Naming a new species of animal can be a daunting task. Naming a new species of animal that has been dead for millions can be even more terrifying. Yet year after year, many new dinosaur species are discovered and classified by a myriad of people from around the world ranging from the diligent rice farmer in China to the well-educated scientist at the Smithsonian. Naming a dinosaur can be a fun experience for those with the serendipitous chance of actually naming one.
Naming a dinosaur can be an overwhelming task: where on earth do you start? Hence, the first step is to identify the basic body plan of the newly-found beast. Body plans can tell you which general clade of dinosaur your fossil belonged to, and each clade normally has a recurring theme when it comes to names. Does it look like a petrified ostrich? Then it’s probably an ornithomimosaur, or bird-mimic dinosaur. These dinos have names beginning with birds and ending in –mimus, like Gallimimus (chicken mimic), Pelecanimimus (pelican mimic) and Struthiomimus (ostrich mimic). Does it have a beak, horns, and a frill? Try an ending with –ceratops (like Triceratops or Pentaceratops). Did you find a cool carnivore? Try the endings –raptor and –venator. Still today, the name “Velociraptor” evokes fear into those who have watched Jurassic Park; you don’t even need to know what the heck Neovenator means to know that it’s dangerous! If you can’t figure out which genre of dinosaur yours belongs to, you can always resort to the classic ending –saurus. Likewise, you can go tongue-in-cheek with Latin & Greek, like several dinosaur names. In 1966, a pair of 8 foot clawed hands were found in Mongolia. To this day, the rest of the body has not been found. Hence, Deinocheirus: “terrible hands”.
If a description just doesn’t seem to be sufficient, you can always pay homage to someone else by naming them after another person. Names like Alvarezsaurus and Crichtonosaurus pay respect to Luis and Walter Alvarez and Michael Crichton; the former were the two who proposed that a meteor caused the extinction of the dinosaurs while the latter was named after the author of Jurassic Park. However, not all names are suitable for this cause. Case in point: Piatnitzkysaurus. Other names are equally ridiculous. The dinosaurs Othnielia and Drinker are both named after famous paleontologist, and are among the laughing stock of the dinosaur world as such.
You can go the traditional way and name the animal based on simple Latin or Greek roots or other ancient origins. This was how the founders of paleontology began naming dinosaurs! Gideon Mantell kept things to the point with Iguanodon, which means “iguana tooth”. Similar dinosaurs, like Megalosaurus (large lizard) and Hadrosaurus (bulky lizard) are other examples. If you have a flair for the mythological, you can name your dinosaur after something from legend, like Laelaps or Abydosaurus. There is a precaution for using purely Latin or Greek prefixes/suffixes, as it could lead to ridiculous names like Animantarx (which in reality means “living fortress” but sounds like a laxative) or purely unpronounceable names like Opisthocoelicaudia. Yeah.
A culturally sensitive way is to name the dinosaur after its geographical location. Classic dinosaurs like Albertosaurus stem from this train of thought. Koreaceratops does not have the same impression. On a similar note, you can name dinosaurs in the native language. The dinosaur names Nemegtomaia and Khaan are both Mongolian; China produced the dinosaur names Mei-long and Yangchuanosaurus. The Australian aboriginal language gave way to such names as Qantassaurus (and Minmi). You might be wondering if English has produced a dinosaur in the similar vein. Sadly, only two have been named as such. One is Gasosaurus, since it was discovered near a gas station. The other is called (no joke) Irritator, because it was such a hassle to dig up. Americans should just stick with Latin.
As a final note, be ambitious! Nobody is going to remember an Agnosphytis. However, the public will eat up names like Tyrannotitan and Raptorex. Names like Iguanacolossus, Sinraptor and Diabloceratops are sure to catch any wandering eye’s attention. Sadly, Rugops will not. A dinosaur’s name gives it first impression to the public. While the pantheon of popular dinosaurs will most likely remain the same with T. rex and Stegosaurus, there’s always the chance that a newcomer might grab the attention of a novelist or film director; take Velociraptor, for instance, which was fairly unknown until its inception into Jurassic Park and the Lost World. So, by all means, go ahead and enjoy naming that dinosaur! As long as it doesn’t sound like Becklespinax, it’s sure to be a great one!
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