Nonsense verse is a form of nonsense literature usually employing strong prosodic elements like rhythm and rhyme. It is often whimsical and humorous in tone and employs some of the techniques of nonsense literature.
124-464: " Jabberwocky " is a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll about the killing of a creature named "the Jabberwock". It was included in his 1871 novel Through the Looking-Glass , the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865). The book tells of Alice's adventures within the back-to-front world of the Looking-Glass world . In an early scene in which she first encounters the chess piece characters White King and White Queen , Alice finds
248-602: A Brazilian Portuguese version. There is also an Arabic translation by Wael Al-Mahdi, and at least two into Croatian . Multiple translations into Latin were made within the first weeks of Carroll's original publication. In a 1964 article, M. L. West published two versions of the poem in Ancient Greek that exemplify the respective styles of the epic poets Homer and Nonnus . Sources: (Eric Malzkuhn, 1939) See this link for explanation of techniques used by Eric Malzkuhn According to Chesterton and Green and others,
372-404: A book written in a seemingly unintelligible language. Realising that she is travelling through an inverted world, she recognises that the verses on the pages are written in mirror writing . She holds a mirror to one of the poems and reads the reflected verse of "Jabberwocky". She finds the nonsense verse as puzzling as the odd land she has passed into, later revealed as a dreamscape. "Jabberwocky"
496-402: A cusp covering the rear belly, between the pelvis and the belly ribs. The vertical mobility of this element suggests a function in breathing, compensating the relative rigidity of the chest cavity. The hindlimbs of pterosaurs were strongly built, yet relative to their wingspans smaller than those of birds. They were long in comparison to the torso length. The thighbone was rather straight, with
620-411: A discussion of why some translation decisions were made. Chao Yuen Ren , a Chinese linguist, translated the poem into Chinese by inventing characters to imitate what Rob Gifford of National Public Radio refers to as the "slithy toves that gyred and gimbled in the wabe of Carroll's original". Satyajit Ray , a film-maker, translated the work into Bengali and concrete poet Augusto de Campos created
744-458: A few millimetres thin transversely. The bony crest base would typically be extended by keratinous or other soft tissue. Since the 1990s, new discoveries and a more thorough study of old specimens have shown that crests are far more widespread among pterosaurs than previously assumed. That they were extended by or composed completely of keratin, which does not fossilize easily, had misled earlier research. For Pterorhynchus and Pterodactylus ,
868-411: A flying creature in a letter to Georges Cuvier . Cuvier agreed in 1801, understanding it was an extinct flying reptile. In 1809, he coined the name Ptéro-Dactyle , "wing-finger". This was in 1815 Latinised to Pterodactylus . At first most species were assigned to this genus and ultimately "pterodactyl" was popularly and incorrectly applied to all members of Pterosauria. Today, paleontologists limit
992-717: A form of the word the ) and printed again "in modern characters". The rest of the poem was written during Carroll's stay with relatives at Whitburn , near Sunderland . The story may have been partly inspired by the local Sunderland area legend of the Lambton Worm and the tale of the Sockburn Worm . The concept of nonsense verse was not original to Carroll, who would have known of chapbooks such as The World Turned Upside Down and stories such as " The Grand Panjandrum ". Nonsense existed in Shakespeare 's work and
1116-517: A kind of rough isomorphism , partly global, partly local, between the brains of all the readers". In 1967, D.G. Orlovskaya wrote a popular Russian translation of "Jabberwocky" entitled "Barmaglot" ("Бармаглот"). She translated "Barmaglot" for "Jabberwock", "Brandashmyg" for "Bandersnatch" while "myumsiki" ("мюмзики") echoes "mimsy". Full translations of "Jabberwocky" into French and German can be found in The Annotated Alice along with
1240-445: A limited mobility. These toes were clawed but the claws were smaller than the hand claws. The rare conditions that allowed for the fossilisation of pterosaur remains, sometimes also preserved soft tissues. Modern synchrotron or ultraviolet light photography has revealed many traces not visible to the naked eye. These are often imprecisely called "impressions" but mostly consist of petrifications , natural casts and transformations of
1364-523: A line from "Jabberwocky". The British group Boeing Duveen and The Beautiful Soup released a single (1968) called "Jabberwock" based on the poem. Singer and songwriter Donovan put the poem to music on his album HMS Donovan (1971). The poem was a source of inspiration for Jan Švankmajer 's 1971 short film Žvahlav aneb šatičky slaměného Huberta (released as Jabberwocky in English) and Terry Gilliam 's 1977 feature film Jabberwocky . In 1972,
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#17327762206031488-459: A meaning similar to that of Carroll's word. In his exploration of the translation challenge, Hofstadter asks "what if a word does exist, but it is very intellectual-sounding and Latinate ('lubricilleux'), rather than earthy and Anglo-Saxon ('slithy')? Perhaps 'huilasse' would be better than 'lubricilleux'? Or does the Latin origin of the word 'lubricilleux' not make itself felt to a speaker of French in
1612-516: A membrane that stretched between the legs, possibly connecting to or incorporating the tail, called the uropatagium ; the extent of this membrane is not certain, as studies on Sordes seem to suggest that it simply connected the legs but did not involve the tail (rendering it a cruropatagium ). A common interpretation is that non-pterodactyloid pterosaurs had a broader uro/cruropatagium stretched between their long fifth toes, with pterodactyloids, lacking such toes, only having membranes running along
1736-425: A new fossil of Tupandactylus cf. imperator was found to have melanosomes in forms that signal an earlier-than-anticipated development of patterns found in extant feathers. The new specimen suggested that pterosaur integumentary melanosomes exhibited a more complex organization than those previously known from other pterosaurs. This indicates the presence of a unique form of melanosomes within pterosaur integument at
1860-578: A nonsensical effect. Among writers in English noted for nonsense verse are Edward Lear , Lewis Carroll , Mervyn Peake , Edward Gorey , Colin West , Dr. Seuss , and Spike Milligan . The Martian Poets and Ivor Cutler are considered by some to be in the nonsense tradition. In some cases, the humor of nonsense verse relies on the incompatibility of phrases which make grammatical sense but semantic nonsense – at least in certain interpretations – as in
1984-668: A page or two in the next volume of Alice in reverse?" It may be that Carroll was wanting to print the whole poem in mirror writing. Macmillan responded that it would cost a great deal more to do, and this may have dissuaded him. In the author's note to the Christmas 1896 edition of Through the Looking-Glass Carroll writes, "The new words, in the poem Jabberwocky, have given rise to some differences of opinion as to their pronunciation, so it may be well to give instructions on that point also. Pronounce 'slithy' as if it were
2108-688: A paper bag The reason you will see no doubt It is to keep the lightning out But what these unobservant birds Have failed to notice is that herds Of wandering bears may come with buns And steal the bags to hold the crumbs. More contemporary examples of nonsense verse include the Vogon poetry from Douglas Adams 's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy , and the 1972 song " Prisencolinensinainciusol " by Italian multi-talent Adriano Celentano . Russian nonsense poets include Daniil Kharms and Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy , particularly his work under
2232-737: A part of American Sign Language's lexicon as well. A song called "Beware the Jabberwock" was written for Disney's 1951 animated film Alice in Wonderland sung by Stan Freberg , but it was discarded, replaced with "'Twas Brillig", sung by the Cheshire Cat , that includes the first stanza of "Jabberwocky". The Alice in Wonderland sculpture in Central Park in Manhattan , New York City, has at its base, among other inscriptions,
2356-411: A rotation could be caused by an abduction of the thighbone, meaning that the legs would be spread. This would also turn the feet into a vertical position. They then could act as rudders to control yaw. Some specimens show membranes between the toes, allowing them to function as flight control surfaces. The uropatagium or cruropatagium would control pitch. When walking the toes could flex upwards to lift
2480-487: A section from Shakespeare's Hamlet , citing the lines: "The graves stood tenantless, and the sheeted dead / Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets" from Act I, Scene i. John Tenniel reluctantly agreed to illustrate the book in 1871, and his illustrations are still the defining images of the poem. The illustration of the Jabberwock may reflect the contemporary Victorian obsession with natural history and
2604-516: A sieve. However, the significance of the color of the heads and hands is not apparent and the verse appears to be nonsense. Some nonsense verse simply presents contradictory or impossible scenarios in a matter-of-fact tone, like this example from Brian P. Cleary 's Rainbow Soup: Adventures in Poetry (Millbrook Press, 2004): One tall midget reached up high, Touched the ground above the sky, Tied his loafers , licked his tongue, And told about
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#17327762206032728-505: A single release (2021) on Cornutopia Music. In 1978, the musical group Ambrosia included the text of Jabberwocky in the lyrics of "Moma Frog" (credited to musicians Puerta, North, Drummond, and Pack) on their debut album Ambrosia . In 1980 The Muppet Show staged a full version of "Jabberwocky" for TV viewing, with the Jabberwock and other creatures played by Muppets closely based on Tenniel's original illustrations. According to Jaques and Giddens, it distinguished itself by stressing
2852-623: A stag. The appendices to certain Looking Glass editions state that the creature is "a species of land turtle" that lived on swallows and oysters. Later critics added their own interpretations of the lexicon, often without reference to Carroll's own contextual commentary. An extended analysis of the poem and Carroll's commentary is given in the book The Annotated Alice by Martin Gardner . In 1868 Carroll asked his publishers, Macmillan , "Have you any means, or can you find any, for printing
2976-449: A supraneural plate that, however, would not contact the notarium. The tails of pterosaurs were always rather slender. This means that the caudofemoralis retractor muscle which in most basal Archosauria provides the main propulsive force for the hindlimb, was relatively unimportant. The tail vertebrae were amphicoelous, the vertebral bodies on both ends being concave. Early species had long tails, containing up to fifty caudal vertebrae,
3100-464: A thousand bristle-like teeth. Dsungaripteridae covered their teeth with jawbone tissue for a crushing function. If teeth were present, they were placed in separate tooth sockets. Replacement teeth were generated behind, not below, the older teeth. The public image of pterosaurs is defined by their elaborate head crests. This was influenced by the distinctive backward-pointing crest of the well-known Pteranodon . The main positions of such crests are
3224-416: A unique, complex circulatory system of looping blood vessels. The combination of actinofibrils and muscle layers may have allowed the animal to adjust the wing slackness and camber . As shown by cavities in the wing bones of larger species and soft tissue preserved in at least one specimen, some pterosaurs extended their system of respiratory air sacs into the wing membrane. The pterosaur wing membrane
3348-408: A weight of up to 250 kilograms (550 pounds) for the largest species. Compared to the other vertebrate flying groups, the birds and bats, pterosaur skulls were typically quite large. Most pterosaur skulls had elongated jaws. Their skull bones tend to be fused in adult individuals. Early pterosaurs often had heterodont teeth, varying in build, and some still had teeth in the palate. In later groups
3472-453: A wide range of adult sizes , from the very small anurognathids to the largest known flying creatures, including Quetzalcoatlus and Hatzegopteryx , which reached wingspans of at least nine metres. The combination of endothermy , a good oxygen supply and strong muscles made pterosaurs powerful and capable flyers. Pterosaurs are often referred to by popular media or the general public as "flying dinosaurs", but dinosaurs are defined as
3596-482: A wingspan no less than 25 centimetres (10 inches). The most sizeable forms represent the largest known animals ever to fly, with wingspans of up to 10–11 metres (33–36 feet). Standing, such giants could reach the height of a modern giraffe . Traditionally, it was assumed that pterosaurs were extremely light relative to their size. Later, it was understood that this would imply unrealistically low densities of their soft tissues. Some modern estimates therefore extrapolate
3720-541: Is a slurred verb, it could be the word "stumbled", as in Sam fell onto the drunk side and stumbled on a girl. However, not all nonsense verse relies on word play. Some simply illustrate nonsensical situations. For instance, Edward Lear's poem, "The Jumblies" has a comprehensible chorus: Far and few, far and few, Are the lands where the Jumblies live; Their heads are green, and their hands are blue And they went to sea in
3844-555: Is common in warm-blooded animals who need insulation to prevent excessive heat-loss. Pycnofibers were flexible, short filaments, about five to seven millimetres long and rather simple in structure with a hollow central canal. Pterosaur pelts might have been comparable in density to many Mesozoic mammals. Pterosaur filaments could share a common origin with feathers, as speculated in 2002 by Czerkas and Ji. In 2009, Kellner concluded that pycnofibers were structured similarly to theropod proto-feathers . Others were unconvinced, considering
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3968-559: Is considered one of the greatest nonsense poems written in English. Its playful, whimsical language has given English nonsense words and neologisms such as " galumphing " and " chortle ". A decade before the publication of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the sequel Through the Looking-Glass , Carroll wrote the first stanza to what would become "Jabberwocky" while in Croft-on-Tees , where his parents resided. It
4092-422: Is curved to behind, resulting in a rounded wing tip, which reduces induced drag . The wingfinger is also bent somewhat downwards. When standing, pterosaurs probably rested on their metacarpals, with the outer wing folded to behind. In this position, the "anterior" sides of the metacarpals were rotated to the rear. This would point the smaller fingers obliquely to behind. According to Bennett, this would imply that
4216-421: Is divided into three basic units. The first, called the propatagium ("fore membrane"), was the forward-most part of the wing and attached between the wrist and shoulder, creating the "leading edge" during flight. The brachiopatagium ("arm membrane") was the primary component of the wing, stretching from the highly elongated fourth finger of the hand to the hindlimbs. Finally, at least some pterosaur groups had
4340-462: Is inaccurate. The poem relies on a distortion of sense rather than "non-sense", allowing the reader to infer meaning and therefore engage with narrative while lexical allusions swim under the surface of the poem. Marnie Parsons describes the work as a " semiotic catastrophe", arguing that the words create a discernible narrative within the structure of the poem, though the reader cannot know what they symbolise. She argues that Humpty Dumpty tries, after
4464-609: Is of a clear part of speech . The first verse of Lewis Carroll's " Jabberwocky " illustrates this nonsense technique, despite Humpty Dumpty 's later clear explanation of some of the unclear words within it: 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe. Other nonsense verse uses muddled or ambiguous grammar as well as invented words, as in John Lennon 's "The Faulty Bagnose": The Mungle pilgriffs far awoy Religeorge too thee worled. Sam fells on
4588-647: Is often now cited as one of the greatest nonsense poems written in English, the source for countless parodies and tributes. In most cases the writers have changed the nonsense words into words relating to the parodied subject, as in Frank Jacobs 's "If Lewis Carroll Were a Hollywood Press Agent in the Thirties" in Mad for Better or Verse . Other writers use the poem as a form, much like a sonnet , and create their own words for it as in "Strunklemiss" by Shay K. Azoulay or
4712-418: Is short but powerfully built. It sports a large deltopectoral crest, to which the major flight muscles are attached. Despite the considerable forces exerted on it, the humerus is hollow or pneumatised inside, reinforced by bone struts. The long bones of the lower arm, the ulna and radius , are much longer than the humerus. They were probably incapable of pronation . A bone unique to pterosaurs, known as
4836-831: The order Pterosauria . They existed during most of the Mesozoic : from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (228 to 66 million years ago). Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight . Their wings were formed by a membrane of skin, muscle, and other tissues stretching from the ankles to a dramatically lengthened fourth finger. There were two major types of pterosaurs. Basal pterosaurs (also called 'non-pterodactyloid pterosaurs' or ' rhamphorhynchoids ') were smaller animals with fully toothed jaws and, typically, long tails. Their wide wing membranes probably included and connected
4960-477: The patagium , and the presence of both aktinofibrils and filaments on Jeholopterus ningchengensis and Sordes pilosus . The various forms of filament structure present on the anurognathids in the 2018 study would also require a form of decomposition that would cause the different 'filament' forms seen. They therefore conclude that the most parsimonious interpretation of the structures is that they are filamentous protofeathers. But Liliana D'Alba points out that
5084-427: The thorax . It was probably covered by thick muscle layers. The upper bone, the shoulder blade , was a straight bar. It was connected to a lower bone, the coracoid that is relatively long in pterosaurs. In advanced species, their combined whole, the scapulocoracoid, was almost vertically oriented. The shoulder blade in that case fitted into a recess in the side of the notarium, while the coracoid likewise connected to
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5208-428: The 1990s, pterosaur finds and histological and ultraviolet examination of pterosaur specimens have provided incontrovertible proof: pterosaurs had pycnofiber coats. Sordes pilosus (which translates as "hairy demon") and Jeholopterus ninchengensis show pycnofibers on the head and body. The presence of pycnofibers strongly indicates that pterosaurs were endothermic (warm-blooded). They aided thermoregulation, as
5332-518: The American composer Sam Pottle put the poem to music. The stage musical Jabberwocky (1973) by Andrew Kay, Malcolm Middleton and Peter Phillips, follows the basic plot of the poem. Keyboardists Clive Nolan and Oliver Wakeman released a musical version Jabberwocky (1999) with the poem read in segments by Rick Wakeman . British contemporary lieder group Fall in Green set the poem to music for
5456-700: The Noseybum, With it its young abideth. It's not yet found in Brehm. It's not yet found in Meyer. And neither in Brockhaus. It trotted from my lyre, Its first time in the light. Upon its noses strideth (As said before) thencefrom, With it its young abideth, Onward the Noseybum. The following observation by F.W. Bernstein has practically become a German proverb. Die schärfsten Kritiker der Elche waren früher selber welche The sharpest critics of
5580-428: The ankle, sometimes reducing total length to a third. Typically, it was fused to the shinbone. The ankle was a simple, "mesotarsal", hinge. The, rather long and slender, metatarsus was always splayed to some degree. The foot was plantigrade, meaning that during the walking cycle the sole of the metatarsus was pressed onto the soil. There was a clear difference between early pterosaurs and advanced species regarding
5704-484: The ankles. The exact curvature of the trailing edge, however, is still equivocal. While historically thought of as simple leathery structures composed of skin, research has since shown that the wing membranes of pterosaurs were highly complex dynamic structures suited to an active style of flight. The outer wings (from the tip to the elbow) were strengthened by closely spaced fibers called actinofibrils . The actinofibrils themselves consisted of three distinct layers in
5828-427: The anterior surface of the distal syncarpal. The medial carpal bears a deep concave fovea that opens anteriorly, ventrally and somewhat medially, within which the pteroid articulates, according to Wilkinson. In derived pterodactyloids like pteranodontians and azhdarchoids , metacarpals I-III are small and do not connect to the carpus, instead hanging in contact with the fourth metacarpal. With these derived species,
5952-527: The bee he stung. He painted, then, an oval square The color of the bald man's hair, And in the painting you could hear What's undetected by the ear. Likewise, a poem sometimes attributed to Christopher Isherwood and first found in the anthology Poems Past and Present (Harold Dew, 1946 edition, J M Dent & Sons, Canada – attributed to "Anon") makes grammatical and semantic sense and yet lies so earnestly and absurdly that it qualifies as complete nonsense: The common cormorant or shag Lays eggs inside
6076-714: The borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe. from Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871) Many of the words in the poem are playful nonce words of Carroll's own invention, without intended explicit meaning. When Alice has finished reading the poem she gives her impressions: "It seems very pretty," she said when she had finished it, "but it's rather hard to understand!" (You see she didn't like to confess, even to herself, that she couldn't make it out at all.) "Somehow it seems to fill my head with ideas—only I don't exactly know what they are! However, somebody killed something: that's clear, at any rate." This may reflect Carroll's intention for his readership;
6200-413: The breastbone. This way, both sides together made for a rigid closed loop, able to withstand considerable forces. A peculiarity was that the breastbone connections of the coracoids often were asymmetrical, with one coracoid attached in front of the other. In advanced species the shoulder joint had moved from the shoulder blade to the coracoid. The joint was saddle-shaped and allowed considerable movement to
6324-447: The broad ischium into an ischiopubic blade. Sometimes, the blades of both sides were also fused, closing the pelvis from below and forming the pelvic canal. The hip joint was not perforated and allowed considerable mobility to the leg. It was directed obliquely upwards, preventing a perfectly vertical position of the leg. The front of the pubic bones articulated with a unique structure, the paired prepubic bones. Together these formed
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#17327762206036448-474: The clade Anurognathidae ( Anurognathus , Jeholopterus , Vesperopterylus ) is debated. Anurognathids were highly specialized. Small flyers with shortened jaws and a wide gape, some had large eyes suggesting nocturnal or crepuscular habits, mouth bristles, and feet adapted for clinging. Parallel adaptations are seen in birds and bats that prey on insects in flight. Pterosaurs had a wide range of sizes, though they were generally large. The smallest species had
6572-445: The clades Ornithocheiroidea ( Istiodactylus , Ornithocheirus , Pteranodon ), Ctenochasmatoidea ( Ctenochasma , Pterodactylus ), Dsungaripteroidea ( Germanodactylus , Dsungaripterus ), and Azhdarchoidea ( Tapejara , Tupuxuara , Quetzalcoatlus ). The two groups overlapped in time, but the earliest pterosaurs in the fossil record are basal pterosaurs, and the latest pterosaurs are pterodactyloids. The position of
6696-502: The descendants of the last common ancestor of the Saurischia and Ornithischia , which excludes the pterosaurs. Pterosaurs are nonetheless more closely related to birds and other dinosaurs than to crocodiles or any other living reptile, though they are not bird ancestors. Pterosaurs are also colloquially referred to as pterodactyls , particularly in fiction and journalism. However, technically, pterodactyl may refer to members of
6820-431: The description of the preserved integumentary structures on the two anurognathid specimens is still based upon gross morphology. She also points out that Pterorhynchus was described to have feathers to support the claim that feathers had a common origin with Ornithodirans but was argued against by several authors. The only method to assure if it was homologous to feathers is to use a scanning electron microscope. In 2022,
6944-544: The difference with the "quills" found on many of the bird-like maniraptoran specimens too fundamental. A 2018 study of the remains of two small Jurassic -age pterosaurs from Inner Mongolia , China , found that pterosaurs had a wide array of pycnofiber shapes and structures, as opposed to the homogeneous structures that had generally been assumed to cover them. Some of these had frayed ends, very similar in structure to four different feather types known from birds or other dinosaurs but almost never known from pterosaurs prior to
7068-410: The down feathers found on both avian and some non-avian dinosaurs , suggesting that early feathers evolved in the common ancestor of pterosaurs and dinosaurs, possibly as insulation. They were warm-blooded (endothermic), active animals. The respiratory system had efficient unidirectional "flow-through" breathing using air sacs , which hollowed out their bones to an extreme extent. Pterosaurs spanned
7192-548: The elks used to be ones themselves Julio Cortázar , the Argentinian writer, was famous for playing with language in several works. Besides the above, there is a special variation of Nonsense Verses called 颠倒歌 (upside down songs) in Chinese. They tend to make stuff happen the opposite way, for example: Pterodactyl Ornithosauria Seeley , 1870 Pterosaurs are an extinct clade of flying reptiles in
7316-404: The extent of their wing membranes and it is possible that, like these groups, different species of pterosaur had different wing designs. Indeed, analysis of pterosaur limb proportions shows that there was considerable variation, possibly reflecting a variety of wing-plans. The bony elements of the arm formed a mechanism to support and extend the wing. Near the body, the humerus or upper arm bone
7440-475: The fast-evolving sciences of palaeontology and geology . Stephen Prickett notes that in the context of Darwin and Mantell's publications and vast exhibitions of dinosaurs, such as those at the Crystal Palace from 1854, it is unsurprising that Tenniel gave the Jabberwock "the leathery wings of a pterodactyl and the long scaly neck and tail of a sauropod ." " Jabberwocky " 'Twas brillig, and
7564-676: The feather-specific melanosome signaling found in extant birds are possibly homologous with those found in pterosaurs. Pterosaur fossils are very rare, due to their light bone construction. Complete skeletons can generally only be found in geological layers with exceptional preservation conditions, the so-called Lagerstätten . The pieces from one such Lagerstätte , the Late Jurassic Solnhofen Limestone in Bavaria , became much sought after by rich collectors. In 1784, Italian naturalist Cosimo Alessandro Collini
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#17327762206037688-432: The fifth toes as hooks. Another hypothesis held that they stretched the brachiopatagia, but in articulated fossils the fifth digits are always flexed towards the tail. Later it became popular to assume that these toes extended an uropatagium or cruropatagium between them. As the fifth toes were on the outside of the feet, such a configuration would only have been possible if these rotated their fronts outwards in flight. Such
7812-401: The first "o" in "borogoves" is pronounced like the 'o' in 'borrow'. I have heard people try to give it the sound of the 'o' in 'worry'. Such is Human Perversity." Though the poem contains many nonsensical words, English syntax and poetic forms are observed, such as the quatrain verses, the general ABAB rhyme scheme and the iambic meter . Linguist Peter Lucas believes the "nonsense" term
7936-450: The forces caused by flapping the wings. The notarium included three to seven vertebrae, depending on the species involved but also on individual age. These vertebrae could be connected by tendons or a fusion of their neural spines into a "supraneural plate". Their ribs also would be tightly fused into the notarium. In general, the ribs are double headed. The sacrum consisted of three to ten sacral vertebrae. They too, could be connected via
8060-400: The forelimb digits besides the wingfinger have been lost altogether. The wingfinger accounts for about half or more of the total wing length. It normally consists of four phalanges. Their relative lengths tend to vary among species, which has often been used to distinguish related forms. The fourth phalanx is usually the shortest. It lacks a claw and has been lost completely by nyctosaurids. It
8184-417: The form of the fifth digit. Originally, the fifth metatarsal was robust and not very shortened. It was connected to the ankle in a higher position than the other metatarsals. It bore a long, and often curved, mobile clawless fifth toe consisting of two phalanges. The function of this element has been enigmatic. It used to be thought that the animals slept upside-down like bats, hanging from branches and using
8308-415: The fourth metacarpal has been enormously elongated, typically equalling or exceeding the length of the long bones of the lower arm. The fifth metacarpal had been lost. In all species, the first to third fingers are much smaller than the fourth, the "wingfinger", and contain two, three and four phalanges respectively. The smaller fingers are clawed, with the ungual size varying among species. In nyctosaurids
8432-473: The front of the snout, as an outgrowth of the premaxillae, or the rear of the skull as an extension of the parietal bones in which case it is called a "supraoccipital crest". Front and rear crests can be present simultaneously and might be fused into a single larger structure, the most expansive of which is shown by the Tapejaridae . Nyctosaurus sported a bizarre antler-like crest. The crests were only
8556-429: The genus Pterodactylus , and more broadly to members of the suborder Pterodactyloidea of the pterosaurs. Pterosaurs had a variety of lifestyles. Traditionally seen as fish-eaters, the group is now understood to have also included hunters of land animals, insectivores, fruit eaters and even predators of other pterosaurs. They reproduced by eggs , some fossils of which have been discovered. The anatomy of pterosaurs
8680-496: The gobberwarts with my blurglecruncheon, see if I don't! Some of the words that Carroll created, such as " chortled " and " galumphing ", have entered the English language and are listed in the Oxford English Dictionary . The word " jabberwocky " itself has come to refer to nonsense language. In American Sign Language, Eric Malzkuhn invented the sign for "chortled". It unintentionally caught on and became
8804-683: The ground, they walked well on all four limbs with an upright posture, standing plantigrade on the hind feet and folding the wing finger upward to walk on the three-fingered "hand". They could take off from the ground, and fossil trackways show that at least some species were able to run, wade, and/or swim. Their jaws had horny beaks, and some groups lacked teeth. Some groups developed elaborate head crests with sexual dimorphism . Pterosaurs sported coats of hair-like filaments known as pycnofibers , which covered their bodies and parts of their wings. Pycnofibers grew in several forms, from simple filaments to branching down feathers . These may be homologous to
8928-464: The head and torso. The term "pycnofiber", meaning "dense filament", was coined by palaeontologist Alexander Kellner and colleagues in 2009. Pycnofibers were unique structures similar to, but not homologous (sharing a common origin) with, mammalian hair, an example of convergent evolution . A fuzzy integument was first reported from a specimen of Scaphognathus crassirostris in 1831 by Georg August Goldfuss , but had been widely doubted. Since
9052-412: The head making only a small angle with the shaft. This implies that the legs were not held vertically below the body but were somewhat sprawling. The shinbone was often fused with the upper ankle bones into a tibiotarsus that was longer than the thighbone. It could attain a vertical position when walking. The calf bone tended to be slender, especially at its lower end that in advanced forms did not reach
9176-478: The hind legs. On the ground, they would have had an awkward sprawling posture, but the anatomy of their joints and strong claws would have made them effective climbers, and some may have even lived in trees. Basal pterosaurs were insectivores or predators of small vertebrates. Later pterosaurs ( pterodactyloids ) evolved many sizes, shapes, and lifestyles. Pterodactyloids had narrower wings with free hind limbs, highly reduced tails, and long necks with large heads. On
9300-561: The humor and nonsense of the poem. The Jabberwock appears in Tim Burton 's Alice in Wonderland (2010), voiced by Christopher Lee , and is referred to as "The Jabberwocky". An abridged version of the poem is spoken by the Mad Hatter (played by Johnny Depp ). Nonsense verse Limericks are probably the best known form of nonsense verse, although they tend nowadays to be used for straightforward humour, rather than having
9424-401: The jaw joint was in a more forward position. The front lower jaw bones, the dentaries or ossa dentalia , were at the tip tightly fused into a central symphysis. This made the lower jaws function as a single connected whole, the mandible . The symphysis was often very thin transversely and long, accounting for a considerable part of the jaw length, up to 60%. If a crest was present on the snout,
9548-547: The legs. There has been considerable argument among paleontologists about whether the main wing membranes (brachiopatagia) attached to the hindlimbs, and if so, where. Fossils of the rhamphorhynchoid Sordes , the anurognathid Jeholopterus , and a pterodactyloid from the Santana Formation seem to demonstrate that the wing membrane did attach to the hindlimbs, at least in some species. However, modern bats and flying squirrels show considerable variation in
9672-402: The membrane from the ground. In Pterodactyloidea, the fifth metatarsal was much reduced and the fifth toe, if present, little more than a stub. This suggests that their membranes were split, increasing flight maneuverability. The first to fourth toes were long. They had two, three, four and five phalanges respectively. Often the third toe was longest; sometimes the fourth. Flat joints indicate
9796-421: The middle ones stiffened by elongated articulation processes, the zygapophyses , and chevrons . Such tails acted as rudders, sometimes ending at the rear in a vertical diamond-shaped or oval vane. In pterodactyloids, the tails were much reduced and never stiffened, with some species counting as few as ten vertebrae. The shoulder girdle was a strong structure that transferred the forces of flapping flight to
9920-583: The most widely known, and are both still popular, while Robert Gernhardt is a contemporary example. Morgenstern's " Das Nasobēm " is an imaginary being like the Jabberwock, although less frightful: Auf seinen Nasen schreitet einher das Nasobēm, von seinem Kind begleitet. Es steht noch nicht im Brehm . Es steht noch nicht im Meyer . Und auch im Brockhaus nicht. Es trat aus meiner Leyer zum ersten Mal ans Licht. Auf seinen Nasen schreitet (wie schon gesagt) seitdem, von seinem Kind begleitet, einher das Nasobēm. Upon its noses strideth Onward
10044-575: The neck is typically longer than the torso. This length is not caused by an increase of the number of vertebrae, which is invariably seven. Some researchers include two transitional "cervicodorsals" which brings the number to nine. Instead, the vertebrae themselves became more elongated, up to eight times longer than wide. Nevertheless, the cervicals were wider than high, implying a better vertical than horizontal neck mobility. Pterodactyloids have lost all neck ribs. Pterosaur necks were probably rather thick and well-muscled, especially vertically. The torso
10168-484: The non-sense words from the first stanza of the poem, but Carroll's personal commentary on several of the words differ from Humpty Dumpty's. For example, following the poem, a "rath" is described by Humpty Dumpty as "a sort of green pig". Carroll's notes for the original in Mischmasch suggest a "rath" is "a species of Badger" that "lived chiefly on cheese" and had smooth white hair, long hind legs, and short horns like
10292-521: The notoriously agnostic Professor of Greek at Oxford, and Master of Balliol , came to sign the Thirty-Nine Articles , as an Anglican statement of faith, to save his job. The transformation of audience perception from satire to seriousness was in a large part predicted by G. K. Chesterton , who wrote in 1932, "Poor, poor, little Alice! She has not only been caught and made to do lessons; she has been forced to inflict lessons on others." It
10416-552: The original and the invented words echo actual words of Carroll's lexicon , but not necessarily ones with similar meanings. Translators have invented words which draw on root words with meanings similar to the English roots used by Carroll. Douglas Hofstadter noted in his essay "Translations of Jabberwocky", the word 'slithy', for example, echoes the English 'slimy', 'slither', 'slippery', 'lithe' and 'sly'. A French translation that uses 'lubricilleux' for 'slithy', evokes French words like 'lubrifier' (to lubricate) to give an impression of
10540-458: The original material. They may include horn crests, beaks or claw sheaths as well as the various flight membranes. Exceptionally, muscles were preserved. Skin patches show small round non-overlapping scales on the soles of the feet, the ankles and the ends of the metatarsals . They covered pads cushioning the impact of walking. Scales are unknown from other parts of the body. Most or all pterosaurs had hair -like filaments known as pycnofibers on
10664-505: The original poems provide a strong container but Carroll's works are famous precisely because of their random, surreal quality. Carroll's grave playfulness has been compared with that of the poet Edward Lear ; there are also parallels with the work of Gerard Manley Hopkins in the frequent use of soundplay, alliteration , created-language and portmanteau . Both writers were Carroll's contemporaries. "Jabberwocky" has been translated into 65 languages. The translation might be difficult because
10788-463: The original purpose of "Jabberwocky" was to satirise both pretentious verse and ignorant literary critics. It was designed as verse showing how not to write verse, but eventually became the subject of pedestrian translation or explanation and incorporated into classroom learning. It has also been interpreted as a parody of contemporary Oxford scholarship and specifically the story of how Benjamin Jowett ,
10912-509: The poem "Oh Freddled Gruntbuggly" recited by Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz in Douglas Adams ' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy , a 1979 book which contains numerous other references and homages to Carroll's work. Oh freddled gruntbuggly thy micturations are to me As plurdled gabbleblotchits on a lurgid bee. Groop I implore thee my foonting turlingdromes And hooptiously drangle me with crinkly bindlewurdles, Or I will rend thee in
11036-424: The poem holds to English syntax and many of the principal words of the poem are invented. Translators have generally dealt with them by creating equivalent words of their own. Often these are similar in spelling or sound to Carroll's while respecting the morphology of the language they are being translated into. In Frank L. Warrin's French translation, "'Twas brillig" becomes "Il brilgue". In instances like this, both
11160-400: The poem is, after all, part of a dream. In later writings he discussed some of his lexicon, commenting that he did not know the specific meanings or sources of some of the words; the linguistic ambiguity and uncertainty throughout both the book and the poem may largely be the point. In Through the Looking-Glass , the character of Humpty Dumpty , in response to Alice's request, explains to her
11284-483: The poem's hero. Carroll wrote many poem parodies such as " Twinkle, twinkle little bat ", " You Are Old, Father William " and " How Doth the Little Crocodile ?" Some have become generally better known than the originals on which they are based, and this is certainly the case with "Jabberwocky". The poems' successes do not rely on any recognition or association of the poems that they parody. Lucas suggests that
11408-493: The pseudonym Kozma Prutkov , and some French exponents are Charles Cros and Robert Desnos . The best-known Dutch Nonsense poet is Cees Buddingh'. On Indian language Bengali Sukumar Roy is the pioneer of nonsense poems and is very famous for writing children's literature. Abol Tabol is the best collection of nonsense verse in Bengali language . Among German nonsense writers, Christian Morgenstern and Ringelnatz are
11532-405: The pteroid bone, which may itself be a modified distal carpal. The proximal carpals are fused together into a "syncarpal" in mature specimens, while three of the distal carpals fuse to form a distal syncarpal. The remaining distal carpal, referred to here as the medial carpal, but which has also been termed the distal lateral, or pre-axial carpal, articulates on a vertically elongate biconvex facet on
11656-402: The pteroid in articulation with the proximal syncarpal, suggesting that the pteroid articulated with the 'saddle' of the radiale (proximal syncarpal) and that both the pteroid and preaxial carpal were migrated centralia. The pterosaur wrist consists of two inner (proximal, at the side of the long bones of the arm) and four outer (distal, at the side of the hand) carpals (wrist bones), excluding
11780-441: The pteroid pointed forward, extending the forward membrane and allowing it to function as an adjustable flap . This view was contradicted in a 2007 paper by Chris Bennett, who showed that the pteroid did not articulate as previously thought and could not have pointed forward, but rather was directed inward toward the body as traditionally interpreted. Specimens of Changchengopterus pani and Darwinopterus linglongtaensis show
11904-488: The pteroid, connected to the wrist and helped to support the forward membrane (the propatagium) between the wrist and shoulder. Evidence of webbing between the three free fingers of the pterosaur forelimb suggests that this forward membrane may have been more extensive than the simple pteroid-to-shoulder connection traditionally depicted in life restorations. The position of the pteroid bone itself has been controversial. Some scientists, notably Matthew Wilkinson, have argued that
12028-440: The recitation, to "ground" the unruly multiplicities of meaning with definitions, but cannot succeed as both the book and the poem are playgrounds for the "carnivalised aspect of language". Parsons suggests that this is mirrored in the prosody of the poem: in the tussle between the tetrameter in the first three lines of each stanza and trimeter in the last lines, such that one undercuts the other and we are left off balance, like
12152-586: The skull, the sutures between elements disappeared. In some later pterosaurs, the backbone over the shoulders fused into a structure known as a notarium , which served to stiffen the torso during flight, and provide a stable support for the shoulder blade . Likewise, the sacral vertebrae could form a single synsacrum while the pelvic bones fused also. Basal pterosaurs include the clades Dimorphodontidae ( Dimorphodon ), Campylognathididae ( Eudimorphodon , Campyognathoides ), and Rhamphorhynchidae ( Rhamphorhynchus , Scaphognathus ). Pterodactyloids include
12276-610: The slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe. "Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun The frumious Bandersnatch!" He took his vorpal sword in hand: Long time the manxome foe he sought— So rested he by the Tumtum tree, And stood awhile in thought. And as in uffish thought he stood, The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, Came whiffling through
12400-400: The study, suggesting homology. A response to this study was published in 2020, where it was suggested that the structures seen on the anurognathids were actually a result of the decomposition of aktinofibrils: a type of fibre used to strengthen and stiffen the wing. However, in a response to this, the authors of the 2018 paper point to the fact that the presence of the structures extend past
12524-405: The symphysis could feature a matching mandible crest, jutting out to below. Toothed species also bore teeth in their dentaries. The mandible opened and closed in a simple vertical or "orthal" up-and-down movement. The vertebral column of pterosaurs numbered between thirty-four and seventy vertebrae . The vertebrae in front of the tail were "procoelous": the cotyle (front of the vertebral body )
12648-405: The teeth mostly became conical. Front teeth were often longer, forming a "prey grab" in transversely expanded jaw tips, but size and position were very variable among species. With the derived Pterodactyloidea , the skulls became even more elongated, sometimes surpassing the combined neck and torso in length. This was caused by a stretching and fusion of the front snout bone, the premaxilla , with
12772-480: The term to the genus Pterodactylus or members of the Pterodactyloidea . In 1812 and 1817, Samuel Thomas von Soemmerring redescribed the original specimen and an additional one. He saw them as affiliated to birds and bats. Although he was mistaken in this, his "bat model" would be influential during the 19th century. In 1843, Edward Newman thought pterosaurs were flying marsupials . Ironically, as
12896-453: The time, distinct from previously known contemporary integumentary structures and more similar to those reported from mammalian hair and avian feathers. The feather fossils obtained from this specimen also suggest the presence of Stage IIIa feathers, a new discovery that indicates more complex feather structures were present in pterosaurs. The study describing this specimen further clarifies the timeline of avian feather evolution and suggests that
13020-427: The traditional: 'I see' said the blind man to his deaf and dumb daughter as he picked up his hammer and saw. Compare amphigory . Other nonsense verse makes use of nonsense words —words without a clear meaning or any meaning at all. Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear both made good use of this type of nonsense in some of their verse. These poems are well formed in terms of grammar and syntax, and each nonsense word
13144-422: The true extent of these crests has only been uncovered using ultraviolet photography. While fossil crests used to be restricted to the more advanced Pterodactyloidea, Pterorhynchus and Austriadactylus show that even some early pterosaurs possessed them. Like the upper jaws, the paired lower jaws of pterosaurs were very elongated. In advanced forms, they tended to be shorter than the upper cranium because
13268-423: The tulgey wood, And burbled as it came! One, two! One, two! And through and through The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! He left it dead, and with its head He went galumphing back. "And hast thou slain the Jabberwock? Come to my arms, my beamish boy! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!" He chortled in his joy. 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; All mimsy were
13392-514: The two words, 'sly, thee': make the 'g' hard in 'gyre' and 'gimble': and pronounce 'rath' to rhyme with 'bath'." In the Preface to The Hunting of the Snark , Carroll wrote, "[Let] me take this opportunity of answering a question that has often been asked me, how to pronounce 'slithy toves'. The 'i' in 'slithy' is long, as in 'writhe', and 'toves' is pronounced so as to rhyme with 'groves'. Again,
13516-416: The upper jawbone, the maxilla . Unlike most archosaurs , the nasal and antorbital openings of pterodactyloid pterosaurs merged into a single large opening, called the nasoantorbital fenestra . This feature likely evolved to lighten the skull for flight. In contrast, the bones behind the eye socket contracted and rotated, strongly inclining the rear skull and bringing the jaw joint forward. The braincase
13640-458: The way that it would if it were an English word ('lubricilious', perhaps)? ". Hofstadter also notes that it makes a great difference whether the poem is translated in isolation or as part of a translation of the novel. In the latter case the translator must, through Humpty Dumpty, supply explanations of the invented words. But, he suggests, "even in this pathologically difficult case of translation, there seems to be some rough equivalence obtainable,
13764-407: The waysock-side And somforbe on a gurled, With all her faulty bagnose! Here, awoy fills the place of "away" in the expression "far away", but also suggests the exclamation "ahoy", suitable to a voyage. Likewise, worled and gurled suggest "world" and "girl" but have the -ed form of a past-tense verb. "Somforbe" could possibly be a noun, possibly a slurred verb phrase. In the sense that it
13888-416: The wing, forming a crisscross pattern when superimposed on one another. The function of the actinofibrils is unknown, as is the exact material from which they were made. Depending on their exact composition (keratin, muscle, elastic structures, etc.), they may have been stiffening or strengthening agents in the outer part of the wing. The wing membranes also contained a thin layer of muscle, fibrous tissue, and
14012-402: The wing. It faced sideways and somewhat upwards. The breastbone, formed by fused paired sterna , was wide. It had only a shallow keel. Via sternal ribs, it was at its sides attached to the dorsal ribs. At its rear, a row of belly ribs or gastralia was present, covering the entire belly. To the front, a long point, the cristospina , jutted obliquely upwards. The rear edge of the breastbone
14136-475: The wingfinger, able to describe the largest arc of any wing element, up to 175°, was not folded by flexion but by an extreme extension. The wing was automatically folded when the elbow was bowed. A laser-simulated fluorescence scan on Pterodactylus also identified a membranous "fairing" (area conjunctioning the wing with the body at the neck), as opposed to the feathered or fur-composed "fairing" seen in birds and bats respectively. The pelvis of pterosaurs
14260-401: Was concave and into it fitted a convex extension at the rear of the preceding vertebra, the condyle . Advanced pterosaurs are unique in possessing special processes projecting adjacent to their condyle and cotyle, the exapophyses , and the cotyle also may possess a small prong on its midline called a hypapophysis. The necks of pterosaurs were relatively long and straight. In pterodactyloids,
14384-451: Was highly modified from their reptilian ancestors by the adaptation to flight. Pterosaur bones were hollow and air-filled, like those of birds . This provided a higher muscle attachment surface for a given skeletal weight. The bone walls were often paper-thin. They had a large and keeled breastbone for flight muscles and an enlarged brain able to coordinate complex flying behaviour. Pterosaur skeletons often show considerable fusion. In
14508-407: Was of moderate size compared to the body as a whole. Often the three pelvic bones were fused. The ilium was long and low, its front and rear blades projecting horizontally beyond the edges of the lower pelvic bones. Despite this length, the rod-like form of these processes indicates that the hindlimb muscles attached to them were limited in strength. The, in side view narrow, pubic bone fused with
14632-399: Was printed in 1855 in Mischmasch , a periodical he wrote and illustrated for the amusement of his family. The piece, titled "Stanza of Anglo-Saxon Poetry", reads: Twas bryllyg, and þ slythy toves Did gyre and gymble in þ wabe: All mimsy were þ borogoves; And þ mome raths outgrabe. The stanza is printed first in faux-mediaeval lettering as a "relic of ancient Poetry" (in which þ is
14756-643: Was relatively large for reptiles. In some cases, fossilized keratinous beak tissue has been preserved, though in toothed forms, the beak is small and restricted to the jaw tips and does not involve the teeth. Some advanced beaked forms were toothless, such as the Pteranodontidae and Azhdarchidae , and had larger, more extensive, and more bird-like beaks. Some groups had specialised tooth forms. The Istiodactylidae had recurved teeth for eating meat. Ctenochasmatidae used combs of numerous needle-like teeth for filter feeding; Pterodaustro could have over
14880-403: Was relatively short and egg-shaped. The vertebrae in the back of pterosaurs originally might have numbered eighteen. With advanced species a growing number of these tended to be incorporated into the sacrum . Such species also often show a fusion of the front dorsal vertebrae into a rigid whole which is called the notarium after a comparable structure in birds. This was an adaptation to withstand
15004-482: Was that if such creatures were still alive, only the sea was a credible habitat; Collini suggested it might be a swimming animal that used its long front limbs as paddles. A few scientists continued to support the aquatic interpretation even until 1830, when German zoologist Johann Georg Wagler suggested that Pterodactylus used its wings as flippers and was affiliated with Ichthyosauria and Plesiosauria . In 1800, Johann Hermann first suggested that it represented
15128-456: Was the deepest point of the thorax. Clavicles or interclavicles were completely absent. Pterosaur wings were formed by bones and membranes of skin and other tissues. The primary membranes attached to the extremely long fourth finger of each arm and extended along the sides of the body. Where they ended has been very controversial but since the 1990s a dozen specimens with preserved soft tissue have been found that seem to show they attached to
15252-400: Was the first scientist to describe a pterosaur fossil. At that time the concepts of evolution and extinction were imperfectly developed. The bizarre build of the pterosaur was shocking, as it could not clearly be assigned to any existing animal group. The discovery of pterosaurs would thus play an important role in the progress of modern paleontology and geology. Scientific opinion at the time
15376-652: Was well-known in the Brothers Grimm 's fairytales, some of which are called lying tales or lügenmärchen . Biographer Roger Lancelyn Green suggested that "Jabberwocky" was a parody of the German ballad " The Shepherd of the Giant Mountains ", which had been translated into English by Carroll's cousin Menella Bute Smedley in 1846. Historian Sean B. Palmer suggests that Carroll was inspired by
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