Re: Ouranosaurus (but we saw a spinosaur?)

["David Marjanovic" <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>]

> I imagine fooling predators into thinking you are a spinosaurid would be
> advantageous for a nesting ouranosaur. How many predators would risk
> disturbing a spinosaur protecting a nest?

Good idea.

> On a related note, how would "Ouranosaurus" be pronounced?

I think it lacks an a after the u. Ou (always pronounced oo as in you, but
of variable length) is the usual French spelling for the Arabic etc. w
sound.

> The original
> arabic word for monitor lizard seems to be pronounced "warren" (as in a
> rabbit's home), yet is spelled "Ouran".

I don't know Arabic, but that's certainly not a very good transcription.

> to a German word
> that I believe meant "warning" or something similar,

That's total coincidence. Before now I didn't notice any similarity between
Waran (monitor in German; vah-rahn; compare *Varanosaurus*, *Varanops*...)
and warnen (to warn in German; VAH-nen). (Ugh, do those English phonetic
spellings look awful...)