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P is for Paraceratherium, a rhino relative that grew to be one of the largest land mammals, way back in the Early Oligocene to the Early Miocene, around 34 to 23 million years ago.

Mini-theme: Letter Blocks & Prehysterical Critters

Art © 10/2025 Marvin E. Fuller
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This was originally I for Indricotherium until research showed that Indricotherium is actually a junior synonym for Paracerathium.  Sometimes, thanks to the fragmentary nature of the available evidence, a species can be given different scientific names by different scientists until someone realizes everyone is describing the same species.  When that happens, precedents is given to the first name used to describe the species and the junior synonyms invalidated.  A famous example is Apatosaurus and Brontosaurus, the latter of which was thought to be a junior synonym of the former until a 2015 study revealed they were indeed distinct animals.

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Published: 5 months, 3 weeks ago
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tailgat
5 months, 3 weeks ago
https://archive.org/download/LooneyThing/0829%20-%20Pre...
well, this is for helping you break out of your doldrums (i hope)    :-)
inquetober related, of course!
CyberCornEntropic
5 months, 3 weeks ago
It helps.  Thanks. :)
MviluUatusun
5 months, 3 weeks ago
Oh, God!  I remember the Apatosaurus/Brontosaurus debate several years ago.  Even after it was revealed that they were indeed two different, distinct species, there were still those who insisted on calling Brontosaurus Apatosaurus.
CyberCornEntropic
5 months, 3 weeks ago
Yes, it's ironic, too.  For a long while when the two creatures were thought to be the same animal, people kept insisting on calling it Brontosaurus despite scientific custom.  Still, it's a famous example that shows what I meant about the older scientific name getting priority even when a later name is more popular.
MviluUatusun
5 months, 3 weeks ago
If I recall correctly, the first (Apatosaurus) was discovered a couple of weeks before Brontosaurus was discovered.  And in those days, there was no radio and telegraphs weren't in the areas where they were discovered.  (Of course, it didn't help that the two men who found examples hated each other.)  So, I can somewhat understand the original confusion.
CyberCornEntropic
1 month ago
Yes, the Bone Wars between Othniel Marsh and Edward Cope.  They really couldn't stand each other, which perhaps unsurprisingly, resulted in them effectively wiping out their fortune.

Marsh found and named both species, Apatosaurus two years before Brontosaurus.  The thing that muddied the waters the most was that, despite its exceptional state of preservation, the Brontosaurus skeleton lacked a skull, but there was a disassociated skull found nearby that was assumed to belong to it.  However, the skull belonged to a Brachiosaurus, which is fairly robust.  It wasn't until the 1970s before paleontologists figured out that both Apatosaurus and Brontosaurus really had different, more gracile skulls similar to Diplodocus'.  That was when Brontosaurus was invalidated as a junior synonym for Apatosaurus.  It wasn't until an in-depth statistical study in 2015 before it was suggested the animals be separated again, though a number of paleontologists aren't convinced yet.  But that's all a part of science.
MviluUatusun
1 month ago
And unfortunately, the one thing that could settle the debate can't be found or used, DNA.  Of course, if they could find it, there'd still be those who adamantly refused to accept the separation of the two again.  Ah!  Scientists.  You've got to love them.
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