[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index][Subject Index][Author Index]
_Pyroraptor_
Last night I was reading the description of the new French dromeosaur
_Pyroraptor olympus_ and, at first glance, I *assumed* the name was a
reference to Prometheus, who stole fire from atop Mt. Olympus. When I read
the etymology sections, I was surprised to see that Allain and Taquet had
other reasons altogether for having created this particular binomial (GR
_pyros_ = fire and L _raptor_ = thief, in ref. to "the fact that this new,
agile theropod has been discovered after a forestfire" + L _olympius_ "makes
an allusion to the Mount Olympe (Provence) at the foot of which is situated
the new locality").
Anyway, though the authors evidently didn't mean to make the mythological
allusion, the name literally means "Olympic fire thief," and I thought the
coincidence, the taxonomic double entendre, was pretty neat (not to mention
the added coincidence of it's being described the year of the 2000 Olympic
games).
Caitlin R. Kiernan