When I was little, I was really into dinosaurs. I mean, REALLY into dinosaurs. I wouldn’t stop at T-rex and Triceratops. I would go to the library and pick up paleontology books written for grownups. I would read these books, take notes, and draw sketches of dinosaur bones. Against my parents’ hopes, I wanted to be a paleontologist when I grew up.
Well, things obviously didn’t go the way I hoped it would as a kid. Though I didn’t become a dinosaur scientist, I did become a computer scientist. I grew out of the dinosaur phase as most kids do, but there was one ambition I always hoped to see come to fruition. I wanted to write the biggest, most complete encyclopedia of dinosaurs ever—and I would call it Archaeosauria.
Looking back on this now, 25 years later, I think Archaeosauria should exist. The Internet and modern computer technology make it not only possible but relatively easy to create. A search for “dinosaur database” on Google yields over a million results. I did a quick search and found several good dinosaur databases:
- DinoDatabase
- Dinosaur Pictures and Facts
- The Dino Directory
- Dinosaurs for Kids
- Dino Dictionary
- Paleobiology Database
- Timerock
None of the dinosaur databases I found is as comprehensive and fun-to-explore as I hoped (and none of them are called Archaeosauria). I no longer have the time or passion for creating the world’s best and coolest dinosaur database, but if you (yeah you, the blog reader) know of a good one, please let me know in the comments.
I ran across a blog post about someone trying to create a database of all dinosaur specimens. It’s basically the same idea as Archaeosauria, but he doesn’t seem to have made any additional progress on the idea.
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