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Talk:3205: Carbon Dating

2026-02-11T09:09:40Z

185.36.194.156:

F10st p0st! [[Special:Contributions/185.36.194.156|185.36.194.156]] 04:45, 10 February 2026 (UTC)

:First explanation! Hopefully it's fine... (also, nice TCMP reference.)--[[User:Utdtutyabthsc|Utdtutyabthsc]] ([[User talk:Utdtutyabthsc|talk]]) 06:00, 10 February 2026 (UTC)
::Oh, was that a deliberate reference? Why isn't it [[269|spelled the same way]]? What does "F10st" even mean? [[User:Elizium23|Elizium23]] ([[User talk:Elizium23|talk]]) 06:58, 10 February 2026 (UTC)
:::Semi-deliberate, but more spirit of the law than letter of the law since early internet trolling is (was?) a common theme here anyways lol; the 0 was a typo [[Special:Contributions/185.36.194.156|185.36.194.156]] 10:04, 10 February 2026 (UTC)
::::It is though getting a little tiresome and repeatable that someone has begun writing first post on all talk pages... Please stop it ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:19, 10 February 2026 (UTC)
:::::31Gth!!! [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 14:54, 10 February 2026 (UTC)
::::How about next time we troll for 3rd post instead (game theory time) [[Special:Contributions/185.36.194.156|185.36.194.156]] 09:09, 11 February 2026 (UTC)

I'm all for carbon dating, but I wouldn't want one to marry my sister. [[Special:Contributions/24.123.140.66|24.123.140.66]] 13:52, 10 February 2026 (UTC)
:I also was expecting that kind of pun when I saw the title. [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 15:10, 10 February 2026 (UTC)
: You'd rather she settled down with a nice silica-based lifeform? [[Special:Contributions/82.13.184.33|82.13.184.33]] 15:20, 10 February 2026 (UTC)
: I figured that carbon dating was the process by which paleontologists analyze prospective mates to determine their chronological compatibility. [[User:Jordan Brown|Jordan Brown]] ([[User talk:Jordan Brown|talk]]) 01:36, 11 February 2026 (UTC)

Is the skeleton being studied a cosmologist? [[Special:Contributions/2605:A601:80AF:4000:2A74:9789:42F0:2275|2605:A601:80AF:4000:2A74:9789:42F0:2275]] 14:35, 10 February 2026 (UTC)

Talk:3205: Carbon Dating

2026-02-10T10:05:46Z

185.36.194.156:

2025-12-25T04:56:29Z

185.36.194.156:

{{comic
| number = 3185
| date = December 24, 2025
| title = Sauropods
| image = sauropods_2x.png
| imagesize = 317x424px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = Vertebrae Georg
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|This page was created by an explainxkcd user who created 3184 pages. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

This comic attempts to correct people on the skeletal structure of {{w|sauropod}} dinosaurs, claiming that most individuals actually had short necks and tails, and the "queen" of the colony had an enormous number of vertebrae, possibly resembling a snake with legs. The idea is that paleontologists misconstructed the skeletons, averaging the vertebrae out between all specimens, and not giving most of them to the queen.

In reality, most of the animal species that have {{w|eusociality|colonies with queens}} are insects, particularly termites, ants, bees, and wasps. No sauropods or other reptiles are known to do so.

The title-text references {{w|Spiders Georg}}, an internet meme character who eats over 10,000 spiders a day, skewing the average, creating the factoid that "the average person swallows 3 spiders a year."

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}

:[Top panel: A sauropod with a normal long neck and tail, crossed out with a large red X.]
:[Bottom panel: Two sauropods with very short necks and tails, an eel-like sauropod queen composed of sauropod necks winding off both sides of the panel with a single head and tailtip visible, and a green checkmark.]
:[Caption below the comic:]
:Thanks to modern paleontological reconstructions, we now know that most sauropods had short necks, and all those extra vertebrae belonged to the sauropod colony's queen.

{{comic discussion}}<noinclude>

[[Category:Biology]]