And McManus takes the bet!
The first thing a
good dinosaur artist does is to study his model. And McCay was no exception.
Do you notice something
strange about this dinosaur? Look carefully at the head. This dinosaur
is now called Apatosaurus, but in 1903 when it was first put on
display it was called Brontosaurus. Part of the reason is
that it had the wrong head! It was, in fact, the very first
sauropod dinosaur ever mounted, and there were many mistakes! Paleontologists
also believed that because Brontosaurus was so big, it even lived
in water: it was called "The Aquatic Dinosaur." Today we know that
Apatosaurus had a long narrow head (and a longer tail that doesn't
hang down) which can be seen today at the AMNH.
But McCay used this dinosaur
as a model.. So his dinosaur looks just like this one, hanging tail and
all.. If McCay had made his cartoon today, Gertie would have had a long,
thin head and a tail that sticks straight out.
SAUR
Interplanetary Gazette
