Re: Albertaceratops (simpson's bi-annual b*tch about dino naming)

[Andreas Johansson <andreasj@gmail.com>]

On 2/19/07, Tim Williams <twilliams_alpha@hotmail.com> wrote:
> David Marjanovic wrote:

> >*Albertosaurus* is expressedly named after the man after whom the province
> >is named. Therefore the o.
>
> Hmmm... I thought the 'o' was an arbitrary choice on the part of the author.
>   The connecting 'a' was also dropped in _Montanoceratops_ (named after
> Montana).  On the other hand, an 'a' was added to give _Leaellynasaura_
> (named after Leaellyn).

"Montana" looks like the feminine of the Lat. adj _montanus_ "of or
pertaining to mountains", the combining form of which is _montano-_,
so this might just be  case of sticking to Latin grammar.

By the way, the -o- does not indicate masculinity in Latin. You'd
expect _Abertosaurus_ regardless of whether it was named for an Albert
or an Alberta. _Leaellynasaura_ might have been better named as
"Leaellynosaura", unless whatever language "Leaellyn" comes for
presents a reason for the -a- to be there.

--
Andreas Johansson

Why can't you be a non-conformist just like everybody else?