Re: In Nomine Dinosauri

[NJPharris@aol.com]

In a message dated 3/3/01 4:31:19 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
tmk@dinosauricon.com writes:

> >   Yeah, precedence in the literature. Mani- is the improper
>  > stem, but it was established as of 1984 in Gauthier's PhD
>  > thesis, and published in 1986 for the world to look at.
>  
>  [Supporting usage of the original spelling "Maniraptora" over the more
>  correct "Manuraptora".]

The "mani-" part of Maniraptora is perfectly OK.  It is regular in Latin for 
an unaccented short -u- in a non-initial, non-final syllable to change to an 
-i-.  For instance, the dative/ablative plural of "manus" ("hand") is 
"manibus", even though it consists of the stem "manu-" plus the ending "-bus".

The problem with Maniraptora is that it has a neuter ending on a masculine 
stem.  It should by Maniraptores, or it should be converted into an adjective 
by the addition of an -i-: Maniraptoria.

--Nick P.