Etymology of Caenagnathus

[bh480@scn.org]

From: Ben Creisler bh480@scn.org
Etymology of Caenagnathus

>  Why would Sternberg named the *jaw* 
>  he found the "recent jawless one"?  

> Haven't a clue.  Maybe he was going for the 
meaning 'toothless'.

More likely, Caenagnathus is a latinized grammatical 
overcorrection formed by combining Greek kaine (feminine 
of kainos "recent") + Greek gnathos (a feminine noun) 
instead of the standard kain- (combining stem of kainos) + 
o (connecting vowel) + gnath- (combining stem) + -os 
(adjectival ending)(i.e., "Caenognathus" treated as 
masculine in gender).  The standard latizination of Greek 
feminine kaine on its own would be caena and Greek gnathos 
would be gnathus. Since Sternberg thought the jaw came 
from a large toothless bird that contrasted with the 
typical toothed birds (Hesperornis and Ichthyornis) known 
from the Cretaceous at the time, it was like Cenozoic 
(i.e. kainos "recent" + zoon "life") forms.  Odd 
Greek/Latin grammar litters the field of zoological 
nomenclature and rears its unruly head to amuse or annoy 
the trained eye to this very day.