A Four-Legged Megalosaurus and Swimming Brontosaurs

Authors

Jordan C. Oldham, Cedarville UniversityFollow

Department/School of the Primary Author

Science and Mathematics

Keywords

Thomas Kuhn, Philosophy of Science, dinosaurs, paleontology, history of paleontology

DOI

10.15385/jch.2018.2.2.5

Abstract

Thomas Kuhn, in his famous work, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions laid out the framework for his hypothesis for how science changes. At the advent of dinosaur paleontology fossil hunters like Gideon Mantell discovered some of the first dinosaurs like Iguanodon and Megalosaurus. Through new disciples like Georges Cuvier’s comparative anatomy led early paleontologists to reconstruct them like giant reptiles of absurd proportions. This led to the formation of a new paradigm that prehistoric animals like dinosaurs existed and eventually became extinct. The first reconstructions of dinosaurs made them to look like giant counterparts of their modern cousins. Then in 1842, Richard Owen coined the term dinosaur and put the newly discovered dinosaurs into a special group based on similar morphological characteristics. He reconstructed them to look like giant elephantine like reptiles. In Owen’s reconstruction dinosaurs were slow, sluggish, and their tales dragged on the ground. In 1858, William Foulke and Joseph Leidy discovered the dinosaur Hadrosaurus foulkii, which had morphological characteristics that hindered the animal from being quadrupedal. As a result, a new paradigm formed, and some dinosaurs were lifted off the ground. Dinosaurs were now reconstructed to look like giant reptilian kangaroos in stance, but they were still considered slow, sluggish, with tails still dragging behind them. This paradigm persisted until the 1960’s when paleontologist John Ostrom realized that there was an anomaly within dinosaur paleontology. The environments that dinosaurs inhabited did not match with the reconstructions of swamp dwelling animals, and dinosaur anatomy also did not match those reconstructions. Ostrom’s later discovery and description of Deinonychus, with its very bird-like skeleton, led him to conclude that dinosaurs were energetic, and probably endothermic. This resulted in a crisis, which led other paleontologists to research this anomaly. More discoveries affirmed Ostrom’s new paradigm, thus dinosaur paleontology underwent a scientific revolution from the 1960’s to the 1980’s. Formally termed the dinosaur renaissance, this revolution led to dinosaurs being reconstructed as active, intelligent animals no longer with their tails dragging behind them.

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Rights

© 2018 Jordan Oldham. All rights reserved

Recommended Citation

Oldham, Jordan C. (2018) "A Four-Legged Megalosaurus and Swimming Brontosaurs," Channels: Where Disciplines Meet: Vol. 2: No. 2, Article 5.
DOI: 10.15385/jch.2018.2.2.5
Available at: https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/channels/vol2/iss2/5