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:

muerps said...

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

Memoirs of Me & Mine said...

Great post! Interesting!

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Molly said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ankita Sarkar said...

Truth percentage, please?

John Finnemore said...

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.

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logopetria said...

Megapnosaurus is the Newfoundland of dinosaurs

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Anonymous said...

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.

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