Tethyshadros comments misunderstood

[bh480@scn.org]

I'm a bit taken aback by the reaction (on and off line) to 
my comments on the name Tethyshadros. My comments were 
clearly misunderstood and were not a criticism of the name 
nor an argument to change it. A list member had stated 
that the name Tethyshadros was supposedly not correctly 
formed according to Greek grammar rules. I wanted to point 
out the Greek and Latin had alternative ways to form words 
that have also been used in creating zoological names, 
including names for dinosaurs and ancient reptiles. Based 
on the etymology, the name Tethyshadros also would NOT be 
pronounced as teeth-i-SHAD-ros, with a typical "sh" sound 
in English. The etymology as well as the spelling should 
be a guide in pronouncing names. This detail seemed worth 
mentioning in light of the recent Clash of the Dinosaurs 
cable series. The narrator repeatedly mispronounced the 
name Parasaurolophus as pair-a-sor-OFF-o-luss, ignoring 
the etymology and the spelling. The paleontologists got it 
right was either pair-a-sor-OLL-o-fuss or pair-a-sor-o-
LOAF-us. 

Ben Creisler
bh480@scn.org