5 Myths About Dinosaurs That Need To Go Extinct

Artist extraordinaire James Grasdal is putting the finishing touches on the 13^th book in the Superman Duffy comic series— MYTHCONCEPTIONS. Which, you may have guessed has a little something to do with common “myths.” 

I love myths! So for this year’s A to Z Blogging Challenge, I’m going to “bust” as many of them as I can—every day (except Sundays) on the blog, throughout April. 

Not familiar with the A to Z Challenge? Get the details here, and then hang on, because I’m about to blow your mind with my myth-inspired posts. 

P.S. Comment on the blogs throughout the month for a chance to WIN a complete set of the Superman Duffy comics, including lucky #13, MYTHCONCEPTIONS.

~ ~ ~

MYTH: Dinosaurs are lizards.

Okay, I can see where this myth started. The actual word for dinosaur comes from two Greek terms: dienos (terrible) and sauros (lizard). Terrible lizard. Get it?

Makes sense, but real science crushes that myth faster than a meteor wiping out the whole dinosaur species. Er, maybe that’s not a good comparison since that’s actually a myth too—one huge family of dinosaurs survived the tragic end of the Cretaceous Period: the birds!

But back to lizards…. Dinosaurs belong to their own category of animal, most closely related to birds and crocodiles—Archosauromorphs.

So what other myths about dinosaurs have you been led to believe? Here are three more.

MYTH: We could clone dinosaurs in the future.

FACT: It looks easy in the movies—Jurassic Park is still my favourite dinosaur flick—but the reality is, DNA is super fragile, and unfortunately, completely unusable shortly after the death of an animal. All that stuff about freezing DNA for millions of years? Complete fiction.

(Speaking of fiction…dinosaurs are a pretty BIG deal in the Superman Duffy comic, TRANSPIRATION. Even though the series covers pirates, giant bugs, and even a genie, illustrator James Grasdal says he had the most fun drawing the dinosaurs… Go figure!)

MYTH: Dinosaurs dragged their tails.

FACT:  Contrary to myth, dinosaurs weren’t the lumbering sloth-like creatures often depicted in the movies. They were actually fast, active animals that kept their tails off the ground.

MYTH: The Brontosaurus was a popular dinosaur.

FACT: Another myth perpetuated by TV. Actually, the Brontosaurus didn’t even exist. It’s the result of an incorrectly identified dinosaur created by putting the body of an Aptosaurus together with the head of a Camarasaurus.

Obviously I’m just scratching the surface of what archeologists and other scientists have dug up about dinosaurs (ha! See what I did there?), and there are many resources online to help you learn more about these creatures of the past—including this fun site by the University ofAlberta, which includes video! 

I don’t know about you, but I’m buried in #AtoZChallenge posts (ha ha—I’m on a roll today!) so I’ve gotta jet.  But I’ll see you tomorrow for a surprise letter “E”—guaranteed to give you the heebie-jeebies. And don’t forget to check out the rest of the blogs in the challenge.

~ Chase Superman Duffy

P.S. Comment on this post, or share it on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for a chance to WIN a complete set of the Superman Duffy comics. A winner will be chosen at random on May 1.