The Gang of Five
The Land Before Time => 1988 Theatrical Release => Topic started by: pokeplayer984 on March 19, 2008, 09:18:32 AM
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I'm busy posting my fanfiction at other forums that are not associated with LBT. (Risky, I know.) However, since they don't associate much with LBT, I have to put up what kind of dinosaur the charcters are.
For one place, I have put up the chapter where Rooter appears. However, I have forgotten what he is. So, a little help here? :)
Thanks in advance. :^.^:
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Petrie's list (here (http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=1079)) has Rooter as an Hylaeosaurus.
Hope that helps.
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I always thought he was the same species as Spike, but then again that was when I was about four or five.
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I thought he was Spikes species as well when I watched the movie for the first time. God, I must've been 3 years old......... :^.^:
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He looks like some kind of ankylosaur.
I've had people say he's a Nodosaurus.
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nodosaurus? Isn't that what one of the bullies is from the 3rd movie? I thought one of their names may have been Nod.
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nodosaurus? Isn't that what one of the bullies is from the 3rd movie? I thought one of their names may have been Nod.
Yes, but that doesn't mean a Nodosaurus couldn't appear before.
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True, I just meant if one of the bullies was that type one could compare that character to Rooter to see if they look very similar enough to be the same species.
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True, I just meant if one of the bullies was that type one could compare that character to Rooter to see if they look very similar enough to be the same species.
He could be an old Nodosaurus
The bullies would correspond to 15-18 in human years while Rooter would correspond to 70+ in human years.
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Have you checked any of the LBT official websites? Might find the answer you're looking for there.
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I don't think Rooter is mentioned on the official page. However, the official sources are not exactly incontestable if it comes to naming any characters species. Some official sources even contradict each other. Ducky for example was said to be an Anatosaurus in a file that was issued to the press back in 1988 (she can't be, as that species didn't have any crest), while the official page claims her to be a Parasaurolophus (very unlikely if we compare her and her parents to the Parasaurolophus shown during the LBT 4 song "Grandma's lullaby), and other sources have named her a Saurolophus (the species which I suppose comes closest to the outward appearance of Ducky).
I have seen Littlefoot named a "Brontosaurus" (a name that was mistakenly given to a species that had already been discovered and dubbed Apatosaurus) or a Brachiosaurus in official sources.
Petrie too appears as a Pteranodon in one and a Pterodactylus in the other source.
Somewhat overenthusiastic fans too cast their opinions in claiming them to be facts. Littlefoot for example was claimed to be an Alamosaurus by some fans in order to find a sauropod that lived in the Cretaceous same as Ducky and Cera would have.
The use of science in LBT matters is questionable. It can be fun to try to apply science to LBT, but if one takes such attempts serious one is bound to run frustrated.
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Somewhat overenthusiastic fans too cast their opinions in claiming them to be facts. Littlefoot for example was claimed to be an Alamosaurus by some fans in order to find a sauropod that lived in the Cretaceous same as Ducky and Cera would have.
The use of science in LBT matters is questionable. It can be fun to try to apply science to LBT, but if one takes such attempts serious one is bound to run frustrated.
You know from our conversation the other day that I agree with you there Malte. The hours I've spent recitfying Wikipedia articles... and I have yet to go through them all to check on Spike, who has also been misidentified on many a page. Ali too, come to think of it...
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If you have a paleontologist handy you could show them a screen capture of Rooter and ask what sorts of dinos does this look like. One could do the same for certain other characters as well.
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I know a paleontologist that I could ask.
But I doubt it will make us more clever on this matter...
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Malte and I decided on hylaeosaurs a loong way back probably six years ago....so far, nobody has challenged it.
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The looks of Rooter are not identical with that of Nod (no spikes along the rim of his "shell"). Nod is really likely to be a Nodosaurus (name reference). Hylaeosaurus seems to be the most likely alternative (though it is probably not the only one).
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What do you think of the LBT name I gave his species, spikeback? It was the best I could come up with! :P:
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Sounds like a good idea to dub his species in LBT dinosaur terms. :yes
Shellback might be an alternative, but I prefer your term as one might easily think of a turtle when hearing shellback.
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That may be a good name for what they may call turtles and tortoises. They may call Archie a large shellback.
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Yeah, that could work out
/Lillefot
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As LBT dinosaurs go, Rooter is a very interesting case. His two-and-a-half-minute appearance in the first movie is all that we have ever seen of his species in the entire Land Before Time series. Because of this, and the fact that he is very rarely referenced in LBT media, the exact nature of his species is open to interpretation. However, by comparing Rooter to a range of likely candidates, (plus a bit of logic to help trim down the list,) I think we can come up with a plausible explanation as to his identity.
First off, what do we know about Rooter? He is clearly an ankylosaur, or armored dinosaur (a relatively small one at that, seeing as he is only a little taller than Littlefoot), with a squat, segmented, almost armadillo-like body, short, slightly sprawling legs, three rows of bony spikes or knobs down his back, large subrectangular eyebrows (a feature not known in any dinosaur species I am aware of :p), a short, slightly recurved horn on the end of his nose, a second, vaguely pyramidal horn or bump in the center of his snout, and a small tail club with two large, outward-curving spikes.
(http://s556.photobucket.com/albums/ss2/Pangaean/LBT%20Screenshots/RooterLittlefoot1.png)
I suppose if we were to go with the “simplest explanation = best explanation” hypothesis, then we should argue Rooter to be an Ankylosaurus, the most famous armored dinosaur. However, Rooter doesn’t really resemble an Ankylosaurus, especially when we compare him to Mr. Clubtail, who unquestionably belongs to that genus.
I believe the hypothesis that Rooter is a Hylaeosaurus to be somewhat more likely. However, despite bearing the distinction of being the third dinosaur to be scientifically described, Hylaeosaurus is known from relatively poor fossil material: scattered fragments and two partial skeletons, the better of which consists of only the front half of the body minus most of the skull. Because of this, we have fairly little to go on in terms of comparing Rooter physically to a Hylaeosaurus. Hylaeosaurus is known to have sported three rows of armor plates down its back, which is consistent with Rooter's appearance; however, it also possessed large bony spikes on its shoulders and hips, which Rooter clearly lacks. And although it was quite well known in the early days of dinosaur studies, Hylaeosaurus has received little attention from the dinosaur authors and illustrators of the last century (as far as I know, anyway). As such, I rather doubt that Don Bluth would have been likely to stumble across Hylaeosaurus whilst looking for candidates to offer words of wisdom to his sauropod protagonist.
I have my own idea of what kind of dinosaur Rooter could be; a genus of ankylosaur that I suspect very few people are familiar with: Scolosaurus. I base my nomination on the fact that, in the movie, as Rooter turns to leave, the camera cuts to a wide shot in which we briefly see a small club with a pair of spikes at the end of his tail.
(http://s556.photobucket.com/albums/ss2/Pangaean/LBT%20Screenshots/RooterLittlefoot2.png)
Only one family of ankylosaurs, the Ankylosauridae, is known to have possessed clubbed tails (Hylaeosaurus was a polacanthid, and thus probably did not bear a club), and of these, Scolosaurus is the only genus I have ever seen illustrated with a spiked club. Allow me to present this illustration by Czech artist Zdeněk Burian (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_PB-O1yT5EYg/SPDb1fpCh6I/AAAAAAAAVR4/TPaxEGSbKp8/s1600-h/38_prean_burian_gorgosaurus_scolosaurus.jpg), depicting Scolosaurus being menaced by the tyrannosaur Gorgosaurus (who bears a distinct family resemblance to a certain Sharptooth, I might add :p). From the club on its tail, to the shape of its body, to the posture of its legs, to the segmentation of its armor, this ankylosaur is a dead ringer for Rooter (it even has a little horn on its nose!). In fact, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if I learned that Bluth had looked at that exact same picture whilst researching dinosaurs for his movie. In summary, I believe we can safely argue that Rooter is based on a Scolosaurus.
However, there is a twist in my hypothesis: Scolosaurus is a genus that no longer exists. Apparently, it is now considered to be the same dinosaur as Euoplocephalus tutus (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Euoplocephalus_BW.jpg) (In a sense, poor Scolosaurus got off even worse than Brontosaurus; while the latter was sunk into Apatosaurus, it at least got to keep its specific epithetóexcelsusóand some paleontologists have lobbied for its former genus name to be resurrected.) Though I don’t know the details for certain, it would appear that Scolosaurus’s tail spikes actually belonged on its back, and the whole dinosaur was much closer in appearance to Ankylosaurus than to Rooter. So where does that leave us?
If you wanted to be strictly scientific, then you could call Rooter a Euoplocephalus, despite the difference in appearance (It’s the same premise as referring to Littlefoot and his folks as Apatosaurus, despite the fact that they are based on the “invalid” Brontosaurus). Or you could say, “to heck with biological nomenclature and scientific accuracy!” :lol and call him a Scolosaurus. I have one more idea, however: why don’t weóthe LBT fansógive Rooter his own species name? There have been other dinosaurs in the LBT saga that do not appear to belong to any known species (the “Hidden Runner” in the TV series, and a couple of bizarre-looking leafeaters seen lounging under a tree alongside an Ankylosaurus and a Parasaurolophus during the credits of LBT II), and I seem to recall certain fanfiction writers devising their own dinosaur species. As a possible scientific name for Rooter's species, I propose Rhizoryctes hinglei (Rize-or-ick-teez hing-gul-eye), “Hingle’s Root-Digger.” ;) (I personally like to refer to Rooter’s kind as a “digger,” given the implications of his name and the fact that when we first see him, he is buried in the ground.) Whaddaya think? :)
Well, what do you know? :! Six days, seventeen hours, and twenty minutes since my introductory post, and I'm already at Petrie level! :wow I never thought I could write so fast! :DD
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I'm not sure what Rooter's kind is or if it's even based on a real dino. I do have a bad screen shot showing mainly just his head & neck and part of his back. If you want I can try to get a full body screenshot so you don't need to keep watching whatever form of video you have.
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Thanks!
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I got enough screen shots to give Rooter his own folder. Not sure if they are good enough to help the debate here. I would do them a thumbnails or something but I'm not smart enough to do that so these links will have to suffice.
http://s696.photobucket.com/albums/vv325/K...racters/Rooter/ (http://s696.photobucket.com/albums/vv325/Kulstor/LBT/Characters/Rooter/)
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Roughly the order they happen in the movie:
Littlefoot lands on Rooter's back: http://s696.photobucket.com/albums/vv325/K...RootersBack.png (http://s696.photobucket.com/albums/vv325/Kulstor/LBT/Characters/Rooter/?action=view¤t=RootersBack.png)
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1 - http://s696.photobucket.com/albums/vv325/K...w¤t=2.png (http://s696.photobucket.com/albums/vv325/Kulstor/LBT/Characters/Rooter/?action=view¤t=2.png)
2 - http://s696.photobucket.com/albums/vv325/K...w¤t=3.png (http://s696.photobucket.com/albums/vv325/Kulstor/LBT/Characters/Rooter/?action=view¤t=3.png)
3 - http://s696.photobucket.com/albums/vv325/K...w¤t=4.png (http://s696.photobucket.com/albums/vv325/Kulstor/LBT/Characters/Rooter/?action=view¤t=4.png)
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One that I had above - http://s696.photobucket.com/albums/vv325/K...rent=Rooter.jpg (http://s696.photobucket.com/albums/vv325/Kulstor/LBT/Characters/Rooter/?action=view¤t=Rooter.jpg)
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2 longshots overhead view: http://s696.photobucket.com/albums/vv325/K...eadLongshot.png (http://s696.photobucket.com/albums/vv325/Kulstor/LBT/Characters/Rooter/?action=view¤t=OverheadLongshot.png)
http://s696.photobucket.com/albums/vv325/K...adLongshot2.png (http://s696.photobucket.com/albums/vv325/Kulstor/LBT/Characters/Rooter/?action=view¤t=OverheadLongshot2.png)
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He was creditted as mole-like dino.
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Wait, what if rooters not a dinosaur but a earlier reptile such as scutosaurus?