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

For some time now I've had a fond mental image of how Tyrannosaurus rex might have appeared in life. He's had a bad press, and I'm sure his name is no indication of his true nature. What with his sturdy, tripod-like lower half and his diddy little arms and his big smooth head with those powerful teeth, he looks like nothing more than a scavenger. He does not look like the kind of beast who would go stomping around catching prey--hell, they'd see him coming a mile off. Even as a skeleton, he's not exactly inconspicuous.

Since dinosaurs are thought to have been the precursors to modern birds, and since current models of T. rex make him look like a big bald turkey, I like to imagine that he was feathered; that he had a baldish head (for food hygeine reasons) and a great big ruff around his shoulders and a body covered in down, with his arms (for use during mating) concealed under the feathers. I like to imagine that his voice, far from being a leonine roar to scare everything in sight, was a high-pitched cackle to communicate with his own kind.

I was delighted enough when scientists began to suggest that T. rex was indeed a scavenger. Now it turns out he could have had feathers, too.http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1764136,00.html

Now I'm hoping someone will discover that dinosaurs could sing.

It depends on what you mean by "sing". Tweeting like a little bird may be right out. Although baby dinos may have squeaked in a chirupy way like baby crocodiles do. However, there had already been speculation that the hollows in the head structures of some dinos might have made them good resonators. So perhaps some of those hooted - but a little more like a didgeridoo than an owl.

NB Geese honk but they don't seem to be trying to make a tune out of it. The highly developed speech/song part of bird's brains is not in all of them and thus probably evolved further down the lineage than in the ancestral dino types. T-rex may be out of luck as a contestant on Pop Idol. On the other hand, how embarrassing for film-makers if he had a wheedly little treble/tenor voice instead of a bassy roar (as per Toy Story).

Hooting is good. I like hooting. That's a good sound for any self-respecting dinosaur.

Have you *seen* Pop Idol? Of *course* T-rex could be a contestant. One of the more memorable ones.

I haven't seen Toy Story and probably never will.

I've only seen Pop Idol in passing - ie largely people talking about Pop Idol! So I'll have to take your word for it that the T-Rex would fit right in as a contestant. Is he allowed to eat the judges?

I had visions of Jurassic Park, only with Bernard Manning rearing poor T Rex’s for Christmas meals instead of a theme park.

Oops, *Bernard Matthews,* not Bernard Manning! Would be an interesting double act though. Anyone know any Hollywood execs?

Bill Oddie had a turkey substituting for a velociraptor the other night in his dinosaur experiments.

"Is he allowed to eat the judges?"

I don't think it's against the rules. And he probably wouldn't be the first to try, either. I'm an avid watcher of the programme, myself. I think it's hilarious, partly because Gothly finds it unbearable. All those total lunatics making asses of themselves. Gothly curls up on the sofa, cringing in embarrassment on their behalves.

Bernard Matthews.

I always get those two mixed up. If you hadn't said anything, I wouldn't have noticed the error.


Turkeys as velociraptors, eh? Some of the ones in Tesco look like they're about the right size.