Dinosaur of Ta Prohm: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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{{Short description|Medieval Cambodian bas-relief}}

[[File:Dinosaur carving at Ta Prohm temple, Siem Reap, Cambodia (5534467622).jpg|thumb|The "dinosaur" relief|upright=1.25]]

[[File:View from rear ..jpg|thumb|View of the Stegosaurus from the rear showing attachment of plates and presence of two rear legs]]

[[File:View from front - May 2024.gif|thumb|View of Stegosaurus from the front showing eye, mouth, nostril, ear and muscle definition of legs]]

The "'''dinosaur of Ta Prohm'''"<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Foer |first1=Joshua |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KrXxCwAAQBAJ |title=Atlas Obscura: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Hidden Wonders |last2=Thuras |first2=Dylan |last3=Morton |first3=Ella |date=2016 |publisher=Workman Publishing |isbn=978-0-7611-8967-1 |pages=169 |language=en}}</ref> is a [[Bas-Relief|bas-relief]] in the [[Khmer Empire]] temple-monastery of [[Ta Prohm]]. Numerous reliefs of various different animals are present in the temple; the "dinosaur" is one of its more ambiguous artworks. The relief first gained modern notoriety in the late 1990s when the lobe-like features running down the animal's back were compared to the back plates of [[Stegosauria|stegosaurian]] dinosaurs. The relief has since become a popular piece of "evidence" for the fringe belief that [[Human-dinosaur coexistence|non-avian dinosaurs once coexisted with humans]].

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=== Conventional identifications ===

[[File:Ta Prohm the "Stegosaur" more likely an asian rhino (12664336944).jpg|thumb|The "stegosaur" in context; note the stylisedpresence lionof atstylized theleaves bottomor is commonpetals throughout and the region,mythical and appearscreature at the bottom of many vertical friezes|upright=0.6]]

The relief has garnered relatively little scientific interest.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Burnett |first=Scott E. |date=2019 |title=A Stegosaur Carving on the Ruins of Ta Prohm? Think Again |url=https://skepticalinquirer.org/2019/07/a-stegosaur-carving-on-the-ruins-of-ta-prohm-think-again/ |journal=Skeptical Inquirer |volume=43 |issue=4}}</ref> Conventional identifications of the animal depicted, taking into account the likelihood that the "plates" are stylized background foliage,<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" /> include a [[chameleon]],<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> a [[Acanthosaura capra|mountain horned lizard]],<ref name=":2" /> a [[rhinoceros]],<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /> a water buffalo,<ref name=":2" /> or a [[Wild boar|boar]].<ref name=":4" /> Although the head anatomy corresponds to that of a rhinoceros, the animal lacks a nose horn. It is possible that it originally had a horn that later weathered away or that the species depicted is one with a much less pronounced horn, such as the [[Bornean rhinoceros]], historically present in Cambodia.<ref name=":2" /> The arched back and large tail has been interpreted by some as more suggestive of a chameleon.<ref name=":2" /> It is also possible that the animal is a mythical one since other mythical creatures are depicted elsewhere in the temple, including very close to the "dinosaur"; the relief at the bottom of the same strip is a mythical dog-like creature with the head of a human or monkey.<ref name=":2" />

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== References ==

<references />

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[[Category:Cambodian art]]