NEW YORK – Here’s a test of your dinosaur knowledge: Did Tyrannosaurus rex stand upright, with its tail on the ground?
The answer: No. But a lot of young people seem to think so, and the authors of a study are blaming toys like Barney and other pop influences for that misconception.
Additional Photos
Scientists used to think T. rex stood tall, but they abandoned that idea decades ago. Now, the ferocious dinosaur is depicted in a bird-like posture, tail in the air and head pitched forward of its two massive legs.
The change led major museums to update their T. rex displays, study authors said, and popular books have largely gotten the posture right since around 1990. So did the “Jurassic Park” movies.
But when the researchers asked college students and children to draw a T. rex, most gave it an upright posture instead. Why? They’d soaked up the wrong idea from toys like Barney, games and other pop culture items, the researchers conclude.
“It doesn’t matter what they see in science books or even in ‘Jurassic Park,’ ” said Warren Allmon, a paleontology professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., and an author of the study.
It struck him when he saw a box of dinosaur chicken nuggets at a grocery store.
“What they grew up with on their pajamas and their macaroni and wallpaper and everything else is the tail-dragging posture,” he said.
If the explanation is correct, Allmon said, it’s a sobering reminder of how people get wrong ideas about science. The study will be published in the Journal of Geoscience Education.
The authors examined 316 T. rex drawings made by students at Ithaca College and children who visited an Ithaca museum. Most of the college students weren’t science majors.
Seventy-two percent of the college students and 63 percent of the children drew T. rex as being too upright. The sample isn’t representative of the general population.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.