Re: Caenagnathiformes (toothlessness)

["Jaime A. Headden" <qilongia@yahoo.com>]

Nicke Pharris (NJPharris@aol.com) wrote:

<Well, no, it means "those that are shaped like the recent jawless one".>

  Actually, that would only be true if the etymology was _cainos_ + _a_ +
_gnathos_, but this is not the case.

  *Caenagnathus* (see *Chirostenotes*) :: _caena-_ (Lat.) > _kainos_
(Grk.) Recent, new [as in "ceno" in Cenozoic, oft times rendered
Cainozoic] + _gnathos_ (Grk.) jaw [mandible].

  Unfortunately, Sternberg did not offer a reason for his name and we are
left with worrying about why "Recent" was the reason ... he most certainly
knew it was Mesozoic at the time...

=====
Jaime A. Headden

  Little steps are often the hardest to take.  We are too used to making leaps 
in the face of adversity, that a simple skip is so hard to do.  We should all 
learn to walk soft, walk small, see the world around us rather than zoom by it.

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