Comments on: What’s Wrong With Giraffatitan?

By: Chilly

Chilly — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 17:26:03 +0000

For me, it’s hard to top “Bambiraptor.”

And my little boy thinks “Khaan” is hilarious. He says it in that same voice.

By: Don Druid

Don Druid — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 03:15:41 +0000

Unless a name becomes a football in an academic dispute, its origins always fade into the background anyway, and everyone pretty much accepts it and moves on. It never hurts to be ahead of the curve on that one.

I say, let the proper people name new finds whatever the hell they want to name them, and if you can’t pronounce it, consider it a free kick in the rear to go learn something about other languages.

By: mtb

mtb — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 17:14:38 +0000

My favourite is probably [i]Nqwebasaurus thwazi[/i]. Good luck with that name if you do not have any grounding in a bantu language (Zulu, Xhosa, Swati, South Sotho). Probably why it is more colloquially named Kirky. Which is near where it was found: Kirkwood, South Africa.

Cute looking critter, as well as one of the most complete coeleurosaur (easier to spell would be nice critea) skeletons ever found.

By: Ilja

Ilja — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 15:45:36 +0000

There’s probably no dinosaur whose name pronounces as satisfactorily (after some practice) as Acrocanthosaurus atokensis.

As for other names: many of them may be based on incorrect assumptions or sound odd to modern ears (most Copean dinosaurs, for instance) – but that goes for many other taxa as well. Let’s not try to rewrite history here.

By: JC

JC — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 14:55:47 +0000

Best dinosaur name: Dracorex hogwartsia