the thorough read-through! You can probably tell that while I respect the ICZN's rules of taxonomy, there's no denying that 'Brontosaurus' is a really, really great name and 'Apatosaurus', well, isn't.

'Brontosaurus' does indeed mean 'Thunder Lizard' - I mention that in the second sentence.

I've tweaked the sentence beginning 'with elephants'. Do you enjoy elephants?

I've also tweaked the other points you've mentioned, so I hope you find that better.

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I particularly like the end of this entry.

I'm glad you enjoyed it.

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Your introductory section is excellent - really sets the scene well

Nice to see mention of the Dreadnoughtus I enjoyed the elephants too.

You have 'Hyracotherim' - should that be 'Hyracotherium'?

"Due to this rivalry and to minimise the risk of the opposition stealing their discoveries, both Marsh and Cope rushed their discoveries, from the excavation stage and especially their discoveries' publications and scientific descriptions."

There's a lot going on in this sentence, so it could be rephrased a bit - something like:

"Due to this rivalry and to minimise the risk of the opposition stealing their discoveries, both Marsh and Cope rushed their work, from the excavation stage onwards. They especially rushed the publication of the scientific descriptions of their discoveries."

"Elmer Riggs Be Doubtful" - nice pun

Footnote 8 contains two "which"es so could be tweaked.

A fine conclusion

I knew I could rely on you to enjoy elephants
Yep, I missed out a 'U' from 'Hyracotherium', thanks for spotting that.
I've tweaked the sentences you mentioned so hopefully that makes more sense now. I'm glad you noticed 'Elmer Riggs Be' – I just couldn't resist

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We have a few Carnegie entries:

A87845520 Andrew Carnegie: Steel, Money and Culture
A87846501 From the Horse's Mouth: Homestead and Carnegie from Primary Sources
A87852405 Carnegie Libraries

which you could link to.

Do we have a photograph of a Brontosaurus? I guess we'd need a for a real one, but a model would do. Isn't there one outside the Carnegie Library that Dmitri provided once?

I've added links now.

The photo you mean can be seen here: A87860866
Is it a diplodocus or brontosaurus model? It's not easy to see for certain – perhaps Dmitri can confirm.

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Unfortunately that is dippy, a diblodocus rather than a brontosaurus, but they are sorta similar.

Ah - well, thanks for letting us know.

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Your Guide Entry has just been picked from Peer Review by one of our Scouts, and is now heading off into the Editorial Process, which ends with publication in the Edited Guide. We've moved this Review Conversation out of Peer Review and to the entry itself.

If you'd like to know what happens now, check out the page on 'What Happens after your Entry has been Recommended?' at EditedGuide-Process. We hope this explains everything.

Thanks for contributing to the Edited Guide!

Hurray! A vindication for Brontosaurus fans everywhere.

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Yay!

Congratulations!