The Herrerasaurus Error Syndrome

By | September 9th, 2010|Dinosaur Fans, Everything Dinosaur News and Updates, Main Page|0 Comments

Ancient Predator is a Proof Reading Nightmare

Herrerasaurus (H. ischigualastensis) is a bizarre animal, regarded by many scientists as a dinosaur, one of the earliest dinosaurs known from the fossil record, although the number of fused vertebrae over the hips has led some palaeontologists to question its taxonomic status.  Named after a goat farmer who found the first fossils of this dinosaur in the Ischigualasto Basin in north-western Argentina, fossils of Herrerasaurus date from approximately 227 million years ago.  For us this unusual, five-fingered prehistoric animal is interesting enough, and an important scientific discovery but proof reading books and articles about is a nightmare.

Herrerasaurus

There are certain prehistoric animals that cause writers and journalists problems, Herrerasaurus is certainly one of them, it is frequently spelt incorrectly.

An Illustration of Herrerasaurus

Herrerasaurus scale drawing.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

As we try to help by proof reading papers and such like we often find that the second “e” is missing or an “r” out of place.  It is easily done, this swift predator perhaps rivals Archaeopteryx (A.lithographica) in  terms of the problems it causes writers and proof readers alike.

CollectA Prehistoric Animal Models

CollectA have introduced a not to scale replica of this South American archosaur, this figure is quite rare and difficult to obtain, but Everything Dinosaur continues to commit to stocking all the CollectA prehistoric animal models and figures, including replicas like Herrerasaurus, one of the more obscure animals from the Triassic of South America.

To view the CollectA Prehistoric Life model range: CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Popular Range.