#elasmosaurus

suruasomsalE sdrawkcaB ehT :6202 slooF lirpA

.suruytalp suruasomsalE ,ruasoiselp derevocsid-ylwen a fo noitcurtsnocer dna noitpircsed a dehsilbup epoC reknirD drawdE tsigolotnoelap naciremA ,9681 nI

.dne gnorw eht no saw daeh eht :melborp gib a saw ereht tuB

.noisluporp fo snaem yramirp eht saw "liat" gnol eht demussa epoC dna dnuof neeb dah lairetam bmil on ecnis ,sreppilf dnih evah t'ndid osla tI

.dlrow eht dnuora seugaelloc ot tuo tnes d'eh seipoc tnirperp eht fo tsom gnicalper dna gnillacer neve ,riaffa elohw eht pu revoc ot tpmetta ot hguone dessarrabme saw eh smees ti dna ,etad dna eltit emas eht htiw noitide detcerroc a dehsilbup yldeirruh epoC .(sgnilleter retal etipsed ,hsraM selrahC leinhtO lavir sraW enoB sih ton dna) ydieL hpesoJ rotnem s'epoC yb tuo detniop ,dezingocer neeb dah ekatsim eht raey txen eht yB

———

…April fools! Let's turn that text the right way around:

April Fools 2026: The Backwards Elasmosaurus

In 1869, American paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope published a description and reconstruction of a newly-discovered plesiosaur, Elasmosaurus platyurus.

But there was a big problem: the head was on the wrong end.

It also didn't have hind flippers, since no limb material had been found and Cope assumed the long "tail" was the primary means of propulsion.

By the next year the mistake had been recognized, pointed out by Cope's mentor Joseph Leidy (and not his Bone Wars rival Othniel Charles Marsh, despite later retellings). Cope hurriedly published a corrected edition with the same title and date, and it seems he was embarrassed enough to attempt to cover up the whole affair, even recalling and replacing most of the preprint copies he'd sent out to colleagues around the world.

———

NixIllustration.com | Tumblr | Patreon