Gary Larson, by coining the term thagomizer in The Far Side, changed the course of science history forever. Larson frequently found himself fascinated by the concept of science and discovery, which is why some of the funniest Far Side comics cover this topic. Little did he or his audience know that he'd soon find himself influencing real-life science.
On May 27, 1982, Gary Larson introduced the term "thagomizer in a Far Side comic strip, inspired by one of his characters, Thag Simmons. The comic shows a caveman giving a PowerPoint-style lecture to fellow cavemen, humorously naming the spikes on a stegosaurus’s tail the “thagomizer” in honor of the late Thag Simmons.
After the comic came out, scientists started using the term in their work and research, making it a key way to describe and teach about the stegosaurus’s tail spikes and helping improve our understanding of dinosaurs.
How The Far Side Coined “Thagomizer” and Changed Dinosaur Science Forever
First Published: May 27, 1982
After the release of this Far Side comic, thagomizer became the informal name for the stegosaurus tail, used to describe the arrangement of spikes (or osteoderms) found on the dinosaur. Prior to this, paleontologists described the dinosaur's tail spikes exactly as such... tail spikes. No such name existed for it otherwise, until paleontologist and former director of the USU Eastern Prehistoric Museum in Utah, Kenneth Carpenter, introduced the term to the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Annual Meeting in 1993, when he was still working at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
10 Best Far Side Comics About Dinosaurs
A staple of The Far Side comics, dinosaurs are one of the main topics of interest in these hilarious strips.
The Far Side was immensely popular by 1993, just over 10 years after the original comic's release, and thus, thagomizer was adopted to describe the stegosaurus' anatomy. It became universally accepted within the paleontology community once it was featured in the Smithsonian, the world's largest museum complex. In addition, thagomizer would become all the more widely accepted in magazines, research studies, and scientific books, as well as pop culture. Gary Larson dropped the term "thagomizer" as a joke, but it actually helped scientists name the once poorly described anatomy of a dinosaur.
Who Is The Far Side's Late Thag Simmons?
RIP Thag Simmons, Who Died So That the Thagomizer Could Live
Despite all of Gary Larson's comics being largely standalone strip s, The Far Side often had recurring characters like any other long-running series. One of The Far Side's most frequent visitors was local caveman Thag. Whenever there was a caveman-centric comic, most readers could expect either an actual appearance from Thag or one of the cavemen name-dropping him within the caption, as is the case in this comic strip. Naming the stegosaurus tail spikes after Thag might lead some readers to assume a stegosaurus, or at least one of its spikes, killed him.
However, in one of Thag's most historical appearances, dating back to September 21, 1993, it features Thag in modern times, said to be enjoying newfound fame after being thawed out of ice and writing a memoir about his experiences. What’s most interesting is that while the comic and its caption appear to focus solely on Thag’s experience as a frozen caveman, one could argue that, with the term thagomizer gaining popularity in 1993, the joke also comments on Thag’s fame; his name lived on because the term did.
The Far Side Is a Pop Culture Staple That Goes Beyond Just Jokes
Gary Larson's Comic Made a Serious Impact on the Science World
The art of comedy is one that can connect with people of all ages and demographics. More than just a means to express humor, comedy can often be used to expose overlooked truths about the world, and it can also help people see the world through a new lens. In a sense, this is exactly the impact that Gary Larson had on the science world when The Far Side featured the term "thagomizer" on a page for the first time.
Yes, it's a joke that exists merely to get people laughing, but it opened the gateway for paleontologists to study the anatomy of a stegosaurus all the easier. It's a small contribution that led to paleontologists unearthing bigger discoveries about the stegosaurus because they were better able to study and define its anatomical aspects. Many of the most vital discoveries in paleontology regarding the stegosaurus may never have come to had The Far Side not included the word thagomizer.
