Roll Over Stenonychosaurus
My son loves books on things that little boys love: trucks, snakes, insects, dinosaurs and sharks. Ok, occasionally he will show the pictures to his sister’s baby doll Elka, but the emphasis is still on the, “Look at that T-R-uck!”
“You talk it Mommie,” my son pushes a dinosaur book at me.
“We say, read it,” I correct him and then wonder if I can actually read him this book. I stare at the pictures and the words stare back Ouranosaurus, Zephyrosaurus, Xenotarsosaurus, and so on it goes. “Um, let’s try the shark book.”
We lie on our backs and flip the through the pages. Full color photos of awesome sharks jump back at us and reading off their names we discover Blue, White, Tiger, Thrasher, Whale, and Bull shark. The list continues on with equally easy to read names. I have to wonder…..
Why do dinosaurs have such “intelligent” names. Cannot a palaeontologist find a massive beast and just stop at Big Horn or Green Big Horn? I think it is because he has the luxury that the dinosaur is dead and gone. We have time to learn and say long names like Baryonyx because the guy is not charging you down looking for dinner.
Sharks are still swimming in the ocean and maybe it is just easier to say, “S-H-A-R-K! BLUE SHARK!”
Another possibility is that some scientists are just nerdy. Here is an account of a biologist who was bitten by a ferdelance,
“I had always assumed that the strike of a large viper would hit like a fist studded with knives–not like the graceful, even gentle hypodermic pricking I had felt.
“Bill,” I yelled upstream, “I’ve just been bitten by a Bothrops atrox!” I frankly have no idea why the Latin name came first to mind.
For the full account google “a bite to remember”
Gary said this on July 19, 2008 at 11:50 pm |
Well, sharks have “intelligent” names too, Galeocerdo cuvier, for tiger shark. As you point out common people rarely see dinosaurs wandering around so there aren’t many common names.
georgeruns said this on July 20, 2008 at 6:59 pm |
Yes, of course George, you are right….but, dah nah…dah…nah..dah…nah..nah..nah..nah..nah and SHARK! Is all I can recall
drea said this on July 21, 2008 at 4:30 am |
Sorry, I meant to continue…
I have a biologist friend in Madagascar who has quite the oposite complaint. She much prefers French to English because in French the word for Polyboroides radiatus is Polyboroide rayé, while in English it is the Madagascar Harrier-Hawk. Since she already knows the latin she finds the French name much easier to recall.
A descendent of the dinosaurs…
georgeruns said this on July 21, 2008 at 1:13 pm |