We are deep into October, and the Halloween craziness has begun. Perhaps you do not like the Halloween craziness, but consider this—the Halloween craziness may be the only thing that prevents the Christmas craziness from starting in September. I am fascinated by the Halloween craziness, because I remember the time before Halloween consumed the entirety of October. One topic that I find particularly interesting is the wild profusion of yard decorations now available. (During my childhood, it was a jack-o’lantern or nothing.)
One type of yard decoration that I seem to be seeing more and more is the plastic animal skeleton. A variety of animals are represented, but in all cases something in wrong with the morphology of the skeleton on a very basic level. Thus I am beginning a multi-part series of blog posts that will examine decorative plastic Halloween skeletons from a zoological/paleontological, and, more specifically, osteological perspective.
Maybe it is wrong for me to scientifically critique Halloween decorations. Maybe I should put aside my criticisms and blind myself to everything but the fun of the season. But I can’t help it. Errors bother me. (I am someone who is annoyed when people describe food as “healthy” rather than “healthful”.)
The subject of our first installment is a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton (with LED illuminated eyes) available for $299 from Home Depot.
There are a lot of inaccuracies here, including the head being too large for the body, the almost-nonexistent pelvic bones, and, well, the LED illuminated eyes. But what really gets to me is that the forelimbs have three digits. As anyone with a basic knowledge of dinosaurs knows, having only two fingers per hand is a defining characteristic of the tyrannosaurs.
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