Pathology

My absolute favorite thing to do when standing before a mounted dinosaur is to look for pathologies. That's a fancy, exquisitely sciencey way of saying that I like to spot evidence injuries or sickness - spots where disease or violent mischief have left their mark on the animal's skeleton in the form of breaks, holes, or my personal favorite: big, knobbly protrusions. One of the dinosaurian residents of my cubicle at work is a daily reminder of this sublime pleasure.



As you can see, his left forelimb has been completely broken in two. But he soldiers on.



I've had this little dude since I was little. I may have found it in an Easter basket, cleverly hidden among the candy in his egg form. That's the cool thing: when necessary, he can be cracked open, and his limbs, head, and tail can fold in. He was made by Bandai, and unfortunately the blue pterosaur that was his faithful partner in crime went missing long ago.

We miss you, blue pterosaur.