If ever there’s proof that parents influence their children, my little dino aficionado, Michelle, is it.
I nearly chose a career in Paleontology, and, although I managed to avoid that particular path to poverty, I’ve still got quite a lot of books and such on the subject.
Michelle has an amazing ability to remember and identify dinosaur species (and, she corrects anyone who calls a Tyrannosaur a “T-Rex”). At age three, she can correctly identify and name at least:
- Compsognathus
- Coelophysis
- Ornithelestes
- Oviraptror
- Velociraptor
- Deinonychus
- Allosaurus
- Dilophosaurus
- Tyrannosaurus Rex
- Spinosaurus
- Apatosaurus
- Diplodocus
- Brachiosaurus
- Saltasaurus
- Iguanodon
- Maiasaura
- Parasaurolophus
- Protoceratops
- Psittacosaurus
- Styracosaurus
- Triceratops
- Pentaceratops
- Zuniceratops
- Pachycephalosarus
- Stegosaurus
- Ankylosaurus
Although, admittedly, she does have some difficulty identifying related species, for example, confusing Daspletosaurus or Albertosaurus (both Tyrannosauridae) with Tyrannosaurus Rex itself. Small wonder, though, often the illustrations are virtually identical and you have to get into measuring sizes of the bones before the speciation becomes obvious.
I’m also quite pleased that she firmly understands that Pterosaurs, Marine Reptiles and Therapsida/Synapsids (Mammal-like Reptiles) are not dinosaurs.
OK, that’s my proud geek-father moment.
Of course, she likes Hello Kitty, too, but she doesn’t get that from me.
There’s more on this, but I’ll post that later.
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