Tuesday, 25 January 2011

When paleontologists grow whimsical.

Here are the dinosaur names I have most enjoyed today.


Bambiraptor.


Named after Bambi; because it's small, long-legged and 'cute'.



Qantassaurus.



Named after the national airline of Australia. (And cuter than the Bambiraptor, for my money, but that might just be the expression this artist has given it.)












Irritator


The only extant fossil of this dinosaur is a skull which the paleontologists who classified it eventually discovered had been doctored with plaster by the fossil-dealer in an effort to make it seem more impressive, and therefore valuable. Hence the name:  "from irritation, the feeling the authors felt (understated here) when discovering that the snout had been artificially elongated."


And my favourite - because sometimes the well of inspiration simply runs dry:

Megapnosaurus






From the Greek, meaning 'Big Dead Lizard'.

13 comments:

  1. There's also a pterodactyl called Arthurdactylus conandoylei. And the trilobites Mackenziurus johnnyi, joeyi, deedeei and ceejayi.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great post! Interesting!

    www.rebeccabany.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Truth percentage, please?

    ReplyDelete
  5. 100% so far as I know, but some facts have no source better than Wikipedia, so, you know, tread carefully. Having said that, I bet dinosaur entries on Wikipedia are very well policed. People love dinosaurs.

    ReplyDelete
  6. You didn't tell us that Cabin Pressure Series 1 was replaying on R7.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Megapnosaurus is the Newfoundland of dinosaurs

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous1:52 am

    Hey I am so happy I found your website, I really found you by mistake, while I was searching on
    Askjeeve for something else, Regardless I am here now and
    would just like to say thanks a lot for a remarkable post and a all round
    exciting blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have
    time to read it all at the minute but I have bookmarked it
    and also added in your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back
    to read much more, Please do keep up the fantastic
    work.

    Look at my blog post: Cheap Jerseys

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous5:39 am

    Link exchange is nothing else except it is just placing the
    other person's weblog link on your page at appropriate place and other person will also do similar in support of you.

    Here is my blog :: Soldes Air Jordan

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous5:22 pm

    Gasosaurus is an actual dinosaur. Yes, its name really does mean 'Gas lizard' - it was discovered by gas workers in China.
    Unfortunately, Megapnosaurus is now regarded as a species of Coelophysis. Pity - that must have been the most imaginative dinosaur name ever.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Find Out More Dolabuy Fendi check my blog Chloe Dolabuy Read Full Article replica gucci bags

    ReplyDelete