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Re: Martian fossils (Martiobiota)


Ben,
Actually I wouldn't call it nitpicking (and it is an important point), but I think it is the other way around. Terra-, as in terrestrial, usually refers to "dry" land as opposed to a water environment (e.g., a terrestrial fauna vs. a freshwater or marine fauna). Ge-, Geo-, Geos-, refer to Earth as a whole, as in geology (study of the Earth as a whole). That is why I chose Geobiota.
Cheers, Ken
P.S. "Terra firma" is another example----on "solid ground", as opposed to being in the air or on the water (which are far less solid or firm).
******************************************************* 
From: Ben Landis <diverben@yahoo.com>
Reply-To: diverben@yahoo.com
To: dinosaur@usc.edu
Subject: Re: Martian fossils (Martiobiota)
Date: Thu, 1 Mar 2001 22:36:50 -0800 (PST)

I apologize for pursuing a non-dinosaur topic and also
for nitpicking, but wouldn't Cosmogenre "Terrabiota"
be a more appropriate name for the "taxon"?  I always
thought the geo- prefix meant "of the earth" in more
of a physical sense, rather than "of Earth".  And
isn't Terra like the "Latinized" name for Earth, as
Sol for the Sun?  (Or is that just from reading too
many scifi novels . . . )


Ben Landis
UC Davis

--- Ken Kinman <kinman@hotmail.com> wrote:

>     However, there is no reason to assume that they
> are genetically related
> to Earth life (Cosmogenre Geobiota), their
> magnetotatic similarities being
> most likely convergent.  But I'm sure the
> "panspermia" believers will think
> otherwise.  So it goes.  There is a link below for
> those interested in
> extraterrestrial fossils.
>                              ----Ken Kinman
>
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast28feb_1.htm
>
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