Most people know about dinosaurs, the “terrible lizards” that
dominated the Mesozoic Era from about 252 million years ago until an asteroid
hit the Yucatán Peninsula at the end of the Cretaceous period 65 million years
ago. At last count there are at least 700 distinct species of dinosaurs
discovered and written about in scientific journals. They range in size from
the miniscule Compsognathus longipes to
the massive (and recently discovered) Dreadnoughtus
schrani. Their names often trip the most practiced tongues because of their
lengths and their syllabic complexities.
So how do dinosaurs get these names anyway?
First, it’s important to remember that the field of
paleontology itself is fairly young; Sir Isaac Newton had invented calculus
about 150 years before fossils were recognized as something that belonged to ancient
creatures! Even before paleontology emerged as a new scientific field, many
people realized that there was something different about these rocks. U.S.
President Thomas Jefferson thought the fossils were from animals that could be
found elsewhere on the North American continent, so he instructed Lewis and
Clark to pick up any fossils they found to bring back. They only found one
during their expedition up the Missouri River, but in 1807 and 1808, Jefferson
commissioned Clark to collect mastodon bones and teeth, which is now called the
Jefferson Collection. It and other fossils are now housed at the Academy of Natural
Sciences in Philadelphia, where they are still used for modern scientific
study.
 |
| Prof. Ted Daeschler (Drexel University) showing off the Jefferson Collection of mastodon bones and teeth at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, PA. |
The second thing to remember is that all dinosaurs have two
names, according to the Linnaean system of classification devised in the 1750s.
The first part of a name is the genus, which is analogous to a surname in
English. That first informs the reader what small and specialized group of
animals the author is writing about. The second name is their species name,
which is the specific animal within that group, analogous to a given name.
These names are italicized to note that they are special names, and often the
genus name is omitted when talking about multiple species within that group.
When that happens, the species name is not capitalized. This is why it is
correct to write T. rex, but not T. Rex!
Many of the first dinosaurs described in scientific
literature were named simply for their basic
characteristics, translated into either Greek or Latin to distinguish a
species name from its description in English. For example, the very first
dinosaur described, Megalosaurus bucklandii,
literally means “great lizard” in Greek. The second dinosaur described, Iguanodon bernissartensis, simply means “iguana
tooth,” reflecting that the first part of its skeleton discovered, the tooth,
was initially thought to be from a large iguana. Of course, Tyrannosaurus rex means “tyrant lizard
king,” even though recent evidence shows that dinosaurs are likely not lizards
at all!
The genus names come from a dinosaur’s general features, but
what about the second name? Those are often used to denote the place of the animal’s
discovery or where it lived or lives (in the case of extant, or modern,
animals). A good example is Velociraptor
mongoliensis, which means “swift thief of Mongolia” in Latin.
Another way to name a dinosaur is to honor a paleontologist
or another person. For example, Megalosaurus
bucklandii is named for William Buckland, Professor of Geology at the
University at Oxford and the first scientist to describe Megalosaurus in scientific literature. Today, it is not considered
good etiquette to name a dinosaur after yourself, and it is a great honor to
have a dinosaur species named after you. Some are named after musicians (Masiakasaurus knopfleri), and some are
named after the person who discovered the bones, even if that person didn’t
describe them to science (Vectidraco
daisymorrisae).
Of course, there are some names that come out of pop
culture. Dracorex hogwartsia was discovered
by three amateur paleontologists in South Dakota, and was named after the school
from the Harry Potter series. Another
dinosaur, Zuul crurivastator, is
named for the monstrous deity from the original Ghostbusters movie.
New dinosaurs are discovered every year all over the world,
so it is possible to one day get the chance to name your own. What would you
call yours?
Sources: Behind the Bones documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8wySyiynHk
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