Dim Effect

The Dim Effect is a natural phenomenon named by Brett C. Ratcliffe in which nature is said to "mimic" art.^[1] The Dim Effect occurs when the following events occur in sequence:

1. An element of nature never seen before and assumed not to exist is represented synthetically
2. The same element is discovered to actually exist in nature entirely without human intervention.

The Dim Effect is named after a 3-D animated character Dim, the rhinoceros beetle from A Bug's Life.^[1]

Examples

Synthetic element	Date of synthesis	Date of discovery	Natural Element
The horn structure on Dim from A Bug's Life, clearly not modeled after any rhinoceros beetle known at that time to exist.[1]	1998	2006	Megaceras briansaltini[1]
The concept of a saber-toothed squirrel, represented by Scrat in Ice Age. According to director Chris Wedge, artist Peter de Seve came up with the design for Scrat after a visit to the Museum of Natural History. Wedge called it "sort of a squirrel based on some lemur."[2]	2002	2011	Cronopio dentiacutus, a dryolestoid that highly resembled the saber-toothed squirrel[3][4]
The dilophosaurus in the movie Jurassic Park was modeled after a juvenile animal. It wasn't until 2006 when a close relative of dilophosaurus was discovered to have a similar-looking snout as a juvenile, as did the one in the movie.	1992	2006	Dracovenator regenti[5]
The velociraptors in the movie Jurassic Park (which were actually based on Deinonychus) were larger than any dromaeosaurid known at the time.[5]	1992	1993	Utahraptor ostrommaysorum[5]

References

1. Ratcliffe, B.C. (2007). "A remarkable new species of Megaceras from Peru (Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae: Oryctini). The "Dim Effect": Nature mimicking art". The Coleopterists Bulletin 61 (3): 463–7. As cited in Ratcliffe, B.C. (2007-01-01). "A remarkable new species of Megaceras from Peru (Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae: Oryctini). The "Dim Effect": Nature mimicking art".
2. Wloszczyna, Susan (15 March 2002). "Scrounging, screeching Scrat is nutty hit of 'Ice Age'". USA Today. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
3. Guillermo W. Rougier, Sebastián Apesteguía and Leandro C. Gaetano (2011). "Highly specialized mammalian skulls from the Late Cretaceous of South America". Nature 479: 98–102. doi:10.1038/nature10591. Supplementary information
4. Chew, Kristina (4 November 2011). "Saber-Toothed Squirrel Skulls Found: Lived 100 Million Years Ago". Retrieved 6 November 2011.
5. http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/dinosaur/2011/02/what-do-we-really-know-about-utahraptor/